What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I see “Efficient Kitchen” embodying the whole home as well as the people in it. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

I’m sad to report that this is my last Beth Brower book update. I read Beast of Ten, which is a stand alone fantasy novel that is loosely based on Beauty and the Beast. Beast of Ten explores redemption and the idea of can someone be redeemed even if they are “too far gone.” It is a truly beautiful and deep story with a complex magic system.

If you want a fantasy novel with pretty much zero romance, this book is for you. I could NOT put this book down. Believe it or not, I actually enjoyed it more than the Books of Imirilia. It’s also nice and chunky but not “door stopper” level in the 500ish page range.

I hope to spread the word far and wide about because she has become my favorite writer. I hope I can influence you (wink!) to read her books. I’ve had multiple friends read her Emma M. Lion books, and they have become “addicted” to them. If you’ve read her historical fiction, definitely give her fantasy novels a try because they are equally page turners!

You can read about Beast of Ten on her website here. I love that she has follow ups after you read her books.

On Wednesday, I posted about my Tahini Chocolate Chip Protein cookies. I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for a month or so, and my family begs me for these cookies. They are really great for that after school/afternoon snack to get you to dinner because they have approximately 10g of protein in them, 16-17 g of carbs and 10-11g of fat. I always struggle with a good balanced snack in the afternoon to help the kids make it to dinner. They come in STARVING from school. I enjoy them too on days that I was a bit more active and need something to get me to dinner. (My husband enjoys nuking them in the microwave for a few seconds to make them warm and gooey again!)

The Efficient Kitchen

Gluten Free Tahini Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

Do I think cookies need protein in them? Absolutely not…

Read more

2 days ago · Jordan | Efficient Kitchen

After my third was born, I’ve taken a bit of a break from needlepointing since my hands were constantly full. Lately we’ve found our rhythm with baby number three, and I have found pockets of time again to stitch! I truly enjoy this hobby and love it even more when I’m able to listen to a book or podcast while doing it. It feels like it completely resets my nervous system because you have to slow down so much to do it.

I finally finished my door hanger for my second child and love how it turned out. I hope to capital F finish it this weekend where I can hang it up. I completely designed the canvases myself and am so proud with how they turned out. I’m working on monogram ornaments from a vintage needlepoint book that will probably take all year to stitch all five!

Several friends in my book club suggested the Literary Life podcast to me after having a lot of trouble with reading a classic novel. I have absolutely devoured this podcast. If there’s a book you’re struggling with, I would highly suggest listening to their podcast. I learned so much from listening to them break down a tricky novel, and they opened my eyes to reading classic literature differently. It felt like an English class that I actually enjoyed because I learned so much.

You can find it here.

I shared on social media this week about my Tahini Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies and also that I am now an affiliate for Equip Prime Protein. I’m excited about this because I’ve been telling everyone about this protein powder for years. I think our family has been using it for about four years now, and it’s the only one that I like. Our family uses it every day in some capacity. While I’m a staunch believer in most of your nutrients coming from real food instead of powders, I really love this when you’re in a pinch and just need some nutrients. It definitely got me through a lot of nausea in pregnancy when I could only tolerate a smoothie. If you’re weirded out by funky protein flavoring, the unflavored only has one ingredient: beef. (and no it doesn’t taste like beef!) The code JORDANEK will save you a bunch or you can click the link here.

Our family’s other flavors are the low sugar chocolate and the low sugar vanilla (no stevia yay!). Below are two other recipes that I made using their protein powder:

The Efficient Kitchen

Cookie Dough Protein Bites

I get asked a lot for easy snack ideas. We all love these. We store them in the freezer and they are ready to pop out an eat! Thanks for reading Jordan’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work…

Read more

a year ago · 4 likes · Jordan | Efficient Kitchen

The Efficient Kitchen

Wedding Cake High Protein Yogurt

My latest go to way to get my daily protein intake up! If you cannot find a protein powder you like the taste of, this is for you…

Read more

a year ago · 2 likes · Jordan | Efficient Kitchen

I’ve set a goal to read thirty books this year including some “door stopper” books. (I’ve read 14 books so far!) I finally made a list of some top classics that I want to finish this year. After I read the Count of Monte Cristo last year, I found that really increased my confidence not being intimidated by “hard” books. I hope to retackle Jane Eyre with the help of the Literary Life podcast, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, and The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.

You may wonder how I read a lot. Well, I discovered how much time I was wasting on social media, so I now have strict settings on my Brick app. The other way is that I am always multitasking. As much as I would love to just sit and read, that only really happens for a small amount of time a day. Maybe 20 minutes? A bit more on the weekend.

I love the read and listen option books on Kindle Unlimited. To be honest, I don’t know how it works. I checked a book out from the library and it had that option.

I listen while I’m in car line, washing dishes, doing laundry, cooking, and while I’m walking. I try to walk on my walking pad for 30 minutes every day even if it’s interrupted. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s one of my favorite purchases. We previously had a bike and sold it. I find I use the walking pad far more even if it is not a great piece of “decor” in my house. You can find all my favorite barefoot shoes here.

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.

Breakfast bulk prepping recipes:

• Breakfast Quiches

• Gluten Free Sausage Balls

• Tot Lined Bacon Egg Cups

• Gluten Free Bagel Sandwiches

Other breakfast recipes:

• Connie Baby’s Dirt Bombs

• Apple Cinnamon Blender Muffins

• Chilaquiles For One

Lunch Meal Preps:

• Gluten Free Snack Wrap

• Turkey Summer Skillet Bowl

• Chinese Chicken Salad

• Kids School Lunch: a month in an hour and the sandwich scrap casserole

Quick and Easy Dinners:

• Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry with Ramen

• Plan. Prep. Plate: a week of dinners

• Easy week night dinners: super simple home chef meals

Desserts:

• Gluten Free Apple Fritters

• Copycat Cola Cake

• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

• Vanilla Ice Cream

Sides:

• Smoky Poblano Salsa

Protein Powder Recipes:

• Wedding Cake Yogurt Bowl

• Chocolate Chip Protein Balls

• Tahini Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies

Other:

• Postpartum freezer prep

Holiday Recipes:

• Valentine’s Day: Strawberry Cream Cheese Puff Pastry

• Valentine’s Day: Faux-reo Cheesecake

• Easter Brunch Quiche

• Fourth of July: A Patriotic Cobbler

• Halloween: Spooky Marshmallow Cereal Treats

• Christmas: Nestlay Toolhouse Gluten Free Cookies

• Homemade Birthday Cake Tips + Icing

Do I think cookies need protein in them? Absolutely not.

However, if you are gluten free, you know the struggle of finding a good cookie. I came across some cookie recipes from Equip Prime Protein, and that got my wheels turning.

