Currently...Getting Ready for October

How's your Monday so far? Monday really does set us up for the week, doesn't it. It can be so full of promise and positivity, or it can make you want to crawl back under the covers and try again tomorrow.  Hope your Monday's going well.  Here's how mine is filling up.

Fighting a cold. Or something. I don't get sick often but it seems that when I do, my body is playing catch up for all the time I wasn't sick.  I've been drinking hot green tea since yesterday, because that is the cure for any illness (you knew that, right?)

Planning meals for children who won't be at the dinner table. We're in full extra-curricular mode, so we're spending a lot of time in the car.  Dinner either has to be ready exactly when they get home and stay for a few minutes (crockpot and 1-pot dinners are great) or portable (quesadillas, rice dishes that can put in plastic bowls) in order to stay out of the drive-thru lanes.

Bracing myself for the onslaught of Halloween decorations. Its not my favorite holiday. And its not because of the candy; the candy in fact, is the one thing that makes it bearable. It's the skeletons and ghosts and goblins and spiders and scary things that will be everywhere for the next 33 days.  It's a tall price to pay for all those little packs of M&Ms and mini-chocolate bars.

Rearranging clothes drawers and closets.  It's the seasonal switch. Move clothes from the front of the closet to the back. Set aside clothes that will be too small or too out of style when it gets warm again. Pack away clothes that will make it to the next season.  And I always imagine that we're going to take this South Pacific vacation in the middle of winter and will need those bathing suits and shorts and sundresses, so I don't pack them too far away.  (You never know, this could be there year!)

Panicking because October 1 means there's only three more months to get done all the things I had hoped to get done in 2014!

Have a good week!

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Study Shows Home-Cooked Meals Cause Mother Stress

A new study suggests that cooking meals is a stress factor for mothers, particularly in the list of things good mothers do.

It took a team of researchers a 1 ½ years to figure that out.  They could’ve spent a week in my house and went on to use the rest of the 77 weeks making ground-breaking discoveries such as getting children out of the house for school in the morning is stressful, transporting kids to after-school activities requires a lot of family time juggling, and getting curly-haired girls to sit down to get their hair down is the cause for many many adult and child-sized tears.  But back to this study.

Some of the mothers they talked to were working poor, trying to prepare home-cooked meals in a cockroach-infested hotel bathroom or a trailer being taken over by ants, or without reliable transportation to the grocery store to buy fresh fruit.  Yes, I would believe that a home-cooked meal is a source of worry for these moms. But the bigger stressor seems to be having a decent home.  I’m sure a lot of things cause you gray hairs when you are in such financial dire straits.

The middle-class mothers also reported that this notion of feeding the family is a burden because they have to plan meals that meet each family’s members personal tastes. Really?  Where is that written in the mom-handbook?  Catering to each person’s preference is a (modern) mom-made stressor, myself included. Even making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches requires referring to my mental notes of preferences – one PB & strawberry jelly, one PB & grape jelly, one PB only, on strawberry jelly only. Sheesh!  But when it comes to the more complicated stuff, like dinner? It’s pretty much take it or get yourself a bowl of cereal.  We do our kids some kind of disservice letting them think that the home kitchen is their own personal restaurant.  Sure, they may hide the peas under the mashed potatoes every now and then, but isn’t that better (for the mom) than making a serving of peas, another serving of broccoli, a spinach salad, and a pot of collard greens just to make everybody happy?  Kids need to learn that they don’t get their way all the time and figure out solutions to deal with that reality, even if it does mean sneaking a brussel sprout into a napkin every now and then.

Additionally, our busy lives makes the idea of going grocery shopping, bringing it all home, cooking something delicious, and serving it on one table to the entire family at one time an exercise in breaking the time continuum.  (How many researchers did this take to figure that out?)  In fact, my latest mom-freak out was looking at my son’s swim schedule this season and realizing that swim practice is at 6 o’clock pm (the proper dinner time) four days a week.  This, after I loaded to our calendar the girls’ tennis and basketball schedules.  And my PTA and sorority meetings. And dad’s work travel schedule.  We’re never going to eat dinner at the table as a family for the next year.

The researchers of the study gave some recommendations for solutions that have yet to be available (to-go dinners provided by the schools) or that seem financially unfeasible, like eating from food trucks (because surely someone who is living in a buggy hotel has the funds to eat out every night - not).

In my research, which has taken about 15 years and involved my circle of friends, here’s a few solutions that the busy mom might find helpful to relieve some of the stress of feeding the household.  I don’t do them all, all the time, but when I have, I found they help.

