Meal plan for February 9th – 15th
Three things people, three things.
1) This dish I made last week was amazing. It’s the perfect dish: fast, healthy, and everything fits in one bowl. I added dried parsley and smoked paprika to the flour before tossing the chicken, and it added a great flavor.
Troy went back for seconds (not unusual), but said “this needs to be made again. Soon”.
2) Last week I complained that we had an expensive week. Well, it was more than just the wood floors. Our furnace died on Thursday the 29th, and our house was about 57 degrees until Tuesday. Troy used to work HVAC, so he called his old partner and he came out and kicked me in the clam and head butted me gave us a quote for a new furnace. We got a ton of discounts, but man oh man it was not an expense I was anticipating happening.
And I didn’t say anything last week because we were trying to keep it from my parents before it was installed. Had they known, they would have wanted to pay for it (they’re our landlords). Troy spilled the beans on Monday anyway, so I guess the jig is up. Oh well, any time my Dad tries to talk about the funding, I say “la la la” and walk away. It’s easy to walk faster than a person with a fake leg.
3) Jack wrote a book at school. I’m choosing to focus on his creativity and his darn good spelling for a five year old. And not on the fact that he is potentially a serial killer.
There’s a plot, suspense, and a clean ending.
In good news, our freaking chickens are starting to lay again; praise God! We’re only getting one egg a day right now, but I’m just thrilled those lazy fluffy bitches are producing again. Chickens slow down or halt production once the natural light gets to less than about 10 hours per day. The winter light in the Pacific Northwest is like a quick fart in a wind tunnel from Halloween until about this time, and I was forced to buy eggs at our local farm.
Friday night, Jack and I babysat our friend’s little dude. They’re about ready to have another baby, so J bone and I thought they should have a final date night before the arrival. Jack worked really hard playing, wrestling, reading, and running around with his two year old buddy. We got home late, which means Jack went to bed late, and apparently all that exhausting baby sitting did him in because he SLEPT UNTIL 9 AM YESTERDAY. He never sleeps that late, and I had to check a few times to make sure he was still breathing.
I totally slept in too and camped out in my bed for hours.
Oh wait, no I didn’t. I actually woke up at 3 am and couldn’t go back to sleep. Balls.
Yesterday, my house was so clean that I felt like I should throw a party or something. Hyped up from my lack of sleep, and a quiet house (Jack and Troy went bowling), I baked six loaves of bread, cleaned out the chicken coop, defrosted the upstairs freezer (it has been pissing on the floor lately…because of what turned out to be a 1 inch ice blanket in the bottom. Whoops), cleaned all the bathrooms, did three loads of laundry, vacuumed, mopped, organized, and generally just kicked a lot of ass. When the boys are out of the house, I can get so much done.
Meal plan time! Just a reminder that I only plan our dinners for the week. For breakfast we tend to eat the same things (homemade Greek yogurt for me, a sandwich for Troy, and whatever Jack’s heart happens to desire that morning), and lunches for the grown ups are leftovers of what we had for dinner the night before.
Monday:: Frittata, knock off whole wheat Red Lobster biscuits, and fruit.
Tuesday:: Stir fry, rice, lumpia, and fruit.
Wednesday:: Troy’s burgers, roasted root veggies, and fruit.
Thursday:: Waffles from the freezer, eggs, and bacon (from the freezer).
Friday:: Troy and I are having a date night, and Jack is spending the night at my in-laws. We’re going out to dinner, and I assume Jack is eating whatever he wants.
Saturday:: Popcorn and movie night!
Sunday:: Family dinner at my parent’s.
This week I spent $3.50 at the farm for raw milk, $14.12 at the grocery store, $31.14 at the local butcher for meat (duh), and an unknown amount at Costco because we’re going later today.
What are you having this week?
The only meals I know for sure that I am preparing this week are BLT’s with 2X baked potatoes on Tues. and on Weds. Lasagna and salad and it is because I have been a total slacker this weekend (I’ve been crocheting like a fury trying to finish an afghan) and didn’t get any menus planned. We’ll be having burgers at the Dixie Pan* tomorrow b/c we are planning to visit my 82 year old uncle in his nursing home about an hour and a half from here.
I totally have loaf envy (that’s what she said) looking at the beautiful bread on your counter, not to mention the 6 (SIX) matching pans. My collection of loaf pans is quite a sorry lot. I have been wanting to acquire some new ones, but have been dithering over making the purchase.
*Dixie Pan is an old fashioned restaurant that serves classic blue plate special meals which are all extremely good, but their burgers are like a siren song, in a word, irresistible. The price for 3 burgers with matching orders of fries, and 3 beverages still runs less than 20 dollars including a properly generous tip.
Interesting bread pans. Any clue about more details and where you purchased them? I live in the sticks so I would have to order on-line.
They’re from Amazon. I had them on my wishlist for a few years, and got a few pans for my birthday, a few for Christmas over a few years. They’re pretty spendy when you need 6+, but I LOVE them and love what they do to the bread crust.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PZZ0SW?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B000PZZ0SW&linkCode=xm2&tag=thisb02-20
In all seriousness, Jack is such a good speller for 5 years old!!! How is the FOCUS chart going? Has his teacher kept up on the positive feedback?
