Hello and welcome to my summer post on MEAL PREPPING!

Every summer, I work for LSU developing curriculum and teaching teachers about that curriculum. I spend the entire month of June in front of a computer from 8 am to 5 pm. I'm exhausted by the end of the day, and my summer doesn't really start until it's over. Then I usually take a vacation with my family at the beginning of June. And I come back to finally get two weeks of summer before going back to school! It's crazy. 

So I meal prep. I make freezer meals that I can easily pull out of the freezer and dump in a slow cooker or on a sheet pan instead of having to spend every day fixing dinner. My meal plan in particular is for 7 weeks and takes into account my vacation and my first two weeks of school. 

I am also doing the Ultimate Portion Fix from BODi (Beachbody and Autumn Calabrese), which if followed correctly it provides enough food for that day, sometimes more than enough. I am trying to lose weight so I am following the plan according to the formula and I am working out daily. This meal plan is for the UPF Plan A which is between 1200-1400 calories a day. So my weekly plans cover all these containers and foods. 

The daily plans include all containers for that day, with snacks; however, sometimes I don’t eat all the containers. If I’m not hungry, I won’t eat it. And let me just say I am not a registered dietician, or expert in diets and health and can only plan according to my knowledge of UPF. 

I plan every detail. From shopping list to how to prepare the freezer meals to how to get ready each week of the plan. 

And this is how my meal prep goes: 

For the massive Freezer Meal Prep day, I schedule a Walmart Grocery Delivery for some time that morning or the Saturday evening before (click here for referral link; you'll get $20 added to your account when you join Walmart Plus!). Walmart plus is $12.95 a month or $98 a year and in my opinion totally worth it. I get access to unlimited free home delivery, free shipping from website, Paramount Plus subscription, a fuel discount of 10 cents per gallon at Murphy and Exxon, Scan and Go at the stores, Walmart Rewards, and more. 

So when I get my groceries, I can store them or if it's early enough on Sunday (my meal prep day) I get started. 

Then all I have to do is start prepping the meals. 

Most meals go in the storage bags. Some go in the foil pans. I have labels made so I can easily stick on the bags and pans and know what's inside. They are waterproof labels from Avery. All information is in the download. 

Then, for each week I defrost what is needed. I also purchase fresh fruits and vegetables each week for breakfast, snacks, or lunch. So each week I do have minor meal prepping to do. I usually meal prep on Sundays. I make sure to have a clean kitchen and several meal prep containers ready. Depending on what I’m prepping, this could take an hour or more. I prep everything into containers. Unless it’s a single piece of fruit (if I don’t want that fruit cut), like an apple or banana that I can just grab when it’s time for a snack.

And that's it. You can grab my meal plan at the link below. It includes the labels and also a template to make your own. 

Some common meal prep questions: 

"But what if I'm not hungry for what I meal prep?" 

Then I don't eat it. I'm not stuck with this plan. There are some days I want Raising Cane's so I go and get it. 

"But what if I have an event to go to?"

I go to it. I eat the food there. I enjoy myself. I'll have leftovers later. 

"What about healthy eating choices? What if there aren't any at the event?"

So what? Eat and enjoy. A well balanced diet is eating what you want, in moderation.

"Can I drink alcohol?"

Heck yeah. Drink and be merry. 

"What if I don't follow the plan exactly? What if I don't want all the containers?"

Then I don't eat it. Food is not the enemy. Food is not in control. I am. I decide what I want, how much I want, and when I want it. I just use this plan as a guide. I don't actually use the containers to measure every piece of food. As long as I am making healthy choices the majority of the time, I'm good. I've already lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks and I feel great. So much healthier, lighter, and my IBS is under control. I've also eaten cookies and ice cream and have had no regrets. 

Click the pic below to gain access to my 7 week Freezer Meal Plan. 

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Jessica

Bring some fun into your sequence of events lessons with this easy to set up sequencing activities packet. With this "plug and play" packet you can add sequencing centers, forms, and games into any lesson or program you have in your classroom.

Would you like a free sample? Here ya go!

or

Click here to purchase!

This packet includes:

• Ideas for lessons/teaching
• Sequence of Events Anchor Chart and anchor chart pictures
• Interactive Notebook activities (4)
• Story Sequence template
• Sequence Sets (4, 5, and 6)Sequence of 4 – five different sequence sorts
• Sequence of 5 – five different sequence sorts
• Sequence of 6 – three different sequence sorts
• Each sequence has a sorting mat
• Answer keys for each
• Cut and paste recording pages for each

• Paragraph frame
• Open writing page
• How To Writing Center Activity5 How To Flip Books
• 2 writing pages
• 1 brochure template

• Build Your Own Pizza Follow the Directions Game
• Recording page
• 8 task cards
• Pizza toppings and template

Class Cookbook Template (also included as a digital activity)

Would you like a free sample? Here ya go!

or

Click here to purchase!

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Jessica

 It's testing week. 

I don't like testing week. I don't like testing. I've never been a fan of standardized testing and I look forward to the day our society becomes enlightened enough to rid ourselves of such an arbitrary and superfluous waste of time and we realize that students, teachers, and schools are more than a test score. 

Here in Louisiana, we take the LEAP test. For 3rd-5th, it's 3 sessions of Math, 3 sessions of ELA, 2 sessions of Science and 2 sessions of SS (or 3, in 5th grade). Each session is roughly 65-90 minutes. EACH. That's a very long time that our kiddos sit in silence and stare at a computer screen in a room that has been stripped of all colorful and helpful materials and decorations that they've been using all year and suddenly it's not okay. 

However, regardless of my personal feelings the test must go on. So I try to make it fun for the testing administrators. 

