Thank you Idahoan® Mashed Potatoes for sponsoring this post. Idahoan® Mashed Potatoes are real potatoes, real easy, delivering homemade taste on demand.

Alex and I both work full-time outside of the home, but thankfully we don't have too far of a commute (that's anything less than an hour in Austin). I usually get off by 4pm, and pick Turner up from the after school program at his school. Some days after work I will go straight to work out, and pick up Turner around 5:30pm. Sometimes it's my only time during the week to get my workout in so I take advantage of the childcare I'm paying for, plus he loves it.

Alex picks Walt and Whitney up from school after 5 and usually gets home between 5:30-6pm depending on how busy he is at work and traffic on the way home. Before they get home I'm usually picking up the house, or trying to get some blog work in for about 30 minutes. Alex is the cook in our home, and he'll start cooking as soon as he walks in the door. I take the kids and play with them, which I'd much rather do than cook ; ).

The time between when Alex gets home with the twins and 8pm our house is completely bonkers! We have a VERY short amount of time to get dinner prepared, and it can be a drawn out process if the kids want to "help". One of our favorite meals to cook that is delicious and quick is hamburger steak with mashed potatoes. Remember we have about 30 minutes to cook and get dinner on the table. We love cooking with Idahoan Mashed Potatoes because they have amazing taste, texture and are simple to cook! They come in a variety of flavors including: Buttery Homestyle, Butter and Herb, Bacon & Cheddar Chipotle, Roasted Garlic, and Four Cheese.We cook our hamburger steak with brown gravy, onions, and mushrooms and pour the delicious sauce over the mashed potatoes. I love pouring brown gravy over them!

Sometimes while Alex is cooking I will give the kids a bath to keep them entertained and out of his hair (especially if it's cold outside). After dinner I let the kids watch a bit of TV so they sit still and I can get their pajamas on. Oh and at some point during this chaos if I'm lucky I will have put on my pajamas and washed my face. Around 7/7:15pm I turn the TV off (never without complaining from the kids) and read to Walt and Whitney. That process takes FOREVER. They want books, snacks, milk, blankets...you name it they request it. I feel like I'm negotiating with tiny terrorists.

I usually read to them together, and then will take Walt to his room, turn on his sound machine, sing him a song and lay him down. He doesn't put up a fight and goes right to sleep. Whitney is a different story! Oh my goodness that girl has aged me. She fights sleep, and it usually takes another 30 minutes to get her down. Both of them want "Only Mommy!" to put them in bed, however when I'm not home Alex says they are little angels...STOP! It's usually around 8pm when the twins are both in bed. During this time Turner is usually watching a movie on the iPad. If I've put both kids down Alex will usually take Turner and put him to bed around 8:30pm. On nights when I put Turner to bed 99% of the time I fall asleep after reading to him in his queen bed.

If I fall asleep with Turner I'm done for the night, and usually find myself back in my own bed around midnight. On nights I rally, I will turn on the TV while I blog which includes editing photos, emailing, and writing. Depending on how tired I am I will stay up till around 11pm. I wake up at 6am, drop Turner off by 7:30am and head straight to work after that.


With all this being said, cooking dinner has always been a struggle especially when we became a family of five. It's important for us to eat at home to save money, but having easy and quick meals is an absolute must. I'm thankful Idahoan Mashed Potatoes are an easy to whip up side dish that everyone enjoys! I'd love to hear some of your favorite meals that don't take long to prepare or cook!?