Today is April 23rd and in a few shorts months
form now (August, 28th) I’ll begin PA School. As many of you may
already know, the first semester of PA School in many programs has been said to
be one the toughest. Undergrad is over and the pace and level of difficulty is
clearly different. During the first semester, the days are long, the challenges
are many, and just figuring out how to manage your time can be more difficult
than learning the brachial plexus. I guess you could say, the full force of the
proverbial fire hydrant can surely be felt.
Knowing that in a few short months the grind will be real, I
have been doing some things to prepare for the great adventure that lies ahead
and in some ways, preparing in ways that will hopefully help me have some “high
yield” learning days. I figure that eating right and exercising are just as
important as making sure you read material that you’ll be covering the next day
in lecture. One thing I’ve spent some time and money working on is food
prepping.
As a very busy graduate student (living on student loans) in
the first semester of one of the nation’s top PA programs, time management will
be essential. It’ll be just as important that I eat well to fuel my body for
the long days that lie ahead, but we all know that going to the grocery store,
figuring out what to cook each night, and then putting it into action can be
time consuming and result in a quick stop at the Wendy’s drive-thru window for
a bag of greasy, high carb supper. To avoid this I have taken some very simple,
yet easy steps towards eating healthier, preparing food for the upcoming week,
and maximizing my time and minimizing the stresses of figuring out what to do
for food each day. One thing I have done is to buy a very nice steamer made by
Cuisinart http://amzn.to/2q3NBwn
To pretend I’m already in school, I go to the grocery store on Saturday mornings and buy the groceries I’ll need for the week. I then cook them and put them in containers that are durable Pyrex glass containers with snap-locking lids, to prevent spills. These containers can be microwaved and are very easy to clean in the dishwasher http://amzn.to/2oi5J9v I typically will
Steamed vegetables:
- Carrots
- Zucchini
- Squash
- Asparagus
- Green beans
- Cabbage
- Brussel sprouts
Another dish that is easy to make and one that can be mad in
bulk, is a Ziti recipe I got from my Dad’s wife, Susan (which I will include in
this blogpost). I make two dishes at a time and freeze one for later. One thing
you must be prepared for when food prepping, is how to avoid becoming bored
with eating the same dishes over and over. For that reason, it quickly became
obvious to me that I’d need to have several recipes in my arsenal that are
healthy, cheap, and can be easily made.
If you are considering food prepping for school or just to
save time and money, I hope my post will be helpful or at least somewhat
inspirational. One thing for sure is this; if I can do it, anyone can….trust
me! Lastly, I did some research before I got started and one thing I found to
be helpful and completely agree with is, make sure you spend a little extra and
get really good storage containers. One blogger wrote that this would be a wise
investment, and I couldn’t agree more. It makes the prep easy, storage is neat,
heating foods up are a breeze, and most importantly to bachelors like me, the
cleanup is a snap.
Susan's Ziti Recipe:
Baked Ziti
1 16oz. pkg. ziti pasta (I use mini-penne instead)
2 (26.5 oz.) cans spaghetti sauce (I can’t find this size. I use 2/ 24oz. Classico Tomato Basil
Sauce. You can add a little tomato sauce if it seems too thick)
6 oz. sliced Provolone cheese
6 oz. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 ½ cups sour cream (I use fat free or lite)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 onion chopped
Grated Parmesan cheese
Cook pasta according to package direction. Drain.
Brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer 15 minutes.
Layer as follows in buttered baking dish. (13x9x2)
½ of ziti
Provolone
sour cream
½ spaghetti sauce
remaining ziti
Mozzarella cheese
Remaining sauce
Top with Parmesan
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until cheese has melted
