Two weeks too busy

Do you have moments where you wonder where has the time gone? This happens to me all.the.time.

I have extremely busy days with limited time to work and a busy house to manage. There are days that I am literally squeezing in my last hundred keystrokes before my 2:30 iphone alarm goes off -that’s the “get kids” alarm.

Don’t I look cute in my MOMables’ chef coat? There I am grinning from ear to ear because I was making this video as the Real California Milk back to school spokesperson! Yes, I am so excited!

Then I headed to speak on a panel at NicheMommy Conference in New Orleans about monetizing your passion. Hey, don’t make fun of my school bag. I know you are wondering about my School Bags for Kids backpack but I have to say that since I sell school lunches it’s MUCH more appropriate than another briefcase.

Another happy moment: I got a sneak peek at my recipes and layout in the upcoming book: Cooking with Trader Joe’s EasyLunchboxes Cookbook! It’s exciting for me anyway. There I am with my kiddos on the left and a whole bio on the right! **weeeeeeeeee!!! I am excited.

I just love being a tourist in my own town. This is what the Cathedral in the French Quarter looks like at 6:45am. No, I am not a morning person but if yo look at the next picture you too would go on a 30minute jog to grab those.

I told you so! Coffee and beignets make me happy. I don’t get them often but the ultra hot coffee and chicory with fried dough is to die for. Ok, that might be an over-statement but you’d walk early in the morning to get some too.

But then all the happy moments ended when I returned home and saw that hurricane Issac was coming our way. That meant that we had to prepare for who-knows-what. Although we are far from the coast we are very close to a lake and rivers. Combine that with heavy rain and our little town flooded.

Our neighborhood faired well. Although the streets were flooded no water came up to any homes. The cleanup from trees took days and back busting work for good husbands like mine.

By day 2 of being locked in the house with hauling winds and terrible weather, my husband set up a tent in our playroom. This entertained our kids for another 3 days! It was a huge hit with the neighboring kids who came to play too.

I even had time to organize my lunch cabinet. Organizing makes me feel good, it makes my husband happy. He likes stuff organized. I have so much going on at all times that well… I am not the best at it.

Having a generator that powers the house means being able to cook for many! I made three boxes of Zatarains New Orleans Style Gumbo. I like the fact that it’s consistent flavor everyone enjoyed -all 24 servings! Yes, with storms you must be prepared to feed many.

I also spent time doing recipe development for MOMables lunch menus. I am old fashioned. Here is an inside look at just how it’s done. Pen and paper! Yes, you almost have to see it to believe it!

Not only do I create nearly every menu item for MOMables but I also photograph them. Does the table look familiar?? Yes, the tent is gone and new food is here!

With a lot of cooking comes a lot of eating. In our family you must like lunch because we eat a lot of lunch items -usually for days- after photo shoot sessions.

Seriously, even my kids eat our lunches. They have to! I have a zero waste policy.

Finally, we can focus on having fun!! While the older kids were playing with the hose and sprinkler pretending to be in the “car wash” baby G loved getting his feet wet in the puddles.

Some more great news at work. I finally hired someone to help with all the media things that I (try to) do, and Christy is so amazing she landed MOMables and I a pretty big mention on a Today.com post about early lunches!! When I say big, I mean that the first two words of the article are… Laura Fuentes.