Planning and Organization

Two words that do not characterize my current state are planned and organized.  Normally, I am the paragon of planning and organization.  Since I have fallen away from my typically regimented routine (don’t worry, it happens to everyone – or so I tell myself), I felt this would be a good time to discuss my strategies.  You know, so I can re-motivate myself back into submission. 

I do not know about you, but when I fall away from my routine, my diet suffers.  So does that of my family.  I normally try to hold it together for Julian, but I cannot say the same for myself or my husband. For example, last friday night I did not feel like cooking so I just didn’t eat.  I think my husband made a frozen pizza, so he was taken care of.  I still cooked for Julian.  I probably would have cooked for myself, but I only had enough salmon and veggies for one.  Not having enough groceries in the house is usually the start of my diet downfall. 

I have no good excuses, but hopefully this review of my techniques will help me get back on track!

The most important factors in a nicely organized existence are being well-rested and well-fed.  When I’m tired and hungry I don’t care about organization, but in order to get back to feeling happy I require organization.  It’s a lovely cycle.  The key to meeting these factors is to stay on top of the game.  When it works, life is a well-oiled machine. 

I make sure that I get prepared for the next day each night. That means packing a lunch for my son and at the very least being aware of what I will take for my own lunch.  This allows me a nice long 7 hour sleep, which allows me to stay alert and organized all that day.  In order for that to happen,  I need to make sure we always have fresh food in the house.  However, I don’t have time to go to the grocery store more than once a week.

So, I always plan to shop on the weekend, normally very early Saturday or Sunday morning (when no one else is around). Or, I rely on my bi-weekly Bountiful Baskets arrival.  Simply going to the store does not result in a planned week, however.  I make lists to ensure I have what I need to make sense of the bags of food once I bring them home. I try to envision dinner recipes before making my lists, in an effort to stay on track. Otherwise, I will end up with what looks good to me on a Sunday morning and not what will be sensible on a Wednesday night.

The next step is to form these ingredients into the basis for quick meals, which I discuss more in my bulk-cooking series of posts. 

Have I mentioned lists yet?  I like lists on good old-fashioned paper.  I keep a book of lists, have scraps of lists lying around and even have a few lists that manage to make it onto my smartphone.  Mostly, however, I just use paper.  No matter how you like to keep notes, I highly suggest a system of lists and reminders.  I find that just the act of putting pen to paper helps me remember what to do when, even if I never again see that paper.  These lists consist of what I need to do and when, what dinners I have planned and what appointments I need to transfer to my permanent calendar. Lists are an organizer’s dream.

All in all, I’m fairly certain that I would not function without strict organization. Take the past two weeks for example.  I have hardly cooked at all, I haven’t updated my blog in days and I generally feel sluggish and slightly ill.  I let my organization and planning go out the window.  Sometimes that’s not a bad thing, though.  After all, how can I appreciate the benefits of it all if not for the occasional break?

Peanut Butter Alternatives

Who doesn’t love peanut butter?  My son really enjoys it (smooth, of course) and it is one food item I can count on him to eat two days in a row if necessary.  We are currently trying different brands to find the best taste, ingredients and cost. 

I am currently sampling Jif Natural.  It does have added sugar; however, the cost (for a natural peanut butter) is reasonable, everything in the ingredients list can be found in nature and – this is the best part – it doesn’t separate in the jar.  Obviously, it takes a while to get through a jar so at this time I have no other brand on which to report.

One of the reasons it takes us so long to get through a jar of peanut butter is because Julian’s daycare is a Peanut Free Campus. For those of you who do not have kids in daycare or school, that means that one of the other kids in the building is allergic to peanuts, so peanut products can NOT be on the premises.  I know, I was a bit surprised at that one. 

This news was a major bummer to me, because we learned this just when Julian was starting to eat with his hands, and sandwich bites are perfect for him.  What I typically send for his lunch, when I have it, is dinner leftovers.  But when we don’t have a dinner he can eat, or when we don’t have anything left over, my protein options are limited. PB sandwiches are such an easy go-to!

