Scattered Sundays
If you read Confessions this week, you will have seen my riff on the Berenstain Bears and how Troy hates them. I honestly don’t mind them because I feel like whenever my kids are being aholes, I can find a book about it.
“How would Mama Bear handle it?” is what I ask myself on the daily.
But, there are some things about these books that I just can’t reconcile.
- They have electricity in the treehouse, can do slideshows at Dr. Grizzly’s office, and have scanners at the grocery store. But every freaking time they go into the attic or cellar they carry one of those old-timey candle lantern things.
- They replace the word “human” or “person” with “bear”, but then apply it in the oddest ways. Imagine if we did that in our actual world. “Hi, we’re the Cook family and we live in Human Country. Our kids go to People School, where Jack won the school spelling bee and is going to People City for the all-human bee. His human grans and human gramps are so excited to come see him perform”.
I mean…I should probably get a hobby? Perhaps blueberry picking.
Yo, everyone.
This 10by10 thing is so fun. That’s right, I said it. I’m enjoying teaching my kid to cook and I’m barely bothered by the mess.
That last part is a lie.
Jack has really taken to this challenge of learning to cook 10 things by the time he is (done being) 10. He has hit it pretty hard this week when time has allowed.
After his first big night of cooking dinner and dessert, he gave me a big hug and said “thanks for letting me cook mom”. And then when he asked Bennett how he liked his dinner, I think he was a bit crestfallen when Bennett said “eh”.
Bonus massive calf sighting in the background. You’re welcome!
He made pasta one night with salad. And everyone on Instagram wanted to know about that cast iron dish I was using. I freaking love it and use it for so many things. You can find it here on Amazon.
Another night he made chicken taquitos (pressure cooker chicken that he had to shred) and then rice in the Instant Pot.
It was so funny to watch him cook with Bennett coming in and bothering him. He had to learn multi-tasking skills while dealing with a child constantly asking him questions.
Troy was gone Friday through Sunday evening. Vacation bible school for Jack and preschool camp for Bennett, plus my in-law’s taking the boys for a few hours on Saturday so I could work were my saving grace(s). All the together time is just not my jam. Hats off to anyone who homeschools.
People don’t believe me when I tell them how steep the hills are in my neighborhood.
I found a really cool product this week at the grocery store. It’s called Active Wash and it’s from a PNW brand called defunkify. I mean, is that not the best company name ever?
Our HE top loader washer is great but there is constantly a weird funky smell in our towels. Clothes are fine but towels are my nemesis.
I will strip them every few months using the method of hot wash with 1 cup of vinegar, then hot wash with 1 cup of baking soda, and then a hot wash with detergent. But I find it doesn’t last very long and it takes all day and makes me stabby!
This stuff worked really well and I like that it is a local company and made in the US. If you don’t have a Fred Meyer locally, you can get it on Amazon.
Parents: leave your kids alone more. They’ll end up doing stuff like this. I almost peed when I walked down the hallway and saw this.
My friend Cassie started a podcast, and I was got to be a guest this week. I can’t wait to share the episode when it comes out!
Each episode is a 15-20 minute focused cooking tip for home cooks. Her first episode comes out tomorrow, so subscribe now to get all the awesome updates.
And I’m being interviewed on a different podcast geared to food bloggers later this month. I’m excited! Nerd stuff is my favorite.
What I’m Listening To This Week
Crimetown season two is in my earbuds this week! I really liked season one which took place in Providence, Rhode Island, and this season is all about the pure bonkerness of Detroit.
Oh, and this has nothing to do with podcasts, but Troy and I started a new series recently called, The Boys. It’s on Amazon Prime and it is um, wow.
If John Wick and X-Men, and some weird-ass movie that I can’t think of (Peaky Blinders maybe?) got together into one show it would be The Boys. It’s super odd and incredibly graphic so you’ve been warned.
