New nursing student mom

Paola2319 · Dec 19, 2016

Good question. I'm trying to figure out myself since I as well will be starting the nursing program in January.

perfectohno · Dec 19, 2016

I hope we both figure out a helpful way to balance. I'm so nervous! Best of luck in the program :) I think I may just end up with a lot of one pot meals, casseroles and slow cooker recipes

jhcz · Dec 19, 2016

The crock pot has been my best friend since i started nursing school in Aug. I googled and searched YouTube for meal ideals.

Paola2319 · Dec 19, 2016

It's easy and convenient , best of luck to you as well :). I'm anxious and a little nervous and you tube is great idea

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2016

There are so many great websites out there for quick and easy meals. Meals that you can prepare in big batches and then freeze are also great. Then all you need to do is throw them in the crock pot at the beginning of the day or oven when you get home.

Implementing a "Pizza Friday" is also a low stress option that the family can look forward to.

NICUismylife, ADN, BSN, RN · Dec 19, 2016

As a mom who always had a homemade healthy meal on the table every single night before nursing school (even when working 30 hours per week and going to school part-time), I have to say that family dinners basically disappeared during my nursing program. We had maybe 2 per week.

My kids learned to make themselves meals. They were 11, 9, 7 when I started the program. They each made their own lunches each morning before school, and quite often ended up scrounging up a bowl of cereal or opening canned foods for dinners more often than I'd like to admit.

Now that I've graduated, 2 weeks out, and we've had a homemade meal on the table every darned night. And can I tell you how much they rave about it? They truly appreciate it now whereas before they took it for granted. lol. I'm loving it too. My body has paid the price from too many quick packaged meals and cafeteria food over the last 2 years....

Anyway, plan to make those meals and keep up on everything, but be aware that if you can't, it's not the end of the world. They will survive and they will learn to appreciate you more when you are able to do it. Good luck!

MyAimIsTrue, BSN · Dec 19, 2016

Well, I can tell you since I started nursing school 3 months ago, our diet is crap. It's hard to be mom, student and worker and then have to cook every night. I'm trying not to feel too guilty about it--I'm doing the best I can. :-)

perfectohno · Dec 19, 2016

Thank you everyone for the advice and encouragment. I only have one child but she is 5 so I hope I am able to manage at least 80% of her meals to be good ones. But will start the program knowing that we will all survive if that doesn't happen. I am thankful that I won't have to work during the program but I do have limited support so praying for the best! Congratulations to those who have made it through the program and best of luck to those in it or starting :up:

ItsThatJenGirl, CNA · Dec 19, 2016

I'm not in nursing school yet, but my husband will take over the cooking when I am. When I do make something that freezes well (spaghetti and meatballs, or chili), I just make a double batch and freeze what's left.

pixierose, BSN, RN · Dec 20, 2016

Crockpots, freeze meals in advance, and "Friday Night Movie Nights" (aka pizza nights).

Don't feel bad if every night ain't all fresh and healthy, or if you come home and just boil some pasta or bake chicken nuggets, nuke some veggies and call it a night.

I just graduated and my kids lived to tell the tale :up: .

tjmnurse · Dec 20, 2016

I just graduated from an accelerated BSN program (17 months), and I have a preschooler. We did eat out more than I would've liked, especially in the beginning. However, towards the second half of the program, I got meal prep and simplifying meals down pretty well.

Thursday or Friday afternoon, usually during lunch, I'd jot down a list of ONLY 3 meals for the next week (I cook enough for leftovers usually since it's just me, my hubs, and my son). Friday evening, I jot out my list of ingredients for stuff I had to cook, plus our normal breakfast items for the week, then shoot a text to my hubs to see what he needed from the store. I wrote out the grocery list and put any coupons with it. My husband enjoys grocery shopping so he'd take the list and the coupons and knock that out Saturday morning.

I try to keep it super simple... think 2-3 ingredients per meal (because I would buy 10 ingredients for a meal, never use them, and throw them out - You'll be busy!)... so Caesar salad kit and seasoned shrimp/chicken, Gorton's fish fillets and fresh green beans in olive oil with a little garlic salt, chicken/steak/beef Tacos and rice/beans on Tuesday, one of the healthier versions of pizza on Friday, leftovers on whatever my clinical day was.

On Sundays, I meal prepped. This also included healthy snacks/lunch items for everybody. While I would cook chicken/shrimp/beef, or whatever meat for the upcoming week, I would prep snacks to be available in the fridge. Boiled eggs, yogurt, string cheese, celery sticks, PB packs, green pepper, baby carrots, applesauce packs, true moo, water, apple slices, grapes, strawberries, etc. I also tried to keep healthier lunches prepped for me... usually tuna or chicken salad on romaine lettuce with avocado, chicken wraps, brown rice with chicken, a little soy sauce, and steamed veggies (you can buy packs of those in the frozen section and they're great as add-ins or as already-seasoned sides by themselves).

I enjoy cooking/baking so if I really wanted to cook a more complex meal, with more ingredients, or if I wanted to try a new recipe, I would plan that for the weekend or whenever I had a few free hours. In my program, I didn't have a ton of free time during the week.