time management

You can do anything but not everything

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Quote has several origins

This week I was listening to one of my regular podcasts, Kathryn Ryan’s – ‘Telling everybody everything’ and she mentioned this premise in one of her recent episodes. We can often feel guilty for not being the best partner, as we are also being the best mother and at work we are full time committed to being the best employer/employee…it’s a perpetuating circle that often leads to unfulfilled happiness within ourselves, as we can’t be everything to everyone…oh and did I mention, we also need to have wonderful self care regimes, self love, a nutritious diet, regular exercise and quality sleep? It’s a to do list worth aspiring to but one that often is unattainable. Whilst I fully agree with this, I think it’s crucial that we teach our children that they can have it all, just not all at once.

I want to provide my child with all the opportunities to succeed and to become whatever he would like to be. At this point his interests are wide and skill sets are vast, he really could be anything when he decides on a career path. My son is happy, healthy and loved. These are nonnegotiable, but recently I’ve been teaching him how to balance responsibilities and the various elements of life, why? Because you can do everything and be anything but you can’t do it all at the same time.

It’s a skill that isn’t taught in school but one in which I try to role model for his current and future wellbeing. I do this by speaking my thoughts out loud and then explaining how I’m going to complete the tasks; it could be as simple as explaining that I want to go and have a bubble bath, I need a face mask but the washing needs loading, hanging and I need to clean the bathroom. I’ll then explain how I’m going to make the list workable (I’ll wear my face mask whilst cleaning the bathroom or I’ll run the bath and before I step in I’ll pop the washing on… I also think it’s essential to also role model asking for help and also compromise, so I may explain I won’t have time to clean the bathroom and have a bath, but I can have a shower after cleaning the bathroom, or I’ll say if I make time for a bath could he help me by hanging the washing out? So often team work and a sharing of responsibilities is essential so that the family unit can thrive.

This may seem like an obvious post but as a Mumma in 2023 where dreams seem an instant attainable option by clicking a link, I do want my child to dream big, but also want him to be grounded and have strategies to achieving those goals. So, if you are preaching the positive quotes that ‘What my fridge says’ inspires, make sure any little ears also have access to techniques to help them achieve. It’s worth reflecting, as recently my son had a party to attend but also had a homework task due, by the time the evening came around he had done ten extra minutes in the days leading up to the party (without my prompting) to leave him free to go off and enjoy himself, in his own little way ‘he had it all’ and that’s as skillset I can get behind.

Dream big little dude.

I never met a meal I didn’t like

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment


Quote by the amazing Miss Piggy

Following on from a blog I posted back in July called Priorities the team at  Schwartz got in touch and sent me a gorgeous bundle of goodies – slow cooker style!

 Regular readers will know that as a full time working Mummy – my slow cooker is how I get some evening time. By the time my heels totter through the front door, I put my little man to bed…I’m done for the day, the slow cooker allows me much needed couple time, pamper time and ‘not preparing dinner time’

So lifting the lid of the slow cooker to a wholesome cooked meal is divine.

There are 2 other things I love and particularly using the Schwartz slow cooker sachets…

1). Using the sachet makes it even quicker to throw in the ingredients and go. I do this twice a week before work and when I walk through the the door – particularly on an Autumnal evening, it reminds me of being a little girl home from School to Mums home cooking…my house smells better than pop corn at the cinema! Even better I remember that it’s me that cooked it! For those of you that have never used the sachets before, the ingredients are all listed on the back – you just chop it up, wack it in and leave the slow cooker on low and walk away…get home from work 6 hours later ‘ta-da’ dinner is ready.

2). My other love is that the slow cooker sachets are all under a £1 and all seem to work as well with if not better on cheap cuts of meat, like chicken thighs / drumsticks, so not only is it amazing for time management, my purse and bank manager love them too. When I recently cooked the Beef and Ale Stew I some how made enough for the entire road, so in the freezer it went – cutting costs further 🙂

 Above is the chicken Provençal recipe before I left for work: pop in the chicken thighs, a red and yellow pepper…mix the Schwartz sachet into a tin or chopped tomatoes, a squeeze of Tommy purée and wack into the slow cooker, leave on low…
 Hello dinner! We had ours with wholemeal rice, broccoli and peas (I have an obsession about peas) some of the sachets, like the chicken curry have potatoes already in it, so you don’t even need to boil a pan of water for your carbs, winner.

I promise you this is generally something I would feed to guests, in fact my best friend recently stayed and we went out for a days adventures (to the beach) and returned home to the scents of slow cooker delight. This meant I never had to disappear to the depths of my kitchen.

Whatmyfridgesays gives the team at Schwartz 10/10 and I can’t wait to try the pulled pork next weekend, so thank you to them and I hope it inspires you to eat healthy, tasty and at little cost with loads of flavour.

*PR collaboration