It's 22h45 Sunday night and I am trying to finish 3 documents, all of which require my undivided attention. But Toris Amos is singing Cornflake Girl and truth is, I'd rather be blogging.
A few months ago, I wrote a post on gift shopping for Type A's and how to save muchos time and grande money by planning ahead. This is the second 'planning ahead' post, and much like the first one, you will either think I'm genius or something of a chronic fuck up. Either way, I'm sharing:
I have 2 little boys, my own branding consultancy and a relentless desire to be thin like Jennifer Aniston. This makes that the fact that Earth has 24 hour days hugely inconvenient for me. With 26 kids' lifts a week (gratefully shared with other moms) and more work than we can cope with, there is no way I can make sure that my children eat nutritious meals, their school lunches are packed and that I can (at least until Tuesday) remain on my Jennifer-diet. Not without some good planning that is.
So Sunday night has become something of a food prep night, and it is making all the difference to (the first half of) my week. An hour on Sunday night while the kids eat dinner and potter around the kitchen saves me time, stress and carbo-calories. (at least until Tuesday)
Tonight, in 50 minutes:
1. I made 2 school lunches for Liam for Monday and Tuesday. This sounds like a no-brainer, but just do it. It's such a hassle making school lunch every night.
2. I threw a bag of Woolies lettuce, a chopped cucumber, some canned corn, a few peppers, low fat Feta and a handful of baby tomatoes into a Tupperware. Add chicken or tuna or cottage cheese and Voila! Monday lunch. If I don't do this, I miss lunch because of school lifts, so I get back to the office and scoff everything in sight, famished and hyperglycaemic.
3. Next, I chopped up red, yellow and orange peppers (great protection against free radicals and a rocking source of vitamin C), a pack of mixed mushrooms (hellooo Potassium) and some firm organic tomatoes (can you say Lycopene?). A little olive oil and some Herbamare, ten minutes in a pan and I have a delicious, nutritious vegetable dish for my kids' lunch (that they love to eat) and a perfect partner to my dead-boring morning egg whites.
4. Speaking of which, I also separated a dozen eggs and put the whites into a pourable Tupperware in the fridge. That sorts my husband and I out for breakfast for the next 2 days. Egg whites and veggie mix in a pan for a few minutes and we start the day with stable blood sugar. You can freeze the yolks - they keep for about 4 months, but best to add salt or sugar (depending on what you intend using them for), or they become gelatinous.
5. Next, I used the pan that I made the veggies in and seared Woolies mini chicken breast fillets. Once they were lightly browned, I simmered them in a mushroom sauce until cooked throough. I'll give these to the kids for lunch and add them to my salads too. Two birds (pun intended). One stone. Love.
6. Lastly, while the chicken is simmering, I got two sachets of Woolies Napoletana sauce out of the freezer, added 2 packs of broccoli that were nearing sell-by date, threw in some fresh basil from my garden and added some garlic. Simmer for 15 minutes and then blend if you want to (kids more likely to scoff the broccoli this way). Then decant into 3 containers: label 2 and freeze for The Future; pop one in the fridge and use for kids' pasta. Super healthy. Super easy.
That's it. I still haven't figured out how to translate this splendid planning and discipline beyond Tuesday. By Wednesday, I am typically eating Milo cereal and drinking Pinot Noir. But seriously, fuckit. I'm a trooper Monday and Tuesday.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Picking schools for your kids: an educated guess?
I thought I had it all figured. When Liam, our first, was 4 months old, I put his name down at 2 schools: one small and supposedly wonderful private boys' school in an adjacent suburb and one large private boys' school that was of no interest to me, but that was there as a back-up plan. Both schools are established and traditional. Both prize manners, leadership and worldliness. Both are excellent schools.
Last week, I attended (for the second year in a row) the Open Day of School #1. It was fantastic. Their marimba band had me in tears, the children were bright-eyed, polite and sassy and the teachers and facilities are really second to none. A small, special (but certainly elite) school, it offers truly individual attention and an almost family-feel. That said, it is one of the most expensive in Joburg and is situated in one of Joburg's most elite suburbs.
This morning, we went, reluctantly, to an interview at School #2. It's much bigger, and where School #1 is just primary, School #2 goes from Grade 000 - O Levels. There was no marimba band; no real tour of the grounds and no moving speech from the headmaster. Surprisingly though, we both felt so much more at home. Where School #1 comprises 90% the ultra-elite of Joburg, School #2 is far more mixed. It had much more of the feel that good government schools had in South Africa in the 80's, but thankfully, markedly more racially and culturally diverse. The names on the desks were a real South African melange: Caleb-Nino-Thabang-Ridwaan-Chad-Itumeleng-Joshua-Dimitri-Oliver. The parents seemed normal and down-to-earth and while I do get the sense that what it offers from an academic and cultural perspective is not as gob-smacking as School #1, I have to ask myself the question: what is education? What do I want my son exposed to in his formative years?
I'm not sure it's really about picking the school as much as it's about picking the peer group. I know every private school will have an elite element, but if 90% of the school is ultra-elite, Liam won't have many options. He is growing up 100% more privileged than I did and I am terrified that he will have a sense of entitlement in the world, which I am allergic to. By choosing ultra-elite, am I not setting him up for this in some respects? I know that a child's values begin at home, but as they get older, their peers have more and more of an influence, and I am so conscious of making sure that he hangs with a mix of people that are at least a little reflective of the real world.
What I did realise this morning is that no matter how good my life gets, I will always be middle class at heart. XXX
Last week, I attended (for the second year in a row) the Open Day of School #1. It was fantastic. Their marimba band had me in tears, the children were bright-eyed, polite and sassy and the teachers and facilities are really second to none. A small, special (but certainly elite) school, it offers truly individual attention and an almost family-feel. That said, it is one of the most expensive in Joburg and is situated in one of Joburg's most elite suburbs.
This morning, we went, reluctantly, to an interview at School #2. It's much bigger, and where School #1 is just primary, School #2 goes from Grade 000 - O Levels. There was no marimba band; no real tour of the grounds and no moving speech from the headmaster. Surprisingly though, we both felt so much more at home. Where School #1 comprises 90% the ultra-elite of Joburg, School #2 is far more mixed. It had much more of the feel that good government schools had in South Africa in the 80's, but thankfully, markedly more racially and culturally diverse. The names on the desks were a real South African melange: Caleb-Nino-Thabang-Ridwaan-Chad-Itumeleng-Joshua-Dimitri-Oliver. The parents seemed normal and down-to-earth and while I do get the sense that what it offers from an academic and cultural perspective is not as gob-smacking as School #1, I have to ask myself the question: what is education? What do I want my son exposed to in his formative years?
I'm not sure it's really about picking the school as much as it's about picking the peer group. I know every private school will have an elite element, but if 90% of the school is ultra-elite, Liam won't have many options. He is growing up 100% more privileged than I did and I am terrified that he will have a sense of entitlement in the world, which I am allergic to. By choosing ultra-elite, am I not setting him up for this in some respects? I know that a child's values begin at home, but as they get older, their peers have more and more of an influence, and I am so conscious of making sure that he hangs with a mix of people that are at least a little reflective of the real world.
What I did realise this morning is that no matter how good my life gets, I will always be middle class at heart. XXX
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