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On This Day

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Today is Thanksgiving…there is a lot to be thankful for. Like many people we will be sitting down to a table filled with food and saying that we are thankful for family and friends. There is another aspect of my Thanksgiving that I want to write about right now, my school work.

I am five days away from completing my degree. It was just a year ago that I was filling out my application to continue my education. Now here I am, just 5 days away from finishing. In four days the bulk of my work has to be submitted and then on Monday and Tuesday I have to submit a few papers. I am really excited, but it really just hit me. I’m not nervous, but this Thanksgiving will be very different for me. We are going to a friend of my husband’s house for Thanksgiving. The great thing is that I can focus on my work, we’ll kinda. I don’t want to be rude and I will definitely talk and have fun, but I’m bringing my books, my ipad, and my laptop.

I am praying that God would help me complete all of my work on time. I am really excited about closing this chapter of my life and moving on to the next. Last night, I had a dream that I was in a classroom with a bunch of other students. We were all working on a project and then the professor or teacher, announced that there was a job opening on the staff. They were looking for a new teacher/professor. I could feel myself get excited. I raised my hand, to let him know that I was interested. Before I could see what was happening, I woke up to the sound of Leo barking because he wanted to go outside. Got to love Leo. I do…

That was a really great dream. I am super excited! I know, I’ve said that already, but I am. I have been working on my degree for a long time. I’ve been back and forth between degrees as I worked on my double major. Then finally when we moved to Utah, I decided to simplify it into one degree. Now I am finished, well almost.

The amount of work that I have to do is a lot, but I am going to give it my all and finish it up. No procrastinating or waiting until the right moment to read or work on the papers. The time is now! Then I’ll get to eat some great food and meet some nice people. I do look forward to the activities of this day.

Food From Back East

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When we moved to Utah, I had no idea how much I would miss the resturants back home. All over America, there are places that you can go to get burgers and pizza. There are even places that you can go to get a good steak, but there is nothing like those original mom & pop resturants that you find in your home town.

Back in North Carolina, my family and I had gone to a little place called Zorbas. Zorbas was a place where you could get almost anything that you wanted. Still, I had my favorites. I really liked their spaghetti combo. It was a spaghetti plate, fit for two, with meat sauce, onions, peppers, polish sasuage, and I would add mushrooms and cheese. I would order this almost every time that I went there. The times that I did not feel like spaghetti, I would eat a gyro. Now if you know anything about gyros, you know that it is hard to find a real one. People make them all of the time with thin slices of frozen steak. Let me tell you right now. If this is what you’ve had, it’s not a real gyro. A real gyro is lamb cooked on a metal steak. When it is perfected, thick slices of meat are cut and placed on a pita. From there the rest is up to you. Zorba’s had the best gyros. They also had great pizza that made me think of New York pizza shops. All I can say is…delicious. My husband and I had been going there since we were dating. It was our favorite resturant.

Another thing I enjoyed about back east, was the Chineese food. I have tried different types out here and none come close. It is very unfortunate because I really, really, like beef and broccoli. There are Panda Expresses everywhere, but that doesn’t compare to the chineese back east. Then there is only one place that I have been that is good and it’s PF Changs. Although its good, I have 20-30 minutes away and wait in a line to pay an expensive bill. All I really want is to be able to call the chineese resturant around the corner and order a quick dinner for me and my family. For now, I guess, I’m just going to have to keep wanting.

Now, this sounds like a really sad post and it kinda is, for my taste buds, but there is a happy ending. I really enjoy eating philly steak and cheese sandwiches as well as hot wings. Would you believe that my husband and I found a place that sells both and they are really good. Guess what the place is called, Back East Cheesestakes. This food is so delicious, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. The wings are good and satisfy my tastes for back east cooking. Once I get a picture, I will post it and that will explain it all…well almost.

I think it’s time for me to go and eat some lunch. 🙂

Creating Stress Free Meals

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CREATING STRESS FREE MEALS

From the house wife to the busy executive, everyone has to eat, but most people don’t seem to have the time to slave over a stove for hours to make a meal for themselves and their families.  Boggled down with daily activities like meetings, important phone calls, agendas, caring for kids, personal goals, cleaning, and other family or household responsibilities, the last thing that a normal individual has time to do is cook a well balanced meal.

Instead most people end up spend more of their hard earned money on food that they either don’t need or will never eat.  The problem is that this lifestyle becomes very expensive when you choose not to meal plan.  This is a normal lifestyle for most American families.  Across the country dinners at McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s is normal.  Because of the normality of this lifestyle, the average family has been given more options.  Instead of wasting money on gas to get to the fast food resturants, an family could just order in.  Pizza and chineese seem to be the pime choice for most families.  Although these families often eat out, they still take trips to the grocery store.  Still, those prices add up.  Shopping becomes a daunting task that ends in purchasing an excess of unneeded groceries that end up going to waste.

What is a family or individual to do?  The answer is meal plan.  Now that is a very simple answer, but if you don’t know where to start, it can become very difficult.

Choosing Meals

The first step in meal planning is to choose your meals.  There are many resources out there.  Cook books are available at many different venues.  You could borrow, purchase, or get a cook book from the library.  Another resource is the cooking magazine.  There are many cooking magazines on the stands.  They normally include tips on making a meal, purchasing the products needed to create that perfect meal, and much needed coupons.  Some magazines that may be useful are Taste of Home, Rachel Ray, and Food Network.  If none of these resources are available you can check out tons of new recipes on the web.  After you have gained access to these resources, take your time to go through them.  Pictures often time help decide which meals to use.

Meal Calendar

Once you have chosen the resources the you will be using, it is time to start planning.  You can base the length of your meal plan on the date that you plan on going grocery shopping.  To begin with you will need a piece of paper or a computer.  You want to list the days of the week with the corresponding date and a space for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each day.  If you normally find yourself eating snacks throughout the day, you should add a section for snacks as well.  As you go through the resourses choosing meals for each day, list the location of the meal.  If it is in a magazine, you will want to list the year and month of the issus as well as the page number.  Make sure that you include the website, card, or book title and any corresponding information to assist you in locating the meal when it is time to cook.

Once you listed each meal and it’s location, you will want to decide where you will post this menu.  It is good to have it in a visible place that you see everyday.  Some helpful places are the refrigerator, a chalk board, or a poster board.  Placing the menu in these locations serve as a reminder.  Those who will share your meals with you will be glad to know what expect to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Shopping List

After you have created your menu, you will need to use it to create your shopping list.  There are applications on the iphone and the android phones that will assist in this step.  If you don’t have access to those apps can make a list on either a computer or a piece of paper.  These applications will allow you to track your grocery list history, prices of items that you buy, and order the list by isles in normal grocery store.

Creating a grocery list will help to keep you on your target budget for groceries.  You have to commit to sticking to the list.  Remember, you listed your snacks and meals for the time period that you determined.

Cooking it

In order to complete your stree-free process, you will need to cook the meals.  On any given day, you have a guide to help you.  Every morning you should take out the meat and the appropriate ingredients for the dinner that you will prepare that evening.  Breakfast and lunch should not require much defrosting, so this isn’t normally required.

The plan is to check the meal plan as well as the recipe.  Follow the instruction.  Cook the meal and relax.  These are the steps that you can take to plan stress free meals.  That’s right!  No more wondering what you will eat and if you have to take an unexpected trip to the grocery store.  If there is any other stress that you find in your life, it will not be because you lack time, enegry, and a plan for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.