Scattered Sundays and Meal Plan

I need a hat. I hate hats. They look super stupid on me, but from a sun safety standpoint, I really should be covering up. I feel like fedoras are overplayed at this point. I need something I can throw in a backpack or suitcase and it won’t get crushed.

Ugh, I’m going to end up with a Gilligan hat, aren’t I?

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your feedback and input last week! I tabulated them all and have made some decisions. I’m going to continue to publish my meal plan on Sundays and will include a shopping list. I never anticipated anyone would adopt my meal plan each week, but I am guessing some people use it to generate their own ideas. Since there doesn’t seem to be a perfect day to post it, I’ll just keep my schedule as is. Also, I’m going back to the old format for listing the meal plan in the post to make it easier to read for those on mobile. I will still include the printable menu link for anyone who wants it.

But listen here. If no one finds the grocery list useful, please let me know cause it took me a shitload of time to do. Maybe it was the initial set up of formatting and crap like that or having to think about what people may or may not have in their cupboards, but yowser. I’ll do it each and every week if it is helpful, but if we’re all feeling “meh” about it, tell me!

Also, to the person who has talked about the text color in two separate posts- please go back and read my response in the comments. I’ve responded twice, but maybe you’re not signed up to receive notification if I respond? The text of my blog did change about two weeks ago due to feedback from readers like you (and my dad), but you may need to clear your broswer cache before you can see the updates. I know I had to.

Jack’s last day of school was this week, and we have been living it up since then. Crazy exciting things like going to the park, the library, and even the post office. I mean, I should probably start doing Instagram Stories or Facebook Live just to keep you all updated on our insane life. 🙂

I shared this story on Facebook, but will repeat it for those who haven’t joined us over there yet. We had Jack’s award ceremony on Tuesday for getting (primary) student of the year for his school. The ceremony included all the schools in our district, excluding the high school, and took a really long time. Jack’s teacher got up and said some super sweet stuff about him, and I was so thankful he was in her class this year. After everything was over, Jack went up to her and said “thank you for nominating me. It was a great honor. I’m glad I could come tonight, even though I missed Jeopardy”. The kid has priorities, that’s for sure!

While we’re super proud of him for the award, it is sweeter knowing we got to this place even after our disastrous Kindergarten year. I feel like Jack is the poster child for an “It Gets Better” campaign for parents who are just trying to survive each day of a brutal start to school. I can tell you that for us, getting an amazing first-grade teacher changed our lives. And we were so incredibly blessed to continue that with a stellar second-grade teacher. Troy and I are both the kids of hard working and dedicated former elementary teachers, and we respect the hell out of those who make such a difference in the lives of children.

Father’s day gift, courtsey of my sis and I. 🙂

My mom’s oldest friend and the woman I am named after came to visit this week. She is such a joyful presence, and she and mom had a blast. She organized a little scavenger hunt for Jack and my nephew and also bought a bunch of cloth gifts bags. It was like my Etsy site had a pop-up trunk sale for a day. She had an exclusive “pre-sale” to my big holiday bag sale that I’ll be doing in July, so that was fun to see someone get excited about Christmas on the first day of summer.

We hit up an RV sale this week for the boys. The big boys – Troy and Jack. We go to the county fair every year, and there are always a few campers and trailers to look at. Jack and Troy go nuts for looking around in them, so a giant RV sale was like a free version of Disneyland. We were perfectly honest with the salesperson in that we had no plans to ever buy a trailer, and were just looking for fun. He left us alone, and we spent an hour poking around.We looked at motorhomes, little trailers, a Mercedes travel van that smelled like old people and was $144k (W.T.F.), but our favorite was this Rainier Ascent trailer (fifth wheel?). We actually went back and looked at it twice, because Jack thought the kid bedroom in the back was so cool.

Before I get to the meal plan, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you. I was reading an article this week about using Instagram for business, and it mentioned that you should be following some of the of people who follow you. I don’t have my own social media handles, just the blog’s, so I’m assuming this is a normal protocol that I have been totally ignorant of this whole time. So I requested to follow some readers, and have been having a blast looking at pictures of gardens (drool), kiddos, crazy yoga poses, and delicious food. I got a few comments and messages from people telling me they thought it was cool that I was following them because they had been blog readers for awhile. Talking with people in a different format other than blog comments or Facebook has been fun. A few readers mentioned something they had learned by reading my blog or became motivated to make food changes because of a recipe I posted. I need to make it perfectly clear that the pleasure and honor are all mine. What I get/take from this place is easily 20 times more than what I give. You all inspire, motivate, and keep me on task every single day. When I can’t sleep because I’m thinking and am excited about the blog, it has nothing to do with the potential to increase income. It is all about what I can do to share something that could help someone. Or maybe show that struggling family that healthy food can have a place in their budget. And even to maybe make someone smile or loosen them up with a

I need to make it perfectly clear that the pleasure and honor are all mine. What I get/take from this place is easily 20 times more than what I give. You all inspire, motivate, and keep me on task every single day. When I can’t sleep because I’m thinking and am excited about the blog, it has nothing to do with the potential to increase income. It is all about what I can do to share something that could help someone. Or maybe show that struggling family that healthy food can have a place in their budget. And even to maybe make someone smile or loosen them up with a fart or “that’s what she said” joke.

In other words, you people rock. So thank you.

Meal plan time! Click here for a printable copy of the meal plan, grocery list, pantry list, and prep notes.

Monday: Sesame chicken, rice, and spiralized peanut zucchini noodles. We have this spiralizer and it works great.

Tuesday: Chicken street tacos, black beans, and grilled zucchini (throw a bit of shredded mozzrella on there. Go nuts.).

Wednesday: Frittata, grilled asparagus, fruit.

Thursday: Burgers, grilled zucchini/sweet onions/zucchini, and pasta salad.

Friday: Popcorn and movie night!

Saturday: Leftovers, fridge clean out, quesadillas for the picky ones.

Sunday: Family dinner. My Dad decides on the main dish by Thursday, and we all make sides and dessert.

Smith Brother’s Farms – $19.95

Farmer’s Market – $17

Costco – $70.82. Those Aidell’s chicken burgers were a sample that I actually bought because it was so tasty. Ingredients are minimal and not sketchy. We didn’t need marinara, but a lot of their organic products were on rebate, so I stocked up. Same with the Clif Z Bars. I only buy them when they are on same. And the crackers!

Fred Meyer – $63.65. I know the photo is dark. Sorry. My kitchen sucks. Ocean Spray mocktails and the Pure Leaf tea were both Friday freebies. The Glutino pretzels were on final sale, and I bought them for my friend who is gluten-free and loves their pretzels.Which one of you recommended the Kettle Chips Pepperoncini flavor? I scoffed when I heard it, but they really are freaking delicious.

What are you having this week?