Typically “protein cookies” use peanut butter or almond butter, but I don’t love eating peanuts or tree nuts in large quantities. I think it’s easy to overdo the “paleo” trend with almonds in everything, and quite frankly, I don’t like peanut butter.

I first discovered Equip protein when my second child was sneaking sips of my husband’s smoothies while on a very strict diet. I didn’t want him drinking anything with questionable ingredients, and at the time, it needed to be dairy free. Y’all, I tried so many protein powders. This is truly the only one I like that also doesn’t hurt my stomach.

I prefer to flavor protein myself which is why I usually go for the unflavored protein powder. It has just one ingredient: beef. And no, it doesn’t taste like beef. (I would suggest this powder to you if you have a hard time with the artificial flavors in a lot of powders that can be quite strong.)

I had the idea for a tahini chocolate chip cookie, and I think it tastes best with the unflavored version but it is okay with the vanilla flavored powder. I was shocked at how good the texture turned out! My entire family begs me to make these, and they’re such a filling after school snack. I’m not a nutritionist, but the macros are pretty balanced to me for a sweet treat while trying to maintain macros!

JORDANEK will save you money on your order or you can click the link here.

Tahini Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies
Makes 12 cookies

Nutrition Per Cookie

• Calories: 194

• Protein: 10g

• Carbohydrates: 16–17g

• Fat: 10–11g

Notes

• A satisfying, balanced snack with a solid protein boost from beef protein and tahini

• Naturally gluten free

• Higher in healthy fats, which helps with fullness and blood sugar stability

• Great option for an after-school snack or quick bite between meals

Why are goals so important? Goals…

• Give direction

• Make it clear what recipes work for your family

• Define success for your family

• Keep you going even when you’re not motivated

I think there is a lot of shame that can be tied to both food and money, and I want to completely scrap shame here. Everyone’s budgets look differently and everyone’s priorities look differently. Only you can define what success looks like for you. However, if you don’t define your goals and “success” for you and your family, you might fall into the comparison trap and think you’re not doing enough.

In the corporate world, I spent a lot of time helping people with goals. Taking the big picture and breaking that down into quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily action items to help them actually achieve those goals. I’m so passionate about having direction and what the big picture looks like.

“Goals” for your home help you set your daily, weekly, monthly etc intentions. It shows you where to focus your energy and ignore what other people are doing. I think the application of this mindset from the corporate world help you envision the big picture of your home and keep you on task.

Social media is amazing for learning but sometimes can be overwhelming looking at what other people are doing. “I’m not doing enough” is a lie that can be whispered into the most seasoned of mother’s ear. I hope you’ll take setting a few goals in order to set your intention first.

Examples.

Let’s give an example that you are wanting to save money with meal planning. You might choose simpler recipes, hone in on your master grocery list, and look to pantry staples to bulk your meals.

If you are wanting to eat higher protein more macro balanced meals, then your grocery budget could look VERY different with those goals.

Maybe you just want to be less stressed at meal times, so you want to focus on a big freezer stash. Maybe your mornings are super hectic so you NEED to have breakfast and school lunches prepped.

How to set goals.

Think about how you want meal times to look and anything you want to change. Is it your nutrition, budget, time, mental state? Take a serious look and pick one to three goals and write them down. It’s so crucial to give you direction in the next few steps.

Below are the worksheets and example worksheets for paid subscribers:

Read more

What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I see “Efficient Kitchen” embodying the whole home as well as the people in it. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

Suprise, surprise. I read another Beth Brower book! I read her stand alone novel called The Q. It follows a young Quincy St. Claire in her quest to run a newspaper that her Uncle Ezekiel “leaves” her. I wouldn’t say this was my favorite, but definitely worth reading. I personally like Emma M. Lion better but I think that’s the point about Quincy. She isn’t as likable for awhile and for good reason.

I almost put this book down, and I’m so glad I didn’t. The end had me in tears. I don’t want to give away any of the plot, but there is a line in it from Quincy St. Claire that almost broke me. As always, I CANNOT believe that Beth had to self publish her books. She has made me fall in love with reading again. Something that I’ve really missed! (If you read The Q, you’ll understand the name of her publishing company!)

You can find her “book club” on The Q here. Her current Substack has extra stories from other characters perspectives from the Emma M. Lion series which is really fun to read. (Y’all know I’m anxiously awaiting volume 9!)

I loved having Easter Brunch leftovers this week. One of my favorite Easter Brunch dishes is Callie’s Strata. She has some of my favorite holiday recipes. This year, I used Unrefined Bakery’s Gluten Free 5 grain loaf in it and loved the texture of the bread. (They ship!)

I also made “funeral sandwiches” with Canyon Bakehouse’s Gluten Free Hawaiian Rolls. They are sometimes tricky to track down, but I was able to find them at Target.

I need to do a post with all my quick homemade sauces on it, but I quickly made my own honey mustard combined with butter, coconut aminos, and poppy seeds for the “sauce”. I similarly follow this recipe.

I kind of forget how easy these are to make. I made my family a bunch with regular Hawaiian rolls to eat on this week as well. Using a pack of Hawaiian rolls is such an easy make ahead sandwich idea, especially if you are out with a bunch of kids. Just slice a pack in half, add you middle and you can store them in the bag they came in on the go.

I’m on year three of building my culinary garden! I need to do a post of a full tour but I can’t believe how well everything is growing this year! I recently added oregano and strawberries to my garden and am shocked at how much they’ve already grown.

I have LOVED having a culinary garden, but it’s taken me some trial and error. My number one tip would be to go to a local garden center versus a big chain. Your local garden center will have more native plants to your area that with grow and thrive better.

I grew up in a different zone than I live in now and have tried one too many times to grow plants from my native middle Tennessee in the middle of Texas. Big mistake! Once I leaned in to native plants, everything has started thriving. What’s pretty crazy is my zone can grow citrus trees! I think mine will finally fruit this fall, and I’m so excited about it. I’ll do a full post on my culinary garden soon.

I know y’all have heard me talk about KoalaEco, but I’m on bottle number two of their mandarin and peppermint laundry wash. I am truly OBSESSED. We have hard water here, and it’s really freshened up our household laundry. I like that it has multiple enzymes for breaking down stains and only essential oils for fragrance (that aren’t lavender or patchouli!).

Lately, I could NOT get my kitchen dish towels and napkins clean. I finally did a strip using Koala Eco detergent, washing soda, and Borax in hot water, and they came out so fresh.

It puts off a fresh smell in the house while washing, and then my laundry smells so fresh. I will say that if you are used to synthetic fragrances, you will have a hard time with “non toxic” laundry detergent. I have a draft of a laundry post that I’ve been meaning to finish up forever!

