Being a working mother can cut into your time with the family. You miss taking the kids to the amusement park, missing a ballgame or hiking because your weekends are crammed full of running errands and doing laundry. It doesn’t have to be that way. Your evenings can be stress free and your weekends can be full of carefree adventures and little housework so that Saturday’s are just tidying up odds and ends and Sunday’s can be dedicated to reconnecting or family adventures.

Many women work close enough to home to take advantage of those seemingly wasteful lunch breaks. When that happens and you have, crock-pots, ovens that automatically turn on and off, and washers and dryers in your home, you have opportunities galore for cutting time into your weekends, instead out of them. Each day an activity can be assigned or a meal can be prepared ahead of time to cook while you’re at work to make your evening less stressful and your weekends more full of family friendly.

Several types of meat can be readied ahead of time and placed in a slow cooker. Pork ribs are a great slower cooker item as they work well in a bath of barbecue sauce that makes them tender and juicy. Make a double batch and shred for pulled pork sandwiches that freeze and reheat well. Another quick family favorite is soup. This is great for cold winter nights or even hot summer days when you just don’t want to cook. A few cans of chicken broth, left over chicken from Sunday supper, rice or thin egg noodles, and some vegetables make a quick supper that heats on a low heat from lunchtime on. To save on clean up time, purchase the slow cooker liners that fit down inside the slow cooker and toss when finished. This way the slow cooker isn’t sitting in the sink for days soaking. There are plenty of cookbooks on slow cookers out there. Pick one up and experiment.

Your oven has more options available to you than any other appliance in your home. Most of the newer ones today will cook on a time clock and allow you to set up your dinner hours ahead of time. Mix up a meatloaf first thing in the morning or at lunch and set the oven to start about two hours before you’re due home. Let the oven do all the work. The same goes for any piece of meat that you would like prepared while you’re working. Pot roasts, racks of ribs, hams, kielbasa, and chicken can be prepped in advanced, tucked into a nice pot and set to cook with little thought. This works well for casseroles too. Mix together your favorite ingredients and tuck it away in the oven until nice and toasty brown.

Sort out your days according to what you would like to see done in the house. Long or even short lunch breaks are great for doing minor housework and getting a little exercise at the same time. Dedicate Wednesday’s or Thursday’s as the beginning of laundry day. Instead of stacking up six or eight loads to do on Saturday morning, do mini loads throughout the week, starting them before you leave in the morning and drying them after work or switch them out at lunch if you’re close enough to home.

Being a working mother does have its disadvantages at times, especially if you have to work late. You miss the little things in your child’s life, but if you’re very organized, you can do wonders at lunch or in the morning, to make your evenings simpler and create much needed bonding time. Don’t waste any more time with the housework than you have to. Tie all of your ends up on the weekends and make your weekday mornings and afternoons count.

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