Meal plan for June 23rd – 29th

We be jammin!

Get your jam on.

Yesterday, I hosted “jam academy” in my kitchen for two friends.  Both had expressed desire to learn the sweet skills of making jam, and I figured strawberry season was the perfect time to do so.  My friend Anna and I went and picked all the strawberries on Friday, and then I spent a super exciting Friday night cleaning, topping, and slicing my haul in half.  I was up until midnight.  It was wild.  Anna was hard at work at her house slicing up her own strawberries on Friday night.   Seriously, it’s like a rave around here.

I had a great time teaching these two ladies to can, I think they even learned something, despite my non-specific teaching tactics (“ok, go ahead and put that thing in that thing and stir”).  I have a great future as a sex ed instructor in the 60’s.

Source

Sadly, I didn’t make nearly as much jam as our family consumes, so thankfully, I’m off on Tuesday and will be headed back to pick more strawberries.  Which I will then turn in to more jam.  Jam-stravaganza!

My posture in this one would make my grandma punch something.

And pretty soon, it will be time to make raspberry jam, which in this house, is only considered a “second class citizen”.  Strawberry jam is king of this castle.

Both Anna and Christine expressed interested in learning how to can tomatoes, and then in late summer/early fall, I’m going to school Christine, my friends Michelle and Susan on the art of fridge pickles.  Anna is anti-pickle.  Poor girl doesn’t know what she is missing.

This week has been absolutely gorgeous weather-wise, and my garden is really coming along. Sadly, after three years, the birds are finally realizing we have blueberries, and I find every almost ripe one beak-picked by the time it would be ripe enough for human consumption.  Due to the layout of the garden, bird netting won’t really work, so I’m going to have to figure something else out.  Either, let it go (let it go), or train a bird of prey to scare off other birds, without developing a taste for blueberries.  I think I would be a decent falconer.

A big shout out to my parent’s, as today is their FORTIETH wedding anniversary.  Holy crap on a cracker, that is a long time to be married.  Troy and I are blessed to both come from parental stock that has very long (and happy) marriages.  Now it’s not always butterflies and rainbows of course, but both set of our parents have shown us the work and commitment that goes into marriage.  Happy anniversary Mom and Dad!

Meal plan time!  Reminder, I only plan dinners.  My breakfast of choice is 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:: Playdate!  I’m off for much of this week, and Jack and I are meeting some friends at a park tomorrow for a picnic and “burn some energy” play date.  I’m thinking something simple like PB&J, fruit, etc.

Tuesday:: Troy’s amazing burgers and grilled veg.  These were on the menu last week, but we ended up ordering pizza to feed three hungry canners, two husbands, and two boys.  There was zero space in the kitchen for burgers to be made.  There was zero space in the kitchen for anyone of the male gender to so much as look into the kitchen.

Wednesday:: Jack requested candy.  We compromised with homemade pizza, and stir fry pea pods from the garden.

Thursday:: My in-laws are finally back from the ocean, and therefore, our Thursday dinners can recommence!  It’s a good thing I love these guys so much because their behavior of leaving and not feeding me is bordering on the edge of pure rudeness.  I mean, they watch my kid one day a week for free (most weeks), but then have the balls to sometimes leave to enjoy their retirement, without so much as making me dinner that I can pop in the freezer. 🙂

Friday:: Popcorn and a movie night.  Best night of the week if you ask me.  And Jack.  And Troy.  Troy will agree with you after he spends 10 minutes picking popcorn out of his teeth because the man cannot eat popcorn without half of it remaining in his grill.

Saturday:: Hopefully meeting up with some friends after a birthday party in Olympia!

Sunday:: We’re skipping family dinner (surprise Mom and Dad), because our neighbor is having his fourth birthday party, and being four is a big deal and is not to be missed!

This week I spent $50.50 on strawberries ($30 of which were for me.  Christine give me $20 for her share), $3.50 on a half-gallon of raw milk, $24 at the local produce stand for cherries, squash, and asparagus, $14 at the grocery store, and $15 at Trader Joes.  We do need to hit up Costco early this coming week to get more mozzarella for his royal highness’s’ pizza request, but other than that, we’re set for the next week.  And of course I’ll be getting more strawberries on Tuesday…I’m thinking another $50 worth if I have a hope and a prayer to keep these boys in jam, frozen strawberries (you cannot underestimate the cheerful power of fresh strawberry ice cream in February.  In Seattle.  When it gets dark at 4:30 pm during the winter).

What are you having this week?