This may be a hot opinion, but I prefer to eat off real plates and use cloth napkins. I feel like food tastes better- ha! These are my favorite every day napkins that I’ve used for maybe six or seven years. Yes, I use cloth napkins for every single meal and wash them every week.

For care, I wash the napkins and dish towels around once a week and fold them. I just “hand iron” them aka smooth them out with my hands when I fold them. It’s a bonus that the kids are also capable of folding them to help out sometimes. Usually one of the first household tasks that I teach them.

If you’ve never tried cloth napkins for daily use, maybe give it a try!

I thought I would share my favorite Christmas present that I got in case you were looking for a Mother’s Day gift. After delivering three large gestational age babies, I not-so-jokingly said that I wanted a medal for all that.

My Christmas present was this necklace, and I’ve worn it every single day. It has my children’s initials on it and is customizable. I truly love it so much, and it is my favorite piece of jewelry. I often pair it with a shorter chain like I’m wearing in the picture.

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.

If you’ve seen my infamous meal planning and recipe binder, I wanted to share exactly how I’ve built it for you to make your own. After I put this behemoth together, it made my life so much easier and lifted a big mental burden. I know millennials get a bad wrap for “printing the internet” but I think it’s a lot easier to work with physical copies of recipes as well as pen and paper for planning.

I personally use all my own worksheets and am constantly adding to them as life ebbs and flows. (Also, I have actually made every single one of those recipes in it!)

Why do this?

My biggest reason for building this binder is to have everything in one place. In order to keep a routine, it needs to be easy. Each week I grab this binder and go through the same steps instead of sitting down to a blank sheet of paper. Anything and everything that has to do with my kitchen in brain dumped into this binder: goals, go to meal lists by topic, my weekly meal planning pad, my evergreen grocery list, and all of my recipes organized by category.

Supplies:

• The Binder I use: you do not need this one. Any old three ring binder will work. However, I have them available on Zazzle where you can customize the spine with your family’s name.

• Clear page protectors:

• Tabs for organizing your recipes

• Print out the worksheets: I’ll have my exact worksheets below for paid subscribers. You’ll still get the gist of meal planning without them, but I feel like they are the “recipe” for success to be able to quickly meal plan in 5 minutes-ish.

Set up the binder.

In the front of the notebook, I put all my printed out worksheets in page protectors in order. By doing this, I will be able to follow the steps each week without having to think at all.

After the worksheet, I set up my recipes. (Maybe you haven’t cooked a lot and that’s ok. You’ll have a fresh place to start. I’ll help you get started with picking recipes in future posts.) I personally like to organize mine first by type of meat and then by meal. My categories are as follows:

• Chicken

• Beef

• Pork

• Dough (aka breads)

• Sides (mostly potato dishes ha!)

• Breakfast

• Lunch

• Snacks

• Soups/Smoothies

• Desserts

Here’s the logic behind it: we often buy our meat in bulk so I will pick dinner ideas based off of a type of meat that we have on hand. (We also rarely eat fish at home.) When I rotationally bulk meal prep, I am usually doing it based off the other categories. It just makes it so much easier to find recipes in my mind. (I also have a completely separate binder for holidays that I will get to later in the year! It follows similar planning and prepping methodologies modified for holidays. )

Please modify this to fit your family’s needs: You could keep it simple with meat categories, breakfast, snacks, desserts. I have a LOT of recipes so I got more granular to find them. The great thing is you can always adapt this system as your needs change. That’s what I love about it. When I started this system, I had a baby and a toddler. Now I have sports and school, and another baby ha! The principles have stayed the same, all that has changed is what I prep and when I prep it.

Now that you have this set up, we will move on to preparing your kitchen in the next post! I know this may seem like a lot at first, but doing some prep work BEFORE you start the habit is what really will make you successful. Learning to set up the system is the magic to keep you maintaining the habit for years to come.

Below are the worksheets and example worksheets for paid subscribers:

Read more

What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I see “Efficient Kitchen” embodying the whole home as well as the people in it. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

Since Friday is Good Friday, I didn’t want to send this post out then. I hope you are enjoying time with your family and friends.

I finished the Books of Imirillia series by Beth Brower. One word: Obsessed. I would consider it “light” fantasy without a huge amount of world building. You can quickly tackle the series because the plot is very fast starting in the second book. I would consider all three books a three volume set of one book (like how they used to publish books in the 1800’s.)

What I love about Beth’s writing is the depth of her characters. There is always a back story to each person that makes them who they are. She takes a long time to unfold each character which leaves you wanting more.

Another thing that is REALLY cool about her books is that she has so much extra information on her website once you finish the books. For the Books of Imirrilia, she has “soundtracks” and paintings and more that you can find on her website here.

Her current Substack has extra stories from other characters perspectives from the Emma M. Lion series which is really fun to read. (Y’all know I’m anxiously awaiting volume 9!)

My meal prepping is SO BORING lately, but I’m okay with that. Like I talk about in meal planning, our goals can change over time. I’m in a season of quick, nutrient dense meals. I have been making my breakfast tot egg cups without dairy and they are still good. I also have shortcutted them by dicing up Applegate’s Black Forrest Ham so I don’t have to fry any bacon. They come together super quickly! Just increase the eggs if you don’t add dairy by 2. You can find the recipe here:

The Efficient Kitchen

Tot-Lined Bacon Egg Cups (Freezer-Friendly & Kid-Approved)

Eating a hot, nourishing breakfast together as a family every morning is something that is extremely important to me. But the only way that happens in our house is if I’m prepped ahead. We have a pretty tight timeline on school mornings, but eating breakfast together as a family is my favorite…

Read more

9 months ago · 2 likes · 2 comments · Jordan | Efficient Kitchen

Life has been a bit heavy lately. I had to run to Dallas for an appointment and stopped by Hill House. It was a completely disaster if I’m honest- ha! I wanted to see some of the new stuff they had for spring. I am still trying to figure out what looks good and my body is still changing a lot. I hadn’t tried on anything since being pregnant and I wanted to know what size I needed if it went on sale. I also like to see the prints in person. I thought this would be more fun than it was, but I’ll try again next time when the baby has had a nap! I did meet a really sweet mom in the women’s lounge and it reminded me how I used to love to mall walk with my oldest and friends to escape the heat.

My favorite was the butter yellow Scarlett dress and this print. I also really liked the sweater they made to go with their dresses but it is too warm for that now in Texas.

Also saw come cutie nap dresses on major sale.

While I didn’t get to try everything on that I wanted to, I did end up getting my daughter and I matching hairbrushes. We’ve used Wet Brushes for years and both of ours were looking a little rough. I thought it would be cute in her Easter basket.