FOCUS is going fine, but tattling tends to still be an issue from time to time. He’s rarely even getting on yellow any more, mainly green or purple (good and great). His teacher tends to only send us negative notes home, and I do wish she would share more good moments with us.
Yep he’s a boy!
I had the day to myself today with a long list of to dos and only got the clothes in the washer, dishwasher run, loaf of bread in the bread machine, and barely anything packed for our move. I took the opportunity to sit and read a book. My kitchen isn’t even cleaned!!! You are way an over achiever!!
PS. Love Jack’s book! Practice spelling is spelling any way you look at it even with zombies 🙂
Of course the Air Force saved the day! Smart kid of yours ;0)
I love the idea of buying a house the next base we are stationed at, but instances like broken furnaces are one of the reasons that I keep thinking that renting is a smarter choice.
I think we might have tacos, chicken soup, meals from the freezer and fish this week. I’m thinking of stopping by Sam’s Club today to see what their frozen veggie selection looks like. I’ve sucked lately at cook/eating fresh veggies, so I give up on them for now. I’d also heard rumor that our local Sam’s Club sells some decent coconut oil in large quantities, so I need to check into that.
I often wish that I found cleaning rewarding. I love a clean house, but I hate that a few hours of hard work only last for a few hours. I have been doing better with the dishes though, I’ll count that as a win.
Our Costco has coconut oil, so I hope Sams does too!
Once I get going on a task (any task), I can’t be stopped. So, even if I wanted to be done with cleaning, I just keep going until I collapse. It’s productive at least.
That’s a pretty good book – good spelling and good imagination, especially for his age! 🙂
We actually keep our thermostat at 55 cuz oil is so expensive, even though now lately the price is much better. Last year here in northern MN, we went months without getting above zero, so our oil bills were horrid. We spent $800 for two weeks’ worth of oil, and that’s with even keeping the thermostat at 55. It was awful. This year I discovered that if I put a flannel lined rain jacket over all my layers, it does a great job of keeping the body heat in.
I feel your pain. At our last place we were constantly freezing, and our bill was so expensive every month. Have you considered making some heating bags or getting a hot water bottle? That’s what I did at our last place. I’d basically just sit on a hot water bottle all the time.
I feel your pain regarding your furnace…ours died 3 years ago. We replaced it with one what is much more energy friendly, which does show on our monthly energy bill…but I still remember crying when I saw the final invoice!
Our gas bill was already soooooo low. The new furnace we got is top of the line efficient, but I can’t imagine the savings will be enough to “pay” for itself. Our most expensive month for gas is always December, and even then it’s only $90. In the summer when we’re only heating water, our gas bill is about $23.
That is a great story Jack wrote!
I will try the gnocchi recipe, but I will have to work around the veggies. I usually serve veggies of any sort on the side because my husband will grumble if they are incorporated in the main dish. My oldest and I like veggies and my youngest is still learning to like them.
I love when I can be productive like that, it doesn’t happen often though. It does really help when the boys are out doing something but my husband isn’t great about taking them out. It’s hard with a toddler. Hopefully it improves when the little guy grows out of being a pain in the ass in public. It’s his job as a two and a half year old.
I love the relationship between you and your parents. You like to take care of one another. I have been blessed with great parents an in laws who are very supportive. We move to Utah in three months. Husband will be getting out of the Navy and starting helicopter pilot school. My in laws have offered to help us financially for those two years of the flight program. I will *hopefully* be able to find a good job to help pay the bills while he’s doing his studies. I haven’t worked in almost four years and I’m really freaking nervous.
Always look forward to your posts!
We’re crazy lucky with my parents and my inlaws rock too. I always feel bad for my friends who have acrimonious relationships with their parentals. I’m glad you get to have that experience as well. 🙂
Love the book and you’re right, his spelling is pretty darn good for a kindergartner. My 13-year-old also drew pictures after pictures of battles and blood and mayhem when he was 5 and I’m happy to report that despite all that (and loving all kinds of violent videogames, ahem), he’s the sweetest, least violent person ever. He actually faints at the sight of real blood. So I’m thinking we’re good on the serial killer front.
Thanks for the gnocchi recipe, I’m going to put that on our menu for the next couple of weeks. I made my own gnocchi a couple of weeks ago (surprisingly easy to make) and the recipe produced too many so I froze a couple of bags. I also inventoried and scrapped the ice off my chest freezer this week (our own coating of ice had reached about 2 inches in some parts!) and I have tons of chicken that I need to cook. Therefore I was able to spend less than $50 in groceries (food only, I account for non-food items separately) this week instead of the $100 budgeted (we don’t do organic, though). That made me pretty happy.
We got Chinese take-out and called it our Valentine’s Day dinner last night. I made my husband come with me to pick it up and hold my hand from and to the car and carry the food so we could properly call this a “romantic” evening. Ha!
Lastly, either you’re Superwoman or your guys were gone bowling for hours because good grief, I can’t believe how much you accomplished while they were gone! Good for you. Now I’m craving homemade bread.