Tits & Tricks: One meal two ways, what we’re automating & WTF to do when WFH with sick a kid
Episode 02 of Tits & Tricks and the expanded show notes
Another episode of our new mini tip-based podcast, Tits and Tricks, is out now, and this week we’re talking one meal two ways, what we’re automating so that we can do less & WTF to do when WFH with sick a kid.
You can listen to that episode below, and keep scrolling for the expanded show notes that accompany the episode.
And in the theme of doing less, the notes below are very much written in the way that I read them out. Normally I would then edit it to read better. But, I simply do not have the time today and I need to be more present with my children.
So please enjoy these chaotic show notes below and thanks for being here. X
One meal two ways
I am giving myself a bit of an ick talking about cooking to a whole lot of mums as though it’s our duty. It’s not, and I hope you’re not cooking every night, but I am a bit obsessed with cooking at the moment. It’s actually something I’m enjoying, which is probably because I’m semi on maternity leave. It definitely felt like more of a chore last year when I was pregnant and had a one year old, but at the moment, I’m feeling a bit creative. I am inspired a lot by what friends and people online are cooking, and my friend Hayley who has an instagram account called lemon head recipes is REALLY efficient in planning out her meals for the week.
She got me inspired to be a bit more planned and thoughtful, and to reduce waste and save on money, so what I’ve started doing is becoming obsessive with getting the most out of my grocery list and cooking almost the core of one meal and then serving it in two ways, or using similar veg in two or three completely different ways.
So this week, with what’s in my pantry and from one really easy shop, we’ve made tuna and veg pasta bake with a ricotta and silverbeet bechamel sauce, chunky veg and bean soup using all the leftover veg sitting sad in my fridge, I’ve made a bolognese sauce that we had as a shepherd’s pie with a layer of silverbeet and of course mash one night, and we froze the other half of the sauce to have with pasta next week.
I have gone WAY deeper into this in the extended show notes, even giving you the grocery list I used and what meal each item on it was used for, so there’s a link in the show notes for this, but some other examples of how I’ve cooked one meal two ways in previous weeks are:
Chicken san choy bow one night, so you can just use a recipe online and then I like to serve mine with fresh cucumber and coriander, of course in the lettuce cups >> and then the next night that leftover san choy bow chicken mince became a dish with rice and lettuce and cucumber the night after. You could even do noodles instead of rice here.
Bolognese sauce >> can shepherd’s pie one night and spaghetti bolognese another night.
Vegetable and bean soup can easily turn into a Mexican dinner the next night, where you drain a little bit of the liquid out of the soup, then add Mexican seasoning into it or even just some paprika, and serve with coriander, sour cream, corn chips and rice.
If you make a vegetarian curry one night, you could so easily double the curry sauce, add a different protein the next night and turn it into a laksa.
Another night, I bought beef koftas that I bought from the butcher and served it with steamed rice with chopped tomato and rocket mixed through it and I made a really simple but delicious yoghurt (topped with mint, sumac, lemon rind, pickled radish and cucumber). The following night, I baked the leftover rice, kept some of the yoghurt, roasted some broccoli and fried some haloumi and we had a vegetarian version of a similar dinner.
In a nutshell: what’s in your repertoire that could be turned into a similar but new dinner the very next night?
Anyway, we could chat FOR HOURS about how you can turn one meal into another but Loz told me these episodes must be less than 10 minutes, so below, I give you the grocery list I used to cook soup, pasta bake and bolognese sauce used two ways. That’s FOUR meals and even more servings. Plus, the soup will turn into a Mexican dinner!