This is a recommendation from my husband actually! He doesn’t like to go without this collagen powder and puts it in a smoothie every morning. We recently ran out and ordered more because he loves it so much. I also love their gelatin powder for making homemade gummies (I’m posting my bulk prep recipe soon! I got tired of pipetting it!) We usually buy 3 at a time for the 20% discount and it lasts a good long while.

I appreciate Perfect Supplement’s standards on being glyphosate residue free and no filler ingredients.

A random “hack” that I learned on Kindle Unlimited- some of their books allow you to get the audiobook HIGHLY discounted once you “own” the book on Kindle Unlimited. If you like to “hybrid” read between Kindle and Audio book, you can do this with whisper sync. Just wanted to pass this information along if that’s something you enjoy!

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.

Meal planning can feel like a lot. Not just the act of choosing meals, but everything that comes with it. Taking inventory, making a list, grocery shopping, prepping, cooking, cleaning it all up, and then doing it again a few days later.

And sometimes, you’re just tired.

That’s usually when I get the question: what do you do when you don’t want to do it at all?

The honest answer is that I don’t try to do everything. I don’t expect myself to suddenly operate like a perfectly optimized system when I’m already running on empty. That’s where most meal planning advice falls short. It assumes you have the energy to overhaul your entire routine overnight.

Instead, I focus on small wins. One decision that makes the next decision easier. One step that removes friction from tomorrow.

Because the reality is, feeding your family isn’t one task. It’s a chain of decisions. And when there’s no system in place, every single one of those decisions pulls from your mental energy.

This is the part I’ve always been drawn to solving.

With my background in engineering, I naturally look at everyday problems want to simplify the process. Not eliminated, but structured in a way that requires less effort to maintain. We all have to eat. That part isn’t changing. But the way we get food on the table can.

Over time, I’ve built systems that take the pressure off the day-to-day. Not by doing more, but by deciding less in the moment. Having a plan that’s flexible, repeatable, and realistic for the season you’re in.

That’s what this Kitchen Blueprints approach is built around.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to break this down into simple, practical steps and share each one here as its own post so you can reference them anytime you need a reset. Think of it as building your system step by step, instead of trying to figure it all out at once.

For those of you who want everything in one place, I’ve also put together the full Kitchen Blueprints ebook along with all of the worksheets I use. I’ll be sharing that as a gift for paid subscribers, so you can print it out, keep it in a binder, and come back to it each week without starting from scratch.

The goal is straightforward. Less stress, less wasted time, less money spent on last-minute decisions, and more meals that feel manageable to get on the table.

If meal planning has been feeling overwhelming, this is your starting point. Not all at once. Just one small shift at a time.

You can find the posts here:

1. Exactly How I’ve Created My Meal Planning Binder

2. Don’t skip this step: goal setting

Instead of the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T. this week, I thought I would share all things Easter.

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays. Everything feels lighter with longer days, warmer sunshine, and the kind of beauty that only spring can bring. At its core, it is the most meaningful celebration of my faith and a reminder of truly good news. And alongside that, it is also one of my favorite meals of the year. Spring produce shows up in full color with fresh flavors and bright, aromatic ingredients that make everything feel special without trying too hard. I put this guide together to give you simple, beautiful inspiration for celebrating Easter with your family.

For paid subscribers, I have my full Easter guide with two bonus recipes for Easter breakfast at the bottom including my Easter quiche.

Menu Ideas:

• Easter quiche (see below!)

• Ham sandwiches (in the south we call them “funeral sandwiches” IYKYK)

• A spring salad

• Carrot cake (I love the Danielle Walker’s in Celebrations)

• For breakfast: pancakes & breakfast butter (in the Easter Guide)

The Efficient Kitchen

Easter Brunch Quiche

I love making quiches for lunch! They are so quick to pull together to make for the week. I like to serve it with a simple side salad. It gives “baby food shower” lunch vibes if you know what I mean…

Read more

24 days ago · Jordan | Efficient Kitchen

Easter Basket Ideas:

For Easter Baskets, I like to think of items that the kids need for spring and summer as well as books for them to read. Examples might be: swimsuits, new pair of pajamas, spring sandals, some goggles, sidewalk chalk, bows or hair accessories, fun socks, etc.

For older girls, the Hill House x Wet Brush collab is so pretty for a new hair brush and hair accessories.

Check out all my Easter basket ideas here.

Book Ideas:

• Brightest Day/Darkest Night Family Devotional by Marty Machowski

• The Country Bunny by Du Bose Heyward

• Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

• The Easter Egg by Jan Brett

• The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown

• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

• The Garden, The Curtain, and The Cross (Tales That Tell the Truth) by Carl Laferton

• The Lord is my Shepherd by Tasha Tudor

You can find all my favorite faith based books here.

Last Minute Dresses

I know most of us moms think about the kids before we’ve thought about ourselves. We often can leave ourselves to the last minute! I’ve rounded up some cute cotton dresses for spring and Easter. Most are under $100! Check out all of them here.

Below is my full Easter Guide with two bonus recipes for Easter breakfast from my Holiday Help ebook for paid subscribers!

Read more

This recipe is from my “Holiday Help” ebook where I help you plan a years worth of holidays that you can build on year after year! Be on the lookout for holiday planning content throughout the year for paid subscribers! I’ll be sending out a full easter guide tomorrow!

Read more

What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I see “Efficient Kitchen” embodying the whole home as well as the people in it. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

As I’m writing this, I’m about halfway through the final book (The Wanderer’s Mark)in Beth Brower’s Imirilion Series. WOW WEEE. I would say the three books are one continuous story chopped into three books. I have truly enjoyed this story with all it’s twists and turns. I read the entire second book last weekend. The first book is a little slow setting up the story, but the second takes off with a bang and has a very fast pace.

These books are clean with a strong female lead and complex characters. The dialog isn’t watered down and neither is the vocabulary. There’s a bit of a chess theme that’s interesting. Highly recommend!

I plan on reading through all her books on Kindle Unlimited since they aren’t at our local library before moving on to others on my “to be read” list!

I’m in a season of simple right now adjusting to life with a new baby in the home. I’ve been eating my Chinese Chicken Salad on repeat for the last three weeks because I just didn’t want to plan anything else! It’s been keeping me full, and it’s super easy to prep!

The Efficient Kitchen

Easy Lunch Meal Prep: Chinese Chicken Salad

I love a good “element prep” salad for the week for lunch. This is an easy no reheat lunch that you can prep ahead for the week. It’s gluten free and dairy free and packed with flavor…

Read more

a month ago · 1 like · Jordan | Efficient Kitchen

We’ve been on spring break this week and have been super busy! I mistakenly scheduled too many appointments this week for our entire family but it all worked out.

