Typical schedule

This is what a typical week looks like for me and my family in terms of cooking. Remember, though, that my work schedule is somewhat unpredictable. So, with that in mind, here we go:

1. Sunday: free day. Cook something nice for breakfast like scones or pancakes... make nice big dinner- a must! Make sure to have enough left-overs for the kids to take to school next day. 
2. Monday: free day from work and kids at school. Do a lot of cooking for the week, like a big pot of beans, a big pot of (brown) rice, a big pot of soup, make bread... 
3. Tuesday: work day. Pick up vegetables from the CSA.
4. Wednesday: work day. Go to the farm to pick up milk and chicken, quickly make some butter and yogurt while making dinner. Always make a big enough dinner to have left overs for school for the kids, and for lunch at work for ourselves.
5. Thursday: work day, sometimes concert at night as well. Eggs are delivered from the farm. 
6. Friday: work day, concerts at night. If not working during the day, maybe bake a bread, or cookies, or scones... or granola... I try to bake 2 or 3 things at the same time, in order to save on gas. So, if I make scones, I make granola and broiled potatoes, or root vegetables such as beets, turnips, carrots, and/or maybe a whole chicken as well. I use the ''convection'' setting in the oven so that one thing does not give the other an undesirable smell :)
7. Saturday: go to the Riverside market to get vegetables if I need any. Once a month, I also get cheese there, from Sweet Grass Dairy. 

• I generally don't cook for breakfast or lunch. Most of my cooking is for dinner, and then I use the left overs for lunch. I also make soups to eat for lunch, since the kids are not as fond of them as we grown-ups are. I make scones/granola/bread and yogurt for breakfast (and to be used as snacks at school/work as well) ahead of time, so that we don't have to cook in the morning. Sometimes we make oatmeal or eggs, if we feel like it...
• The most time consuming part of cooking, for me, is washing and cutting vegetables. So I try to do it ahead of time, in the morning after the kids go to school and before I go to work. But that does not always work out! :) Having them washed/prepped ahead of time, though, ensures that I will actually cook them for dinner. Because if I am tired, or have no time, vegetables are so darn easy to let go, out of our meal. That may not seem like a big deal for just one day, but it is, because that is the only time in the day that the kids eat under our supervision. It is hard to pack vegetables for school lunches, and there is no way the kids are going to eat vegetables such as turnip/beet/mustard greens, bok choi, kale, chard, spinach, turnips, beets... if they were made the night before. They look all wilted and awful. But if they are made fresh for dinner, the chances that they will eat them are definitely much, much better- specially if their treat is sitting right there in front of them, waiting for them to just finish their meal.