The First Week of School 2.0

It is amazing how little time it takes to completely lose one's stamina when the daily routine goes on vacation.

We just had our first week back to school, and it felt as if it was the first week of school all over again! My body wasn't used to all the work after two weeks off, and I couldn't sleep well because I had so much stuff to catch up on/do which is of course the thing I needed most was sleep.

Unfortunately, next week looks just as nutty, but my body seems to be re-adapting again. I failed to mention in last week's posts that I'm additionally hindered right now with a calf muscle strain that requires me to baby it, not exert myself too much (which as a teacher is kind of impossible), and wear a walking boot for support - which slows me down and DRIVES ME NUTS, UGH. My uninjured leg is suffering from the additional work it has to do, too. Needless to say, today was mostly resting it, but with the fun of babysitting our adorable goddaughter Emily with The Hubs. Luckily, for being just over 1 year old, she's remarkably easy to watch! We didn't have to chase her too much, and she was a breeze - all giggles and smiles!

In regards to the mini-goals for Jan.-March I posted about, I was better about my internet time, but cooking dinner at home pretty much didn't happen thanks to how hectic last week was. I was honestly not home earlier than 6pm any day last week! This week should be better, though, and I am planning on going grocery shopping Sunday, and pre-prepping my meals as much as I can after the grocery store so all I have to do is (hopefully) heat it in the oven, or mix the ingredients for 5 minutes before throwing it in the oven/saucepan. (Also, because I'm not busy enough, I'm also making a meal to take to a coworker who's out for health issues right now - but it's a recipe that I can easily double and make one for us at the same time!)

What am I making, you ask?

Spinach Tortellini Soup - it's delicious! I'm going to add turkey Italian sausage "meatballs" (where I squeezed the sausage filling out of the casing and rolled them into balls).

Enchilada casserole (This is the one I'm making two of - one for me, one for the coworker)

Chicken Broccoli casserole to serve over brown rice

Baked pork chops with Stove Top stuffing and veggies (this one I won't prep ahead, 'cuz pork chops don't take that long).

I plan to prep ahead by making the enchilada casserole ahead, then cooking the proteins ahead of time (except the pork chops). I only did four meals because Fridays are usually nights we eat out anyway - I'm just trying to make it the ONLY night we eat out this week. Fingers crossed!