I remembered that I have free will as an adult and hosted a small “tea party” this week. Do you remember the American Girl Party Handbook? Well we picked Felicity’s tea party and made Queen Cakes. The girls played the trivia game that I mentioned last week and had a tea party with their dolls.

It was definitely a reminder to have fun with hosting and playdates. It wasn’t complicated, expensive or time consuming. Just a text “hey are y’all free? I’ve got a theme!”

If there’s one product that I keep buying over and over and cannot live with out, it’s this body butter. It actually moisturizes my dry skin and my entire family uses it. It’s a great “cleaner” swap for your bathroom. I love the faint almond and vanilla scent that is just enough to make it smell good. Give it a try!

The great thing about walking is it is literally free, but we got a walking pad last year that has been such a game changer. It’s out and it’s somewhat of eye sore but I use it every single day. I looked up the newer version of what we got and it’s so much nicer than mine. It has an incline and higher speed. Would highly recommend this brand!

My day is super interrupted, so I don’t always have time for 30 minutes consecutively. I will hop on for 10-15 minute increments throughout the day and read or watch TV while I walk. I’m still rehabbing my ankle so this has been nice to slowly build up speed!

I keep thinking about “treating” in terms of my nervous system or ways to “treat” others. Right now, I am “treating” my nervous system with: morning and midday sunlight, a 30 minute walk even if it’s broken up into 10 or 15 min increments, and taking some time to read everyday.

I have a 4 week perfect reading streak on my kindle and haven’t read this much since I was a kid. I forgot how much I loved to read. As a child I would read a chapter book a nice before bed, and I’ve been read about a book and a half a week lately! Amazing how little pockets of time add up.

Morning sunlight has helped me adjust to daylight savings time (goodness when are we stopping that nonsense!) and getting my vitamin D with the midday sun.

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.

I love a good “element prep” salad for the week for lunch. This is an easy no reheat lunch that you can prep ahead for the week. It’s gluten free and dairy free and packed with flavor.

I like to keep all the elements separate and then plate it when I’m ready to eat. I also like to think of recipes in terms of “bags” or “trays.” I will get at least 5 lunches out of this recipe.

Ingredients:

• Chicken thighs (or you could use rotisserie chicken but I think chicken thighs tastes the best) I use one big tray every time approximately __ pounds

• Onion powder, garlic powder, salt

• Clementines

• 2 bags of premade coleslaw

• optional added shredded carrots

Dressing:

• 3 dates

• 1/2 cup coconut aminos (or soy sauce or tamari)

• 1 tbl tahini

• 1/4 tsp fish sauce

• 1 tbl grated ginger

• 1/4 tsp garlic paste or one minced garlic

Prep the Chicken:

1. Pat the chicken dry and season heavily with onion powder, garlic powder and salt.

2. Grill on medium high heat for around 7 minutes a side until it reaches approximately 165 degrees. My husband does this on our Blackstone but you could also do it on a large griddle or in a cast iron skillet indoors.

3. Slice the chicken thighs up and store in a large container in the fridge.

Make the dressing:

You can make the dressing two ways. One is to make the recipe as is and then you’ll probably need to make another batch later in the week or you can double it at once. I have made it both in a blender and also with an immersion blender. My preferred way is to double it in a big jar with an immersion blender.

1. Place 3 dates in warm water for 3-5 minutes to soften.

2. In a blender or a jar (to use an immersion blender) add your ingredients and then add your dates (but not the water)

3. Blend until smooth.

A note on the grated ginger: I generally process a lot of ginger at once and freeze it into tablespoon portions. You also can get some frozen ginger in teaspoon portions from Trader Joes. I will peel ginger and put it in a blender with a little bit of water and then scoop into a soupercubes mold to freeze. It will last me a LONG time.

For each salad, I place shredded coleslaw and add some extra shredded carrots if you would like, one clementine, approximately 6 oz of chicken, and then drizzle dressing on top. You also could add some sliced almonds for extra crunch if you desire!

Let me know if you make this ahead. I have a printable version of this recipe for paid subscribers below!

Read more

There’s a quote from Andy Bernard on the final episode of The Office where he says “I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you left them.” that has always lingers in the back of my mind. Andy spends most seasons reminiscing on his time at Cornell while he’s working, and in the end, he gets to go back to working at Cornell and realizes the best years of his life were when he was in “the office.” He realized too late that he wished away a season of his life longing for the past.

I know everyone’s motherhood experiences are different, but for me, the first kid was a slingshot into a completely new phase of life. I think marriage and motherhood can expose the most selfish parts of our hearts. Suddenly my life was not my own and a tiny human was completely dependent of me for 24 hours a day/7 days a week. I don’t think you realize how much free time you have until you have children- ha!

I think we can often wish away hard seasons to get to “easier” times. While yes, we might get more sleep or have more “freedom” in other seasons, there will always be something. A friend gave me some advice when I first became a mom: every time something good or bad goes away, another good or bad thing will take its place. While the younger years are filled with mostly meeting physical demands of children, the older years morph into shaping their character. Character shaping can be just as draining as sleep training or feeding around the clock.

I’m eight years into motherhood now and knowing this is the last baby, everything feels bitter sweet. I keep telling myself "I get to” instead of “I have to.” Yes, there are days where I’m tired to the bone and falling asleep early on the couch, but I know in my heart of hearts I wish I could freeze time right now. I KNOW I’m in the good ole days right now. I know when I’m 80 that I’ll long for a 2am snuggle rocking a baby back to sleep, that I’ll long to hear the lispy voices filled with orthodontics, and wish I could be picking up books from every nook and crannie of our home. I won’t care what my postpartum body looks like and would say to my current self “she looks so young and strong.”

I know I’m in the “good ole days” and want to savor even the hard because there’s always something hard in life, but right now, the hard has squishy hands and sweet voices and lots and lots of books and socks to pick up. But whatever season of life I’m in, I hope I find contentment in that season of life.

What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

I officially finished all eight Emma M. Lion books! Phenomenal. I started and am about half way through the first book in the Imirillion series called The Queen’s Gambit. (No, not the chess show on Netflix.) The series is written by Beth Brower before she wrote Emma M. Lion, and it actually fantasy believe it or not. The book involves a young Queen with the threat of war and her navigating the specifications of that threat. One thing I like about Beth’s writing is that she only slowly reveals characters to you. There’s always something you really want to know about them and she only gives you little nuggets along the way leaving you to want more.

Last year I read Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time and loved it but know I’m not in the season for high fantasy with a lot of world building. (Big fan of the Hobbit and Chronicles of Narnia.) I decided to do one more month with kindle unlimited since I read seven books on the first month of it making the price worth it. This series was on there and thought, why not? They are shorter fantasy and clean. So far it is a little slow but most fantasy books are in the beginning. The Good Reads reviews say it takes off in the second book. As always, I’ll keep you updated!

