Morning multitasking - whole day's cooking

blessings1010 · Jun 19, 2017

hrastro said: ↑

Thanx all!

It is just that I break up common work and finish off when I have time -- all because when my back problem started some 6 years ago, I could not stand at the kitchen for more than 10 minutes at a time.

So I used to finish roasting stuff, cutting vegetables (no maid), making doughs and batters etc whenever I could walk!

And I was determined not to cook food and store in fridge - and needed to cater to 4 year old son and 84 year old FIL.

So anytime my back complains, I can make something or the other in 10 minutes and finish cooking. So there's always something.

Now my back is 100 times better, I have learnt to take rest my back for 10 minutes when I work too much, and can even go a whole day/night without the 10 mins lie down, but my habits are ingrained and I worry too much - what'll my son eat if I get back pain - although son is now older and can make a sandwich himself and my FIL is no longer with us.

But habits and fear is always difficult to fight !!!
Click to expand...

Hello.
Your post is very inspiring. I wanted to ask you what you are doing for your back pain problem, if you do not mind, can you please share what worked for reducing back pain?

I also have chronic back pain from last few years and it is getting very difficult to sit or stand for long times. I recently started Chiropractic spinal adjustment as I have few problems in the spine. IT seems to be working but the progress is a bit slow.

Any help will be highly appreciated.

anupamag · Jun 20, 2017

hrastro said: ↑

I'm usually alert and full of life and laughs early in the morning and then evenings... daytime, I need more motivation to do physical work.

So here goes my morning routine as requested by pinksugar in the thread - is it a good idea to have a cook?

My morning routine starts the night before. 8:30 – 9:00 p.m

I set all the vessels inside, clear the kitchen platform, wash the vegetables required to be cut by maid in morning, keep 2 kadais on the right side of stove, keep cooker vessels in cooker at the same place, even 1 vessel for boiling milk and 1 for making tea is kept at the right side of the stove. I fill the kettle and jugs with water from RO system, so that I don’t have to walk up and down and fill water!

I also put clothes in washing machine and switch it on with delay timer to finish by 4-5 am.

If I’m making rotis or dosas for the next day lunch for DS, I’ll also make the roti dough or dosa batter ready.

Next morning, I wake up at 5:00-5:30 depending on my sleep last night and switch on geyser in my room – if I wake up early, I have a bath before going into the kitchen (definitely during my periods) else I brush my teeth, have my thyroid tablets and start work by 5:35 AM

Maid comes in at the time and starts cutting vegetables – if I need something for that day’s cooking, I tell her to cut that first – onions or green chillies or potato, banana or brinjal becomes brown if cut and kept, so that is done in morning

Switch on the kadais – biggest burner for vegetable (sabji – I make two sabjis), small burner across the large one for dal tadka, pour a packet of milk into vessel, this goes behind the big kadai on sim (I don’t have to watch it now) and switch on kettle (already filled last night)

Then, while water boils in kettle, I make cooker ready – 1 cup rice, 1 small cup dal – and keep on induction stove at 2000 – after one whistle – 7-10 mins, I reduce temp to 500 – then timer to 10 minutes, so timer will take care to switch off.

Cooker kept on induction, kettle ready with water, kadais are hot – add oil – add tadka – add the vegetables, use hot water for taramind soaking if any. Use hot water to quickstart the tea that is also on sim – at the same time I’ll also keep a coffee filter to add hot water to coffee. Add my own premade tea masala and ginger to tea’s water and add sugar.

Go to hall, switch on TV to Bhakti channel – Suprabhatam and some sahasranam will come everyday.

Stir the vegetable fry, stir the dal’s vegetables – add salt and turmeric and keep closed. Cooker whistle goes shshhhh. Is it around 5:50 AM. Reduce cooker temperature and keep timer for 10 minutes. Add tea leaves to tea.

Switch off geyser in my room, switch on geyser in 10 year old son’s room – wake him up with a kiss – he says 5 minutes amma !!

Come back to kitchen, add boiled milk to tea and check and stir vegetables and dal’s veg and switch off milk and tea.

Pour out tea for the maid and me, keep the rest for DH and for my afternoon. Take out coffee decoction into other vessel and add more hot water to kettle and the coffee filter.

If dal’s veg are done, remove to another vessel and add tadka for pulusu (sometimes I boil both dal’s and pulusu’s veg at the same time and just separate them before adding the masalas – till here it is only tadka, veg, salt and turmeric – that is common) – add pulusu masala and the tamarind paste. Sip tea … Aahh tea tastes so good!!!

Son, are you awake – you have to go to school, DH can you wake up son ?? ok ok !!! but still sleeping!!!

Dabbas out at the table. 1 more sip at the tea. Remove curd out of fridge. Maid is now folding clothes and drying the washed clothes from washing machine. . Sip at more tea –my tea finished.

6:10 AM - When maid enters kid’s room to sweep, I again give a shout or walk up to bedroom and either DH or DS will finally get up and wake the other up and brush teeth.

More hot water in kettle – take out a big glass, pour honey and mix hot water for son !! Ask DH tea or coffee??

