Meal plan for February 10-16th
It snowed last night!!!! I was out to dinner with a girlfriend, and driving home, I followed a car going 8 mph. Ah, Seattle area drivers in the snow. Good grief. I currently have a pan of hot milk for homemade yogurt cooling in the snow on the deck.
I’m looking for some input from smart people.
Psst, that would be you.
This spring, our remodel begins. With the addition to the basement, we’re getting an extra bedroom upstairs. All of the disgusting rental house carpet will be ripped up on both floors to accommodate the addition. Downstairs will be all wood floors, with a little carpet left in our portion of the basement. Upstairs will be wood floors, with carpet in the bedrooms (my concession to Troy because I HATE carpet).
We will have five people in the house, and god willing one day there will be a tiny sixth. There will be cars raced around on the wood floors, because let’s be honest, why have a smooth surface if you can’t ride on cars in the house? There will be a wheelchair, multiple sets of feet, and one person who always has to wear their shoes in the house, because shoes keep their fake leg attached! So, I’m anticipating a wee bit more of floor upkeep than we have now.
Our Costco rebate is coming this month, I’ve seen this vacuum there, and am thinking of buying it with the rebate. Does anyone have any experience with it? Can you recommend it? On one hand, I hate the idea of having something plugged in all the time, thereby drawing power from the grid, but on the other hand, I know my ass isn’t going to be able to keep up on all the floor work with just a broom. We already have a steam mop for weekly deep-cleans, but it’s the day to day dirt I want to keep at bay.
One of the benefits of purchasing it from Costco is their amazing return policy. If I’m not happy with it, or if something happens, I can always bring it back. Please ask my sister who is on her fourth Dyson from Costco…
So, what say you?
This week, we had frigid temps in the Puget Sound area. Don’t laugh Polar Vortex people, but we had temps down in to the teens, and the wind was pretty strong. Wednesday morning, I was driving to work and saw a woman wearing pajama pants and a sweatshirt. No coat, no hat, no gloves, and she was wearing a sign that said “hungry and cold, anything will help”. It was easily only l7 degrees out.
I have a personal policy to never give panhandlers money, so I rolled down my window and gave her my favorite pair of gloves. They’re so warm, and cozy, and I just love them. But I can go buy more gloves, and I’m sure if I dug hard enough at home, I can find another pair that is suitable for keeping my mitts toasty.
My policy to never give cash was affirmed when she yelled “bitch, I don’t need any gloves”.
Ahem.
Had I the time and some spare cardboard, I would have stood next to her with a sign that said “actually, by anything, she means money only please. Local checks accepted”.
Sunday, we had a Super Bowl party at my parent’s, and it was quite a treat to see the Seahawks completely demolish the Broncos. Jack, who has never shown any interest ever in football, was super in to it. Troy’s parents bought him a Seahawks shirt for “12th Man Day” at preschool, and he was beyond excited to get to wear it to church. He decided that wasn’t enough, and had Troy draw some lines on his face to look like a real football player.
Little did he know, the “manly” grease he wore on his face was my eyeliner.
And then he insisted we couldn’t take it off for 48 hours.
Yesterday, Jack and I ran errands so that Troy could get some studying done. At some point during the trip, Jack had decided that when we got home, I was going to make him a Wolverine costume with mask and hands with claws. I’m not sure when he got so confident in my sewing ability, but I knew it wasn’t happening. He did manage to tell EVERYONE in the stores what would be taking place when we got home.
When we did finally get home, I had about three hours of meal prep ahead of me. Jack and Troy went in to the garage for about an hour, and came back looking like this:
Troy’s super hero costume creation skills are incredible. I wish I had taken a close up photo of Jack’s Wolverine claws, because they are amazing. They are made from cardboard that fits in Jack’s hand and has little finer holders to allow him to move them around. They’re secured by velcro, that judging by the open doors and state of my sewing cabinet, likely came from my sewing stash. The actual claws are the masterpiece; lacqured chopsticks, lovingly covered in tinfoil. Truly amazing!
