Scattered Sundays
This week marks the first of two of the busiest weeks of the entire summer for yours truly. Between work and a giant soccer event that I am helping to plan, my plate was very full.
On Sunday night, Troy said “I’ll handle everything with the boys on Monday and Tuesday so you can just focus on work”. Such a luxury. But in the movie business, that is called foreshadowing…
A mere five hours later, he was up and feeling like crap. The second he said “I have this intense headache”, I banished him to the inlaw suite in the basement. My dad hasn’t been here for a few weeks, so it was empty and isolated.
And naturally, because that is the way things always go, he took a rona test at 7 am and it was aggressively positive. The timing could not have been worse, but that’s life, right?
If you remember, this is almost 12 months to the day when he got it last year. Thankfully, this time he isn’t nearly as sick. It’s come down to just feeling like a bad cold.
On Tuesday, I worked, kept everyone entertained and fed, and then went off to a 90-minute parent info night for one of Jack’s classes that he starts in the fall.
It was 92˚F, muggy, and had been a super busy day. All I was looking forward to was collapsing on the couch with some Oreos and a little Hulu once the kids were in bed. I got home, only to see those buttfaces had eaten all the Oreos for their dessert.
I mean, there wasn’t a ton left to begin with, but they cleaned everything out. I told them that when I died, I was coming back to haunt them because of this. Then I placed an Instacart order for some groceries, including Oreos, for 7 am delivery the next day.
It was so dang hot and humid in Seattle this week. I truly do not understand people who choose to live in humid places. I cannot handle it and my body revolts. And people constantly LIVE LIKE THIS.
We often get a few weeks of extreme heat over the summer (but never had that growing up…), but it’s not usually humid. The combo was so unnecessary and rude. Unsubscribe. 0 stars!
Last week I mentioned some items that saved my butt during our soccer tournaments, but I forgot the mention the most important one. And it’s completely free!
We have an older half-gallon juice bottle that travels back and forth with us to all events. I fill it 75% full of water and freeze it. It is THE BEST ice pack in our cooler, and as it slowly melts we can use it to refill water bottles and we top off the bag of ice water where we keep cooling towels for the team.
Even when we’re feeling lazy and don’t unpack the car at night, the juice jug is still 50% frozen the next day. I’m telling you, everyone needs an old juice jug of ice!
In the Garden This Week
I quickly pulled most of the green beans this week because the heat zapped them. And I was too busy to care for or mourn them. Maybe someday I’ll be bummed. Right now, I’m just relieved.
We picked some tomatoes and cucumbers as needed, and I ate blueberries straight from the bushes as I was out watering. Other than that, almost all my garden stuff this week involved watering and trying to keep things alive in the heat and humidity.
READER SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK
Long-time reader, Sandy, left this five-star review on our brand-spanking new Creamy Chicken Pasta {pin this recipe}:
I could tell when I read the ingredients, my family would love this! It was a great weeknight meal (first day of school) that I stretched with more chicken and pasta to provide plenty of leftovers for school heat-up lunches! My mistake was not adding more tomatoes and spinach. We won’t talk about the amount of cheese I added. So delish! Thank you for another tasty, simple winner!
ON SUSTAINABLE COOKS THIS WEEK
I guess this week the theme was “colorless foods”. We had a new quinoa recipe and some pickled ghost broccoli.
Instant Pot Quinoa – Make perfect Instant Pot Quinoa for a fast side dish that the whole family will love! Made in a flash in a pressure cooker, this delicious quinoa recipe pairs well with so many dishes. {Pin this recipe}
Pickled Cauliflower – This quick Pickled Cauliflower is a fast and easy way to preserve this tasty and healthy vegetable! Enjoy these delicious and fast spicy cauliflower pickles without the hassle of canning. {Pin this recipe}
THE FIVE MOST POPULAR POSTS THIS WEEK
This seems early, but for the first time in all of 2023, the top five posts are all about canning or preserving. The pears surprised me because typically that is canning that happens later in the fall.
Also, it seems clear that I really enjoy taking photos of food in jars. That spaghetti sauce needs to get with the program and bottle itself.
Humidity is a way of life here in New Orleans. Our kids went back to school two weeks ago and neither have had a full week yet. I had Covid (for the “first” time) the week before they went back so my husband caught it of course (his “fourth”). Then our daughter swallowed a button battery the night of the first day of school. She’s fine but stayed home that first week while waiting for it to pass and caught Covid again for the second time in less than a month. My son also had a doctor’s appointment that I had to check him out early for because we had to move it because I had Covid. He has now been diagnosed with hypertension so we’re investigation why that is. Then, the next week, my son’s face started to swell due to an abscess, so I kept him home while doing emergency dentist visits. My daughter thought staying home sounded nice so the next day she wasn’t feeling well. Working on her summer reading assignments had her making a miraculous recovery. I’m ready for just a full week at school for everyone.
I hate when sickness picks the absolute WORST time to rear its ugly head! Â Covid STINKS!! Â Hope Troy is much better soon.
1. Humidity is stupid. I’m tired of the swamp ass.
2. Rona sucks. Why don’t we have a better vaccination for it at this point?Â
3. School is almost in session!Â