Chaos in the Backyard

This week is a mix of half marathon taper, busy family schedules, and trying to keep everyone fed without overthinking it and blowing a gasket.

Breakfasts and lunches stay simple and repeatable over here. I was in a huge egg phase, switched to chia pudding, and have finally settled on the chef’s kiss – sourdough avocado egg toast. Dinner is our only real “family meal” that I have to focus on.

Typically, the boys eat breakfast and lunch at school (it saves my sanity for when they don’t have time to finish whatever they snack on in the morning at home). But, the big has state testing this week, so to try and ease any blood sugar spikes from the school breakfast he’ll end up with a very protein-forward Mommy breakfast all week. The little will most likely chow down on his preferred Cocoa Puffs and then whatever he snacks on at school.

MONDAY

Breakfast: Greek yogurt + berries + granola
Snack: protein shake
Lunch: premade salad bowl with extra chicken
Snack: apple + peanut butter

Dinner: Rotisserie Chicken Snack Plates
Think charcuterie board, but dinner. Rotisserie chicken (the boys will enjoy picking the meat off), crackers, fruit, cucumbers (for the little)/carrots (for the big), cheese, hummus (me), and ranch (everyone else). It’s the dinner version of the “Choose Your Own Destiny ” books.

TUESDAY

Pre-run: banana
Breakfast: eggs + avocado sourdough toast
Lunch: premade salad bowl with extra chicken
Snack: crackers + peanut butter

Dinner: Taco Bowl Tuesday
Ground beef or turkey taco meat served with rice, lettuce, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and chips. Honestly, my big looks forward to this every single week. It is a household staple around here. The little enjoys eating just the taco meat with chips.

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast: yogurt parfait
Snack: cottage cheese
Lunch: premade salad bowl with extra chicken
Snack: popcorn + fruit

Dinner: Crockpot Salsa Chicken
Wednesday isn’t just hump day for the work week. For us, Wednesday is the hump day of practices. BJJ for the big and soccer for the little on Tuesday, Soccer for the big on Wednesday, and again on Thursday. So, having an easy meal that cooks itself for our midweek rush is important.

Chicken cooked with salsa all day in the crockpot, served with rice, and veggies of choice.

THURSDAY

Pre-run: toast + honey
Breakfast: yogurt + fruit + granola
Lunch: premade salad bowl with extra chicken
Snack: pretzels or a granola bar

Dinner: Pasta Night
This is honestly the fan favorite at our house. Everyone, except for Mom, loves pasta night. I switch it up with the shape of the pasta, but always go with a higher protein choice. Chickpea pasta with meat sauce and garlic bread.

FRIDAY

Breakfast: avocado toast + eggs
Snack: yogurt + fruit
Lunch: premade salad bowl with extra chicken
Snack: protein pretzels

Dinner: Breakfast for Dinner
Eggs, pancakes or waffles, turkey sausage, and fruit. The big will enjoy cooking the eggs while I make the pancakes. I’ll try to wrangle the little into cutting the fruit up, but that might end up with more in his belly than on our plates.

SATURDAY

Breakfast: avocado sourdoug toast + eggs + fruit
Snack: banana
Lunch: turkey sandwich + chips + fruit
Snack: protein pretzels

Dinner: Leftover chicken or tacos + Rice Bowls
Rice, chicken/taco meat, roasted vegetables, and optional sauce.

SUNDAY – 1/2 Marathon Race Day!

Pre-race breakfast: toast with honey + protein snack
Lunch: Poke Bros bowl with a McDonald’s McFlurry (those thoughts will be what gets me to the finish)
Dinner: Buffalo Wild Wings to celebrate!

Thoughts

This isn’t a normal week for us. I usually grocery shop on Saturday, pick everything up on Sunday, and do my meal prep Sunday night to set us all up for the week. But this weekend, the boys had dirt bike races down in Maryland. We left right after school on Friday and didn’t get back until around 8 PM on Sunday.

By the time we got home, we had just enough time to unpack the camper and race trailer, get everyone showered, and get straight into bed for the grind on Monday. The big has state testing, so it was even more important for him to get back on the routine. So there was no time for the usual planning, prepping, or resetting for the week.

This week is all about keeping things simple, fueling well for my run on Sunday, and not overcomplicating the small things. Honestly, I’m freaking pumped for the double take out on Sunday.