Changing lifestyle, changing priorities

**This post was originally published in my monthly e-newsletter, Lelah's News. Don't subscribe? Sign up here!

There has never been an undertaking that has so drastically changed my life as having a baby, and he hasn't even arrived yet! Getting married was a drop in the bucket compared to the way my life is changing with a child on the way. Physically, the changes are obvious. I can’t do everything I did before. Professional organizing is a very active job, and it was a bit scary to have limitations placed on my physical work. Mentally, the changes are different. I have to limit my commitments and make sure I have time for the most important things. I am reprioritizing. I’m planning even farther ahead in some areas of my life (meal planning, stocking up on supplies) and not planning at all in others (leaving entire days free so I can be rested enough for the demands of pregnancy and motherhood). All in all, it’s been a challenge, which is something I actually appreciate. Life should be challenging, otherwise how we will grow and learn?

For me, the biggest key to this transition has been realizing that it is just that, a transition, that it takes time and I have to give myself the room to make mistakes and learn from them. The rewards of doing so are great, I find, even as I miss certain things about my old lifestyle. I'm used to being able to take on a lot and accomplish it with energy to spare. But pulling back and taking on less is showing me that I don't need to do it all in order to find satisfaction or success.

**Update: My son was born April 9. Life is changing every day in even more incredible ways than I could have imagined.  Stay tuned to this blog and my newsletter as my organizational approach is informed by being a new parent!

Post-natal meal planning

My first baby is due in just a few weeks, and one thing I've heard over and over from people who've done this before is to make sure to have plenty of meals and food on hand, and to get people to bring you food whenever they come visit. Since eating has always been one of my top priorities, and I know that energy and time for cooking will be in short supply once the baby is here, I've made a point to make up several batches of nutritious and hearty meals and have completely filled my freezer to the brim with them. I've also stocked up on staples, which I'll be posting about in a couple of days.

I have a small freezer, and I've had to make some choices about what to keep in there. I pared down my ice pack collection, and have been using up the ends of bags of lima beans and blueberries, which is good to do once in a while anyway.

Then I made beef stew, minestrone soup and whole wheat spinach lasagne (and put them in labeled, meal-portion containers). Which just about taps me out space-wise. But that's still at least 9 solid meals worth, and it gives me a little peace of mind knowing that my family and I won't be entirely dependent on the kindness of visitors or the prepared foods section of Whole Foods!

How to organize camping meals

My friend Roslyn is a food innovator. She has a website where you can find nutritionally perfect recipes and she taught me a great way to keep meal prep organized when you are camping or staying someplace like a cabin or vacation rental where you have to bring every single ingredient with you. 

Choose your meals and do as much prep work ahead of time at home. If making corn bread for instance, measure out  the dry ingredients and put them all in a Ziploc bag. Chop up the veggies for the stir fry in advance. Then, place everything you'll need for that meal in a sturdy bag (like a paper grocery bag or the kind of reusable grocery bag that has a bottom). Put any specialty equipment in the bag, too. Label the bag according to the meal that's inside. Depending on how far you have to travel, put the highly perishable items on ice in a cooler, and label each one with a Sharpie according to what meal it will be used in. 

For example, the bag for a dinner of cornbread and chili might include the cornbread dry ingredients, a container of vegetable oil, cans of beans, a pre-measured mix of spices, chopped vegetables and a can opener. The right amount of eggs, butter and ground meat would be labeled in your cold storage. You could even slip the recipe inside the bag, or the pots and pans you'll use.

The beauty of this system is threefold:

1. You bring exactly the right amount of food. If you plan it out, you shouldn't have leftover cans or bags to schlepp home, and as long as you don't cannibalize from the bags, you won't run out of food, either.
2. It makes it super easy for people to help you in the kitchen.
3. You won't come in from a big hike and wonder what to make out of the hodgepodge of items you brought.

Give it a try and see how well it works for you!

Lelah Baker-Rabe is a Los Angeles-based professional organizer. To discuss your organizing needs, call her at 818.269.6671 or email lelah@lelahwithanh.com