Remove 1[SUP]st[/SUP] sabji from big kadai into a box, keep it open on dining table under fan – if DH comes to brush at this time, he wont like the fan – and I have to insist or sometimes let go , put kadai back on heat and add tadka, add the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] vegetable.

Cooker pressure has gone down. Remove Dal from cooker Remove pulusu into a vessel and keep in fridge (it is for night dinner). Keep back the smaller kadai, add the dals vegetables boiled, add dal. Add chilli powder and dhaniya powder etc depending on what vegetable was used and what tadka was used. Let boil for 4-5 mins.

Add idli to cooker if breakfast is idlis – again in induction stove – 5 mins high, then set timer to 10 mins at medium/low

By now it is 6:20 – 6:25 – dal, pulusu and 1 sabji done, start adding to plates and dabbas. Add dal and 1 sabji for DH lunch and to son’s breakfast plate. Add rice to son’s plate and to DH dabba – Remaining will go into boxes for me for lunch. DH keeps son’s water bottle and snack box into his lunch bag.

By 6:40 – 6:50 am – son out of bathroom, completes his sandhyavandanam, ready with uniform and belt and comes to have his rice-dal-veg-curd – usually will ask for mixture or chips – his dad will attend to it.

By now, maid has swept and mopped the dining room and all rooms except kitchen, I have packed the boxes and kept them all aside. The last sabji is going on for night. Keep dosa pan or roti pan if keeping for son’s lunchbox – make 2 rotis or 2 dosas and pack lunch for him.

By now milk is colder, so add little dahi to make curd in Tupperware glass for DH lunch and in small steel box for son’s snack time. Keep some milk separate if DH asks for more coffee or tea.

Maid takes all the vessels to the kitchen balcony and starts washing. I keep the kadai and cooker for washing – she will complete a small batch and come back for more – by then my kitchen counter has no vessels – all the vessels – the kadais, cooker, cooker vessels, dosa pan and tea vessels and milk vessels are out.

In fact by the time maid finishes the vessels, my son would finish his breakfast and put that plate also for wash

Maid cleans all vessels in the balcony, cleans and wipes kitchen counter and kitchen sink and the induction stove, cleans the kitchen floor AFTER that. And then brings the smaller vessels basket in (there is a huge steel shelf in the balcony, that’s where most of the washed vessels go). And then she cleans the kitchen balcony and takes away the dustbin – clean home, clean kitchen, all vessels washed, all dishes cooked for the day.

7:20 AM Son out for school bus, DH goes to drop him and brings milk. Maid leaves around the same time.

Whew!!! What a morning – I flop down on chair with another cup of tea or coffee or hot water, this time enjoy and sip slowly.

Then I check each vessel that was been washed, wash if not properly done, pour out water and keep upside down so that it dries up. Separate the spoons, knives, glasses, boxes, bring some of the vessels inside.

Then if I haven’t had bath, I’ll have bath!

Then, if making dosas for DH, I make the dosas!

Check if I need to make rotis in night, make dough ! If I’m grinding for dosas and idlis, soak now! Dry roast ravas for upmas, dry roast groundnuts and til for chutneys, keep away the cut vegetables in the fridge, if making paneer tikka for snacks, soak the paneer.

I fill all the bottles and kettle once again and keep for myself.

8:30 AM - If any backache, I’ll lie down for some time! If I need to discuss something with DH – this is the time to talk – else he comes very late from office.

9-9:30 AM – DH goes to office, I start my work from home. Whole day – I revisit the kitchen mostly for hot water only! I hardly switch on the stove.

Till about 3 p.m, I work, I’ll have lunch at my desk, and lie down/sleep from 3:15 – 3:45 pm. Then go out to bring back son from bus stop.

4:00 pm son comes home. He will have rice, dal, 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] sabji and curd for snack time OR rotis and sabji or hot dosas – or paneer tikka or cutlets. And complete the curd I set in the morning.
4:45 pm – music class for son.

5:45 pm – come home and if grinding work for dosas etc – I do now. Arrange clothes in cupboards, buy vegetables, play with son if I have energy, look at his school work. Check indusladies … yaayaaay

8:00 pm - Keep rice or start rotis, heat up pulusu and 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] sabji. Keep out curd.
Arrange everything for next day
Click to expand...

------------------------------------------------------------
Hi hastro,

This is exactly my routine, only few changes, instead of DS, I have a DD and I leave home at 7am to reach office by 7.30 and leave office by 3.30pm and reach home by 4pm. Also BF for me and DH is in office and DD has chocos and milk for BF, so to that extent,work is reduced. Maid comes twice, once in the morning for sweeping, mopping and kitchen cleaning and general dusting and in the evening for cooking dinner and helping with next day's prep.

BDivya · Jun 20, 2017

anupamag said: ↑

------------------------------------------------------------
Hi hastro,

This is exactly my routine, only few changes, instead of DS, I have a DD and I leave home at 7am to reach office by 7.30 and leave office by 3.30pm and reach home by 4pm. Also BF for me and DH is in office and DD has chocos and milk for BF, so to that extent,work is reduced. Maid comes twice, once in the morning for sweeping, mopping and kitchen cleaning and general dusting and in the evening for cooking dinner and helping with next day's prep.
Click to expand...

If i may ask, how much does ur maid charge for twice??