How do you stay on track with a busy schedule?

RebeccaRivastx

Hey ya'll! I am starting to get worried. Next week I start up with my busy schedule; teaching during the day, classes for my Master's degree at night online, football practice twice a week for two hours and scouts for my son, and cheerleading practice also twice a week for two hours for my daughter. I'm afraid I will not be able to avoid the fast food line. I want to know how do you prepare for your busy day ahead? Do you cook your food the night (or weekend) before and just microwave everything? Are there websites with good recipes? Is there healthy quick food in the supermarkets that are readily available without breaking the bank?
Also, feel free to add me.

andreaeose777

I take about 3 hours on the weekend and prepare everything that I can before the week starts. For instance. I never ever cook breakfast (I got to the gym in the morning, so I don't have time). I usually make an oatmeal crust quiche. Spinach, pepper, onion, mushroom and egg burrito, and Oatmeal, flax seed banana blueberry pancakes (all oatmeal no regular flour) on the weekends and freeze it all. This is our grab and go meals for the morning. I cut up all my veggies, and I usually create some kind of dish in a pan to go in the oven monday night, and tuesday night and that way when I get home, all i have to do is preheat the oven and pop it in. You could also do a crockpot meal on Wednesday, Thursday night is usually salmon because it only takes 25 minutes in the oven, and Friday night we always go out to eat as a family.

bhankiii

I cook on weekends and freeze single servings. There are also decent frozen meals out there - checkout the Amy's brand, they're generally well made and natural. A crock pot works well for the family. you can bag up all the ingredients on the weekend and then plop it in before you leave each morning. Simple basics work well too - apples and peanut butter and Greek yogurt are a couple of our favorite snacks.

AllDIVA

Wow, a lot of questions...LOL. Plan as much as you can. eat before you go out so you will not be so hungry while out. get a cooler to put protein shake in if you like ready made. I use pure protein. take health snacks. Plan for not so good choices. leave calories for possible high calorie meals. The best advise I have ever received is leave the carbs alone in the evening. veggies and protein...chicken fish lean meat seafood and watch the dressing on salads. You can do this and it will get better as time goes on.

lolly2721

Hello from a fellow teacher and parent! I am looking at the same issue you are. I have been teaching summer school, although it does get out 2-3 hours earlier than normal school. I also have kids in multiple sports as well as myself. I have 2 different martial arts and I run. We don't get home until 7:30 or 8 each night. I have found that pre-cooking meals and putting them in the freezer helps. Just take it out and pop it in the oven while we are all showering the sweat off. Another favorite is my crockpot. That thing gets a major workout! I will set it up the night before, put the crock in the fridge and put it on to heat the next morning right before I leave.

Hope I helped you some.

iplayoutside19

If I have a "normal" Sunday, I cook a lot of my meals and portion them out. That way in the morning during the work week I grab what I need and I'm off to make things happen.

I have this little game I play. I view fast food places as the enemy, and I try to avoid them while I'm out. Some times they win when I don't plan properly.

RebeccaRivastx

Thanks everyone!

grimsin

I cook boneless skinless breasts and boiled eggs ahead of time so I have stuff I can throw in a bag real quick if I need to. also keeping lots of fruit on hand has been a godsend for me, and almonds, they seem to help my hunger alot.

Gardengail

Our plan is to cook a couple of meals on Sunday and then another night in the week we'll chicken or pork loin, making enough for two meals. In variably we end up with a soup/sandwich or breakfast night, too. I always try to cook enough to have a leftover lunch for work, too. My husband is diabetic, our son has Crohn's and I'm watching, well, everything. By the time I finish work, then go to the gym and head home it is usually 7:30p - 8p. Then we get up and do it all over again!

wait_loss

I have found Sandi Richards books(" Lifes on Fire" Cooking for the Rushed") this series of books are a great point of reference. The books are a series of meal plans all on healthy eating. They are available at Amazon or Sandi Richards site google cooking for the rushed. They include menues for a week at a time they are all able to be prepared and on the table in less than an hour. Includes shopping lists and the meals are colour coded for what requires least chopping or more chopping and take less or more time to cook. I also use my oven timer to have meals ready for when you come in thru the door. Great for those frozen casseroles or roasts in the middle of the week. more versatile than leaving a slow cooker on all day. It will also shut off when done and keep the food warm in the radiant heat for up to two hours. So on those nights when you are running around crazy. You can all sit down to a lovely meal together.