My 11 month old toddler is very very naughty and I dnt get to sit for sometime and chill Kindly advise me how to maintain my cooking schedule. A little background my baby wakes at least 4-5 times at night and I am sleep deprived. No help from parents or in laws since day one. Doing each and every thing alone till now Secondly with this thing going I don't know for how long I want to finish cooking lunch and breakfast by 9 am and be ready at the table without chaos otherwise my house looks like a fish market daily Kindly suggest a schedule for me so that I don't end up being tired and frustrated
Do all the cooking before husband leaves for work so that he will be there to take care of the baby. If you are not very particular about the food, u can always make breakfast in more quantity and have the same for lunch (or dinner) .try to cook one pot meals for lunch/dinner .cut veggies during week ends and refrigerate so that you can save time during week days
Cook and freeze food over the weekend. Also keep dosa batter in the fridge , very useful when there is no time ( pardon me , I assume you are South Indian) . Idlis freeze well too. The only thing that you can make fresh is rice or get Rotis on weekdays.
OP, just out of curiosity, why do you want to finish cooking by 9AM? With infants and toddlers, our schedule will never be the way we want it to be especially if you have no help taking care of the baby. If your H insists that you have to finish cooking in the morning, ask him to take care of the baby for an hour or so before he leaves, so you can wrap it up. Else like others suggested, freeze the food or cook at night for the next day. Another suggestion is you can ask your H to help with the dishes, veggies cutting etc. so you can finish it quicker.
Ask your husband to help you in kitchen or otherwise tell him to take care of your baby while you are in kitchen.Meet your parents and discuss about your problem ..they will help you ..
Ever since the baby,I cook dinner in large amounts so that it is used as lunch too.Thankfully my husband is very flexible in this matter.So ,sabzi/dal is carried over as lunch and i make a large number of rotis for dinner and lunch together.I cook this in the evening.So,usually i dont worry about lunch.Breakfast is a casual affair - bread toast,cereal,grits etc . Wait till your kid starts walking and running everywhere. These days my daughter is into every cabinet and cupboard .So i usually put on some cartoons for her to watch while i cook. When She was your babies age,I used to cook and clean during her nap time. Dont worry.It gets better with time. Keep her entertained with some kitchen utensils( non-sharp) ,give her some raw veggies to play with or put her in a baby swing.