Some things you just can’t plan.  This has been one of those weeks.  We had plenty of warning that the weather was going to be bad on the East Coast and that it would affect us in Ohio, but I don’t think that any of us could have imagined how much this Super Storm would affect us all.  For my family, the adventure started on Tuesday.

School was cancelled and it was a good thing that it was.  There were power outages all over the place, fallen trees, and flooded basements.  The wind was howling!  We quickly made alternate plans for the kids and then made the short commute to work.  My husband and I both work in the insurance business.  Homeowners call us first when disaster strikes
their home.  We’ve been putting in long hours soothing frazzled nerves.  In fact, Tuesday I spent the day without power in my office.  I sat in the cold office, with a candle to light my desk.  Our phones did not work so I called folks from my cell phone.  I say all this to set the scene for a not-so-normal week.

No matter what craziness goes on in the rest of the world, my family still needs to eat.  They don’t care if their Mother is tired from work or if the power isn’t on.  They just know that they want to eat.  My week’s meals usually include at least one crock pot meal and usually two or more.  Since crock pots don’t work without power, I had to shuffle the week’s meals around.  Not an easy task when I shop for just the food I need for the week.   I didn’t want to give up completely on our Real Food diet just because the weather made things more difficult.

I had each meal planned out for the week and I was surprised to find out that having the plan still made things easier.  I wasn’t able to follow the plan exactly (not even close) but the plan gave me a list of things that were available for me to make and a list of ingredients that I was able to modify.  I didn’t need to give up and spend the week choosing meals from dollar menus.

 

Hooray!  With enough practice, Juggling Real Food and Real Life gets easier.  It becomes a lifestyle that celebrates good food and gathering around the dinner table with our family.  It begins with Grace spoken by our baby boy and ends when the final dish is washed.  It takes a little bit more work, but it is so worth it.  And like anything, with enough practice, it does get easier.

All of those that have been affected by this Super Storm have been in my prayers.  As we continue to recover, remember that good food heals much.  Make sure you sign up at the right by email or RSS feed so that you don’t miss the next episode.  Let me know how you made it through this week and what tips you have for making it through this storm and others.  If you are the first to comment, just click on “0 comments”.  You can also join the conversation on Facebook.