Preparing for Back to School
It’s like I’m nesting or something – which I am not thankyouverymuch. I just get this way at the end of a summer break as we head into full school days, regular music lessons, and a busy soccer season. I like to be prepared, and I also somehow have a mind-set that I’ll never again have time to go to the store so I’d best purchase 52 boxes of kleenex to ensure that leaving the house for any variety of nose issues will not be necessary for a very long time.
This makes no sense, except that it is how my brain works so I just go with it. I’m a stocker-upper, and a prepper-aheader, and I want to ease us in to our full schedule with as much grace (read: frozen food and kleenex boxes) as possible.
This mind-set will go away completely after precisely 3.5 days of school, at which time we will all settle into a routine and I will realize that life outside the home hasn’t stopped. Plus I will learn that fresh plums are on sale and determine that we should buy some. We will also be out of eggs.
In the meantime, here are 9 of my favorite foods (random though they may be) to have prepared ahead of time to make life easier overall. Want to borrow my list? I highly recommend it. Also, here is a toilet paper coupon because if you’re like me even a little bit, you realize that stocking up on tp is even more important than stocking up on kleenex.
Homemade Peanut Butter
I make several jars at a time, otherwise we would run out within just a few days. If I’m dirtying up my food processor, I might as well make it worth it, right?
Whole Wheat Quick Mix
I use this mix to make Quick Mix Biscuits, Quick Mix Fruit Pizza, Quick Mix Honey Cinnamon Muffins, Quick Mix Pancakes, and Quick Mix Very Vanilla Cookies. (These recipes and more in my Oh, For Real cookbook.)
Homemade Granola
I love having this on hand because it is so versatile and convenient. We can sprinkle in dried fruit, chocolate chips, fresh fruit, or plop in some applesauce – whatever sounds good.
Pictured is the Dark Chocolate Granola variety.
Freezer Muffins
Do this. It’s an amazing trick. You will love the convenience of fresh-from-the-oven muffins without any work.
Chicken Broth and Beef Broth
Having broth on hand means I can make soup very quickly on a busy day. And ooooohhhhh the health benefits. :)
Cooked Bacon
I like cutting several pounds of bacon into bit-sized pieces and cooking in a big pot. Why? Then I have cooked bacon on hand for Bacon Cheesy Egg mornings, and to use in recipes like Bacon Cheese Muffins, Bacon, Egg, and Avocado Salad, BLT Chopped Salad, or BLT Wraps. Also, my hair won’t smell like bacon every single day we eat bacon – only the day I cook several pounds of it. See what a great strategy that is?
Instant Oatmeal
Or you can make Frozen Oatmeal Cups. Or you can make both.
Ranch Dressing Mix
If I have a jar of this mix on hand, I can quickly make Ranch Salad Dressing, a Ranch Cheese Ball, Ranch Potato Wedges or Cheddar Ranch Burgers.
Italian Dressing Mix
Not only do I use this mix to make Italian Salad Dressing, I use it for these easy recipes: Italian Cream Cheese Chicken, Italian Roast Wraps, and Italian Stew. It also makes a great marinade for grilled meats.
I haven’t completed this list yet, but here’s what I did over the weekend:
I got out my food processor and made several batches of Homemade Peanut Butter.
I turned out 4.5 jars of Super Creamy Peanut Butter variety, but left one jar for me which is just straight Peanut Butter with nothing added. I labeled it “Mom’s” but I’m very nice and willing to share. I just wanted to avoid accidentally dipping into the wrong one since I prefer the straight peanut variety.
Also pictured is the Oatmeal Breakfast Bars I had made for Sunday morning.
I cooked four pounds of bacon, then froze it into six bags. If we’re making salads, we might need two bags for our whole family. But if we’re making Bacon Cheesy Eggs we can get away with one bag, less than a pound. (Yay for stretching meat.)
Everything is getting back to normal at our house now that all the boys are home from camp – as in we are blowing through food faster than I can keep up. Thankfully we have cooked bacon and peanut butter on hand so we won’t starve. (Because we were all so worried about that after seeing my freezers.)
In all the years past, our family has begun our school year the first week of August. This year we’re pushing it back two weeks for these reasons:
- The three older boys were at Guys Camp the first part of this week.
