Peach Blueberry Pot Pies and Time Management
Enjoy the last of the summer fruit with these easy peach blueberry pot pies, and a glimpse into the daily routine of a mommy blogger.
This is the moment I have been anticipating for over 7 years.
I don’t mean anticipating, like omg I can’t wait! I mean anticipating like, I know it’s coming, and I need to be ready and in a good place.
When I was pregnant with my first kid, I didn’t really know what I would do work-wise when he arrived. I didn’t know if I was going to want to be a stay at home mom, or go straight back to my job as an architectural designer and be a working mom. Luckily I worked for a small firm and my boss was amazing and just sort of gave me time (unpaid) to figure it out and decide. Once my son was born it became clear that I would be staying home for at least the first few years. Unfortunately, during those first few years my industry took a big hit, and when I was ready to go back to work, my position was no longer. I had to figure it out! I really liked the idea of working from home, and so I started blogging around 3 years ago, when my oldest was 4 and my little guy was 2.
I started up suuuuper slow and really had no clue what I was doing. But I did know that by the time my kiddos were both full day in school, I wanted things to be well off the ground and running like a well-oiled machine. I’m by no means saying that I’m fully there, or that I have all the answers about how to be a superstar blogger, but, to piggyback off my last post about my challenges with back to school and finding a balance between blogging and home life, I thought I’d share the daily routine that (I’m hoping!) will allow me to do all the things, while maintaining what little sanity I have left after 7 1/2 years of being a stay/work at home mom.
I know I’m always SO curious to know how other working moms do it all, especially the bloggers, but if this isn’t something that interests you, feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the post, where you’ll find the recipe for these delicious, simple, and seasonal peach blueberry pot pies. I think it’s way easier than making a whole pie, and just a fantastic way to enjoy these summer fruits that are gonna be gone before you know it! Savor them while you still can 😉
Now that both my boys are full day in school, I want to structure my day so that I’m fully available to them during the limited times that they are at home. So, early mornings and late afternoons into the evening. The second grader gets on the bus a little after 8, and then my husband drops the kindergartner off at his supplemental, transitional kindergarten program (we don’t have full day kindergarten in our school district, boo.) on his way to work shortly thereafter. So…
7:15 am : I get up, and sip my coffee while I make the kids breakfast and pack their lunches. Also a lot of pestering happens- to get them to dress themselves, eat, and brush their teeth.
8:00 am: They are off, and I sit down to read blogs and schedule my social media posts. I think mornings are the best time to do this, while the content is really fresh. I try to share around 4-6 tweets per day (of other bloggers’ content), 3-4 Facebook posts, and I schedule pins (with ViralTag) to hit every 5 minutes during the peak hours. I also do a little on Google+. I use Feedly to quickly scroll through the blogs I subscribe to, opening a new tab for those I want to share or comment on. Then I just work through them, tab by tab. It takes about 2 hours for me to complete all that plus answer any emails and manage my calendar.
10:00 am: I’m a big smoothie drinker, and lately I’ve been adding dates and oats for natural sweetness and bulk. Soaking them in a little water for an hour or so helps them blend up a lot smoother, so I get that started in my blender jar and then head upstairs for a little workout. I have an elliptical so I hop on for around 20 minutes while listening to a podcast or audiobook. Cool down with that smoothie and get a little housework done (make the beds, do a load of wash, tidy up, clean a toilet or two, etc.)
10:45 am: Get cleaned up and looking presentable. I don’t do a ton of makeup during the week, but I’m pale and freckly so SPF is a must. I focus on CC cream, concealer, brows and lashes. I’m a firm believer that taking those few minutes to look your best helps you to feel better throughout the day and be more productive.
11:15 am: Head into the office to work on writing a post. If all the pics are edited and uploaded too, I’ll also schedule it to go live and schedule the Facebook post and tweets that go along with it. (I use Hootsuite to schedule tweets that promote my own content, and Buffer for the rest.)
12:10 am: Time to head over to the preschool to pick up my younger son and bring him to kindergarten. If I finish my post a little early, I might run a quick errand to pick up groceries and/or lunch on my way.
1:00 pm: Back home and now it’s baking time. I try out recipes with a little notebook by my side, so I can tweak and jot notes. All the baking, note taking, and dish washing brings me to around…
3:30 pm: …where it’s now time to start putting the kids’ after school meal together. Also, I head out to the bus stop to greet them and make sure they get home safe.
3:45 pm: Focusing on them; feeding, talking about their day, going through any school paperwork, and getting them to do their homework.
4:45 pm: They’re pretty well squared away and probably busy playing or watching cartoons, so I’ll steal a few minutes to snap some food pics and maybe even get the photo editing started. A lot of times I’ll check emails again at this point.
5:30 pm: My husband usually gets home around this time, so one of 3 things will happen- a) he’s got a plan for dinner so I can keep working, b) we have an appointment, baseball game or practice to get the kids to, or c) I start making dinner.
