Weekly milk delivery, check.  Weekly gourmet bread delivery, check.  Almost weekly organic lunch and dinner delivery, check.  This is what life with a newborn and a toddler in the house will do to you – motivate you to find ways to make your everyday life easier.  Along the way, we have not only found some gems for simplifying our daily chores, but some excellent food as well.

Here is what we’ve found and how we’ve simplified:

1. LOVE ME SOME MILK

Logan is a man who is serious about his milk.  Before Katelyn’s arrival, I found myself at the store almost every other day buying a fresh quart of milk.  I used to buy Meiji milk, until a Dutch friend of ours (who knows his milk well) derided me for not buying fresh milk.  I hadn’t realized that Meiji milk was made from powder.  After all, the packaging looked so nice, and I had always assumed it was fresh.  Turns out that Chokchai and Dairy Home are your best bets for fresh milk in Bangkok.  We now opt for Chokchai.  Why?  Because they offer free delivery!  Yes folks, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we have one quart of milk delivered to our home (well, on Fridays, we have two delivered) at approximately 11am.  86 baht/quart and the delivery man is pleasant to boot. No more late night milk runs, no more fussy toddler when his full cup turns into a half cup because we are low on supply.  This has assured we always have fresh milk on hand.

Interested in doing the same?  Decide how much milk you need per week and when you would like it delivered, find a native Thai speaker, simply dial up the delivery number found on the front of the milk carton (02-532-3572), and have your Thai speaker communicate your preferences and address to Chokchai over the phone.  The milk man begins delivering the same week.  It worked like a charm for us.

2. IT MAY PREVENT ME FROM LOSING THOSE LAST FEW POUNDS OF BABY WEIGHT, BUT MAN THIS BREAD IS GOOD!

So, we actually learned about the bread man before Katelyn’s arrival, but now that our little girl is here, we have it delivered on almost a weekly basis.  Urban Pantry makes some seriously fantastic home made bread.  The founder has a really cool back story and I’d encourage you to read this article on CNN Go for more on him and his bread.  If you get on Urban Pantry’s email list, they’ll send you a weekly menu of their bread and condiment offerings (see below for a sample menu we just received).  Our personal favorites are the sun-dried tomato and garlic sourdough, the cinnamon raisin bread, and the rustic whole wheat.  We also recently tried Urban Pantry’s key lime cream cheese . . . if you are a fan of key lime, it is sublime!  Urban Pantry delivers to your door at no cost . . . you can’t beat that!  Email Urban Pantry at urbanpantrybangkok@gmail.com to receive their weekly menus.  You can also catch them on Twitter (@urbanpantrybkk).

3.  ORGANICS MAKE YOU FEEL OH SO GOOD

Tired of all the same old sandwich or Thai street food lunches?  Indulge by ordering “mediterranean-influenced wholefood cuisine” from Birds in a Row.  This was a new experiment for us after we arrived home with Katelyn.  I was skeptical at first . . . now I wish I had tried this months ago!

Birds in a Row offers seasonal menus and all you have to do is visit their website (http://birdsinarow.wordpress.com/) to see what’s available and to order.  Some of our current seasonal favorites are:  Salad of lentils, chickpeas, butternut squash and paneer with masala dressing, Summery watermelon, tomato and feta salad with mint and vinaigrette dressing, and paneer cauliflower fritters with curried yogurt sauce and cilantro.  The meals are reasonably priced and are delivered direct to your home (a delivery charge applies).  Make sure to get your lunch or dinner order in by 10am.

I hope these ideas inspire you to try new some yummy new foods, all the while simplifying your life with a toddler(s) and/or baby(ies) at home.  Sometimes when your hands are so full with your little ones, it’s really just about finding ways to make your everyday chores less of a hassle, and Bangkok certainly delivers in that category if you let it.