Food-Filled Fridays: Planning Ahead and Prepping Ahead…

It’s Friday, so technically, so I should be writing about food.  lol…that’s not hard to do when I love food like crazy.  However, I really should update you all on life and what’s going on.  Alot has happened. 🙂

I recently got hired as a writing tutor through SmarThinking. I work helping people write better essays, papers, and theses, and dissertation.  It’s really a great job, and it’s relatively easy too.  lol… I mentioned to Adam that the one problem with the job is that it’s super easy to get bored.  He said I’d get bored with any job I had.  Is that true?  I’m thinking cooking might keep me entertained for a while.

I guess that comes from having an over-active imagination.  I get bored watching “good” movies (like Salt… have you seen it?  I thought it was boring.), reading “classic” books, and relaxing on days off.  Is that normal–never mind.

I have been doing more reading lately. 🙂  Recently, I read Oliver North’s The Jericho Sanction and John Grisham’s The Brethren.  I’m currently working on Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears (which I realized after starting it is a book near the end of a series –oh, well).  I’ve read works from each of these authors in order to determine which I like best and to learn a little about their writing styles.

I really loved Oliver North’s book.  I’m just glad I finished it before accidentally leaving it at the Van Nuys Flyaway (hehe..sorry, Mom. I’m buying you a new one. 🙂 )  The writing was realistic and grabbing from the start.  My one moment of being unsatisfied was when Oliver North used his own name in the book.  Even if you were in the book because its crazy similarities to actual events, Oliver, use someone else’s name.  It totally pulled me from the story and snapped me back to reality.  Fail.

John Grisham’s book was slow at first, but in the end, it was great.  He has a magnificent way of writing.

So far, I’m liking Tom Clancy’s book, but it’s hard not to picture Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan (he plays that character in The Hunt for the Red October, a movie based on Clancy’s book with that same title). 🙂  It’s a little slow so far; but hey, I’m only on page 82 of about 750+.  I’m willing to assume it gets better. 🙂

After this book, I plan on reading Black by Ted Dekker.  Maggie told me it’s awesome.  It’s from Dekker’s The Circle Trilogy.  He’s a new author to me, so I’m looking forward to it. 🙂

I’m pretty sure I mentioned to you all last time that we have three cats.  Maybe I didn’t. Anyway, we have three wonderful kittens: Watson, Cassidy, and Sprite. 🙂  Well, technically Sprite is Mom and Dad Bowman’s, but she’ll be permanently living with us, so we’ve claimed her as ours.

Watson is a beautiful, long-haired, black cat with the craziest personality.  He’s an aggressive wrestler with his sisters, but overall, he’s a major cuddler. I’ve never known a cat to love to be on his back as often he does.

Sprite is our independent child.  She is a wonderful, black and gray tiger with beautiful markings.  She loves to be alone outdoors and is often found sleeping by herself in obscure locations.  She’s a major licker, so don’t let her near your face. 🙂

Cassidy is our scaredy-cat. Literally.  She’s a beautiful calico (?) cat with all sorts of browns, oranges, yellows, and black all mixed together.  She hates to be alone and is often found tripping me (literally) as I try to move around the house.  She is also a biter.  She’s not a nasty biter, but instead of showing affection through licking like Sprite, she nibbles on my fingers.  Random.

I should also mention that all of our kitties are polydactyl.  That means they have extra toes. For more information, check this out: Polydactyl Cats

So, there you are.  Those are all the updates from life that I can think of including at this point.

On to a food-related discussion.

Planning Ahead and Prepping Ahead

As you know, I’m married (and loving it).  However, with my new job, I’m also working between 25 and 30 hours a week.  That leaves for a very busy life with all my spare time taken up with washing and drying dishes (Seriously! How many dishes can two people makes?!), doing laundry, cleaning, and of course, cooking and baking (my favorites).

I’m sure I’m not the first person to talk on this subject nor will I be the last.  I’m not the first wife to discover the peace of mind that comes with this practice, and again, I won’t be the last.  However, it’s worth sharing again for all of you readers who might not have discovered this joy as of yet.

Planning ahead and prepping ahead are my biggest headache-savers.  These two steps save money, save time, and save my sanity.

Planning ahead means planning meals ahead of time.  If I were to come back home after work and just start to plan my dinner then, my poor husband would probably get nothing more than a sandwich and a bag of chips.  Planning ahead means knowing what our menu is for today, tomorrow, and hopefully (if I’m organized enough), next week.  This insures that we don’t succumb to impulse food-buying, which often leads to buy food in smaller portions and at higher costs.

Another way to plan ahead is to anticipate days that just don’t go as planned.  Let’s take last night, for instance.  Yesterday, I ended work at 4pm like normal.  However, I needed to help my brother-in-law Aaron with a flight purchase online, so I stuck around my in-laws ’til he got home around 4:30.  We worked on the flight purchase, which was officially finished around 5pm.  Adam was just getting off work and the car’s battery was dead, so I had to wait for him to come there to get me.  We ended up having dinner with my in-laws, but what if Mom hadn’t graciously offered?  Would I have had to go home and just start planning dinner?

Thankfully, I’ve begun a practice of freezing meals.  This allows us to enjoy a meal every now again without me having to do any prep.  Also, this allows for a good meal even on those crazy days like yesterday.

Prepping ahead is also another joy of mine.  Prepping ahead means that during the time I have in the morning before work, I prepare as much of our dinner as possible.  For instance, prepping for today’s dinner meant making the enchiladas and sticking them in the fridge to be cooked tonight.  Prepping for tomorrow’s dinner means marinating chicken cutlets in lemon garlic sauce today.

By doing this, I can tackle the prep dishes before dinner so I’m not stuck with my hands in dish water after dinner.  It also allows for our schedules to be more flexible if something comes up between work and dinner time.

So, what can you do to make your meal times less stressful?  Would preparing a few meals ahead of time and freezing them make those soccer nights run smoother?  Would prepping that dish with all those cut-up vegetables make you dread dinner time labor a little less?

What other ideas for saving time and energy do you have?

(I wish I had a good picture of the kitties, but I don’t.  I’ll get on that. =) )

Tune in next week for more Food-Filled Fridays! =)