So, I embarked on my quest for alternatives.  Here is what I found:

Almond butter – not surprisingly, expensive.  I found a fancy-shmancy jar at Target for over $10!!!  Sorry Julian.  I finally found an alternative brand at my Super Wal-Mart for a little over $3.  I bought it.  It’s dry, but he eats it and so far has shown no apparent preference for one ‘butter’ over the other. The brand website shows a much higher price than I paid, so Wal-Mart must have struck a deal. People say they are an evil empire, but when they save me that much for a jar of nut butter, I don’t wish them any harm.

A good stand-by protein alternative is a hard-boiled egg.  Here, Julian can be picky.  I can only get away with one or two eggs a week.  But that’s perfect, because he doesn’t need any more of the cholesterol.  They are such an easy fix, I might try to get away with it more often if he would let me.  Thanks for being my system of nutritional checks and balances, Julian.

Kefir.  This is basically yogurt in a cup.  I drank this as a vegetarian child, and loved it. I had all but forgotten about this tasty treat until my co-worker brought it up about a month ago.  A decent protein source and something Julian can self-feed, unlike yogurt (self-feeding is a requirement for big boys at Julian’s daycare).  I found an organic, low-fat variety at my local natural food store.  He can’t get enough of the stuff. 

These are just a few of the ways I make quick, easy lunches for daycare or when we are out on the town on weekends.   I am eager to hear your ideas for quick and easy protein sources for growing little ones!

Cooking in Bulk, Part 2: Saving Time for That Which Matters Most

For the second installment in my treatment of bulk-cooking healthy food for your family, I am going to discuss saving your precious time.  Much like investing today in a 10 lb box of laundry detergent from Costco saves you money over the course of the next six months, cooking meals -or even just meal staples – in bulk saves time over the next week or month.  I present to you the next compelling and sensible argument in my series…

Reason # 2: Make less work for yourself

How many meals do you actually cook each night?  In the past, I have been known to prepare up to four different meals: One for me, one for my husband,one for my son and one for tomorrow’s lunch.  Of course, now that my son is eating table foods, fortunately, I have condensed this list a bit.  I know parents, however, who cook a different meal for each kid well into grade school.  I still make substitutions or slight modifications, on occasion, for the others dining at my table, but I now draw the line at completely different meals.  My time is too important to me to spend in the kitchen on a weeknight.  I do LOVE to cook in the kitchen, but on my own terms!

The other time-consuming act is kitchen clean up.  I clean while I cook, I clean after I cook, I clean when I put leftovers away.  Clean, clean, clean: a time-waster.  (My husband actually does help me, but that took three years of marriage to establish). 

How can one save time, you ask?  By cooking and freezing large meals or meats that can be easily adapted to several meals – like chicken.  When I wasn’t as health-conscience as I am now, I froze large casseroles in single or double serving portions.  Now, I  lean toward freezing cooked lean meat and pairing it with some fresh vegetables I prepare just before eating.  

I might spend up to two hours grocery shopping and cooking on the weekend, including clean-up.  Then I spend about 10 or 15 minutes steaming vegetables and wiping the counter each weeknight. For each dinner, I defrost the meat while the veggies are cooking, then it’s all ready to go.   However, if I cooked a different meat each night, I could spend an hour or more preparing, cooking and cleaning up.  According to my unscientific estimation, I save myself at least an hour per week by bulk cooking.

What can you do with an extra hour?  You can watch that favorite t.v. show you haven’t seen in two years, you can take your kids to the park, you can read them 12 stories, you can get a massage or a pedicure, you can take the kids to a museum….the list goes on.  Whatever is important to you, whatever you need – getting quality ‘me’ time or spending more time with your family – you can make it a reality. 

Even though I personally never got this concept together until the final month of my pregnancy with Julian, bulk-cooking saves busy working couples time too!

Because my own recipe creativity is somewhat limited to the basics, I have found a resource that will add much more variety to this concept: Cooking for the Week : Leisurely Weekend Cooking for Easy Weekday Meals.  Although I have not personally tried every recipe in this book, I have previously tried other recipes from this author and am pleased to report they are easy and delicious. 

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Coming soon…the third installment in my four-part case for cooking in bulk:   Saving Money.  This one is fairly straightforward, is it not?