Prepping for Back to Work/School: Weekends

So I've been back at work for a week now, with the students not showing up until this past Wednesday. It was confusing, exhausting, and WONDERFUL. I missed being a teacher. The only downside is that I don't have the right work shoes because I can't afford them until payday, so my feet are pretty much in revolt and furious with me. I can't say I blame them. Soon, though, my lovelies, soon you will be dressed in the proper accoutrements.

Anyway. So the prepping for back to school helped, and has resulted in a weekend routine (well, all of two Sundays so far, but here's hoping) that is working out fairly well. Basically, I plan my meals on the MOST AWESOME EXCEL TEMPLATE EVER (more on that in a second), I grocery shop Saturday since I'm usually already out anyway, and then Sunday is my "mellow" day, in which I prep what I can in advance food- and lessons-wise at my own leisurely pace. (Lessons first, because it saves my sanity and I just enjoy doing it, oddly enough, haha... if I retire or change careers, it'd probably be into materials development for education, I love finding creative ways to enhance lessons. Anyways, TANGENT.)

So Sunday was about 4 hours of lesson planning (only because I took my time and watched TV while doing so - minus the TV, would have easily been under 2, if that), then I made a tasty but easy dinner while prepping food for the week. Here's how it went, which actually serves nicely as an example:

First, I already had the menu all planned in my Excel template, which I found here for free and it is AWESOME. Seriously, it took about 2 hours to figure out what meals I wanted to pre-load in the meal tabs, but now my menu planning is SO MUCH FASTER IT'S AWESOME. (Instructions in the spreadsheet tell you how to change their food options, in case you are un-excel-errated like I am.) (Get the pun? Huh? HUH? ;D)

(I'm sorry for all the zaniness. I'm loopy from exhaustion.)

Anyway, screen cap of my menu for the week:

If you can click to embiggen, you'll see that daily I plan to have Spinach Smoothies (which are AWESOME, btw) and hard-boiled eggs for breakfast, and half of a baked potato with (canned) beanless chili and cheese for my lunch, along with a small salad.

Dinner was NOT crockpot BBQ chicken; we changed our mind to tomato soup and grilled cheese. So here's the order in which I prepped for my breakfasts and lunches for the week while dinner cooked:

• Washed and pierced the potatoes, threw them in the oven.
• Poured the pre-made tomato soup into a pan, added the beans and italian seasoning, and let it start to simmer while I browned the Italian sausage crumbles. 
• I added the sausage to the soup, let it continue to simmer while I sliced up some bananas for the Spinach Smoothie recipes (which needs frozen banana slices), enough for the work week.
• As the soup bubbled, I turned it to low and made the grilled cheese sandwiches, and took a dinner break. 
• After dinner, I showered and threw my hair in a towel to sop up water while I chopped up some romaine to rinse & spin in my salad spinner; then I cut one of the cooled potatoes in half, slathered it in chili, and slapped a lid on it (and also threw together a salad of romaine, spinach, and cucumber with a little plastic thing full of dressing in another tupperware) - and made another one for Tuesday! All I have to add is sliced cucumber to the salad and a baggie of shredded cheese, and my lunch for Tuesday is done as well. 
• Then I blew my hair dried enough to finish styling in the morning (which only semi-worked - I wanted big loose curls, but I used too much conditioner and my hair got a nice loose wave but not quite what I wanted. Meh, I'll straighten it tomorrow)

Actually, that's another way I'm saving time in the morning (which means more sleep, YAAAAY) - if I dry my hair, I milk the hell out of it. Last week I blew it dry and straight-ironed it Wednesday morning,  re-ironed any bumps Thursday, then used dry shampoo and pulled it back with a headband for Friday. Today was the big waves, tomorrow will be straight, and Wednesday might be another headband day (not sure yet).