(the kids also get treats from their teachers and donations from parents throughout the week, but this post isn't about them!)

As School Testing Coordinator (STC) I'm in charge of disseminating all testing information and materials to testing administrators at school.  So they come to my office every morning and pickup a testing bucket filled with all the needed stuff. 

And I include a cookie!

Since I also own and operate The Most Magical Bakery on Earth, I have experience making and baking all sorts of cookies and sweet treats. 

This year I made: 

• Brown butter chocolate chip cookies
• M&M's and chocolate chip cookies
• Snickerdoodles
• Sugar cookies

You can find some of my recipes on my other website, HERE. 

I also made little notes and puns to attach to each cookie. 

I think the prescription pills are my favorite!

These were super easy to make. Just cut cookie dough into triangles using a pizza cutter. Bake and cool. Dye some cookie icing yellow, and then pipe it in a droopy manner on the cooled cookies. When they are dry, use an edible food marker to draw some faces on the cheese. 

For Friday, I gave some colored hearts and a simple little "we love you" note. 

Monday is the last day! I am planning on giving these cookie dippers. Also a super simple way of making a sweet treat. I bought THESE (affiliate link) parfait cups on Amazon. Then I made several small circle sugar cookies. I made some buttercream icing and piped it into the top of the parfait cups and added some sprinkles (you could also just use canned icing from the store). The teachers can dip the cookie in the icing and enjoy!

You can grab a copy of my cookie tags here on my blog. CLICK HERE to make a copy to your Google Drive. 

Do you have standardized testing? How do you make the week/days/time go by? 

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Jessica

CLICK HERE FOR THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER

This week was a bit of a blur. It started by me staying home on Monday because I've got some sort of illness that isn't Covid, Strep, or Flu but it knocked me on my ass. 

It's taken all week to recover and finally on Sunday I'm feeling a little relief. I've been exhausted. It's just so much. But I suppose I am grateful that this is the first school year in 3 years where we haven't started fully masked and I've only been sick twice! 

For the days I was at school, we managed to get several things accomplished. We sorted out small groups for testing, I scheduled several blog posts, and the school board finally voted on our swing space for the next two years. 

We are getting a new school built that is set to open in school year 2025-2026. So we have to leave our current school, they'll tear it down, and rebuild our new fancy school. 

Have you ever moved schools like this? I've done some research online and found several articles about individual teachers moving schools or classrooms but I've not found much on moving complete schools. While I was sick at home I worked on THIS checklist as kind of a starting point. What do you think? What should I add?

We also had a book reading for Read Across America Day. One of our school's graduates, Ashley Cavalier, wrote a book called "Doctor Do You Know?"

She read the story to every grade level. It's such a great book based on her real life experiences and her real life doctor. 

This week we also celebrated Lilo's second Gotcha Day! She has been such a joy in our lives. Super hyper, super active, and super cute. 

This is how she woke up that day. 

Every night she squeezes her way in between the two pillows and lays directly on top of my head. I have to always readjust so we are both comfortable. 

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I got a new Scentsy warmer. We supported a local school for Friday Fish Fry. We went to this huge thrift sale called Attic Trash and Treasure where I found a crepe maker, Carly got a Crock Pot and food chopper, and we saw a ton of tchotchkes and other useless items. It was super packed but fun!

And as always I missed Disney like crazy. ALWAYS. I've already got next year's school trip planned and it's only 392 days. 

Have a great new week. 

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Jessica

 Need a quick last minute activity for your kiddos? 

I used to do this with construction paper and glue and feathers and lots of other craft stuff, and that's FABULOUS if you have the time, but let's face it---who does? So I switched to a digital version. 

Check it out: 

These are just a few of my kiddos Disguise a Turkey pics. I gave them all a template in Google Slides: 

Then I let them use the various tools available to make their Turkey into something else. They used the fill tool, line tool, search tool, insert and format menus, and more. 
Once they were done, I had them save the slide as an image (Download as PNG) and then I sent them to a group slideshow. I had made a slideshow in advance and added each student's name to a slide. They found their slide and inserted their turkey image. Then we had a parade of "not" turkeys!
I am always super impressed by the students and their imaginations. 
Grab your own Turkey Template HERE. 

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Jessica

 

We finally made it to September. August seriously felt like it would never ever end. But here we are. 

It's time for all things pumpkin, spooky season, and cooler weather. I don't know when we will get that weather, but I've already decorated for Halloween (I needed the endorphins) and I'm well on my way to baking all the pumpkin goodies. 

Spice Cakesicles!

Macarons! They WILL turn your mouth black. Oops. 

Truth. 

But I'm aware that not everyone is as pumpkin loving as I am. So I have this fun APPLE themed freebie for you. 

September always makes me think of Apples. Target has a delicious apple pie ice cream that has pieces of apples and oatmeal and brown sugar crumble and Carly and I DEVOURED a pint in about five minutes flat. 

So in this digital freebie, kiddos will click and drag and drop Fact Family Apples on trees to match the numbers. 

It's great practice for click and drag on Chromebooks or tablets for little fingers. 

At work we got some new cameras and a new teleprompter! 

I'll be using these to teach the kids about photography. I used to teach this to middle schoolers at my old school, but I'm going to adapt it to 4th and 5th graders. We will be documenting each grade's journey to their productions, and I want the kiddos to be the ones doing it. 

Here is a Google Slideshow I'll be using. It talks about the different types of shots that can be taken with a camera or video camera. Click here to grab a copy for yourself. 

And finally this week ended on a positive! Two, if you count the fact that it's a three day weekend! 

Admin came in clutch with these nachos for lunch.

Cheeky little sign. I love nachos with jalapeños and these were no exception. 

I hope you have a great holiday weekend!

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Jessica