A Little Help from My Friends

In an effort to figure out the dinner dilemma in trying to find balance, I solicited a little help from my friends on Facebook. It is clearly something a lot of busy people think about.  I heard from moms, grandmas, men and women.

Several people said they plan on Sundays, taking inventory of what they have on hand, what they plan to prepare during the week, and what items they need to purchase.  One mom said she plans for a week and takes the same schedule into the rest of the month.  For example; Monday - pizza, Tuesday - tacos, Wednesday - "white trash" (not my words), Thursday - left overs, and Friday - Friday night delight.  There are no plans for weekend nights, which is typically my plan too.

I met with one of my friends this week who said she had a similar plan but varied it according to what she had on hand or convenience packages she bought from Trader Joe's.   A number of friends and strangers I quizzed at the grocery store told me they make sure they have frozen bags of vegetables, spices, and dried goods on hand.  They then shop every couple of days for fresh produce and meat.  There was also a friend who manages to get to the farmer's market each week (I'm so jealous).  I'm lucky if I can make it there twice a year.

Casseroles and the crock pot came up a lot too.  For a crock pot, one must wake up earlier to put everything in so that it's ready when dinner rolls around.

Pinterest and Google searching recipes are also popular for finding simple dinners to make. 

I do enjoy cooking.  I guess that's why I can't just eat out every night.  During weeks where I can plan, I usually take the same approach as my former Girl Scout Troop co-leader suggested.  I aim for cooking three days a week, eat left-overs two days a week, and we eat out two days a week.  I'm also fortunate to sometimes get help from my mother who will pop in to cook dinner. 

In my quest for answers on Facebook, I had one long time friend who said this:
"My question for you is....how much time are you spending on prepping/shopping/cooking? Have you compared your value of time to that of a hired hand (part time) my guess is, you would be at same cost or less to have someone do all of that for you. You may be surprised."

I will look into this in the following weeks.

Note: "When Good Enough is Perfect" NEVER comes into play for my professional or school work.

Fun, Germs, and Fast food

With President's day kicking off the week, I thought it was going to be a good, fun, short week .  We did what many Americans do on a long weekend and had a barbeque.  Which basically means it's time for my husband to cook and I don't have to think about the family meal.  It is usually enough for one day of left overs too.

I had planned on this weeks blog continuing the discussion of planning dinner for a busy parent, but that will have to wait.  With work, school, my husband out of town,  and my youngest daughter coming down with the flu, that all went by the wayside and I just had to take a breath and remember my motto, "good enough". 

For the busiest of parents, there's always fast food and restaurants. And despite the guilt, my choices were "good enough".   Dinner at Chick-Fil-A sufficed one night.  I couldn't take my daughter with a temperature of 103 degrees into a restaurant, she was contagious.  At least the next night, we ran into an eatery that is a little healthier, Luna Grill, serving fresh Mediterranean fare.  I can't say the same for the rest of the nights.

I also failed to get items for our school fundraiser.  This week they were asking for themed donations for the upcoming auction that would be part of the fundraiser.  I had planned to buy items, but it just wasn't possible.  A busy mom has to prioritize and learn when to take a breath and say "it's good enough". 

My only saving grace was the thought that we did something educational for our kids this holiday weekend.  I couldn't let them sit around and be a couch potato on their day off from school.  We took them to the tide pools at Cardiff State beach.  It was a great way to enjoy nature, learn about some coastal creatures, and take in the beauty of living near the beach. 

The mussels, crabs, dark purple sea cucumbers and bright starfish were amazing and a great way to enjoy our surroundings. 

Perhaps an upcoming blog will be about healthy fast food for your family.  Food for thought.

Note: "When Good Enough is Perfect" NEVER comes into play for my professional or school work.

A common way to enjoy nature and the beauty of our surroundings is by taking a stroll near local tide-pools. A personal favorite San Diego pastime is walking the beach and tide-pools during a low-tide sunset. It’s a gift to capture the overwhelming beauty of a pristine beach, rocky reef, and beautiful sunset. The captivating green seaweed illuminates the water while the dark purple sea-cucumbers slink across the sand, orange starfish jumble the rocks, and fluorescent green sea anemones reach for the sun along the water’s edge.
If you're looking for a great way to spend a few hours at low-tide, here are a few of my favorite San Diego tide-pools:

1. Seaside Beach in Cardiff-by-the-Sea: With a large parking lot and gorgeous tall cliffs, Seaside Beach is home to my favorite tide-pools in San Diego County. Located just off Pacific Coast Highway, at the South end of Cardiff State Beach, these pools are easily accessible for a quick tide-pool trip or great for a long beach day, soaking up the sun and catching some surf. If you walk further South from Seaside, you reach the cliffs of Solana Beach and some beautiful caves in the cliffs. Please make sure to stay clear away from the cliffs as they are constantly eroding and can be very dangerous.