Tonight I'm washing out the dishes for my smoothies in the morning, then slicing some cucumber so it's less to do in the morning (more sleep yay!), and maybe my nails, too. Then I'll take a body-only shower, make my coffee and smoothie (which I'll down on the way to work). I've had plenty of time to relax, and my nails are a soothing "chore", so I don't mind it as much. Plus it feels good to make my mornings easier!

I apologize if this comes off as bragging, as that's not my intention - I figure that it's taken me THIS long to figure out how to stuff (and I still eff it up half the time, but lately I've been riding a very slow train of half-successes, which is really good for me!), so I should share what I figure out in case there's anyone else who is not making as graceful a transition to grown-upness like I am. Can't hurt to share info, right?

Here's to a successful week! Now to go do those little chores before I get too tired to bother. ;D

Recipes I'm loving lately

One thing I love about the internet is that it allows me to find all sorts of new food ideas and recipes. I mean, seriously, I cannot tell you how big my "recipes" computer folder is (FYI: it's 103 MB), which doesn't include the physical binder of magazine tear-outs, and my massive Pinterest boards, broken into "Om Nom Nom Nom" (less healthy recipes) and "HEALTHY Om Nom Nom" (self-explanatory). I'll even take a snapshot with my phone of something that looks good in a magazine in a waiting room. Like I've said, I do honestly love to cook, I'm just usually too lazy. Hahaha.

That said, as a motivator to eat healthier, I've been seeking out and trying new ones, and I've actually found a few that are worth sharing! Unfortunately, I'm not a food blogger, so I rarely (if ever) take pictures of my food - and the few times I do, they're pretty crappy... as evidenced by previous food posts. xD

(None of the pictures are mine, please click the links to go to the recipe!)

Mexican Chicken

We liked this a lot, although I want to find a better enchilada sauce OR maybe try making my own - the sauce I bought had a weird bitterness (but it didn't bug The Hubs). We served this with refried beans and a salad, and I honestly didn't miss tortillas.

Adobo Pork Chops

THIS IS SO GOOD. The key is to let it marinade a LOOOONG time; I made this full recipe, but only cooked half the day of, and froze the other half - the frozen half we had a couple of weeks later was waaaay better. The Hubs figured it was the fact that it marinaded as it defrosted overnight in the fridge - the flavor really penetrated, whereas the first batch was tasty but not as deep (despite a 6-hour marinade).

Slow-Cooker Savory BBQ Chicken

I made this with chicken legs (They were cheaper at the time), and it was tasty. Might try adding a smidge of sweetness with Stevia next time, though, because we like our sauce a little sweeter.


My friend Traci's chili

It's goooood. Not too spicy, a little too tomatoey, but that's a bug that can be worked out.

Prepping for Back to Schoo/Work: Routines

So as I may have mentioned before/is viewable in that little profile blurb to the left -->, I'm a teacher. More specifically, a high school English teacher. All teachers would probably agree with me that a major component of classroom organization is ROUTINE. Kids love routines - even older kids that don't like to be called kids, a.k.a. teenagers. Heck, it's human nature to prefer routine - there's comfort in familiarity and the expected, and it makes life easier to know what to do in certain situations.

Love this, but didn't make it. Fitting, though.

That said, I've never been great at establishing routines outside of the classroom. Or, I guess I should say I've never been good at establishing EFFECTIVE routines. I routinely wait until the last minute to do things or hit the snooze button - so it's not like I don't have routines, they're just routines I don't want. ;p There's some dysfunction in my personality that rebels against the idea of HAVING to do things; it drives me nuts, and at the same time I'm like "UUUUGH DON'T WANNA." Now I'm trying to be better.

Since I'm a grown-@$$ woman and need to get my shtuff in order, I've been trying to get used to a morning routine. I'm currently working at a camp for international students, and I teach ESL in the mornings, so it's similar to the scholastic setting to which I'll return in about 3 weeks. (In other news, HOLY CRAP I ONLY HAVE 3 MORE WEEKS TO PREPARE.) So I've been trying to create a routine in the mornings that I can work with, and get used to it for the next 3 weeks so I can ease into the school year, rather than it be a big ol' shock, y'know? The first weeks of school are always tough when you're getting used to the routine again, so the easier I can make it on myself, the better.