• Plan meals for the week in relation to the family schedule. Include breakfast, lunch, and a plan to make use of leftovers.
• Make a grocery list to support the meal plan and use coupons.  I’m not the super-couponer, but saving even a few dollars each trip helps.
• Make use of the crockpot. This is a busy family’s magic food cooker – put a bunch of stuff in it in the morning, with a little liquid of some sort, turn it on and voila – dinner.  I’ve posted my Crockpot Spaghetti and Asian Chicken recipes, to give you a few ideas.
• Use some pre-cooked or pre-prepared ingredients. Pick up a bag of salad, a rotisserie chicken, and make some pasta when you get home.
• Teach the children to cook.  You can be doing laundry or something if you let the kids boil the spaghetti or batter the chicken. Do not, however, feel compelled to cook with your children because this can cause even greater stress.
• Cook for tomorrow.  After everyone’s gone to bed and you’re piddlin’ around the house, put a chicken or a roast in the oven, cook the pasta for tomorrow’s dinner.  Nothing says you have to cook at 5 pm.
• Do plan every now and then for the meal out. Because sometimes you just are not home to even cook the home-cooked meal.

And moms, one thing to really relieve some stress?  
Realize that everything does not have to be ready for Cooking Channel and Pinterest. You do not have to have garnish and a perfectly plated meal. You do not have to cut all your vegetables to look like a beautiful sunrise to entice the kids to eat it. The real point of the family meal is the gathering of family to break bread together. Yes, you hovering over the hot stove all day is a nice, housewife-y touch, but isn’t really a requirement.  Make it healthy, make it something at least some of the people like, and be proud of yourself that you made it through another day.

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What's in the Lunchbox?

Got the notebooks and the crayons. New shoes and outfits. New backpacks and lunch boxes.  Oh! Lunchboxes! What are you going to put in those things?

Lunch packing stuff: lunch box, reusable drink bottle, reusable plastic container, thermos

Like many of you, I pack my kids' lunches on most days. I'm not so much concerned about them eating chicken nuggets or hamburgers everyday, because we provide some balance with breakfast and dinner; I'm more concerned that they will spend all their lunch money on ice cream and cookies.  (And yes, they will.)  

It would be easiest to make a stack of 180 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and dole them out day-by-day, but kids do enjoy variety in their lunches (don't we all?) and that's where the challenge lies.  I have a basic formula for lunch and then I work within that plan.

• Protein - usually meat and/or cheese, but also consider beans and tofu if your kid likes that
• Carbs/bread - although I need to watch my carb intake, the kids are running around at recess and after school sports, so they're fine
• Fruit/Veggie - on a good day, they get both, but I strive for at least one. Fresh fruit, apple sauce, carrot sticks, V8 drinks
• Snack - Sometimes its graham crackers, other days chocolate chip cookies. Pretzels or veggie chips.  Those tube yogurt things, frozen. Whatever, it's their little treat.  If your kid stays after school for whatever reason or has a long bus ride home, then this can be their after-school snack.
• Beverage - water, juice, milk. I like to use the re-usable, plastic juice bottles (I feel like I'm saving the planet), but do send juice boxes every now and then, especially for field trips. We get the milk boxes because no-one wants to carry around a milky juice bottle all day.

I asked my little folks what were some good lunch ideas to share in this post; here they are.

Lunch options: make-your-own lunchables, wraps, fruit, frozen yogurt

Quesadillas - They are so versatile and a great use of leftovers, but do take a few minutes of prep time.  I cook them on the stove, but if you're really pressed, you can wrap them in foil and stick them in the oven while you go brush your teeth.  Wrap them in foil and they are warm enough by lunch time.  I gave more details on how to put them together in this other post; they're also great for a quick dinner. I like them for both when we are on the go, as well as those nights everyone's on a different schedule, passing each other in the kitchen looking for food.

Wraps, pitas - These are variations of the basic 2 slices of bread sandwich.  Tortilla wraps & pita pockets both come in different sizes and wheat-i-ness (whole, corn, flour, white, etc.) to keep things interesting.  (I stuff them with whatever meat & cheese, sneak in some spinach leaves or shredded carrots, and top with a little bit of ranch dressing (kids love food with ranch dressing.)  I like that you can use sandwich fillings that might be more messy with regular bread, like chicken salad.

Fried rice - Another great use for leftovers, for lunch or dinner.  A friend asked for a recipe and it's really simple. Ingredients: rice (we always have the sticky kind), chopped meat or tofu (if desired), chopped veggies - carrots, green onions, mushrooms work well, an egg.  Heat sesame oil in a pan (wok pan if you have one, large frying pan if you don't).  Heat any meat/tofu until warm. Add any raw vegetables, cook, but not too soft. Add rice, an egg, and just a little bit of soy sauce and stir all together. If you like, you can add minced garlic or sesame seeds.  When it's all mixed and heated, you're done. Easy, right?