Update from last week: I still have ZERO desire for sugar. If you’re trying to break your sugar habit, go on a one week sugar fast, and then arrange to get the flu the day you start consuming sugar again. I tell you, it is the most effective diet out there! I’ve probably lost about three pounds, but that is a guess since we don’t own a scale. All my clothes are fitting better, and the sweet stuff tastes like crap to me.
Meal plan time! Reminder, I only plan dinners. My breakfast of choice has changed, and I’m now obsessed with homemade Greek yogurt with tons of cut up fresh fruit (or fruit I froze in the summer), and a homemade granola bar crumbled on top. It’s delicious and keeps me completely full and satisfied until lunch. Lunches are always leftovers. We rarely eat dessert during the week, and our dinner drink of choice is water kefir soda.
Monday:: We’re going over to our neighbor’s for dinner. She just started Weight Watchers, so I am bringing a sugar, dairy, and gluten-free chocolate banana freezer pie.
Tuesday:: Working late, and eating at work. Jack will eat at my aunt and uncle’s house.
Wednesday:: Married Single Mom’s dinner. I’m making my fav fish recipe (with frozen wild caught cod from Trader Joes instead of farmed tilapia), roasted brussels sprouts with sweet potatoes, and salad.
Thursday:: My in-laws are feeding us. I’m in charge of an appetizer. I’m making roasted garlic to be paired with cambezola (sp?) cheese, and some rosemary crackers from Costco. YUM!
Friday:: Popcorn dinner. Yes, seriously we eat popcorn for dinner. It’s popcorn, leftovers, cheese slices, fruit, and cut up veggies. Everyone gets as much as they want, and no one leaves hungry. I adore Fridays because it is the easiest night of the week for making everyone happy!
Saturday:: Troy’s grandma’s 90th birthday is at 2 pm that day, so I’m not sure if we’ll even be hungry. If we are, either winging it, or if I am being completely honest, I’ll probably make the boys take me out to dinner.
Sunday:: Family dinner at my parent’s.
This week I spent a whopping $110 at three grocery stores, $3.50 at the farm for raw milk, $16 at our local butcher, and $22 at Costco. Sheesh!
Ok the vacuum thing is one I have struggled with for YEARS.
I too HATE CARPET! We have no carpets in our house except for a few area rugs that can be put in the washing machine.
But we also have 4 dogs, 3 cats and two kids. Not to mention the numerous visitors in my house that come and go all the time. (I am the “mom” of my friend group so most people are here eating and such…)
I have, for a long time, looked for a vacuum that did hard floors first, and could be used on a carpet too. Most vacuums are designed for carpet first, with the occasional hard floor. Most hard floor vacuums are wimpy to say the least. I need some power dammit, as there is gobs of hair, dog food, cat food, human food, dirt and mud, sawdust from my husband, and all sorts of unsavory things on my floors. A swiffer vac ain’t gonna cut it. Seriously. Although they had the right idea with the vac plus dust mop thingy….just not enough power.
I have tried that electrolux stick and it is better than some, but still isn’t what one needs when one has a house full of hard floors and a lot of living creatures. The Dyson stick vac is cool, but the canister is too small, and it too lacks power after a minute or two. No loss of suction my butt.
I found that a Kenmore canister vac with the hard floor attachment has the power, but it uses bags, and that can get expensive. Not to mention the vacuum itself is $150.00. And the new ones were redesigned so the hard floor attachment is a PITA.
Believe it or not, I still have not solved this problem. I did find that the Kenmore bagless canister vacuum was the best for suction, decent canister size, and the head on the vacuum has this thing where you push it up against a wall and the front pulls up to clean under the baseboards and furniture. Totes cool. And it is 99.00.
http://www.sears.com/kenmore-canister-vacuum/p-02024194000P?prdNo=11&blockNo=11&blockType=G11
Even that isn’t perfect. Anyone else think we should band together, kidnap the dyson guy and hold his hostage until he creates the perfect vacuum?
My mom cleaned medical offices at night and Dr.’s homes 4 days a week. She swears by a large dust mop for floors with a hard surface. They clean a larger area than a broom and raise a lot less dust. Just a thought if you want to go off the grid.
Oh no she din’t! I think I would have slapped her with the gloves and told her to stick her Sharpie pen (ever notice that if you are down on your luck, you can still make a sign with a Sharpie??) where the sun doesn’t shine. Okay, only in my dreams. But still. SMH.