- See more at: http://www.sandiego.com/san-diego-blog/tide-pooling-great-san-diego-pastime#sthash.yLlnZy1A.dpuf

common way to enjoy nature and the beauty of our surroundings is by taking a stroll near local tide-pools. A personal favorite San Diego pastime is walking the beach and tide-pools during a low-tide sunset. It’s a gift to capture the overwhelming beauty of a pristine beach, rocky reef, and beautiful sunset. The captivating green seaweed illuminates the water while the dark purple sea-cucumbers slink across the sand, orange starfish jumble the rocks, and fluorescent green sea anemones reach for the sun along the water’s edge.
If you're looking for a great way to spend a few hours at low-tide, here are a few of my favorite San Diego tide-pools:

1. Seaside Beach in Cardiff-by-the-Sea: With a large parking lot and gorgeous tall cliffs, Seaside Beach is home to my favorite tide-pools in San Diego County. Located just off Pacific Coast Highway, at the South end of Cardiff State Beach, these pools are easily accessible for a quick tide-pool trip or great for a long beach day, soaking up the sun and catching some surf. If you walk further South from Seaside, you reach the cliffs of Solana Beach and some beautiful caves in the cliffs. Please make sure to stay clear away from the cliffs as they are constantly eroding and can be very dangerous.

- See more at: http://www.sandiego.com/san-diego-blog/tide-pooling-great-san-diego-pastime#sthash.yLlnZy1A.dpuf

A common way to enjoy nature and the beauty of our surroundings is by taking a stroll near local tide-pools. A personal favorite San Diego pastime is walking the beach and tide-pools during a low-tide sunset. It’s a gift to capture the overwhelming beauty of a pristine beach, rocky reef, and beautiful sunset. The captivating green seaweed illuminates the water while the dark purple sea-cucumbers slink across the sand, orange starfish jumble the rocks, and fluorescent green sea anemones reach for the sun along the water’s edge.
If you're looking for a great way to spend a few hours at low-tide, here are a few of my favorite San Diego tide-pools:

1. Seaside Beach in Cardiff-by-the-Sea: With a large parking lot and gorgeous tall cliffs, Seaside Beach is home to my favorite tide-pools in San Diego County. Located just off Pacific Coast Highway, at the South end of Cardiff State Beach, these pools are easily accessible for a quick tide-pool trip or great for a long beach day, soaking up the sun and catching some surf. If you walk further South from Seaside, you reach the cliffs of Solana Beach and some beautiful caves in the cliffs. Please make sure to stay clear away from the cliffs as they are constantly eroding and can be very dangerous.

- See more at: http://www.sandiego.com/san-diego-blog/tide-pooling-great-san-diego-pastime#sthash.yLlnZy1A.dpuf

A common way to enjoy nature and the beauty of our surroundings is by taking a stroll near local tide-pools. A personal favorite San Diego pastime is walking the beach and tide-pools during a low-tide sunset. It’s a gift to capture the overwhelming beauty of a pristine beach, rocky reef, and beautiful sunset. The captivating green seaweed illuminates the water while the dark purple sea-cucumbers slink across the sand, orange starfish jumble the rocks, and fluorescent green sea anemones reach for the sun along the water’s edge.
If you're looking for a great way to spend a few hours at low-tide, here are a few of my favorite San Diego tide-pools:

1. Seaside Beach in Cardiff-by-the-Sea: With a large parking lot and gorgeous tall cliffs, Seaside Beach is home to my favorite tide-pools in San Diego County. Located just off Pacific Coast Highway, at the South end of Cardiff State Beach, these pools are easily accessible for a quick tide-pool trip or great for a long beach day, soaking up the sun and catching some surf. If you walk further South from Seaside, you reach the cliffs of Solana Beach and some beautiful caves in the cliffs. Please make sure to stay clear away from the cliffs as they are constantly eroding and can be very dangerous.