6:15 pm: We sit down to a family meal most nights. My older son always joins us but we’re still working on getting the younger one to take part. A lot of times he’s there in the kitchen with us, but can’t sit still at the table and won’t eat what we’ve prepared.
7:30 pm: After I’ve cleaned all the dishes and given the kitchen a thorough scrub-down, we all head upstairs to start the process of getting ready for bed. The kids go in the bath, their clothes are laid out for the next day, and they get into their jammies (and so do I!) and get their teeth brushed.
8:15 pm: I’ve been reading to them on my iPad. I really like how ebooks cut down on expense and clutter, and also allow me to read to them with the lights out.
9:30 pm: By now they’re probably asleep, so I grab my laptop and lounge out on my bed, check emails again, and do some more reading and social media scheduling. I try to keep it on the lighter side so I can just unwind. A lot of times I use this time to look for recipe inspiration, take a few notes, etc. My husband is usually beside me in bed, and I’m half-watching a show with him and we’re catching up with each other. We’re both out cold by 11:30 and then the whole thing starts again the next day!
Hope that wasn’t too boring for y’all but like I said, I’m always curious how others juggle it all, so I thought you might like a little peek into my day. I’ve been following this workflow for a couple of weeks now and I’m pretty happy with the way it’s working out. I’m anticipating that my baking time slot will be switching places with my photography time slot after Daylight Savings ends, but other than that, I’m hopeful that this routine will serve me well throughout the school year and maybe even beyond. I want to extend a special thank you to my friend Vijay, who blogs at Nosh On It. He clued me in to using Feedly and Buffer, and it’s really helped me to streamline things. With this schedule, I’ve found that my Fridays have opened way up, and I’ve been able to enjoy a little personal down time every week. Saturdays are always busy with family activities, and then Sunday I usually need a jump start on my work week, so I really appreciate having the freedom to run errands or just relax on that one day every week.
Are you juggling more than one job? What are some of the key things that have helped you to manage all your responsibilities?
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Peach Blueberry Pot Pies
Ingredients
- 2 fresh peaches
- 1 1/2 cups (222 g) fresh blueberries
- 1/2 cup (118.29 ml) water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice, (juice of half a lemon)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 batch Simply Perfect Pie Crust
- 1 egg, (large)
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons coarse sanding sugar,, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Peel and pit the peaches, and cut them into ½-inch chunks. Place them in a large bowl along with the blueberries, water, cornstarch, vanilla, salt, and lemon juice. Toss to coat.
- Tip the fruit mixture into heat safe bowls and dot with butter.
- Roll out the pie dough to a thickness of ⅛-inch. Top the bowls with circles of dough, and cut a few vents to allow the steam to escape.
- Place the egg and milk in a small bowl and beat together with a fork until combined. Brush over the pie crust and sprinkle with coarse sugar for garnish.
- Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the fruit is softened and the pie crust is golden brown. Serve warm.
I absolutely love this post and recipe, Allie! It has certainly been the highlight of my day reading it. You sound like you’ve got this schedule down, and I envy you! xoxo
No kidding? Wow, I’m so happy to hear that! I’m hopeful about the new schedule. So far it seems to be working well as far as the sharing goes, but now I just have to make sure I have enough time to create good content. Fingers crossed it all comes together and works out! Thanks for the encouragement Justine and enjoy your evening!
Delicious! I have never seen peaches used more perfectly! *lovestruck* It’s so interesting to see your schedule. Blogging really is so time consuming – and it’s good to get this confirmed by someone like you! I don’t know how to juggle it all and produce such heavenly recipes + pictures! Wonder woman indeed.
I’m telling you, I don’t know how either!!! I’ve been struggling with it since the beginning. Hopefully this workflow will help me to juggle it all! Thank you so much for the sweet and honest feedback, Tashiana! 😀
What lovely pot pies! Blogging really is a full time job! You are obviously juggling the work/life/family balance really well 🙂
Well, I don’t know about that, lol! It feels like a scramble most of the time, but hopefully it will get easier. I’ve got my fingers crossed that this timeline will help me stay on track and keep my sanity. Thanks sweetie!
I loved reading about your day! You should do the Instagram photo an hour thing, so we can actually SEE what your day looks like!
Pfft! That’s a really fun idea but I think it might make my head explode, lol! Hoping that the whole thing will get easier the more I do it. We shall see!
This is such a great post Allie! Love learning about how you manage your time and hearing how your day is like.. Your schedule sounds awesome and you mange to juggle everything effortlessly. You rock mama – I absolutely love these pretty pot pies – I am really going to miss the peaches and blueberries, definitely need to make them before they’re gone for the season – pinning 🙂
I don’t know about the “effortlessly” part, lol! It feels like quite a lot of effort most days, to be honest! Hopefully the more I do it the easier it will get. And I totally hear ya about the summer fruit- I’m missing it already! Thanks for the pin, love 😀
Thanks for sharing your schedule, Allie! I loved getting a glimpse of another blogger’s processes. And these little pot pies are beautiful. Peach and blueberry is a perfect combination!
