Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Not a huge change at all, but Mr. Moon got a second job today. Selling restaurant smallwares & appliances at a local restaurant supply store. One day a week for now, but in time there may be more shifts available. Of course, that one shift is Saturdays. Which means that after a hard night at work, and before a hard night at work, he gets to work an extra shift--the day before any potential double shifts at work. On the one hand, it's not yet impacting his days off, but on the other his workweek got a little busier. Nothing to do but redouble our efforts at weekly organization, meal planning & execution.

As it stands, whenever he's had to work early morning shifts on Sundays, we've tended to use it as an excuse to get takeout for dinner. But, at one shift a week of retail income, the extra money being made will barely pay for an increased expenditure of once-weekly take-out (let alone twice-weekly). Instead, it's time to get down to business with some recipes that we can prep ahead & have me turn on the crockpot/rice cooker during his work shift or when I head to pick him up from the night job. And some make-ahead breakfasts & lunches, for that matter!

Some ideas so far have included:
Breakfasts:

• Porridge oats or rice: Let the oats soak overnight, then have the timer start cooking the oatmeal when we wake up. Top with nuts & craisins, as desired. 
• Overnight oatmeal: the cold way in mason jars that we can make for a few days ahead. With chia seeds? 
• Microwave sausage egg muffins: Which we can buy in individual packages but are much cheaper to make at home and not terribly difficult. Either the "protein cupcake" version from my low-carb cookbook, or the fake-McDonald's version I loved in high school.
• Yogurt or cottage cheese with fruit. 
• Smoothies, but that's not new. 

Lunches:

• I'm thinking of the things he's taken to boy scout camp before. Sandwiches, obviously. Handheld fruit like apples & nectarines. Salad? Ummm... 
• Seriously, we have to figure out lunches he can take to work, this is weird and also a little exciting. To Pinterest! 

Dinners:

• Anything that I can make in the rice cooker on a standard rice setting, because I can turn it on when I walk out the door and have us walk into a home cooked meal that's ready to eat. 
• Rice-cooker red beans & dirty rice: Cook up a few pounds of taco meat next time we buy a bunch of ground beef, freeze in 1/2 lb packages. Day of, dump 1 cup rice, 1 cup chicken stock, can of rinsed beans, half cup of salsa, and a pack of taco meat into the rice cooker, turn it on, walk away, done in 35 minutes. 
• I feel like I have forgotten everything I learned from our busy weeks living with his parents and clearly have to go back to my old entries for ideas.