If you wonder how I read with a newborn and two other kids, I do it on the kindle app on my phone or audiobooks. My phone is always with me and I can read with one hand while feeding a baby. My phone “bricks” at 4pm and I try to use one or two feedings to read as well as at night after the kids go to bed for just a chapter or two to settle my mind. I genuinely try to replace social media with reading as much as I can. You’d be surprised how much you can read!

Check out Good Reads review here.

Eating has been so boring lately ha! I have been eating my Chinese Chicken salad on repeat. I promise to share as soon as I type up the recipe.

BUT…

I wanted to share Callie Sall’s Gluten Free Party Mix. We served this over the weekend and it’s always a hit at parties. At least one person asks me for the recipe every time I serve it. It’s super easy and no one knows that it’s gluten free.

We’ve actually been playing a lot of games lately. My kids LOVE games but we don’t have a ton of space to store them. I’m a huge fan of the vintage bookshelf games for saving space on classic games. I’m bummed they don’t have them at Target right now because I got two of them for under $12 each at Christmas time. Right now some of our favorite games are:

• Shark Bite (great for little kids. we are loving this game right now!)

• Trouble (teaches winning and losing and counting to 6)

• Clue (7-8 and up)

• Chess (I actually don’t know how to play but my husband and child can!)

Another GREAT game that we love is the American Girl’s Trivia Game. We found one on eBay for about $20. It’s so nostalgic to play if you read the books as a kid. My child can now beat me because I’m a little rusty on the details of some of the books.

I have been using KoalaEco products in my home for a little bit now and I’m truly obsessed. I cannot get over how good they smell. It’s so fresh and NOT smelling like lavender and patchouli. (Why do all nontoxic brands lean into those two smells?!?) My favorite smell is the mandarin peppermint but I want to try some more. I’ve really enjoyed the laundry detergent and hand soap a lot. Everything smells really fresh without an overpowering smell and it really cleans well. I particularly love it for towels and bedding.

You can get the spring starter set 15% off right now here. (Which the set is already saving 20%!)

I’ve finally found a decent less expensive “non toxic” shampoo and conditioner. I recently ran out and ordered this brand on Amazon for $25 for both shampoo and conditioner. I’ve been using “nontoxic” shampoo for over a decade and have tried a LOT. So far this one seems great! Check the brand out here because there are several options depending on your hair type.

I guess you could say I “treated” myself to a Kindle Unlimited membership. I don’t think I’ll keep it long term based on what books are available but I’m trying to read a new series this month so it’s worth it. So far I’m on pace.

I found that reading really helps lower any weird postpartum anxiety that pops up. I’ve really enjoyed actually slowing down enough to read and not just do audiobooks so that I’m still “productive” while reading. It’s been a “treat” for my nervous system.

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.

I know that I am a person who needs to see an example of something that I’m learning put into practice. I want to walk you through what a month of meal planning and prepping could look like for you.

I’ve talked about this before, but you definitely need your why and what your goals or guide rails are to guide you to the right recipes for you. Think: time, budget, dietary restriction, health, etc.

Let’s take the example goal: I need fast breakfasts and dinner under 30 minutes. I don’t mind eating the same or similar things for breakfast or lunch everyday. (i.e. I’m fine without a lot of variety)

With this goal in mind, you need freezer friendly breakfasts that you can heat up quickly and for dinner sheet pan, crock pot, or “dump and go” meals will be your friend. (Also you can turn a lot of meals into dump and go if you chop your produce ahead of time!)

Now using your goals, make yourself a list of recipes that fit the criteria for meals. You’ll add to this over time. You’ll keep expanding it. Also some meals are meant for certain seasons. For example, we grill more in the summertime. The oven is simply too hot.

I have a full example walking you through the process along with printables to work through each step as well as my own personal family favorites meals list.

Read more

What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

I know y’all are probably sick of me talking about The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion (but it was 8 books that I read in a month!) and I hoped to completely finish by the time this came out. I have about 30 pages left in the eighth book. Goodness, I have LOVED these. Each book gets more and more complex as you dive into each character’s past. I can’t wait for the ninth book.

Here are some books on my to be read list:

• A Gentleman in Moscow

• Theo of Golden

• The Queen’s Gambit Series

If you have read any of these, weigh in! I can’t decide which to pick next. My book club has raved over the first two.

ICYMI, I sent out exactly what my family ate and how I prepped it in Tuesday’s post called: plan. prep. plate. I really want to help lift that mental burden and teach other mom’s how to meal plan and prep. I gave a full example of exactly what I did and what my family ate last week with five recipes. I have a few new recipes that I worked on this week. I cannot WAIT to share my Chinese Chicken Salad. It was SO easy and probably the best dressing that I’ve ever made.

The Efficient Kitchen

Plan. Prep. Plate.

I know, I know… you hear me say all the time “you don’t need a meal plan, you need a system.” BUT I wanted to give you a meal plan where you could see the system in action. I’m boiling it down to three simple steps: plan, prep, plate…

Read more

2 months ago · 2 likes · 2 comments · Jordan | Efficient Kitchen

I’ve honestly been playing with my kids this week. The baby has come alive with her personality and is just SO fun. I feel like everything hits different when you know it’s your last baby.

I’ve enjoyed being outside in the warm Texas weather. I started the Ladder app’s team Movewell to ease myself back into working out. I have a lot to rehab but moving on my porch has felt so good. I try to set everything up while she’s awake and the second she goes down for a nap, I run out to my patio to workout!

I know it will be awhile before I get back to earning a barbell, but I’m enjoying short, simple, workouts on my patio in this delightful weather.

I’m so happy that it’s spring again, and I can be wearing sandals. Last year, I bought two pairs of sandals from this Etsy shop and they are hands down the most comfortable sandals. They have the Vibram barefoot sole, and they are so comfortable that I walk on my walking pad in them. I saw that they are on sale right now and she typically shuts down her shop once it gets warm because they are hand made.

Check out my favorite pair of sandals here. They go with everything!

I have honestly been so surprised at how cute the clothes are at Old Navy and Land’s End right now! Don’t sleep on Land’s End for swimsuits!! Land’s End has some of the best suits that I own, and they have long torso suits as well for all the tall gals. Most of their suits are 50% off right now, and they hold up for years!

Check out my full ShopMy here. You can find all my home recs and natural fiber finds.

(Thank you to anyone who shops links to support the costs of running Efficient Kitchen!)