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This week’s grocery list
Fresh things:
Big bag of carrots (used half the bag for bolognese mince, some used for a simple mixed veg & bean soup and some in the freezer)
Bunch of celery (used half the bunch for bolognese mince, some used for a simple mixed veg & bean soup and some in the freezer)
Bag of spinach (used most in tuna pasta bake, the dregs whittled down to nothing in bolognese mix)
Mushrooms (used whole packet in bolognese mix)
Parsley (used in tuna pasta bake, used the stalks in bolognese mince and scattered the rest on random meals)
Basil (used in tuna pasta bake
Red onion
Bunch of silverbeet (half used in ricotta bechamel for the tuna pasta bake, half used as a side of greens for shepherd’s pie)
2 x heads of broccoli (used in literally every meal we cooked this week)
1 x sweet potato (will be mixed with potatoes for the topping of shepherd’s pie)
Bag of potatoes (partner used for his steak night, plus used for top of shepherd’s pie and soup)
Half of a pumpkin (used mixed up in a simple mixed veg & bean soup)
1kg of bolognese mince (shepherd’s pie and spaghetti bolognese)
Ricotta (for the bechamel for the tuna pasta bake, yum)
The stuff I had on hand
Tinned tuna
Tinned beans (I did cannellini and actually lentils, too. Random I know)
Tomato paste
Tomato passata
Nutra Organics Beef Bone Broth
Nutra Organics Veggie Hero
What we’re automating
Now let’s get to what we’re automating. This is one of those things that is obvious. We know you can automate stuff, but sometimes we forget and we need a reminder. This is something we cover in our Postpartum and Return to Work Planning Go To Guide (take 10% off with code READYASEVER), but the reason I was inspired to talk about this came from something that got me hook, line and sinker on Instagram. Honestly, sometimes I think I buy the things I am targeted just to make sure the algorithm knows how bloody well it knows me.
It’s an olive oil brand called Goldi and the brand’s messaging and the beautiful bottles had me curious, and as it kept following me around the internet, I eventually cracked and looked a little further. But instead of making an impulse purchase I did a cost comparison with one of the big brand at Woolies and noticed that it came out at neutral. I signed up, I am getting it delivered to my door every second month, and I have a beautiful, more thoughtfully created, more sustainable product that I now don’t have to think of.
Of all the things Hayds and I hate forgetting, olive oil ranks high. So that’s one less thing to think about.
We also have our toilet paper delivered, as well as the Tommee Tippee refills for our nappy bin, but I have been inspired by some of your answers and i am going to put them into action, so here they are:
Toilet paper was a popular one among you all, and arguably just a bit more annoying than running out of olive oil, so if you haven’t automated toilet paper yet then WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DO IT TODAY!
Someone said a robovac and of all the things I want to invest in. This ranks high. If you want me to ask the Instagram community for the best sales going on at the moment, just DM me at readyornot.pod and I’ll do it.
Okay so this one came through a few times and I cannot believe I didn’t know this. We do our household order online through Woolies and for a much cheaper fee, you can subscribe for the year and then you get your deliveries free. We had no idea and have been wasting money. So, I’m signing up for that today.
One person said they get BOTH their milk and their coffee in a subscription. That’s genius. Another thing that absolutely sucks to run out of.
A lot of people are getting their nappies and wipes delivered, and this is something I’ve been meaning to do forever but haven’t yet, so I am going to do it today. The mental load, hey?! The brands mentioned most were Comfy Koalas and Tooshies.
Dog food subscription is another brilliant one. Our dog does the absolute worst farts if he doesn’t eat this specific hypoallergenic dog food that Haydn organises through the VET, but maybe he can get that sent straight to our door instead. Will be checking that out.
I can’t quite call this automated, but while we’re here, don’t forget that petrol stations like BP have apps so that you can fill your tank and get straight back in the car. This makes life so much easier and you pay through the app.
And the last one mentioned here is Le Puree for baby food. I am 100% doing this, this time around for Posie starting solids. I just don’t know where I find the time to cook extra things for her when Ready or Not, parenting and other freelance work takes up so much of my time, so I am all in on copying this person.