"Lunchables" - The folks who make Lunchables are like geniuses. Take some cold cuts, cheese, and crackers, put it in a box and give it a cute name and kids go crazy. And then, if they are over 5 years old, they get hungry. Make your own, with whatever you want. Get a reusable box with compartments (from Target, Container Store, grocery store) and fill it with a variety of your kid's favorite food.  Good option for the kid who doesn't like sandwiches.

Dinner leftovers - Be sure to have a thermos-type container in your arsenal of lunch stuff and you can send any warmed up mini-meal to school.  Consider cooking extra specifically for lunch.  If you think they'll be bored of the same old thing - change it up. Rotisserie chicken for dinner, chicken salad for lunch.  Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, meatball sub for lunch.  Chicken fingers for dinner, chicken wraps for lunch.  Be careful of sending soup or anything too saucy for little ones, as it might make a mess when they open it.

Cultural meals? I'd be careful. Even if your kid can't get enough of your curried goat for dinner, re-think sending it in his school lunch. Speaking from experience, from way back when everybody did not think eating sushi or anything wrapped in seaweed was cool, these special family meals don't always draw the attention your kid desires in the school cafeteria. 

Have fun, eat well, and don't stress. There's always peanut butter and jelly.

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Fast Food for Fast Times

I've been pretty good this summer about feeding the people in my house.  You know - grocery shopping and cooking and stuff like that.  We have still continued the weekly pizza night (my daughter says its a sure sign that I'm tired when I offer "hey, you guys want to get pizza for dinner?") and we've had our share of meals out.  But I've been in the kitchen, too.  I, in fact, like cooking when I have the time.  "When I have the time".  That'll be the key phrase in another week as we head back in to school and all the madness.

Cute lunch bag as a reminder to pack healthy snacks for those busy times.

All of our running around is, of course, after-school, right around dinner time.  On the days I don't have myself together and have dinner ready when they get home, we do end up going through the drive-thru, eating in the car or on the sidelines of somebody's something.  We probably eat more fast food during the school year than in the summer.  At the Mocha Moms Retreat this weekend, McDonald's was providing nutritional information about their menus.  Perfect! since my car has a magnetic pull towards sweet tea and french fries (hence, why I also need to run on a regular basis).  I took a look so that I could get some ideas for the next time I zoom through the drive-thru.

First - figuring out how much my kids should be eating.  I've always thought they really shouldn't be eating a lot.  I mean, they're kids, they're little people.  But, as I read, they are little people with little stomachs and a lot of energy.  And, admittedly, most of our activities are sports related, so my kids are active kids.  According to a couple charts and figures, my little squad should be consuming between 1200 calories (the 7-year old girl) to 1600 calories (the older girls) to 1800 calories (the 9-year old boy)!*  That's as much as I eat.  (Now, I really feel bad for my friends with three boys.)  That puts us at between 400 - 600 calories per meal.  Alright, let's see what the kids can have.

Menu options fit for a kid

Their normal order is a Hamburger (250 calories) and small fries (230 calories) - only 480 calories.  That's not so bad, afterall.  The little one often goes for the Chicken Nugget Happy Meal (410 calories); I like that the apple slices are now a part of the meal, with smaller french fries, rather than the kids having to choose between apples and fries.   I noticed last summer in Europe that the Happy Meals are sold this way.  What kid isn't going to choose the fries if given the choice?  Now, she happily eats both., or sometimes even skips the fries!  For alternatives, I could maybe get the kids to try the Grilled Chicken sandwich (350 calories) or the Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken (390 calories).  Some good options.

For me?  Its the Fish Sandwich or one of the salads.  I don't eat meat, so those are pretty much my options, as far as entrees, anyway.  But I did notice on one of the info sheets a great tip - I can skip the tartar sauce and get rid of 90 calories.  That's half-way to a vanilla cone (skip the hot fudge) or a small sweet tea.  Another tip, only use half the dressing on the salad - there's the other half of my ice cream cone.

On the list of things that induce mom guilt is feeding the kids fast food.  Reading over this nutritional information is making me feel better.  Do I think we should grab a burger and fries every day?  No, I don't think anybody should eat anything every day (well, except coffee, and maybe rice).  You need a variety in your diet for vitamins and all that good stuff.  But I'm glad to have some options for those days when we are no where near our kitchen.


Check the website for more info on McDonald's menu items or flip over the tray liner next time you order your meal.

*Note - this caloric information is not medical recommendations from me - I'm not a doctor - this is info gleaned from other articles.  Be sure to check with your own kids' doctor if you have questions about their weight, diet, etc.