Starting shabbat prep early? TEACH ME HOW!

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thegiver

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 1:57 am

Anything! I leave everything for the last minute and it sucks.

also how do you light early??? tips truly appreciated!

salt

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 2:05 am

Have a list where you can mark things off.

I would say have a fairly fixed menu each week, so that you can have a fixed list of things to do each week.
Break it down into very small tasks, so that you can mark off each task as you do it. That way you'll see progress, and it will help.
Have the list hanging up from Wednesday - are there things you can prepare early on in the week?
Do you find it difficult because you have little kids around - could you hire a teenager to take them out for a couple of hours on Thursday afternoon or Friday?

5mom

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 2:10 am

Bake on Wednesday. Double up and freeze if you have the freezer space. You can make soup anytime and freeze it, too.

Look at your recipes. Where can you simplify? Stock up on ingredients for your favorite dishes. Have a few things that you can make on autopilot because they are so familiar.

I also find that it helps to make lists. Seeing everything laid out on paper makes it easier for me to group and prioritize tasks.

juggling

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 2:45 am

You don't say much about your schedule during the week. Do you work outside the home? Are you studying? Do you have little kids? Each of these things, and the hours that you are busy with them, make a difference as far as how to structure the rest of your schedule.

Also, do you do your own cleaning, or do you have help? How about laundry? Are you busy with laundry as you head into shabbat? Do you iron?

Do you entertain often? What type of shabbat meals do you make, simple or elaborate?

WastingTime

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 5:33 am

Identify what can be done earlier . I have been lighting candles considerably earlier than I used to by identifying what I can get done earlier in the week. For exampIe I made myself a simple rule of not doing laundry on Fridays which helped a lot.
Cooking can be done on Thursday.
Desserts on Wednesday. Try to pick a few things that you currently do on Fri and find pockets of time for them on a different day.

amother

Honeydew

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 7:58 am

everyone works differently... here's what works for me:

I don't go to bed thursday night til I know that all the food is prepared. friday's can get hectic and little kids can be unpredictable so I take no chances with the food. I do all the preps and leave it in the refrigerator ready to go in the oven/on the stove on friday.

all I leave for friday is cleaning and tidying and if some of that doesn't happen it's not the end of the world.

my fridays are now so much more relaxed

amother

Royalblue

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 8:30 am

I bake challah on tues. and freeze.

wed. - soup, fish and kugel - no need to freeze anything

Thursday - chicken, prepare chulent in the pot and put in fridge ...

pesek zman

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 8:51 am

I work full time so leave notHing for Friday at all, except turning on oven and putting food in. If you don't have a choice, you make it work.

pointyshoes

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 10:35 am

I work mornings on Thursday so when I get home (1:15):
I eat a snack, put up the challa dough and soup, prepare the beans for Cholent in boiling water to soak
I check if I need more knaidlach (I make and freeze)
Then I do anything that needs peeling (potatoes for me), I then chop my veg for roasted veg and wash my peeler.
Then food processor things: kugel and if I'm doing a cabbage salad
Once they're in the oven, I boil eggs and fry an onion
I get the chicken in the oven
Then I make the dips
Once everything's out of the oven I put the salmon in.
Then its tidy up time and I take a break for supper and bedtime.
I set the table
Then I make dessert and cakes (dh usually helps with that)
Big clean up of everything besides kids rooms.

Friday:
Put up the Cholent in the morning in crockpot or pot on low. Turn it off 1:15.

Then I vacuum, wash floors, basic clean up, baths and showers all round and clean toilet (did the whole bathroom Thurs night)
I'm usually ready to light at least an hour before shabbos

I love lists!!!!!!!!!!
I have an app called "colornote" that u can make checklists and tick off as u do it. It puts a line through the task- I use it all the time.
Good luck

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 10:40 am

thegiver wrote:

Anything! I leave everything for the last minute and it sucks.

also how do you light early??? tips truly appreciated!

Thanks op for asking. I've been following for tips too
The really practical posts with each day what thing is helpful for me.
thanks op and all

amother

Seashell

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 10:42 am

Tuesday: view sale circulars and make shabbos menu and grocery shopping list
Wednesday: shop for shabbos (everything)
Thursday: cook and bake everything
Friday morning: clean up house

I only have 1 child, and my husband helps a lot, and I work from home so I've got a lot of time...

tovasara

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 11:00 am

Starting early is definitely key - I often shop for Shabbos on Sunday (and for a few weeks in advance). If I don't bake early in the week, I don't bake. Cook and freeze kugels and soup.
I agree about not doing laundry Friday or towards the end of the week. Sometimes I do, but never for things that have to be available for Shabbos.

