Surviving Spring Sports

Hello, crazy, my old friend. Now the snow has melted, the fields are back in use and my life is getting crazy busy!

I kid you not, our spring calendar is INSANE between 2 kids in baseball, 2 in soccer, and weekly tutoring. On top of that, apparently every child our kids are friends with were born in the months between April-July. To that, you add the fact that Andrew’s work schedule gets crazy with planning for the fall, parent info nights, etc. and I’m that crazy person who actually enjoys chaperoning events like proms and going to award nights so I’m out for various events throughout the next few weeks. 

So how the heck do we survive the madness while still eating healthy?

Over the next few months, at least 3-4 nights a week we’ll be running in the door to an already cooked dinner waiting in the crockpot and then splitting to the winds to shuffle little people off to their respective activities. Other nights we'll make due with a quick breakfast for dinner (cereal or reheated pancakes, fresh fruit and smoothies) or a quickie dinner on the grill.

How do we plan for this chaos?    

• With the help of Google – I don’t know how we’d keep it all straight without our Google calendar. This is the eye sore that is our Google calendar so far for May:

• On Sundays, I look ahead to our week and figure out first what nights we’ll be home and which some portion of us will be out.
• Then I pencil in real dinners for those nights when we’re all home. 
• For the nights when one or more of us are out, I plan for crockpot or prep-ahead dinners.
• If we’re going to be running in and right back out, crockpot is a must.
• If I’m home first and Andrew’s taking someone to a late practice, I plan for a quick-cook dinner that can be prepped quickly (or in advance) and consumed before whoever is out leaves for their practice/game.

• Planning ahead. Where I can pre-cut veggies, I do. If I can marinate ahead of time I do. If we're doing rice/quinoa, I make it ahead of time and reheat as needed for the week. Before I leave the house on those crazy days, I get the pans laid out on the stove and everything ready to go when I walk in the door. If we're using the crockpot, I get everything all set and ready to dump in the crockpot in the morning before I leave for work. Yes, these steps all take precious time but they're also life-savers when you're tired and time crunched during the week!

My go-to options this spring:

Crockpot:

Teriyaki chicken with broccoli and rice/quinoa (make the rice/quinoa ahead and reheat)

Sesame chicken with edamame and rice/quinoa

Turkey meatballs (easy to grab for subs or throw over pasta for those at home)

Beer pulled chicken

Chinese beef and bok choy

Honey sauced chicken, steamed broccoli & rice

Quick cook:

Burgers – beef, turkey or chicken (store bought, turkey-zucchini burgers which I pre-make on the weekends and freeze, Trader Joe’s chicken lime burgers are a favorite of mine)

Easy parmesan chicken with tomatoes and spinach

Black bean & brown rice tortillas

Easy to plan ahead:

Balsamic chicken with grilled veggies (pre-cut veggies & marinate chicken the night before)

Korean skirt steak & sautéed bean sprouts (marinate the steak the night before & throw on the grill day of)

Teriyaki marinated fish/chicken, grilled or foil wrapped veggies

Some other resources I plan to draw on:
30 Days of Game Night Meals
8 Healthy Freezer Crockpot Meals

If you can empathize with the madness and would like some support to stay on track this spring/summer, reach out and I'd love to help support you and keep you accountable to your goals. Yes, it's nutty and yes, it can be done with some semblance of sanity in tact.