My kids needed some new pajamas and I found these super cute 100 percent cotton matching Easter pajamas! The baby’s were down to $10 with the pickup in store discount, so I got her two sizes at the crazy rate she’s growing.

There’s just something I love about matching pajamas and thought these were so so cute!

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.

I know, I know… you hear me say all the time “you don’t need a meal plan, you need a system.” BUT I wanted to give you a meal plan where you could see the system in action. I’m boiling it down to three simple steps: plan, prep, plate.

One thing that I learned from pregnancy is that I just need to keep our dinners incredibly simple right now. I don’t have the same amount of time for dirty dishes or more complicated dishes. I will get back to that season though, because I enjoy those recipes!

I’m keeping everything simple with meat and veggies. Right now I’m working through some specific things for my thyroid so I’m keeping dinners simple. As always, I need my breakfast and lunch prepped for the week. I’m truly ok with eating the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. I never thought I would, but when it comes to eating something decent or not eating or eating trash for a meal, I would much rather eat something boring!

Decide your meals for the week. I personally like this formula: one breakfast bulk prepped, one lunch for the week, and three dinners that we double. I also like having one “break glass in case of emergency” meal if the week goes awry. For me that’s the force of nature meatballs that can be served with spaghetti squash or noodles. We also typically pair another grilling meal or freezer meal with steak because we aren’t having that two nights in a row in this economy.

Meals

• Breakfast: sheet pan turkey scramble

• Lunch: grilled chicken salad

• Dinners:

  • Steak + parsnip fries

  • Frozen meatballs + spaghetti squash

  • Sheet pan chicken thighs + yellow potatoes x2

  • Egg roll in a bowl x2

Grocery list

Read more

What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

I just finished my sixth The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion. The sixth book was slower but ended with a bang. I immediately started book seven. Book seven has been my favorite so far of the series, and I’m about half way through it. I’m truly bummed that I only have one book left right now. It has been my favorite series that I have read in a long time. I do subscribe to the author’s Substack and she did say book nine is coming out this year and that there is a special announcement the first week of March. I know this is going to be the next big series and will most likely get turned into a TV series. I would bet money on it.

What I love so much is the long character development and the witty banter. Is the storyline realistic? Absolutely not. It is truly light and funny with complex characters. Jane Austen likes to shine light on women’s plight with marriage being their only prospect in life, while I do like how this book series shines light on the amount of freedom men had over women during the Victorian era. It’s just a truly delightful series and I’m so glad there are plans for twenty four books.

This week I finally dove into my postpartum diet with specific work that I’m doing for my thyroid. (It actually looks great, but I want it more optimal at my next appointment!)I’m cutting out dairy for a month to try to move the needle on my bloodwork, so you’ll see more dairy free content here for a bit. I know my body is in a season of stress recovering from growing a somewhat tiny human, a sprained ankle, sleepless nights, and I’m turning forty this year.

I don’t know what it is about turning forty but that makes me want to kick it into high gear in taking care of myself. I also lost a lot of muscle mass the last trimester of pregnancy, so I’m upping my protein take a bit.

I’m excited to share simple, easy meals that can get on the table in 20ish minutes next week. I’m starting a series called “Plan. Prep. Plate.” to demonstrate a weekly rhythm of meal planning, prepping and cooking. Be on the lookout. You won’t want to miss it!

The food I’ve been loving this week is yellow potatoes cut into wedges with some avocado oil, salt, garlic powder and onion powder. I air fry them at 400F and cook time varies for how thin you cut them. It’s anywhere from 14-18 minutes until crispy.

I have debated sharing this, but it has brought me so much joy lately. We got a landline for the kids where they can call family and friends. I can control everything from my phone for it, so its secure and safe. Only programmed numbers in the app can allow calls to go out or in, and no spam calls!

We went in with a group of friends to bulk order the phones, and so they had a group of friends to call. It has been my dream for like a year to do this because I think phone skills are being lost as well as the autonomy of calling your friends. I wanted my kids to be able to talk to their friends and family without needing my phone or the distractions of FaceTime. It has been really fun teaching them phone skills and hearing bits and pieces of their conversations with friends.

Another bonus is it has a long cord that they love to fidget with while they talk. It’s so cute. You can find it here. Feel free to drop any questions about it!

I just repurchased my third pot of RMS Beauty’s master radiance base. Now that my skin is back to normal after pregnancy hormones, I love to wear it alone with some of the under eye brightener when I don’t want to wear much makeup or I mix it with my UnCoverup foundation. It gives a nice glow to dull skin and makes me look more alive even when I’ve been up all night. It’s a top five product for me.

A way to save money at RMS is to “Build Your Own Bundle” and select three products to save 25%.

You can find all my nontoxic favs here.

My favorite Black Friday purchase was getting a Brick device. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a device that you can select what apps you want to prevent from being used during a “brick” session. You can also create different modes depending on what you want to focus on. I debated it forever but realized I am an iPad kid when left to my own devices. I absolutely have overridden every single app on helping me control my screen time. What I love about it is that I have to physically get up and walk to my fridge to “unbrick” my phone. I “brick” social media on the weekends because I was just wasting so much time on it. I now use my time more intentionally. I’m going to start setting up some automatic “brick” time to.

What have I done with my extra time? Been more focused and read waaaay more. The first weekend I used it, I read an entire book.

I like to Brick my phone when leaving the house, writing or editing, and the witching hour because I definitely need to focus then. I typically brick my phone overnight too so I’m not tempted to scroll at 4am when I can’t get back to sleep after feeding the baby. I have been reading instead and that has brought me so much more joy and prevents me from going into a spiral of all the things I have to do for the day.

Sleep is my biggest treat right now- ha! I take my sleep very seriously. Blue blockers at night, sunshine first thing in the morning, cotton bedding, etc. A few months ago, I was looking for a silk sleep mask because my other mask had worn out. Every one I found was like $60 which is kind of bonkers. I found this $10 one on Amazon, and I think it’s the perfect gift for friends too. I was shocked at how it improved my dry eyes too! I now sleep with this affordable silk pillow case (2 for $20 like Chilis!) and this sleep mask. It’s made a massive difference in my skin and hair too. I also have all my bedding favorites linked here. One last note, it took me a long time to find a good sound machine and we own two of these. They have a real fan in them and the only way we all sleep!

You can find the rest of my bedding favorites here.

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.

In case you missed it, I had a baby towards the end of 2025. The birth of my second child prompted the method that I have used since for Efficient Kitchen. He was only 8 months old when I started meal prepping and planning every week and our family has followed that method for four years now.

If you have any food allergies, you know that you can’t just eat anything. You are most likely going to need to cook it for yourself.

