MY STOMACH IS CONTENT

Sunday turns into meal prep and snack prep day.  It isn't intentional.  I don't plan to go to the store -- it just happens.  I'm minding my own business when suddenly my stomach says, "I'd like a steak tip salad later."  The next thing I know, I'm in my car and heading to the grocery store in search of vegetables and meat.

Of course, no trip to the grocery store goes unpunished.  I buy other stuff, too, like blackberries and peanut butter (crunchy and creamy -- it's on sale) and frozen french fries and walnuts.  Apparently, my stomach is branching out since I left the house.  Luckily, I bring limited cash with me, so my stomach has to act within certain limits. 

Sometimes my best intentions for meal planning end up rotting away in the vegetable bin.  There are times when I buy things like zucchini then get sidetracked by late meetings and life in general, and then I'll look in the crisper and the zucchini is as wilted as my original plans for it.  I'm a great planner, but my kitchen follow-through lacks momentum.

It is this reality that spurs me to get right down to business when I get home from the store.  I throw on an apron (dress for success, right?) and line up all of my ingredients.  Soon I have seven individual salads ready and in plastic bins for lunches or dinners or whenever I feel like eating them. 

Next up is a batch of honey and chocolate chip oat-granola bars.  I chop up anything and everything I can find to add to the mixture: peanuts, walnuts, wheat germ, then I spread the glop into a container.  The whole thing needs to freeze before I cut it into bars, so I decide to make one more item.

Bagels.  Yes, a double-batch of Asiago cheese bagels will be perfect.  The recipe requires Greek yogurt, so I convince myself the bagels are healthy.  As soon as they come out of the oven, of course, I convince myself that eating two of them must be doubly-healthy.

Either way, this incredible kitchen production line sounds marvelously inspirational.  Why, I'm even impressing myself with my massive burst of energy.  However, I'd be lying.  Oh, sure, part of this is all about being ready for the upcoming week with lunches and meals.  The true and honest impetus for all of this is actually avoidance. 

I am doing anything and everything to avoid grading essays.

So, Sunday becomes meal prep and snack prep day.  I get to take the day off of schoolwork, and my stomach will be content for days.