This is the morning routine I'm trying to establish:

• Wake up, 10-minute workout (yes, just 10 minutes - I'm easing myself into it)
• shower, hair and make-up done
• make and eat breakfast
• take Daisy out for a nice walk (about 20 minutes)

I've been getting up about 2 hours before I need to leave for work for this routine... it's way more time than I need, but I like it because I don't have to rush. Which, when I leave for work at 8:30, isn't so early... but in 3 weeks, I'll be leaving for work at 6:30. Getting up 2 hours earlier, which would be 4:30... yeah, I don't know. Might need to work it into 1.5 hours earlier. Probably could save myself some time by jumping out of bed, not dilly-dallying on my phone trying to wake up.

So far, I've managed all but the workouts. Heh. I need to work on that, obviously - so that's my focus this week; the idea is to get 3 separate 10-minute workouts of decent intensity done morning, noon, and late afternoon (like when I get home from work). Eventually, I'd like to up the workouts to 20 minutes. It's not a vanity thing - it's literally doctor's orders... but I've never been one to workout for the sake of working out, which is why I'm trying to do it in short spurts. (Unless I find a class I like, then on days I take an exercise class I'll excuse myself from the other workouts as long as it's equivalent to the time I'd normally workout.) Again, though, this is why I've given myself some time to establish this routine - the more habitual it is when school starts, the less problematic it will be to keep it up, hopefully.

The other routine I'd like to establish is a kitchen-related one. First is that I want to prep my lunch at the same time I'm making dinner, like get dinner in the oven/prolonged cooking time, and in the in-between time, prep whatever I need for lunch the next day so it's ready to grab and go in the morning. I would also like to take that in-between time, or after eating time, to do the dishes. I have good weeks and bad weeks of doing the dishes daily, but I also hate the dishes piling up. They still DO, but man do I hate it. ;p

The biggest thing I'm fighting here is myself and that natural reluctance do things that I HAVE to do, or that I'm EXPECTED to do; I'm not normally a rebellious person, but basic housekeeping/chores has always been something I've fought. Yet I prefer living in a cleaner house and having life be a little easier, so I need to do little things throughout the week rather than big overhauling things once in a while, which is more exhausting and frustrating. Right? Right.

Makes perfect sense, and yet I still drag my feet kicking and screaming. I am noticing a little less kicking and screaming, though. Maybe I'm finally growing up!

Prepping for Back to School/Work: Food

So one thing I've been struggling with for years is my "chore" of cooking dinner. We've gotten better about limiting our buying of meals instead of cooking, but that's partly been because I've been home more often to cook. Even then, I still stick to fairly simple meals; I like to cook (and certainly LOVE to eat), but I'm not a huge fan of super-complicated cooking most of the time. Sometimes the prep is worth it, obviously, but usually I'd rather pay other people to do it. ;D

So what does a gal do when she's the only one in the family who can make food taste good, but she's got a 2-hour commute and an 8+-hour a day job?

Plan, prep in advance, and cut yourself some slack.

Here's how I usually deal with cooking during the week; It's not always consistent, but for the most part this strategy works well for us.

Sunday: A slow-cooker meal; I'll usually make a big recipe and freeze the leftovers for a future Monday meal
Monday: an easy pre-made meal, either from our own frozen leftovers or frozen dinners from the store, like orange chicken and brown rice & veggies from Trader Joe's. Basic heat n' eats, because Mondays are exhausting enough on their own.
Tuesday-Thursday: Simple-to-prepare meals, usually a protein and vegetable (maybe some carbs if I've been good). If I'm especially organized
Friday & Saturday: Free days - since we usually have plans on the weekend, it's just easier to assume we won't be eating at home; since we eat home the rest of the week, we budget for it. Plus, usually one of those meals is at a friend's house, so we only have to pay for something to share with our friends.