Oh I’m so glad you liked it Mallory! I was afraid it might be kinda boring for some people. But honestly I’m always just in awe of other bloggers and how much they manage, so I was hoping it would get a dialogue going about how people manage! Thanks for the sweet comment and hope you’re enjoying your day <3
Love this post! I’m not a mommy, but I love seeing how people manage their time. And I like to be nosey into everyone else’s lives!! Beautiful pies, BTW!
Same here Liz! I’m always so curious. Glad you enjoyed; thanks for the great feedback!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post and I especially loved the recipe for these pot pies that you provided… thanks for sharing Allie!
Oh great! I’m so glad it wasn’t too boring. And glad you liked the recipe too! Thanks for the awesome feedback, Thalia!
Allie, I love seeing little peaks into your blog/business life! Especially when something like this pie accompanies it 🙂 This looks so perfectly dreamy!
Aw, thank you Amy! It was dreamy. I couldn’t stop shoveling it into my mouth! Couldn’t even wait until after the pics to dive in ;P
I enjoyed this post, because I often wonder how everybody does things! My days are usually all over the place, so I don’t feel quite as organized as you. haha The pot pies look amazing, and I’m so going to miss peaches!
Honestly, I have felt that way, A LOT! And I hate that disorganized feeling. I feel like my wheels are just spinning and I’m getting nowhere. That’s why I wanted to sit down and figure it all out for myself. Hopefully sticking to a schedule will help me to be more productive. I’m so glad you enjoyed, Marcie, and thanks for the great feedback!
Love this post dear!! It’s always fascinating to see how others are juggling time and I know I struggle with proper management so it’s very helpful to see this!! I need to get a schedule down so I can be as efficient as you 🙂
I’m always interested too, and I’m glad you enjoyed! Honestly I’ve spun my wheels for far too long. Hopefully this schedule will help me to get more done and keep that balance! Thanks love!
I love this post! I am always fascinated how other people manage to do so much and make it work, especially because I am constantly struggling to get everything done. You are so organized and have a great routine down, that I might have to borrow some of your tactics!
Nora, it hasn’t always been this way for me. Honestly, I’ve struggled a lot too, and I still do. But at least having an idea of what to do and when (even if it can’t always exactly happen), helps me to stay focused. Thanks for the honest feedback and here’s to finding that balance!
I am really glad you shared your schedule here. I’ve gotta sit and ponder a while. I’m not one to follow a schedule well and get distracted easily, but I’m working on it. I have a paper, write-in planner and honestly just started a couple of months ago trying to write out a couple months ahead what I would post. That’s naturally grown from having more sponsored posts, plus a couple of blogs that I contribute to once a month… so I can’t be as loosey-goosey as I used to be about it all.
Plus, back during my first year plus, I was still working as the associate family ministry director at our old church (20+ hours per week) plus trying to figure out the blog.
There are so many things I wish I’d know from the beginning, like commenting on other blogs, building relationships, etc. So, consequently, I ALWAYS feel like I am playing catch-up now.
Getting the social media sharing down to a pattern has been a BIG struggle, especially because I will get so distracted just by the shear volume of food blogs that will still catch my eye 🙂 So you sharing your strategy is seriously helpful information for me to have!! Thanks!
This recipe is awesome too. Love the idea of fruit pot pies. Pinning and sharing!
Jill, I am the SAME way. So distractable. Truly, that is what prompted me to sit down and work this whole thing out. My productivity during the day was not where it should be, and it was bleeding over into that time that should have been devoted to my kids. And don’t worry~ it’s a learning process for us all. There was so much I didn’t know at first too, and that’s ok. You do what you can and always strive to learn more. Social media has always been my biggest struggle too. Hoping this schedule keeps me focused and allows plenty of time for family and creating good content too. Good luck, dear!
I seriously don’t know how you do all of that in one day. Everything is so scheduled out and it seems like you’re pretty great at getting everything done on time. TIme management is a really daunting task, especially when I’m juggling baking, blogging, going to class, doing assignments, working out, commuting, internship, blah blah blah. I’m definitely looking to you for some better time management inspiration!
onto more positive things, these pies! So beautiful. Love that you combined peach and blueberry. Those two are my favorite summer fruits and I really wish i could hold onto them for as long as possible.
Thank you so much Graham and I feel the same way! So sorry to see summer go this year. And boy, you do have a lot on your plate! But honestly you make it look easy. Your blog is gorgeous, definitely one of my favorites. Time management is definitely a big struggle for me too though, and there are plenty of days where I lose the battle, believe me. But I’m hoping this workflow helps to keep me on track 😉
Love this post Allie! You certainly have a lot on your hands but juggle it all like a pro!
Thanks Vijay and thank you again for helping me sort it all out! Couldn’t have done it without ya 😉
You are super {blogger} mom. Suuurrrrusly!
I don’t know about that but thank you! We bloggers sure do wear a lot of hats, don’t we???
Sure do! The care of tiny human beings is not one of my hats, and I give all the kudos to you for balancing that among the many others!