Back to School

Howdy y'all! It's almost September and life is about as hectic as it gets right now...until the paper grading starts. Since I have more students than ever and I'm working on finishing a book (and maybe starting another?), I think I'm going to start posting once a month. My goal is to begin utilizing Twitter (@mylifewoutranch), Facebook (mylifewithoutranch) and Instagram (mylifewithoutranch) much more so please, if you haven't already, find me there and follow. When I make an official post to the blog, I will give more thorough updates and (hopefully) have more food-related ideas. I am not married to this idea yet but I'm trying to learn how to prioritize so when I'm not managing around 130 students, I need to be working on the book. I am excited to say that the third draft is done. Now it's time to read through it and begin the revision process. If anyone would like to be a "reader," please let me know! I can't pay but I can tell you how awesome you are! I'm also heading to New York in November for a non-fiction writing conference and I'm terrified and thrilled all at the same time. Things are happening...I just have to keep going.

My family and I went to the beach for a quick trip last weekend and before I went, I was somehow down 1.4 pounds. I'm not complaining. To be honest, I've been very zen about my body the past few weeks. I haven't recoiled at my sight or beaten myself up nearly as much. I see this as a positive thing. The whole premise of the book is to love who you are in the moment. If I'm healthy (mentally and physically), the rest kind of falls in to place! Having said that, I have found that during the day I'm super busy and eat to sustain...when I get home...I'm a ravenous monster. To fix that, Ian and I went on a huge shopping trip yesterday so I'm not searching for something quick and unhealthy to eat after a long day. The beach was fun. Work is hectic but I love it...and here we go.

I've made a lot of toast in the day. Bread is a vessel and it is laden with a world of possibilities. Prior to the grocery trip I took last night, Ian and I had a bare pantry. I was being super creative with the remaining options. I had bread, cheese, pizza sauce and frozen pulled chicken. So, I made chicken parmesan toast. It is pretty simple. I put the bread under the broiler and while one side toasted, I heated the chicken, combined it with pizza sauce and grated parmesan. Then, I pulled out the bread, flipped it over and added the chicken mixture. I popped it under the broiler for two minutes, pulled it out, then added low fat mozzarella slices. I let it go a few more minutes under the broiler and then it was done! It wasn't pretty but it was quick, easy, tasty and fairly low in calories. I can be quite crafty when I need to be.

This semester I have an 8AM class. It pretty much sucks to have class that early. The students hate it and you and well, it's not my favorite time to have class. I'm always in a rush and I'm poor so I need to avoid fast food and have something I can heat up quickly. Last night, I made an assembly line of light English muffins, eggs, ham, and cheese and built quick breakfast sandwiches that I can freeze. Most people recommend baking the eggs in jumbo muffin tins. I only have regular sized muffin tins so the eggs turn out too clunky to go on the sandwiches. Instead, I had the idea to just bake them in a casserole dish. I scrambled all 12 eggs in a bowl, added a splash of water (you could use milk but I decided to skip the calories, and then sprinkled in some salt, pepper and garlic powder. I sprayed the bottom of a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. I baked the egg on the bottom rack of the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Then, I moved them to the top for 15 minutes. Once they were done, I let them cool while I got out the plastic wrap and started cutting the muffins. The most difficult part of this was most definitely the plastic wrap. I fight with that stuff on a regular basis. Once I got going (with Ian's help), the sandwiches assembled in just a few moments and then I had 12 sandwiches ready to go in the freezer! This morning, I defrosted it in the microwave for one minute, flipped it and then heated it at full power for a minute. It was pretty good! I was full and though I would obviously prefer an egg that wasn't THAT cooked, my idea worked pretty well. I think maybe next time I may add some veggies to the egg too. Now I have about a month of breakfasts to grab before my 8AM class. I am saving money and calories so I will most definitely do that again.

I hope you all have a great month!

ROLL TIDE!!! (It is football season after all!)