Freezer Meals

Freezer Meals are an absolutely great idea!! I wanted to tell you some of the things that I have done and figured out today.  First of all, I want to tell you that there are a lot of people that do this online.  I stole everything for this day at Who Needs a Cape? blog. She has a post called 40 Meals in 4 Hours.  She actually put up all of the recipes--to double so you can get 40 meals.  And then she put up a grocery shopping list.

Second--you really need to block out a day--this took me WAY more than 4 hours!  The grocery list was so helpful because making that the last time I did this took sometime.

Third--make sure you have a good spot in your kitchen with a bunch of room.

Fourth--make ones that fit your family.  I love crock pot ones because I don't have to be home to start it 90 minutes before we want to eat.

Fifth tip--I'm not sure where I read this but it made a lot of sense to me--put the meat in last!  This actually really helped me with this, because I did the first half of some of the bags one day and then put the meat in the next day.  It also puts the meat at the bottom of the crock pot.

Sixth tip--Come up with a schedule and put together a binder.  I put all of these recipes in a binder and then we pick one or two each week to plan on having a certain day.  I have to start defrosting the night before so having it scheduled ahead of time makes sure that we actually use them! And this way I can mark what we might change, what sides worked, etc.  So I can do it all over again eventually.

Finally, label your freezer bags before you get started.  This helped me to make sure I got everything in the bags that were suppose to and then you have it on the label for the freezer too.

Here's my pictures :)

This is my command center--the kitchen table!

I filled up my whole bottom two shelves of my freezer!

Brian got a picture of me working away.

X is for X-tra Time

Yeah so....I'm doing whatever one else does with this letter....it suddenly becomes an adjective :) But seriously...I was thinking about this today.  Everybody always wants extra time to do things that they want, get what they want done, etc.  Sometimes big projects require extra time each day.  With being sick for what feels like forever (we have officially past the year mark) and having that drain a lot of my energy...I have had to be more careful with my time.  I thought for the post today I would talk about some of the things I have learned with my time management this year.

So first things first is I make a list of what I need to get done everyday.  Because of my religious beliefs, this is very focused around that.  I need to read my scriptures and say my prayers each day. I also added time to read/listen to something that brings me closer to the Savior in addition to the scriptures--like conference talks or an Ensign article. Then I added what I wanted to do everyday that was a big project that I felt like could use some TLC. It was important that they be fun and enjoyable like: read and knit.  I also added watching lectures from Coursera and working on my portfolio.  I also have those "have-tos" like laundry or cleaning...though I'm not as good with those as I want to be.

Then I need to find time for everything.  With scriptures and my spiritual time, I like doing that while I'm getting ready in the morning--then it is done for the day.  A lot of my x-tra time tips have to do with multi-tasking---while I'm already doing something else.  I always thought that my fifteen to twenty minute commute everyday wasn't enough to get through a book at a decent pace.  And if that is all I'm doing it's right...but it is also thirty minutes of reading everyday.  I do try to get a physical book in too....but that's another tip with x-tra time--cut yourself a break! If I've done audio listening today and not a physical book I still check it off.

That's my other tip...figure out a way to keep track of what you've done each day.  I downloaded an app on my phone that is a to-do list thing that lets me have daily tasks that I can check off everyday and they reappear for the next day.  Then I know what I've accomplished, and I know the last time I checked it off. So if I haven't knitted in a while and I am trying to figure out something to do, maybe I go do that.

Best of luck trying to find those extra minutes in what seems to be a never ending cycle of trying to get things done! What ideas have you tried to find extra time?

Stress--How do you deal with it?

So I was searching through Pinterest for inspiration today and I saw this quote:

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/11/response_using_self-compassion_to_recover_from_a_bad_day.html

This quote caught my attention, because I have been thinking a bit lately about the stress that comes with my job.  How much it wears me out--and I wonder if it is because I don't handle my stress right. Which gets me thinking that if I handled stress better, would my overall life be better? The obvious answer to that one of course is yes---but then it circles back to the only way I can think of to control my stress better is quitting my job.  Currently that is not something that I am contemplating (though my more faithful readers know that I do contemplate this at my low points). So I clicked on this quote.

It came from an article on Education Week that is the third part of a series answering the question of how do you deal with a bad day as teachers. After reading the responses from various teachers, I realize that they are talking about the days in which the lesson doesn't go well, or the kids are driving you crazy, or you have those moments that just make you want to walk out.  And yes I still have those--but these articles didn't give me completely what I was thinking it was.  My job is stressful--as the quote says---it is the nature of the beast.  And it confirms what I have been thinking all along--it is not just this particular job.  So how do we deal with it? We can't just stop being teachers.

Some people offered the standard answers of taking care of yourself and leaving work at work--including in your mind.  And I agree with those, but others talked about things to do to prevent the bad days and when in the middle of them.  What about when you just get so tired of getting up in the morning? So in response to this response article....I thought I would offer what I try to do to deal with my stress.

1. As much as leaving at 3:00 when you get off is good for you...sometimes it is helpful to just stay a little longer so that you actually can leave work at work.  Even though some days I get home at 5...I go home without having to worry about anything.
2. Be willing to say no to things...having too many things on the plate along with teaching is hard.  Don't feel guilty just because you can't do it all.
3. I have noticed that if I don't take time for myself every night the next day is harder.  Even if it is a couple minutes of TV watching, book reading, Facebook, etc.--I recharge so much better.
4. In line with 2 and 3--make the important things a priority.  For me--church is a huge priority.  It helps me to deal with the stress of work--and it is a priority in my life.
5. Put your life in perspective.  Now this might sound really like a strange way to do so....but sometimes I say to myself, "Well at least I am not having to go through this like so and so is." I have a teacher friend right now who is teaching a full course load, directing the school musical that opens this week, and getting ready for basketball season that starts as soon as the play is over. And to top it all off her mom is currently fighting cancer.  Seriously....I have it easy compared to that.  It makes my stress not seem so over-whelming.  When none of you have horrible things happening in your lives (which is preferable don't get me wrong)--TV is a great replacement for--see my life isn't as horrible as it could be--especially medical dramas like Greys.

