For some of you, school may have already started, but for Alex and Soph, September 7 is the big day. Alex will be starting 6th grade and his last year in elementary school, while Soph will be moving up to 2nd grade. For me though, it’s not just about heading back to the classroom, it’s about getting back into the groove of things.

We love summer as much as any family—unstructured time is awesome—but fall means it’s time to get back to business. With work for Mom, homework for the kids and the inevitable after school activities we’re going to be super busy. Taking time to plan our meals is a must for me. Making sure we get healthy, balanced meals is part of it, but the planning also means that instead of rambling around the kitchen trying to figure out what we can eat, the kids and I can cook the meal together. We don’t make every meal together, but, with planning, at least once a week, we spend some quality time in the kitchen.

PLUS, we’re coming up on the One Year Anniversary of the show (Sept 12), so it’s a good thing we’re getting focused. You may have seen the first show of Season Two: ’45 Pounds Pork Chops’ last week, and we’ve got more in queue. We are going to be moving to an every-other-week schedule so we keep our sanity, but, so you don’t miss us ;D, we’re introducing a new weekly blog series we call ‘Kids In the Kitchen,’ featuring ideas any family can use to spend some quality time together cooking, eating and even cleaning up in the kitchen. And, on the opposite weeks of the show, I’ll continue sharing my ‘Thoughts from the Mom.’

We hope your ‘Back to School’ goes smoothly and gets everyone in your family back into the groove too!
Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Alex, Soph and Mom

P.S. If you’re interested, check out our premiere episode, 2 Kids Cooking TV: Berry Dippers

Usually, from a scheduling perspective, summer is no different than the school year for us. This year, however, we got a bit spoiled. Instead of having to go to Summer School-Age Care (SAC), since my sister is currently living with us, she served as our nanny. Just having her here saved me at least an hour on the road a day, time I got to send with my kids. It also allowed me to just get-up, go to work early, get home early and have a relaxing summer in general. Plus it gave the kids time with their Aunt Dani, swimming, cooking, going on adventures and even some vegging out in front of the TV. But, now that school’s on, it means getting back on schedule.

This week was our first week of the 2009-10 school year, and so-far, so-good. We managed to make real, sit-down meals all but one day and I made a total of three cold lunches. Of course it was only a four-day school-week, but I think that’s pretty good. We even managed to film one of the meals that will be a future episode of 2 Kids Cooking (Alex’s Secret Recipe Chicken). The first week or so of a new schedule is always pretty easy, though. The excitement of the new gets us motivated to prepare the night before, get out of bed early and on the road with time to spare. I guess for me, as time goes forward, say by mid-October, the newness has more than worn-off and I need deeper motivation to get my butt out of bed at 6:00 am on a cold Minnesota morning.

My weekly meal plans and the prospect of cooking and eating a family meal with the kids, things like these keep me on-track. The more I focus my mind on the end goal (fun times with the kiddies), the better I am at preparing. If I don’t do my Sunday shopping list and outline our food plan for the week, by Tuesday I feel like I’m in chaos land. We end-up eating quality foods like macaroni & cheese and hot dogs or frozen pizza.

I know for sure that I loved this summer and I’m working hard to find a way to support my family in a way that allows us more quality time together. For now, though, the kids are back in SAC after school and my staying in the groove–well it’s an essential part of remaining sane.