It Turns Out Sunday Midday Dinner Works Better For My Energy Levels

Isn't September a beautiful month? In my area, we get several pleasant days in this month. It's chilly when I step out to the garden to grab a leaf or two of kale for my smoothie. But by early afternoon, many days we have sunshine warm enough to have our midday meal outdoors. 

I haven't put away some of the furniture on the deck for the season just yet. So we still have a few spots we can sit and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. 

The critters are lovely and funny to watch. We have a small red squirrel who visits the deck a few times per day. In fact, he has a "hiding" place for his food on the deck railing. It's really cute. He brings an apple or plum up to the railing, nibbles a little on it. Then whatever is left, he tucks it under  the lip of one of the post finials of the railing. I think he thinks it's hidden. If we happen to be on the deck when he visits, he'll turn right around and dart off until the place is all his. Some days I go out, and there's a half eaten plum tucked under the finial's edge. Other days it's a mostly eaten apple. The other day he must've brought a fir cone up to his spot, as there was evidence of a fir cone feast right there.

Sunday after church the four of us gathered for our Sunday midday meal on the deck. We have a grouping of 4 chairs together that are in dappled sunlight in the middle of the day. I set the meal out on the kitchen counter, called for lunch/dinner, and we all helped ourselves buffet-style.

We don't ordinarily eat in a "help yourself" manner. I usually plate everyone's meals up for them. It's been my way of portioning out the food to ensure we eat all I made for that meal. So to have a buffet on Sundays is something new and different for us, which is a very good thing.

my plate
dappled sunlight even on the plate

Here's what I made for this week's Sunday midday meal:

Menu
Roasted Chicken and Gravy
Seasoned Rice (just rice cooked in homemade chicken stock, plus some chopped celery leaves and fresh herbs)

Cabbage Slaw (with garden red cabbage, garden celery, garden green onions)
Tomato Wedges

Spiced Apples
Steamed Carrots

One of my primary goals of Sunday cooking is less work on the actual day. I'm satisfied with having to put in some hours on Saturday to make this happen. Last week was particularly easy and relatively uninvolved. 

This week's meal was slightly more involved. I had a whole chicken I wanted to roast. And of course, I knew we'd all enjoy some of our regular side dishes that fill in around the edges of a chicken and gravy meal.

How I made this easier for my low-work Sunday cooking:

• Saturday afternoon work -- roasted the chicken, thin-sliced carrots, made a slaw, then refrigerated the chicken, the drippings, and the prepared vegetables overnight.
• thawed a quart of homemade chicken stock overnight Saturday.
• Sunday morning work -- I used the crockpot Sunday morning to reheat the chicken and cook the carrots with a little stock at the bottom.
• I chose easy sides for Sunday morning's work -- spiced apples (using frozen apple chunks, cinnamon, butter), plain fresh tomato wedges, seasoned rice, gravy.

Once back home, the rice and gravy were quick to reheat while I sliced some chicken.

The bonus to choosing to roast a whole chicken is the leftovers! 

Sunday's evening meal: 

I sliced chicken, homemade bread, pickles, and tomatoes, then washed lettuce leaves for a sandwich board. Add some fresh fruit, and that was it. Practically no dishes to wash after the sandwich meal -- just 4 plates and the tray for sandwich fixings.

What I'm discovering is that I prefer to do some of the cooking in advance, either the day before or in the morning. There are some household chores that need to be done during specific periods of the day. You kind of have to wait until after breakfast to wash the breakfast dishes. And it makes the most sense to make the bed in the morning instead of right before turning in. But prepping some of the work for the biggest meal of the day can be done almost any time of day.

Matching tasks to energy levels prevents burnout, saves time, and stops procrastination because you are working with biology and not against it. When our energy levels are high, we plow through chores. Alternatively, when we're in a low energy phase of the day, we find ourselves plagued by decision fatigue. In these moments, we're not enthusiastic about any of the chores still to be done.

For me, my lowest energy time of the day is late afternoon, while my highest energy period is late morning. It seems to work best for me to do the jobs that I could do in my sleep in the late afternoon, while dedicating my mornings to bigger priorities. 

The bonus to aligning your body's energy levels with specific tasks -- it's energizing. I'm productive. I'm effective. I am ready to tackle more. 

When we pay attention, we learn new things about how we work best throughout our lifetimes. Over the weekend I found myself wishing someone would have told me when I was younger how I could be so much more effective if I focused on some of my chores in the morning hours, leaving lighter tasks to my "tired" afternoons. But you know what I think? I needed to learn this lesson on my own, through my own failures and successes. Life can be like that sometimes.