Free Hands-On Equations App~Snack/Lunch "Prep Tasks"

What's Schoolin'?

I just got this in my inbox.  We've used Hands-On Equations and I'll use it with youngest dd (soon?) before reselling it.  IF I had an iPad I would try this, but I don't (shrug).  For those of you who do... here is a freebie (that I haven't tried so I can't 'recommend' it but it looks good):

http://amcmontessori.blogspot.com/2012/08/hands-on-equations-free-app.html

There is also a raffle.

BTW, I'm also one of 2 people in the world (I think the other person is in Tibet somewhere...) that does *not* have facebook :).

What's Cookin'?

 I've got to get my kitchen duties/routine/workload under control.  I have such limited energy and it is all, literally, spent in the kitchen right now with very little left for anything else (I'm really needing to supplement our income and I can't even imagine doing it right now - that's where this started).  I had a menu going last week that worked out great for dinners, but that's not the only thing we eat around here.  I've sort of lost my helpers since we got the goat and the horse; plus, morning routines of chore before breakfast are shot because they scarf down something small and head out to the animals.  M-u-c-h later they come in very overheated and tired from the heat. [We need to get those routines under better management for schooling but that will be easier once it's cooler than, say, 112F, when the bulk of their time outside needs to be early.]

My sweet kids always come through when we try to solve things together.  Right now:  they'll help with menus more, but, more importantly at this stage, we'll make lists of snacks, lunches, etc along with an ongoing prep tasks list so that they can do things on the list as they are able instead of waiting for me to tell them to do something when I just can't do it.  We'll post a list on the fridge by the chore rotation chart and anyone can do any of them at any time.  The last few years the kitchen duty person for that day would just help me out with whatever in the kitchen.  Things are more complicated now and I don't want it all to fall on youngest dd's shoulders (thus on mine because I tend to try to lighten her load a bit compared to the others' so chores aren't so overwhelming for her).

What are prep tasks???  Well... these are usually small time stealers (plus thought stealers 'cuz you have to plan ahead and coordinate the equivalent of a rocket launching to get snacks and meals coordinated with life!).  Here are some examples of what I prepped last night. [I had a nice energy spurt and clear thinking thanks to my methyl medicine and adrenal meds that I started yesterday after months of missing them.]:

~ 2 loaves of sourdough bread are soaking
~ 1 batch of sourdough 'rolls' (same as the bread but I added garlic powder and basil - I'll shape into rolls before baking)
~ 1 batch of sourdough muffins
~ 2 batches of oatmeal/buttermilk muffins.

These don't take a lot of time to prep but it needs to be done in order to bake them the next day.  Some other prep tasks:

~ Soak peanuts, almonds (and then actually put them on the dehydrator... and plug it in!)
~ Make peanut butter
~ Soak/make tortillas
~ Process fruit
~ Shred zucchini for the freezer (for zuke bread in the winter)
~ Soak beans (and actually turn them on the next day after rinsing!)

This is the list that dc came up with that will help us have snacks and lunch items on hand without me being in the kitchen constantly (these are all homemade that need to be prepped ahead for easy meal prep)(more will depend on that week's snack/lunch/dinner menu).  I will post them for dc with their components (like soak tortilla dough; cook tortillas instead of just "tortillas").

Tortillas
Muffins
Bread
Beans
Cream Cheese
Yogurt
Hard-boiled Eggs
Pre-cooked Beef and chicken
Mayonnaise (if good eggs)
Power Bars
Corn bread (in the freezer)
Rice (soaked and pre-cooked)
Broth
Peanut Butter
Almond Milk (soak almonds overnight)
Buttermilk

These are some ideas of what they want for snacks and lunches (often the same idea can go for both or part of both so you'll see some duplicates plus some are basically the same but it's their list in their words).

Snacks:
Fruit
Cottage cheese with fruit
Power Bars
Cupcakes (wait, how did that get in there???)
Muffins
Pie (what?  Okay, oldest dd keeps sneaking those in!)
Bean and Cheese melts (on tortillas)
Crackers with cream cheese or by themselves
Chips
Chips with bean dip
Cream Cheese on toast or crackers
Pumpkin Squares
Banana Balls (?)
Rice Pudding
Bread and butter and/or homemade cream cheese
Popcorn
Smoothie
Milk Shake
Hummus on pita
Fried egg on toast
Strawberry yogurt fruit dip with apple slices and grapes
Pretzels
Popsicles (homemade)
Ice cream (homemade mango sorbet)
Breads such as zucchini, banana, pumpkin
Special snacks
Chicken spread on crackers

Lunches:
Taquitos
Tostadas
Mac and Cheese
Quiche
Pancakes
Crepes
Oatmeal (they don't even like that - not sure why this is here!)
Peanut Butter sandwiches
Bean and Cheese Melts/burritos
Hummus on pita with fruit
Tuna Salad on crackers with fruit or as sandwiches
Tuna melts (or salmon)
"Lumpias"
Chicken nuggets (homemade)
Popcorn chicken
Corn dog muffins
Sloppy Joe muffins
Salad bar with cheese toast (cooked chicken and craisins)
"Beenie Weenies"
Pizza pockets
Baked potatoes
Cheese quesadillas
Bean dip with chips and fruit
Chicken Sandwich spread
Soups (chicken noodle, potato, tortilla, alphabet)
Scrambled eggs
Omelets
Meat patties
Spanish rice with leftover meat
Buffalo wings

I want to give credit to Heavenly Homemakers for her great lunch idea list.  We went over it during out 'conference' and you'll see many on our list.

Kelly has some lunch and snack ideas here:
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/recipes-ideas

Here are some great photos from Alyss' lunch photo stream:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alyssluncheslove/

I googled real food lunches and found a ton of ideas.
http://food.yourway.net/easy-healthy-school-lunches/
http://www.secondchancetodream.com/2012/07/back-to-school-sandwich-less-lunch-ideas.html
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/05/17/a-week-with-the-leakes-lunch/
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/04/19/school-lunch-roundup/
http://realfoodfreaks.com/2011/09/21/lunch-box-inspiration/
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/07/31/85-snacks-for-kids-and-adults/
http://www.simplyrealmoms.com/posts/category/fooddrink/recipes/lunch/


This topic is ever-evolving in our home and I'm sure we'll add to the list!  Dinner is sort of okay (I usually make a list of meals and check them off as we eat them (not necessarily in order) and sometimes I'll plug them into my meal planner sheet that I like (that has room for snacks/lunch also).  Focusing on snacks and lunch prep will really help out and bring more peace to our home.

I hope this gives some of you some ideas and help for your kitchen woes!  At least you can see you are not alone in struggling with snacks and lunches - especially if you have adrenal fatigue and health issues like I do. Yes, it can be done!

An Aside:
Oldest dd just walked by and saw me eating my chef salad with nuts, cranberries, and chicken for lunch.  "Mmm.  Is that for dinner?  If not, can I have that right now?"  Sure... I can eat this twice :). [Update:  I put bowls out for the following and the rule was that they had to get something from each bowl the first time and seconds could be whatever:  cheese cubes; chicken/lightly cooked onion and pepper; raw pepper; raw onion/raw shredded zucchini; tomato; lettuce; cranberries.  I put things like raw onion and the zuke in the same bowl knowing that they wouldn't want raw onion and would get some raw zuke.]

This kitchen post is part of Kelly's Kitchen Goals for August:
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2012/08/kitchen-goals-for-august-2012-my-plan-after-the-scales-slapped-me-in-the-face.html