How do you relieve your stress?

A New Recipe To Try: Teriayki Chicken with Vegetables

So as I have mentioned on here before, I absolutely love Pinterest!  However, I often pin things and then never use them.  I have been wanting to rectify this situation, and yesterday I actually started making progress on this by trying one of the many recipes that I pin all the time.  Maybe I will try to make this a regular thing on here :)

So the recipe was for Teriakyi Chicken with Vegetables. It looked simple enough--I like the low prep time.

Awesome About It:

• Super healthy.  With my husband on Weight Watchers we keep track of this pretty close--I think with the rice this was like a 20-point meal which is a perfect dinner number for him.  
• We loved the fresh veggies....no I did not use organic veggies as the recipe calls for because I'm not like that and it was still good
• The sauce was better than we thought--the honey seemed like it might not work but it was actually perfect

What To Change:

• Don't need the reduced sodium soy sauce....regular soy sauce would probably have been fine.  The recipe really is just written by a health freak :P
• Def double the sauce...not that it was dry, it just could have used more
• Next time probably brown the chicken in its own skillet and do the veggies in a separate skillet--carrots first because they take longer and then add the broccoli...the carrots could have used more "on the skillet" time allowing them to caramelize 

Overall though I highly recommend....and we have lots of leftovers for later :)

Our leftovers...told you there was a lot :)

Article Review: "Sending My Child Away"

I saw this article yesterday on Facebook.  The rest of the title is, "It was hard, but best for our family."  This blogger mom went through a hard divorce that sounds like really put her kid in the middle.  It sounds like her son didn't really know how to deal with that divorce.  These kind of students are the stories that I hear about at my job. Cedar Ridge Academy receives a wide variety of students, and visit our website to learn if you/someone you know would be a good fit.  But this is why I work at this job as hard as it is.  Families are important and we help them put their lives back together.  And if for whatever reason they maybe can't go home again, I like to be able to set them up for their future.

This is a debate that I have with my fellow teachers too...we are not decreasing the expectations even though students want us too.  We need to hold the line with them, because we need to prepare them for life beyond high school. I always love teaching where I do because we focus on the learning--the body, mind, spirit idea.  We have a great school because we can deal with all of the parts of the student.

I hope that my readers never "need" our great school, but if you do find yourself in need, know that there are options out there.

My Love Hate Relationship with Twitter Part 2

It's funny, but I wrote that title...and then I read it back.  I was like....hmm that sounds familiar.  I did a quick search on my blog and found this post that I did back on January.  I guess that was bound to happen at some point this year....I repeat myself and I don't even know it.

But today's topic is actually a little bit different.....my love-hate relationship this time is that I have gotten so out of Twitter.  I started my account, and I was retweeting like crazy, doing chats, and just keeping up with what was going on with everyone.  Now, all I do is tweet out these posts basically.  Part of my problem is the whole time thing---I have become distracted with other things.  But the other part of my problem was the fact that I was getting information overload! I love Twitter for the articles/ideas/etc. that I can get from it...that's the only reason that I see to use it--just sharing.  While sometimes the little "status updates" are great, they are not why I get on.

I have done a couple of different things to keep track of articles/ideas/etc....I pin a lot of stuff to Pinterest and I "favorite" stuff on Twitter with the hopes that I can see it again---though I have actually never gone looking.  But sometimes they don't have anything Pinterest will use to pin, and I have lost the actual Tweet somewhere, and then it stays open on my computer until I have to shut it down.  And that is so annoying...

So I am putting this out into the world....how do you deal with the Twitter information overload??


P.S. There is a great literary giveway by Judith @ http://leeswammes.wordpress.com/ and I get extra points by linking you here: http://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/2013/06/literary-giveaway-blog-hop-6-titles-to-choose-from.html they are giving away some great books!

Day 8: Advice

Today's prompt is:

A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.

So here goes nothing...

Dear Students,

Yep, it's me again--your friendly neighborhood teacher.  I want to offer you some advice as someone who has been there done that relatively recently...treasure your opportunity to learn now and the opportunity to join clubs and learn new things.  I learned so much about leadership in high school and made great friends.

I also learned a lot about myself--what I like, don't like, and what I really believe in.  I know that being in high school is a hard time and there are moments that are really confusing--but stick with it! You will look back on this time and be grateful for what you learned.  And at moments, you will also wish to go back to the simpler times that high school brings.

As high school ends, have a plan.  It is fine if you just want to get a job and work for a little while so you can figure out what you are going to do next.  It is great to go straight off to college too.  But whatever you do make sure that you have taken in all of your high school learning--you're going to want it!  College is a great route, especially if the career you want requires a degree.  Get involved at college. Go to the plays, musicals, etc. because you probably won't have the time/money to go when you get older.  Same with the sports games! Be smart in college--some people think it is just the time to get drunk, have a lot of casual relationships, and there are no consequences.  But there are!

But above all, follow your dreams--high school is a great way to get there!

Love,
Your Teacher :)