How Will I Do It?

I woke up this morning with anxiety. For almost three months now, I haven't had to think much about how to mimic the childcare center's meals with nutritious breakfasts, lunches, and snacks made with ingredients grown/raised without harmful chemicals and sourced as close to home as possible. On most days, Caroline and I just open the refrigerator and pull out whatever seasonal fruits and vegetables we have on hand and pull together a last minute meal. On Monday and Wednesday nights, I grudgingly look over the childcare center's menus for the next day and make a feeble attempt to mimic the cakes, hot dogs, and smiley fries. I realized early this morning that next week will mark the start of my postdoctoral research fellowship at University of Michigan and a new year, and new classroom, for Caroline. University of Michigan is an hour away (an unsustainable commute) which will make finding time to prepare meals challenging. I'm not sure how I will do it just yet but I know that it will involve a lot of planning and advance meal preparation. I just hope that Geoff and I don't kill each other trying to make it work! I tried to get ahead tonight by freezing two 1-cup portions of our dinner leftovers: brown rice with chard, feta cheese, and dill. Tomorrow, I am going to try to take advantage of the Michigan harvest (while it lasts) and pack the fruits and vegetables I picked up at the farmers' market on Saturday, or in our home garden, in lieu of the grapes, kiwi, and California vegetables.

Caroline's Lunchbox Menu, August 26: Breakfast - pearsauce, French toast (Flying Goat Farm eggs); Lunch - brown rice, baked and marinated tofu, zucchini (Owosso Organics), tomatoes (home garden), Red Baby watermelon (Cinzori Farms); Snacks - blueberries (Threadgould Gardens), whole grain crackers

Childcare Center Menu, August 26: Breakfast - applesauce, French toast sticks; Lunch - sweet and sour chicken with rice, California vegetables, kiwi; Snacks - garlic bread, grapes