Reader Spotlight of the Week
Emily left a five-star review on this Gluten-Free Chocolate Mug Cake:
Yum! It boggles my mind that you can have something cake like without any kind of flour like substance. I tried this out for breakfast this morning with a bit of cherry preserves. So delicious! Thanks for sharing!
On Sustainable Cooks This Week
Confessions – everyone’s favorite post of the month!
Canning Whole Tomatoes {How to Can Tomatoes} – A step-by-step tutorial on Canning Whole Tomatoes. This easy to follow process is perfect for beginners and covers preserving tomatoes in both water bath and pressure canning methods. One of the easiest canning tomatoes recipes, you’ll love having jars of whole peeled tomatoes to use all year long.
Lemon Bliss Balls – Incredibly addicting, these Vegan Lemon Bliss Balls are a healthy and poppable snack. Made with all wholesome ingredients, you’ll love that these energy bites are kid-friendly, vegan, paleo, gluten, and dairy-free.
The Five Most Popular Posts This Week
Yes, yes, my Mojito Mocktail is still #1 and the Trader Joe’s Whole30 Shopping List is still #2, and the rest of the posts are shouting “it’s summer, let’s eat”!
- Canning Peaches {How to Can Peaches} {Pin this recipe}
- Air Fryer Zucchini Chips {Pin this recipe}
- Homemade Peach Ice Cream {Pin this recipe}
- Refrigerator Dilly Beans {Pin this recipe}
- Dill Pickle Relish {Pin this recipe}
Meal Plan
If you’re looking for some help with meal planning, we highly recommend Momables. Momables emails you a weekly meal plan, shopping list and prep list for $10 a month. It rules.
It’s going to be stupid hot this week, so we’re using the BBQ a lot. And whining.
Monday:: Breakfast for dinner. Jack’s making whole wheat pancakes, we have bacon that I already baked, and he’ll also work on making a batch of Make-Ahead Scrambled Eggs.
Tuesday:: Grilled steak (from Butcher Box) over salad, corn (with an ill-advisable amount of butter) from the farmer’s market, and garlic bread on the side.
Wednesday:: Grilled chicken from Butcher Box and veggies. I’m going to have Troy grill more chicken than necessary so I can turn it into Chicken Salad With Greek Yogurt and Dill. Cook once, eat twice is my motto and the major foundation of my easy healthy meal prep.
Thursday:: ^chicken salad in avocado for us, but I’ll put it on crackers or bread for the boys. We’ll either do salad or leftover grilled veggies on the side.
Friday:: TBD. My sister is having this two-day BBQ and camping thing at her house. We’re camping in her yard and hoping her dogs don’t pee on our tent.
Saturday:: BBQ camping night continues!
Sunday:: Costco pizza. #yep
What are you having this week?
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OMG defunkify!!! This looks amazing – what a great find! If only it wasn’t an extra $20USD to ship to Canada!!!!
$20? Yeesh!!!
I seriously wish my Mum made me do a 10 by 10. It was more of a “oh crap we better teach her something now she’s 18 & moving out soon” haha.
And I SO loved having you on the podcast! My favourite guest by far xx
I’m sure you say that to all your guests. 🙂
We’re two episodes into The Boys, I liked the first one, I thought the second one was a bit meh and they need to turn the lighting up (my constant complaint for all Amazon shows). I’m keeping it as my Sunday breakfast show so I’ll watch episode 3 next week.
The lighting thing on all movies bothers Troy so much. Especially during fight scenes.
Have you watched the episode with the dolphin yet? Oh boy.
I am so excited about your podcast recommendation. I have binged Crime Junkies to the point where I had to ask myself if this is healthy behavior however that didn’t stop me from listening to almost all of them. I NEEDED a new fix. To put it in perspective I walked 7 miles RT to renew my library card just to have some podcast me time. I think I offended my husband when I told him I was going to walk alone…. not sorry
J’s strong; he can take it.
Solo podcast time + exercise is the best thing ever!!!