What I NEED to work on is making my breakfasts and lunches while also cooking dinner - that way, I don't have to wake up earlier or starve/spend money. It's a habit I need to work on - usually there's enough time between when I start cooking to when the food is done that I could easily get my food for the next day done as well, so I plan to start doing that. Of course, I plan to work out and eat more veggies, but the plan takes a while to come to fruition - although the veggies are happening more often!

The point is, I'm trying to figure out ways to make my life easier while also meeting our basic needs - but in a cost-effective manner. It's a balancing act of convenience, responsibility, and budget. It's worth it to spend a little money for ease on the weekend IF we've been good the rest of the week.

Yay/Boos: 4th of July edition

On my locked-up previous personal online journal, I used to do what I called "Yay/Boos", which was listing the latest going on in my life and ranking them as either good things (Yay) or bad (Boo). Yes, I know, fairly obvious ranking system - I over-explain. Here we go!

• Yay! My life is busy again - with purpose! I have work stuff that needs to be accomplished, which makes me excited about the future while also feeling like I have self-worth. 
• Boo. Unfortunately, my ridiculousness likes to manifest itself in procrastination, which means I get a little bit done every day, but not as much as I should. I also have been using "work" as my excuse to not work on the around-the-home projects I wanted to complete this summer. The only thing preventing me from doing both are my own lame excuses and feeling the "need" (not a need at all) of relaxing before work kicks in around mid-August. No one to blame but myself for these setbacks.
• Yay! I just got a mild kick-in-the-butt to get some stuff done NOW, as I've been given a deadline of sorts that will force me to work. I needed it - I procrastinate, but I work well on deadlines. 
• Boo. Deadlines and work stuff resulted in my having to bow out of a project that I'd committed to previously. My reasons for bowing out were legitimate, but I shouldn't have agreed to doing it in the first place. I upset someone, which as a natural people-pleaser I hate doing, but I have to own that they have a right to be upset and I also have to own that I did, in fact, screw up a little on this one. 
• Yay! 4th of July-related: our friends the S's hosted a BBQ that was really fun. We really like our local circle of friends, and the location of the S's house is remote enough that we were actually able to watch several different firework shows, then play with our own (legal) fireworks while we listened to a (very well-selected) playlist at loud volume without disturbing any neighbors - it's that remote, haha. It was such a great night. Lots of laughs, good food, good times!
• Boo. It got chilly when it got dark, so brilliant me thought it'd be a good idea to have a small cup of coffee to help keep warm. I'm still awake about 3 hours later. I really need to fully quit the caffeine and never partake of it again. 
• Yay! A portion of the BBQ was also spent discussing our upcoming camping weekend. I'm so excited for it - I haven't been camping since I was in high school (not counting actual summer camps - those don't count since you have a bed ;D). I'm not exactly an outdoorsy type, but I do enjoy hanging out outdoors, and the basic hanging out outdoors. It's the hiking that doesn't appeal to me as much (well, super-lengthy ones, and only because I'm out of shape). 
• Yay! I had to make fruit salad for the BBQ today, and even buying the "cheap" fruit resorted in a ton of leftovers that didn't even go in the (very large) salad. The salad was completely gone by the end of the BBQ, so now I have tons of delicious extra fruit for snacking but not in an overwhelming amount! (Small related side-boo: the store I went to didn't have blueberries, and I bought the yellow necatrines instead of the white ones, therefore not making my "Red White and Blue fruit salad" idea. But it's nitpicking, really.)
• Boo. Came home, people are being morons on the internet (not directed at me, thankfully), and it made me have anger feels. I didn't troll or anything, but it still annoyed me. 
• Yay! I had some fun craft inspirations recently, and it makes me want to get to craftin'. I haven't had true crafting motivation in a while, so it's nice to have it again. 

On that note, I have some list-making to do for the next few days, so I'm going to do that.