- The boys need to recover from church camp (lack of sleep).
- Matt and the boys are redoing someone’s roof – a project that couldn’t be started while they were away.
- Asa is moving into the college dorm in a week and a half and will be on a college schedule. (How do I feel about this? I’m excited for him and I also cry. Just like one would expect.)
- Justus is taking a college class, which makes it even more necessary to stick with the college schedule.
- None of us are quite ready yet and that’s just the truth. But hey, at least the peanut butter is ready. And the kleenex.
As soon as the books are ready, I’ll try to post about what we’re doing for school this year.
What are your favorite foods to make and have on hand for convenience? When does school start for your family?
Courtney says
We’re doing our first year of homeschooling this year and we are all so excited!! Our first day is Aug. 17. So we still have a few weeks to go. My boys have been asking me if we could go ahead and start though. I wonder how long that enthusiasm will last? Lol!
Kadee says
My boys start Aug. 20. I work in our high school cafeteria, so I also go back then. I like to have things prepared not because it’s hectic, but because my job is a very fast paced physical one that I haven’t done all summer, so the first couple of weeks while I get back into the swing of things are exhausting for me. I’ll start with baked goods like bread and muffins, then do some soup, meatballs, sauce, and I will browse your recipes for more ideas!
BUSY MOM IN AL says
I was just putting away chicken broth in my freezer yesterday and thought of sharing this tip with you. I love to freeze in jars, but have broken a few too many in my day. I now fill them to the 3 cup line and then cover the jar with saran wrap to go in the freezer. That way if they expand too much, my jar won’t break. Then once they are fully frozen, I put on the mason jar lid.
Thank you for sharing this post! These are great ideas. I plan on cooking the bacon in bulk. I have never done that before but we love bacon around here so it sounds like a great idea.
Oh, by the way, ever had bacon spaghetti? Just use the bacon in place of ground beef in your favorite recipe. VERY GOOD!!
Anna says
A question for those of you who make broth ahead of time:
Are you doing this by putting the meat in the crockpot? And what do you do with all the cooked meat? If it’s more than for your meal that day so you freeze a lot of cooked meat?? Sorry this sounds silly but I never understood how to do that.
Laura says
I actually prefer to make broth in a big stock pot now because I can make more that way. Yes, initially I cook the chicken or beef with the meat on, which cooks the meat while making broth. I debone the meat, and divide it into meal-sized portions to either use right away or freeze for another time. :)
Amy says
Quick question for you: I just clicked on the link to the Oatmeal Breakfast Squares. Would you use soft white or hard white now that you’ve started using the soft?
I’m an homeschool-is-starting-emergency-prepper, too. And I can’t help it, either. :)
B. Winblad says
Our son started his first day of school, Kindergarten, last Wed July 29. YES, July! We live in a suburb of Indianapolis and the schools in our district start school the end of July and get out the end of May. They also get a few nice breaks in between though, 2 weeks in Oct- 2 weeks at Xmas/New Years- 2 weeks in Mar.
This is our first go round with schooling in Indiana as our son just started school. My husband and I are from Southern CA and when we went to school it was start after Labor Day and get out mid-June. I’m use to that. The end of July came so quick, especially to send him off for his first day ever! So proud but so sad just the same. LOL
I am at home while he is at school, so I have the time to cook but do not spending tons of time in the kitchen if I don’t have to. I prepped for him starting school by stocking up on snack size baggies, snacks and main meals staples that I can easily make for his lunches that I know he will eat. I also made a huge batch of homemade marinara and cooked ground beef for the freezer. My biggest accomplishment though for us starting school was when I menu planned for this month, I planned pretty much all crockpot meals. I can put it all together after I get back from dropping him off at school. Go about my day of errands, cleaning, office work, etc. Then after I pick him back up from school and we get homework done, dinner is made and ready to be dished. I often convert many recipes over to crockpot ones for the sheer ease of it. I love doing this!
Jennifer says
We start back to school in three weeks. Breakfast and school lunches are our tricky times, so I’m starting now. Oatmeal bars, muffins, breakfast cookies. Your mini apple pies are a first day of school tradition. Egg “muffins” are popular for both meals.
I’m still working on ideas for lunches!