Surviving Busy Season: Bring Your Own Dinner

Good morning friends!

Today I wanted to kick off a series of posts that I’ve been kicking around in my head for a while now.  I could say they were even the reason I wanted to start a blog!  But first some background:  I am an auditor.  I work in Big 4 accounting, which gets a little intense.  As an auditor, we move from client to client scrutinizing their annual reporting and accounting practices to ensure that the company is not misleading their investors (or any stakeholders for that matter!)  Although companies are allowed to choose the date they use as their fiscal year-end, most companies end up choosing a December 31 year-end.  This means that although annual reports are only required to be issued once a year, most companies are issuing them at the same time every year.   This is what we refer to as busy season – when our firm decrees mandatory 55+ hour work weeks (including saturdays!  ugh!) because we need to attend to as many clients as we can fit into our schedules.

Busy season tends to get the best of a lot of people.  Many of my managers tell stories of how they used to be 20 pounds lighter, happier, and have a more organized life.  I am determined not to get to that point.  Although we are eating all of our meals at work, there is no reason that these meals need to be cheesy pizza or greasy chinese food. 

So far we are 3 full days into busy season, and I have a feeling it’s going to be a tough one.  But having survived two busy seasons already (intern and staff I year), I knew what to expect.  I could already feel that bloated feeling I had after too many slices of pizza.  And that sense of dread, knowing that my day wasn’t over at 830pm – that I still had to get a workout over with.  This year is going to be different.

My first tip for a healthier busy season is to bring your own dinner (BYOD!)  On Sunday before the madness started, I made soup.  An easy one – but it was something I knew would taste good and still be good for me too.  The recipe is below – I hope you enjoy it.  It is easy to transport, and is certainly more appetizing and healthier than the general tso’s chicken my co-worker got last night! 

Black Bean Soup

-modified from this recipe at Real Simple

Ingredients

• 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles 
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 2 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups chicken broth
• greek yogurt (1 dollop per serving)
• shredded cheddar cheese (a few pinches per serving)

Directions

1. Dice the onion into bite size pieces
2. Heat the can of Rotel (including all the juices!) and the raw onion in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans and broth, then heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes. 
3. Cool slightly, then use immersion blender to slightly puree the soup.  Be sure to leave some beans in tact! If you are serving immediately, be sure to heat the soup to your desired temperature.  If you are bringing some to work – be sure to let it cool completely before you store it in the fridge! 
4. Serve with sour cream, and a little bit of cheese. 

Serves 4 for an appetizer, or 2 for a complete dinner.

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