As the girls were handing
me their upcoming schedules I was beginning to feel just a wee bit
overwhelmed. And to be totally honest,
I'm not ready to jump back into the rat race that becomes our lives during the
school year.
I have two girls in
two different schools and both are involved in activities that require a
significant amount of dedication and time.
My oldest is a junior in high school this year and plays in the band as
well as is part of a robotics team. My
youngest is in the chamber orchestra and is also a cheerleader. She also needs to go to the orthodontist
every 6 to 8 weeks. There is also
homework that will need to be done and because both of my girls are kind of
smart they take advanced courses and that means a lot of homework. It gets a bit crazy.
 |
| Saw this on Pinterest. How stinking cute is this? |
By the time we all
manage to get home the time we have in the evenings will be limited. And there will be a lot of times when we'll
need to leave again to attend one function or another. So we had a family meeting and we discussed
how we were going to pull of this off.
Because, quite frankly, last year nearly drove me insane.
One of the things we
all agreed on was my suggestion that we try meal prepping. I had been researching the idea on Youtube (there
are tons of videos posted about this) and there is a common theme of eating the
same meal multiple times during the week.
I knew this wouldn't fly, especially with me. I have my limits on how many times I'm
willing to eat chicken, broccoli and rice in one week.
 |
| Found this on Pinterest too. Cute! |
But one idea I could
get my head around was meal prepping some freezer meals. I tried Once A Month cooking several years
ago and I learned, there are just certain things that do not freeze well. Not to mention it required an enormous
investment of time and required me to be extremely organized to the point that
it seriously stressed me out. However,
the girls and I brainstormed and we think we've figured out what will work for
us. And we also agreed that it needs to
be a team effort.
We started over the past
weekend to give it a trial run before school officially starts. Next week I'll post what we made and how it
all went. So far, I can tell you, it is
going pretty darn well. Surprisingly
so. I'm not sure why I didn't think it
would. Maybe past experience. ???
Let it go, let it
go....
You girls are so organized and work so well together. I'm sure this school year will be a breeze! I'll be looking forward to your meal prep ideas.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are right! ;)
DeleteI'll look forward to seeing what you have worked out! I am always looking for new 'planning' ideas, but haven't stuck with any yet.
ReplyDeleteThe only meal plans which I tried for a while was cooking different elements of meals that could be used in a variety of ways e.g. batches of mince (for lasagne or bolognese etc.) toasted breadcrumbs, soups, cooked chicken ( curry or sarnies etc). That way I was halfway there with a meal and could use up other foods in various recipes.
Those are great ideas. This week is our trial run. So far, so good.
DeleteIt's great that your daughters know how to cook. My daughters three dorm mates don't know how, only she does! I find that a bit sad that they never learned. It's one of the basic life skills everyone needs to know!
ReplyDeleteI tried the big batch cooking and freezing method but I came to the same conclusion you did, it just didn't work for us. What I like to do is when I make something, I just make more of it. Sometimes it can be frozen for future use, sometimes not, but we always have leftovers this way. I end up not having to cook as often (hooray!) and it also takes care of the times when we are pressed for time or sick or just too exhausted.
D.
I do that too with things like lasagna or pasta sauce. I need to do more of that as well. Great idea. :)
DeleteLet us know how it works out!!
ReplyDeleteWill do Lee Ann.
DeleteSchool and activities are so hard.. It seems that the kids now a days, have such limited time at home .. sad. My granddaughters are both very active too. My daughter runs on very little sleep. trying to get it all done. Her oldest left for college this last week. Very bittersweet, We miss her so much..Her youngest is a senior.. She is graduating a year early. It is already turning into a busy year for the girls.
ReplyDeleteWishing you the best, and look forward to how you are going to do the meal plans.
I know I'll miss my girls so much when they head off to college. It will be hard but also exciting. I have high hopes for the new meal plan.
DeleteI am doing the same thing. I homeschool my two and am a full-time college student. In addition, my daughter does competitive dance and singing, plus music lessons. I'll be interested to hear about your experience. At a minimum, I am going to pre-brown hamburger and freeze it in meal-size portions, pre-cook chicken, shredding some and cubing some, to make meal prep quicker.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh you are busy! I'm excited to give this a try.
DeleteI am also interested in reading the results of your tests!
ReplyDeleteOnce-a-month cooking doesn't work here, either, and slow-cooking is not always well-received.
I think I might try what mmsel is doing for chicken--precooking and shredding. My kid's favorite quick meal is BBQ chicken quesadillas. I should find out if they are willing to pull pre-cooked chicken out of the freezer rather than cook it themselves.
Anyway, can't wait to hear about the new meal plan!
I'm excited to share the results Sue. I think the pre-cooked chicken would be a good option.
DeleteI am really behind on my blog reading, like weeks behind in some cases, so I am just reading this now. I try to meal prep also and have for most of my adult life. I precooked ground venison (or beef) and either leave it plain or turn it into taco meat or sloppy joe meat and use some but freeze the rest into meal sized portions. I will cook up a bunch of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cube it up for future meals and freeze that too. Pork roast are also great to cook up in the crockpot, shred and then use for pulled pork, enchiladas, etc.. Homemade mac and cheese is another thing that I will make in bulk and then freeze. Sometimes I cook extra pasta while I am making the mac and cheese and then use that pasta in a pasta salad. Pancakes, waffles, muffins, and breads are all made in at least double batches so I can use some now and freeze some for later. Oh I almost forgot, I used to make mini meat loaves and freeze them in a ziplock bag. I could take out just what we needed for a meal and they were really quick to reheat in the microwave. It is great for portion control also. ;)
ReplyDeleteYou do a lot of great things. Thanks for sharing. I'll probably steal a few of your ideas.
DeleteI have two boys, one in elementary & one just starting middle school. Last week was the first week of school, & it was chaos! I spent this weekend doing a lot of batch prep work. I made lasagna for dinner tonight, plus an extra for the freezer. Homemade mac & cheese for later in the week, plus an extra for the freezer. Two batches of granola bars for lunch snacks, and two giant batches of breakfast burritos & breakfast sandwiches to get us out of the house faster.
ReplyDeleteMy typical schedule is to cook bigger meals on Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Then, on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday, we have leftovers of one of the bigger meals. That leaves me with just Thursday. On Thursdays, I typically pull something from the freezer, or assemble something quick & easy (baked chicken & pasta, etc).
Good luck!
Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement. I've thought about doing this so often. I'm glad I finally plunged in and gave it a go.
Delete