I know I’ve mentioned before that Tool Lady and I work for the same non-profit and that I manage the after school and summer camp program for girls age 5-15…but what I don’t think I’ve mentioned is how much time and energy it takes to keep things going intentionally and effectively. I’ve been working there for eight years now and seem to forget each and every year how much must go into getting everything wrapped up from the school year and ready for camp. 40 hour work weeks can quickly become 45-60 hour weeks of planning, prepping, training and managing. We quadruple the number of Facilitators that work directly with the girls for the summer (which means lots of hiring), do 7 days of training 23 full time and seasonal staff and then 8 weeks of camp for 105 girls each day. We implement research based, age appropriate, experiential activities around communication and team building, science and math, nutrition, physical activity, stress management and preventing adolescent pregnancy (to name just a few of of our programs) in addition to the normal “summer camp” stuff like swimming, art, scavenger hunts and museum visits. It’s a lot, it’s very fulfilling and it’s absolutely exhausting.
As summer draws near each year, Tool Lady and I tend to forget how to eat well and take care of ourselves in general. It’s easier and faster to buy breakfast, lunch and/or dinner on the run than it is to try to figure out meals early in the morning or late at night, so we fall into a pattern every year of eating a bunch of crap and spending a ton of money. Each year we say we’ll do better and then, with a fast food burger in hand, we shake our heads at each other, take a sip of soda and get right back to work. It’s hell on our wallets and our health. It also feels quite crappy emotionally to know we can do better but to continue to fall into the same old patterns.
Well, this years training starts on Wednesday and what we’ve done this time around is try to plan ahead a bit. We purchased some frozen meals at the grocery store to give us a boost and then we made a bunch of burritos to throw in the freezer. We’ll be able to grab these, throw them in the microwave and have an actual meal. Healthy, fast, delicious and cheap.
Calabacitas Burritos – 12 total (4 for each of us) – $13.37 total ($1.11 each)
$1.31 each)
Now, we can’t eat burritos all the time, so we also got the makings for smoothies and some other throw-together-quick-items (PB&J…) and have made some additional beans and rice ahead to help with meals when we get home late. Later today I’ll make some banana bread and some carrot muffins for breakfast options and I’ll make a lasagna for dinner tonight and freeze what’s left for a few more quick-grab meals during the week.
What tricks do you have to plan ahead, saving money, your sanity and your health? I’d love to hear what works for you!
Great idea. I love these. I have a link party, and I would love it if you would link this post. You can find it at
http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/07/face-cleansing-oil-and-wednesdays.html
It is called Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party.
I hope to see you there. Have a great Day.
Debi Bolocofsky
Adorned From Above
http://www.adornedfromabove.com
I’ve been writing about this same thing! We have 3 kids in baseball! I just posted a recipe for chicken & bean burritos for the freezer! They are delicious! AND I make PB&Js for the freezer! It only takes about 5 minutes to make a loaf of bread into sandwiches. I put them in baggies and then in a container. Sooo nice to have to pull out when I don’t have time to make them!
PB&Js for the freezer is brilliant! You’re right…they’re super fast and delicious and so much cheaper (and better for the kiddos) than the ones you find in the store 🙂
I really need to do this! Last night as I was downing ANOTHER fast food meal, I couldn’t help but notice how crappy I feel and how much more I’ve started eating out as the work load here picks up dramatically.
Ugh.
I need to start doing this and doing it TODAY! Thanks for the kick in the pants! 😉
Ha! You’re welcome! It seems to come in waves here…we’ll do really well for a while and then we slip again. I guess the key is in the continued trying, right?
Great idea! I never thought about freezing “pre-fab” burritos myself, and your 12 calabacitas burritos costs the same as it does for Chi and I to get one burrito each at the little taco joint by the farmers’ market we go to on Sundays. We almost always have food left over when we barbeque, so I just de-bone and cut up the leftover roasted meat and veggies and put them in plastic containers in the fridge to reheat in a saute pan for a quick and delicious quesadilla or burrito.
Yeah…when you add it up it really makes a difference, ha?! I love your leftover BBQ meat with veggies in the freezer! I’ll have to remember that!
Good for you ladies! I try to do the same. I meal plan as much as possible week to week and I also try to make enough for dinner so that there are leftovers for lunch.
Extra burritos into the freezer are excellent and I always try to stock up on them 🙂
I love your meal plans! We make meal calendars from time to time…sometimes we’re really good at sticking to them…but other times we’ve been just awful!
Set up the night before (coffee maker, set clothes out, and pack lunch) I put my purse, keys phone and tote bag in the same area to to save steps.
If I have a particularly big day planned, I have been known to make a check list and post it on the door before I leave just to be sure I haven’t forgotten anything.
I love it! You’re so organized! I’m a sucker for lists, too…I like to keep paper and a pencil next to my bed because I’ve been known to stay up half the night afraid I’ll forget something that needs to be done the next day. No fun! If I write it down, I’m fine, though 🙂