WTF to do when WFH with a sick kid
Now, as you’ll know, I am a big believer in 50/50 parenting and that it shouldn’t always be the mum who stays home with a sick baby, and we go in depth into the conversations to have with your partner and manager before the return to paid work in our Postpartum & Return to Work Planning Go To Guide. But, today I am talking in situations where you might have the most even relationship in the world, but on this day, it is you stuck with a baby or child at home and there’s nothing that can be done about it. On top of that, you simply have to get some form of work done that day.
And one of my best friends has had a few days lately where she’s had to navigate paid work with a near two year old, so between my advice, her advice, and your advice, here’s a list of things that might help get you through the day.
This advice obviously varies a lot depending on how sick your child is, but in this instance, we’re talking about when your kid is sick but not terribly unwell, they’re still busy and they need less so your care and more so your attention.
Firstly, write down what ACTUALLY NEEDS to be done that day. Physically write it down on paper. Paid work matters way less than a baby that is unwell, and your nervous system will thank you for it.
Next up, can you cancel all your meetings? Tapping away on a laptop is one thing, meetings with a baby is quite another and if I am going to reduce my workload, that’s the way I’m going. I’ll then work during potential nap times and do as little as possible when the babe is awake.
If you can’t cancel all your meetings, can you schedule them for about 15 minutes after nap times? I know this isn’t a perfect cure, but if your baby is on a semi regular routine, this gives you time to see if they’re going to sleep, maybe take a breather for yourself, and have the meeting, hopefully in peace.
If you’re planning your return to paid work, you might even chat to your boss in the lead up regarding scheduling meetings for nap times in the likely case that your babe will be home from time to time.
We also want to be very open and honest with our team here. I know, you may have just returned to paid work and you might be worried about what it looks like that you already have a baby at home with you, but trust us, being open about what your day will look like will relieve a lot of stress. Most managers will be nothing but understanding and accommodating, and if they’re not, remind them that they too were once a baby.
And while we’re on the manager, share the list of what you plan to get done that day and what might be delayed if it makes sense in your work environment. A reminder here that your baby is sick, your stress levels matter and the paid work can wait in nearly all instances. Keep those glass balls up and drop every single plastic ball.
If you are new to returning to paid work, a great tip is to have a monthly meeting to review how this is going. Given sickness can be quite inevitable, it might be particularly helpful in terms of how you can navigate workloads if you do have to be home with a sick kid.
When it comes to work, I’d also have an auto reply on. Keep it light, do not over apologise. I am home today with a sick child and will be working at reduced capacity, and will get back to you when I can. Perhaps even set your Teams icon or whatever platform you use to away, do not disturb or similar if you can.
Let’s get to screens. A lot of people said it’s just television all day to survive getting through the work day, but my best mate has another good idea if that doesn’t work in your household – she saves TV as the big gun. When she really needs some focus time or to have that quick meeting, and that normally gives her about half an hour. So if you’re not huge on screen time but you need it in your back pocket, I reckon this is such a smart way to go about it.
Something else my very clever friend has done preemptively in the past is setting up little activity stations that feel new and different. This might be something like Play-Doh, that you hide and only bring out on these occasions so it feels new and exciting. Drawing is of course a great one here too and someone mentioned post it notes keeping their kid busy for nearly an hour, brilliant tip.
Another game changer from my friend – this one is so bloody smart. And this friend is the cleanest person I know, so if she can handle the mess, we all can. When she needs to get work done but she doesn’t have any meetings, she gets her daughter in the shower (the shower is obviously off) and sets up scraps of paper and washable paints. The toddler is entertained, it’s easy to wash away because it’s set up in the shower, and you can hopefully get some work done. So smart.
And, lastly, if you can, get outside for both of your sakes. Whether that be first thing in the morning, or before or after lunch, some fresh air will do you both good and even though I want to abolish the guilt altogether, let’s be honest – doing something outside will probably remove a bit of the guilt of trying to navigate paid work and a child.
That’s it for today! Do you have any other hacks or tips? Leave a comment below or catch us on Instagram. X