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 Andrewās work schedule gets crazy with planning for
the fall, parent info nights, etc. and Iām that crazy person who actually
enjoys chaperoning events like proms and going to award nights so Iām 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 weāll 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 ā I donāt know how weād 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 weāll be home and which some portion of us will be out.
- Then I pencil in real dinners for those nights when weāre all home.
- For the nights when one or more of us are out, I plan for crockpot or prep-ahead dinners.
- If weāre going to be running in and right back out, crockpot is a must.
- If Iām home first and Andrewās 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)
Honey sauced chicken, steamed broccoli & rice
Quick cook:
Burgers ā beef, turkey or chicken (store bought, turkey-zucchini burgers which I pre-make on the weekends and freeze, Trader Joeās chicken lime
burgers are a favorite of mine)
Easy to plan
ahead:
Balsamic chicken with grilled veggies (pre-cut veggies &
marinate chicken the night before)
Korean skirt steak & sautƩed 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.
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