It’s All About Efficiency

Yesterday I had an afternoon meeting in Philly, which meant I had to leave the house by 1pm and wouldn’t be back until 9pm— or later—  PLUS I had the little matter of work that had to be finished. ACK! Luckily, I have a supportive husband and in-laws who could help me out.

But even with a whole lot of support, there was a lot to organize and accomplish yesterday: boys needed to be dropped off at school (with reminders to teachers that a different person was picking them up), dinner needed to be made ahead of time so that it would be ready and waiting for my in-laws to serve, supplies for the kids had to be set out so my in-laws could easily find them, the house had to be straightened up so my in-laws wouldn’t find out that we sometimes live like slobs, my work had to be finished for the day, I had to prepare for the meeting, and I had to feed myself and get some snacks ready so I wouldn’t pass out on the drive back post-dinner time without dinner in my stomach. Whew!

So yesterday morning was all about efficiency and timing.  Sound familiar?  Which meant some important food choices.  Here’s what I went with:

Dinner: The wonderful Weelicious Crock Pot Veggie Lasagna, which takes all of 10 minutes to make.  Instead of canned sauce, I used my homemade sauce (recipe coming soon) which I make in HUGE vats and freeze for later use.  Side note: This is a great recipe that is tons of fun to make with kids. 

Snacks for the road: Dried mango, a handful of chocolate chips, rice crackers, and a cheese stick.

In the end, everything went smoothly! The boys apparently inhaled the lasagna and my MIL said it was so good that she is never going to buy her favorite pre-packaged lasagna again (which is from a local restaurant)!   And let me tell you, smelling the still warm lasagna (thanks, crock pot!) when I returned home was such a nice end to a long, but rewarding day.

And as for leftovers? After lunch for my husband, this is all that was left:

That’s what I would call success.