Creating Ease: The Mid-Afternoon Reset (and Why We Call It Dinner 1)
This is the second post in our series on creating ease through organization, with a focus on function. We started with the morning rush. Now let's talk about the middle of the day, when the chaos tends to pick up.
Everyone handles this part of the day differently, but whatever you do, I hope you take at least a 20-minute break. Eat, work out, go for a walk, meditate. It doesn't matter which, just take the break.
My least creative meal (on purpose)
If there's no lunch meeting on my calendar, I'm usually eating solo, and when I'm cooking for just me, I put in the least amount of effort. So I make the same meal on repeat: my OG kale salad.
I buy one gigantic bag of pre-washed kale and use it all week. I start with an unusually large bowl and add my vinaigrette ingredients straight into it: honey, olive oil, kosher salt, and shallots. I whisk until it's emulsified, then add the kale and massage it in. Then comes my protein (usually chickpeas), quinoa if I have some, and toasted slivered almonds.
That's it, and it stays on repeat almost every day. Whatever your OG meal is, keep it simple and repeatable. The goal is something healthy that you can sustain.
My OG Kale Salad: Vinaigrette on the bottom, kale, chickpeas, quinoa, feta and cucumber. YUM!
Dinner 1
Like a lot of people today, I'm lucky enough to work from home. That means I cook dinner in the middle of my workday, before the kids get home, and I do it on purpose.
At 3:30, my kids walk through the door and head straight for the pantry. They come home famished, as if they haven't had a drop of water or a bite of food in eight hours. Chips and junk food aren't going to cut it for me, so I serve a full meal at 3:30. We lovingly call it Dinner 1.
As each person trickles in, the food is ready on the stove to reheat. It's made a big difference in preventing the after-school crash, and they actually have the energy for their sports and music lessons.
I know it isn't ideal that we're not all sitting down together on weeknights. But with after-school activities and everyone's different schedules, family meals have become a weekend luxury. If I have to compromise, I'd rather feed hungry stomachs a full meal with carbs, protein, and a veggie than serve empty calories just so we can eat together.
If cooking at 2:00 isn't part of your day, stay one day ahead and make tomorrow's dinner tonight, or cook it over the weekend. I'll go deeper on meal prep in the next post.
The snack kit
My kids might eat at 4:00 and call it dinner, but it isn't dinner time for me yet, and my kale salad has long been digested. This is where my snack kit comes in.
I fill bento-style boxes with cheese and crackers, fruit, and nuts. They save me while I'm the unpaid, thankless Uber driver for after-school activities.
These Bento style boxes are pre-portioned snack kits that I assemble in advance to keep me going into my evenings.
Where design comes in
I talk about food a lot, but really I'm talking about planning. Whenever someone is tired, stressed, or having a rough day, the first question is usually "Have you eaten?" When we're fueled, we have the energy and patience for everything else on the list, and for most of us it's a long list. That's the part I care about most: making it easy to be fed, so you can keep going.
It's also why the kitchen and pantry are such important spaces to design well. When we design for you, we think through the moments you've just read about:
The landing zone. Where do hungry kids go when they walk in the door? We plan that path so it doesn't cut through your cooking space.
A snack station at their height. A drawer or low shelf lets kids help themselves to fruit, crackers, and pre-packed snack kits, without asking you or climbing the counters.
Fridge and pantry space that fits your routine. If you batch-cook or prep ahead, you need room for containers, bento boxes, and that giant bag of greens. We look at what you buy and how you store it, then size the space to match.
A place to reheat. When everyone eats at a different time, the stove, microwave, and counter space should work for people coming and going, not just for one cook.
A pantry where things are easy to find. Clear zones and the right shelf depths keep staples visible and make it easy to see what's running low.
A kitchen can be beautiful and still not work at 3:30 on a Tuesday. We want yours to be both, so the space does some of the work for you. When everything has a place and the layout fits your life, the little obstacles disappear.
Take your 20 minutes this week. You've earned it.
Grab-n-go section in your pantry at kid height for those after-school hurry moments.
Ready for a kitchen that keeps up with your life?
If your kitchen or pantry isn't keeping up with your family's schedule, we'd love to help. Reach out to start a conversation about your space.
— Humeira
H&S Interiors and Organization | Bee Cave, Texas
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