I also started lighting a few minutes early recently.

It is really just about forming new habits, and once you do, you'll see how easy it is. But it is an adjustment at first, so give yourself time to get used to it.

There's a chatzos movement and a website that gives a ton of chizuk.

PinkFridge

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 11:47 am

tovasara wrote:

There's a chatzos movement and a website that gives a ton of chizuk.

Yes, www.chatzos.com , especially the getting started section.
You've got a lot of great advice here.
Hatzlacha and may you see bracha!

amother

Coffee

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 12:19 pm

Sunday: Bake and freeze. I bake enough bread for a month or more and freeze it. I warm it up on Fridays. Sometimes I make a few hundred meatballs and freeze for Friday nights. Do laundry.

Tuesday: Wash sheets and towels and any major laundry projects
Wednesday: Clean bathrooms, Vacuum, Dust. I grocery shop either Wednesday or Tuesday depending on when I can use the car (we have 1 car and DH works long hours)
Thursday I do all the 'big' cooking. Salads, meat, fish, potatoes. I do laundry again.
Friday I do the rice, coffee, eggs, chicken the short stuff, tidy up, and windex the bathroom.

I have a couple of little kids at home so I like to have the bulk of the cooking done Thursday.

amother

Smokey

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 12:28 pm

pointyshoes wrote:

WOW you sound so organized!

lfab

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 12:29 pm

Different things work for different people based on their circumstances (ie. do you work, have kids/their ages, etc.). Personally, I have 4 young children (oldest is 7) and I work in a public school so regular school day on Friday (I get home about 3:30). This is what works for me.

On a weekly basis:
Tuesday- weekly shopping. This means I've already decided what I plan on making etc.
Wednesday- I prep everything so it's ready to cook the next day. I wash and peel any veggies that need peeling, take chicken out of freezer and place in fridge to defrost, mix together sauce for chicken (if making a saucy chicken that week), etc.
Thursday morning- I get up about 15-20 minutes earlier and make potato kugel. I also prep my cholent-put everything in crockpot bag and place in fridge.
Thursday afternoon/evening- cook rest of shabbos food. Clean kitchen when I finish the cooking. In winter months kids are bathed Thursday night.
Friday-My husband is home in the afternoons so he washes the floors and cleans the bathroom in the winters. In the summer months when there is more time we both do the cleaning.

Every few month I make a big pot of chicken soup and challah and freeze so I don't need to make them weekly. I also make other things ahead, like deli rolls, pastrami tarts, carrot kugel, apple kugel, cakes, desserts, etc. so on more stressful weeks I can just pull 1 or 2 sides from the freezer and not need to make everything that week.

It's not perfect and there's always those few things that can't be done until last minute- such as putting up food on hot plate. But I really make an effort to do as much as possible ahead. The 20 minutes of prep I do on Wednesday night after my kids are in bed would take more than double that amount of time if I left it until Thursday evening when the kids were underfoot.

pointyshoes

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 2:01 pm

amother wrote:

WOW you sound so organized!

I find that its easier for most people to be organised than to be disorganised- its the truth! Its just a matter of changing your habits. Everythings calmer, clearer and easier that way- tidy house, tidy mind

tichellady

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 2:24 pm

I don't freeze cooked food and don't really make kugels. I shop Wednesday and cook Thursday after work. I make challah with a bread machine. I have cleaning help on Friday so I can leave my kitchen a mess. If I'm tired on Thursday night I make the meal more salady and leave that stuff to do on Shabbat. I have a lot of salads in my repertoire. I also have vegan ice cream in my freezer as a dessert back up in case I'm not in the mood to bake.

rainbow dash

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 2:53 pm

pointyshoes wrote:

Ita.

amother

Dodgerblue

Tue, Apr 05 2016, 2:56 pm

amother wrote:

...
Thursday I do all the 'big' cooking. Salads, meat, fish, potatoes. I do laundry again.
.....

Thanks for your detailed list
Would love your saladrecipes I can make ahead. All mine are to make fresh.
TIA
Btw are there healthy sides aside for kugel that can be made ahead

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