Brenda,
My mom cleaned our hardwood floors with a dust mop also. Except (I think just to be mean, or give herself some entertainment, whichever) she used to spray the dust mop with Pledge to keep the floors dust free and shiny. Coincidentally, her children also fell and busted their asses on those hardwood floors about 3 times a week. But it’s great for sock skating as long as you’re EXPECTING to slide…
Angie
LOL Thanks for the genuine laugh! I think mom lightly spritzed the mop with a water bottle…she isn’t big on using chemicals if she doesn’t have to.
LOL Thanks for the genuine laugh! I think mom lightly spritzed the mop with a water bottle…she isn’t big on using chemicals if she doesn’t have to.
LOL I love the super hero costumes! 🙂
After having gone through several vacuums over the years including a Dyson, about 4 years ago I went to a vacuum cleaner store and told them that I wanted something like my old Hoover that spit out pennies and fisher price little people without a hiccup and kept on working. I ended up purchasing a SEBO after the demo showing it sucking up dry rice. These are expensive. At the time I paid almost 500.00 for it however if you have to buy a new cheap vac every year ( as I did, basically ) it made sense. Never regretted it. The thing is awesome. So that’s all that I know about vacs 🙂
I hope she didn’t accept your gloves and you still have them! I don’t give anything to panhandlers either. Like Melynda said, they are often wearing nice shoes and clean pants but trying to look “grubby”.
I love that your husband made the costume! I love even more that he costumed himself up! That is fantastic. Or should I say MARVELous? (haha! See what I did there? I crack myself up) My fifteen year old has great faith in my costume making abilities and wanted a Rapunzel costume last Halloween (yes, she still trick-or-treats and intends to continue for as long as she can get away with it. I say good for her, as long as she is putting effort into dressing up and is polite, I am fine with it) Anyway, I decided to give it a go. No pattern and no dress-making experience. And it turned out really well! I impressed myself! Don’t underestimate yourself either.
That toy car looks like so much fun! I wish I had some sort of experience with the vacuumy thing you are asking about. Sorry. I have never even seen one of those before. I do love Costco though. They are the first place I check when I want something. Because of their return policy. I returned a two year old kettle once and they praised ME for keeping the receipt! I was just thrilled that I had a working kettle.
I’m going to have to check conversion charts to see how cold you are (I’m celcius). In Toronto, we are finally starting to warm up a little, it is -9C here today and I am VERY tired of snow. I hate being cold. Even the little five year old girls I babysit want the snow to go away. Who ever heard of a child NOT wanting snow?????
Must say I love love love your own cardboard sign idea. When my husband and I drive by the panhandlers I cannot help but notice the ones with a salon cut (men and women) or a nail job………and I thought about not even mentioning the starbucks or cigarettes, but could not help myself.
Great job on those costumes! That hubby has some mad skills :0)
When I lived in AZ, there was this couple with a dog that was always at the same intersection looking for food or money. I have the same philosophy that I never give out money. I would regularly give them dog treats and whatever other food I had in the car (granola bars, etc.). They were always very appreciative, thankfully. I think the reason I was happy to dole out so much to them was because they took really good care of their dog. If it was blazing how out, they would have some sort of shade erected for the dog and a bowl of water out for him while they stood in the 110 degree sun. If you love your dog that much, you can’t really be all bad right?
I have been doing a craptastic job with cooking. At some point our dirty dishes went on an orgy and multiplied exponentially in one night. I hate doing dishes and I seem to have gone on an unofficial strike. It’s hard to cook when all the dishes are dirty, so I seem to be on a bit of a strike in that area also. I am happy to report that the hubby has started to do some of the dishes and he is mastering the art of making eggs.
We went a little crazy buying ski gear this last week, so the plan is to eat out of the freezer as much as possible till payday on the 15th. I have frozen zucchini, summer squash and tomatoes plus a few fresh veggies. I might see if I can make a pasta sauce and serve it over baked potatoes or spaghetti squash. And chili. I might have the ingredients for chili, which is also yummy over potatoes or spaghetti squash.