With this pregnancy, I wanted to stock my freezer for postpartum with meals for myself and my kids to make my life easier. It truly wasn’t a whole lot of extra effort since I am already in the rhythm. I just doubled or tripled anything I made, so I could eat on it in the last month of pregnancy and postpartum.

I grow super huge babies so I knew that I would need to have everything made before the last 6 weeks. It was no surprise that this baby was huge- she was 11 pounds. It was so hard to cook and eat anything towards the end. Standing on my feet for long periods were hard and I had pretty bad nausea and heartburn from the pressure of the baby. (Cooking was not my favorite in 2025 ha!)

With that, I had a fully stocked freezer for myself and my family and was able to eat on it the first six weeks. I’ll list out all the recipes that I used, the cooking schedule that I did and how I froze and stored them.

I’ll have my cooking schedule printable that I like to use for batch cooking and preparing for holidays at the bottom for paid subscribers.

What I Actually Did

It didn’t feel overwhelming because it wasn’t a separate project—it was just an extension of my normal rhythm. I normally look ahead and follow my motto:

Cook when you have time so you have food when you don’t.

Well I had time to cook before the baby came, and I wanted to have really good food prepared for myself and the kids to make life easier for my husband and myself.

Step 1: I made a list

Everything I wanted to cook—nothing fancy, nothing complicated.

Step 2: I made a schedule

I spread it across October and November, based on our weekends and real life commitments. I did most of it over four cooking sessions. A great rhythm is to chop everything and get your soup going, then start getting your oven time going. Even better have a spouse chop while you start mixing together anything that needs to bake. Two is better than one and you can knock it out really quickly.

Step 3: I planned for help

My husband handled kitchen cleanup because I knew I wouldn’t have energy for both cooking and cleaning.

Planning matters more than recipes ever will.

Recipes I Made

• Chicken pot pie soup X2

• Turkey taco soup X3 (by far my favorite for a winter birth)

• Cal’s meatloaf* X2 and whipped parsnips X2

• Cornbread muffins X2 (recipe coming)

• Sheet pan pancakes X2 (now my go-to for meal trains)

• Sausage balls X2

• Breakfast egg cups X2

Simple. Familiar. Freezer-friendly. Family-proof. I needed recipes for not just me but also for my kids. Everything needed to be easy to heat up or eat with one hand.

*Definitely get my friend Callie’s ebook of recipes from her grab and go store! The meatloaf is in that paid book. Her recipes are amazing!

Tools I Used

• Souper Cubes (2 cup + 1 cup molds)

• Vacuum sealer

• Vacuum sealer bags (Souper cubes now has ones that perfectly fit their portions!)

• Ziplock freezer storage bags

• Parchment paper

How I Froze Everything

• Froze meals overnight in Souper Cubes for individual portions

• OR froze in a single layer on baking sheets with parchment paper

• Transferred to bags once frozen

• Labeled and vacuum sealed everything the next day

No chaos. No wasted food. No mystery meals.

The Bigger Picture

This isn’t about freezer meals.

It’s about systems.
It’s about cooking when you have time so you have food when you don’t.
It’s about removing friction from the hardest seasons of motherhood.
It’s about feeding your family without feeding burnout.

This is the heartbeat of Efficient Kitchen.

And this freezer prep?
It’s just one real-life example of what sustainable rhythms actually look like.

Let me know if you have any questions below! I’m happy to answer or do a follow up post.

Read more

What is the Weekly R.E.P.O.R.T? I wanted to create a fun weekly format to share food, reads, hobbies, items, shows and more that I’m currently loving or making my life easier. I also want to hear from YOU. What are you enjoying? Comment on the post anything you’re loving in a R.E.P.O.R.T category.

I’m still working my way through the Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion. If you want my review, check out last week’s post.

I have been alerted to the cutest collab at Target with Rifle Paper company for all my book lovers. If you love the Rifle Paper classics covers, you’ll love this collab. I’m personally eyeing the journal because Pride and Prejudice and Little Woman are two of my favorite books of all time. (I also own those covers too!) You can find them here.

Last weekend I did a big restock for my freezer. I made these recipes in bulk:

• Turkey Taco Soup

• Birthday cake muffins (my kids love these after school)

I’m going to do a full post on my freezing process with a video that I need to edit. I really love that turkey taco soup because it’s super quick to make and really filling. Soups are such a great food to bulk prep and freeze.

I have started walking again, finally. It is warm here, and I love the feeling of sun on my face. I truly feel like I’m alive again. I’ve really been trying to spend more time outside whether it’s feeding the baby in our backyard or watching our kids play with friends.

The time of day varies but I truly have started to feel like myself again by being able to move and feel the warm sunshine on my skin. Pregnancy is really challenging for me and being freshly postpartum in January was not fun. I felt super cooped up recovering, especially since I’ve been nursing a sprained ankle.

I’m really trying to reset my circadian rhythm again with brighter days and darker nights. (I do this with the baby too and we notice she sleeps better on days she gets morning sunlight) I also like this inexpensive red light to keep night feedings dark. It gives me just enough light to see and no blue light to disrupt my circadian rhythm.

I’m absolutely obsessed with the KoalaEco products. I have missed a citrus smell after cleaning and the floor cleaner will make your house smell so good. Even my husband commented how good the house smelled after cleaning with the floor cleaner. I’ve also tried the hand soap and laundry detergent. The laundry detergent makes my house smell really good and I like how clean my clothes are after using it. Check it out here.

The annual LAKE Pajama sale is here! I bought a few items in last years sale and they are truly my favorite. I got a robe, gown, and pajama shorts set.

If you don’t know pima cotton is extra long staple cotton. It’s mainly grown in the United States and Peru. Extra long staple cotton has a longer growing season which is reflected in the price. Extra long staple fibers means that the item will last longer and only get softer over time.

I’ve found that more and more companies are using synthetics but charging natural fiber prices. “Bamboo” is a synthetic. It’s actually just rayon and will pill and break down very quickly. You can purchase pima cotton for a similar price and the garment will last you years versus a few washes. (This is also great if you like to consign children’s clothes)

Anyway, if you’re wanting to pick up a few quality pieces, I would recommend the LAKE annual pajama sale. I usually size up so that I can dry on low for 20 minutes. Take this advice at your own caution because they say to air dry their items. (I don’t have time for that and this has worked out great for me)

Ha, NOT a lot of treating going on around here. I have birthdays for my family the next couple of months, and I’m working on planning those. I did finally order a duvet cover from Spoonflower. If you’re having trouble finding something you like, maybe check them out? I really like the artist Whitney English on there. She has really beautiful prints. The items are mostly American made and I really loved the quality of the cotton sateen. I got this affordable duvet insert here that’s great for hot sleepers.

Let me know any of your recommendations below! I would love to hear them.