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    Registered User BTM1ND3D's Avatar
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    Question Advice needed - Single working mom, how do I prepare for the week?

    As the saying goes, fail to plan you plan to fail. I seem to be failing more than I am planning. I'm a single military mom. I am up at 5am (sometimes snoozed to 535) getting my 5yr old son and I ready for the day. Packing lunch (often rushing to throw things in my bag) for my day and his day (cheaper to send a lunch). I get PT in the morning so I am packing my uniform and anything else I need to get ready at the base gym. I get to work and often forget water, snacks or even a full lunch.
    I don't get home til about 630pm sometimes not until 8pm. So this is dinner time. I am usually ready for bed or in bed by 8/830.
    I know many moms 'prepare' for the week on sundays...
    What exactly is prepare? What do you do. How do you do it?
    What do I need to do to help me plan and commit to this plan Monday thru Friday?
    This above all: to thine own self be True! Truth is beauty.

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  2. #2
    Registered User Amanda76's Avatar
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    I used to HAVE to prepare all my meals on Sunday. I had a child, was not married, worked 3 jobs and went to school full time and Sunday afternoon was the only time I was guaranteed to have time to go to the store and prep for the week. In the end, prepping ahead ends up being a huge time saver. When everyone else spends an entire hour "hunting" for and consuming lunch, you'll have yours in the microwave and be done eating with time to spare! With dinner being ready to go, you'll have a lot more time to spend with your son in the evenings as well.

    Protein pancakes are a great breakfast to cook ahead of time. They're easy to eat in the car while if you're short on time (think of it as a piece of bread or folded up burrito...no need for a fork). Freeze half and keep the other half in the fridge. You could also make a fresh protein shake every morning if you wanted to.

    I ate out of a cooler in my trunk most of the day during that time...grabbing what I needed as I went. Anything that needed serious refrigeration got eaten first. My morning snack was typically something like greek yogurt or cottage cheese and fruit. Maybe some nuts and/or granola depending on what my calories were like at the time. Buy some of those zip-lock containers and measure out your portions at the beginning of the week and you're golden. Other good snacks are a packet of tuna, piece of fruit and nuts (easy to eat while wearing a backpack and walking across campus) or a packet of tuna with hummus and veggies (I prefer to sit down and enjoy hummus ).

    Lunch was (and still is) typically chicken, rice and a veggie with a drizzle of some kind of oil (olive oil, walnut oil...whatever). Just bake or prep a ton of chicken on Sunday, make a whole pot of rice on Sunday, sautee some veggies and measure all of that into containers. Put half in the freezer and half in the fridge. Homemade TV dinners FTW!

    Dinner was similar to lunch, except I'd have beef or salmon instead of chicken and potato instead of rice. I normally microwaved my potato fresh (one only takes about 5 minutes in the microwave), cut off the serving I needed and saved the other (half or third) for other meals.

    Sometimes for lunch or dinner, I'd make things made to be served cold. Like a salad with garbonzo beans as my carb with cold chicken or shrimp with avocado, almonds or oil as my fat and apple cider vinegar for flavor. If you want to prep this ahead of time, you definitely want to eat veggies like lettuce or pre-cut bell peppers earlier in the week. They'll be weird by the end of the week. When I did avocado with any of my meals, I'd cut one in half in the morning and save the other half for later. If you leave the pit in the second half and keep it away from air it will keep it from going brown.

    I ate a lot of sandwiches and wraps, too...they're easy to prepare the night before when you're feeling bored with your usual meals. Get some of those 100 calorie wholly guacamole packs to carry with them and you can use that as a spread when you're ready to eat your sandwich without having to worry about the bread getting mushy. If you like tomatoes, pack them separately (in a plastic container) to put on your sandwich when it's time to eat it, too.

    You really have tons of options. The most difficult part is the initial set up--Coming up with a meal plan and grocery list. After you've prepped your meals a couple of times it's super-easy, though.

    Speaking of easy, I use a crockpot ALL the time now. I'm making a roast as we speak. The commissary has great prices on meat so take full advantage of that!
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    Those are some really good tips!! thanks so much. I will try this sunday
    The most difficult part is the initial set up--Coming up with a meal plan and grocery list. After you've prepped your meals a couple of times it's super-easy, though. I am right here lol. Your advise is really helpful tho
    This above all: to thine own self be True! Truth is beauty.

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  4. #4
    Registered User Amanda76's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by BTM1ND3D View Post
    Those are some really good tips!! thanks so much. I will try this sunday
    The most difficult part is the initial set up--Coming up with a meal plan and grocery list. After you've prepped your meals a couple of times it's super-easy, though. I am right here lol. Your advise is really helpful tho
    As they say, "Where there's a will, there's a way." Good luck!
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    i find it sooo much easier to get as much done the nite before as possble....mornings are just so hectic!
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    Registered User BTM1ND3D's Avatar
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    Mornings are so hectic ... The will is there, and with some good tips and advise I know I will find my way to make this work.
    This above all: to thine own self be True! Truth is beauty.

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    Originally Posted by Amanda76 View Post
    I used to HAVE to prepare all my meals on Sunday.
    Great strategy. We do this in my house every week. It was a pain at first, but now it's become something that we have fun with. We'll prepare whatever meals we can for the week, as well as prep any ingredients that we can for cooking later in the week. Having grocery shopping and ingredient prep done takes most of the hassle out of cooking and saves a ton of time.
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    Originally Posted by chokwow View Post
    Great strategy. We do this in my house every week. It was a pain at first, but now it's become something that we have fun with. We'll prepare whatever meals we can for the week, as well as prep any ingredients that we can for cooking later in the week. Having grocery shopping and ingredient prep done takes most of the hassle out of cooking and saves a ton of time.
    great job bumping a 2 year old thread in the female section
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