- See more at: http://www.sandiego.com/san-diego-blog/tide-pooling-great-san-diego-pastime#sthash.yLlnZy1A.dpuf

Planning Dinner

"What's for dinner mommy?" says ten year old.  "Hmmm, I don't know," I reply.  "What?"  "Do you want us to starve?" she says.  That was our conversation on one weeknight this week.  It seems when 6:00 pm rolls around and I don't have something on the stove, my family will starve.  Of course I would never want my family to go hungry.

When I wake up in the morning, it's one of the first things I think about.  My mother always says, "If you don't put something in the crock-pot then you better start cooking at 4:00."   "Really," I tell her, do you know how short that makes my day?"  In an effort to be a good wife and mother, I constantly look for answers on this very subject.  I tried planning on Sunday, preparing some recipes and then freezing.  But the problem is, I can't keep it up week after week. 

I took out one of my favorite cook books, The Cancer Fighting cook book, by Rebecca Katz iwth Mat Edelson.  I bought this book after my father was diagnosed with cancer and quickly enjoyed many of the recipes I tried.  In the video below, I'm taking some short cuts that in my opinion, don't sacrifice taste, but make it easier on a busy person like myself.

Note: "When Good Enough is Perfect" NEVER comes into play for my professional or school work.

Organize, organize, organize

The key to stretching the hours of you day, I'm told, is to be organized.  In my mind, that means scheduling everything.  I write down my appointments, my kids and husband's appointments, and the many appointments of my parents. (You'll have to read my other blog to understand why I need to know their appointments.)  I put them on my calendar on my I-phone too.   There's also Siri.  She's very helpful for when I have to remember to buy ingredients for the clam chowder my daughter's class is making for their week studying marine animals or for remembering the checkbook for piano lessons at the beginning of the month.

A friend of mine recommended using Google calendar and syncing it to her phone and other devices.
http://m.imore.com/how-edit-calendar-defaults-alerts-and-sync-settings-iphone-and-ipad But I have another friend who said this, " I put all my events in Google calendar, then instantly ignore my calendar, then frantically stress out getting ready for said ignored events".  That can be me sometimes.  It's almost as though I have to plan for my plan.

Around everyone's else appointments, there's scheduling in work, completing my assignments for my graduate class and including my husband's work schedule.  He travels frequently so I have to figure out when it's my turn to play "single mom".  My husband just recently came off a 17 week traveling schedule.  He's a camera guy for CBS sports and his last NFL game for the season was the "deflategate" game.  I thought I had made it through.  I did not get pneumonia like I did one year. My kids seemed to be good and I managed to get through Christmas buying everyone's presents and planning a dinner for 33 people.  But I learned last week that I did not make it through unscathed.  We received a letter from the school district saying one of my daughters had 13 tardies to school.  Let's see, that would be the 13 of the 17 Mondays my husband was out of town.  I got the kids to school on time, before the bell rang.  My older daughter's class is in the front of the school, so no problem there. She doesn't have any tardies.  But my younger daughter with the shorter legs has further to walk.  Her class is in the back of the school and poor thing just can't make it.  At first I was upset, but I'm doing my best..... it's good enough, I keep telling myself. 

Another note to self, I'm only a part-time single mom, so for more insight on the juggling act of single motherhood,  I'll direct you to the following blog:

www.jennifertubwell.wordpress.com
"When Good Enough is Perfect" comes into play when my husband is out of town.  It has to or I'll go insane.  I have to tell one daughter I can't go to "Take your parents to lunch day" because I'm on a field trip with my other daughter.  I try to take turns with my two kids for school events.  Fortunately they are scheduled in advance and I can work them into my work and school plans.  But there is the "mommy guilt" of not being able to do it all.  The guilt especially sinks in when I see some moms who are on the PTA, at every field trip, help out with every fundraiser, and they're in the classroom almost as much as the teacher.  I just have to tell myself, I'm doing my best and it's good enough.
 
For a working mom, it is more than just scheduling appointments and activities.  There's also dinner to think about.  If I don't plan dinner or ask my husband to plan, we wouldn't eat.  This takes work and the focus for next weeks blog.  I'm not so sure my family will accept "good enough" when it comes to food.

Thanks for reading!
Note: "When Good Enough is Perfect" NEVER comes into play for my professional or school work.