One Down!!

I did it!!!  I made it through the first week of watching Izzy and Jake.  On Wednesday, I had my doubts as to whether I could still do this, but as the week progressed, it got a little easier.  As a diabetic, I have to eat my meals -- no skipping.  Unfortunately, Jake's idea of Grammy's weight loss is to not let her eat.  Breakfast hasn't been a problem, since I eat before the kids get here.  Lunch was a different story.  On Wednesday, I made myself a smoked turkey sandwich with provolone cheese on an Arnold's Sandwich Thin, (if you haven't tried these, you don't know what you're missing).  Put it on a little plastic plate with some red seedless grapes, and fixed Izzy her lunch.  Jake must have sensed that I had left the living room, because he started to cry -- and I do mean cry!  I carried my lunch plate into the living room, set it down on the little table next to my chair and got Jake out of the swing.  I sat down in the chair and was trying to settle him down, when all of a sudden the plate slid off the table and my sandwich and all the grapes went flying.  Izzy laughed, but I wanted to cry.  I'm too old for this, I'm not physically up to this challenge, I told myself.  And the tears started to flow.  Izzy hugged me, told me not to cry, and promised to clean up my mess.  How can you be sad with such a great little helper??  I neglected to mention that the table is stacked with papers topped with my Kindle.  But I have to do this!! I wouldn't be content with someone else watching my grandkids.  So, I began to think, think, think.

I started by looking through my slow cooker books to find a few recipes that I could make, and began to plan menus for the week.  As I did the menus, I put what I needed on a grocery list.   Did you know that you can do baked potatoes in a crock pot??  Well, I didn't and I'm going to try it out.  With some decent planning and my "triple threat" crock pot, I should be able to put some easy, healthy meals on the table. How does "Peachy Pork Chops" or "Beefy Mushroom Steak" or "Apricot Chicken" sound?  Daughter Mary is a huge Rachel Ray fan, and is going to loan me one of her cookbooks.  Hopefully, I can find some 30-minute meals to add to my repertoire.

I've never prepared veggies in advance, but it sounds like it would work.  I'm thinking that if I chop the veggies for soups or stews the night before, I just have to throw it all in the crock pot the next morning.  And by using my new bread books, I can mix up bread dough on the weekend and bake it up through the week.  So, wish me luck.