Scattered Sundays and Meal Plan
Long-time readers may remember a really old post I wrote called Confessions of an Unfun Parent. I’m not the fun or the favorite parent, it’s true. I know it and can accept it. I’m the strict parent who makes sure that there is healthy food and clean underwear in the house.
I’m the parent that Jack has often called “a buzzkill”.
I try to do things from time to time that takes me out of my comfort zone, that lets the boys see a different side of me. Which is how this happened on Thursday night:
I had been making four batches of Overnight Cinnamon Rolls for some staff members at Jack’s school as a holiday thank you. Jack likes to help (I’m meticulous about making sure his hands are clean when touching food. See above comment about being a buzzkill) with cinnamon rolls and Bennett decided he needed to seagull supervise (fly in and shit all over everything).
I’m not exactly sure how it got started but pretty soon there was a flour fight happening. The boys were laughing, joking, and having a great time! I even posted it to my Instagram stories.
But I need you to know, and by “you” I mean my fellow unfun parents, that I didn’t enjoy it. Of course, I’m glad the boys had fun and all, but being super messy and then knowing I have to clean it up is just not my thing. But, I did it, and I did it for them.
I hope it made a memory for them. Because it sure made a mess for me!
I think I may be a better grandma than a mom.
Speaking of making memories, I’m headed out on the road this week and I can’t wait! It’s so funny how the internet can bring people together in this big giant world. How you can deeply connect with people you’ve never even met in person.
Katie from Hey Nutrition Lady and I got connected this spring on a blogging Facebook group. We’ve since teamed up and formed an accountability partnership to keep the other on track with blogging goals and tasks.
But beyond that, a friendship based on (inappropriate) humor, sarcasm, and mothering two boys has formed. My friend Kristina read Katie’s blog and thought it was actually me posing as a vegetarian under a different name.
Katie lives in Sweden for work but is Canadian by birth and will be home for a short visit over the holidays. And I’m driving up (alone!!!) to go stay with her family for the night. We’re calling it “Blog Camp” and I have been promised poutine. <—- don’t make it dirty.
If one of us really ends up to have been catfishing the other, things could get interesting.
Hey, I have a challenge for you! And myself too; I never suggest these things and then peace out. You ready? Take less than 5 minutes each day for the next week and go out of your way to compliment a stranger.
Taking a minute to go above and beyond to say “thank you” or “you’re doing a great job” costs us nothing but can mean so much.
All my introverted readers are desperately closing their browsers right now. Hold the phone, I see you there. Easily 75% of my friends are introverts so I have some suggestions that won’t make you want to punch me.
If you had great service somewhere (grocery store, coffee shop, restaurant, etc.,) you can send a quick email to the company, take the survey that was on your receipt, leave a slightly bigger than normal tip and so on and so on.
Last week I had amazing customer service from my car insurance hotline so I just asked them to transfer me to the supervisor and I left a voicemail saying how much I appreciated the employee’s help. It can be that easy!
Being an extrovert, I find true joy in stopping a stranger to tell them I love their haircut, their shirt is adorable, or their kids are really well-behaved. Selfishly, it turns around my day when you know you’ve made someone smile.
So, you in? Let’s do this!
Jack had a project and a book report this week. His book was about shark attacks.
Troy and I were finally able to have a date night this week. It did not turn out as planned, but it was still nice to have a kidless night.
It started off with us going to a movie. And then promptly leaving like 4 minutes in. Nothing really looked good to us so we decided on Once Upon a Deadpool thinking we had enjoyed the first two so much.
Well, apparently neither of us paid much attention to what it really was, because it was just the PG-13 version of Deadpool 2. Which we saw on our last date night. Doh!
We quickly got our money back and did what any couple without kids would do. You know, go to dinner at 4:30!
Someone at Bennett’s preschool owns a local restaurant and had given all the parents a $15 gift certificate, so our dinner was heavily discounted.
After that, we hit up the store for a Red Box and two pints of Ben and Jerry’s. I had a coupon for ice cream and a $5 off total purchase coupon so it worked out to $3.48 for a movie and dessert.
No, YOU calm down you party animals!
Comment/Review of the Week
This week’s five-star review comes from KLG who was reviewing Healthy Sausage and Roasted Vegetables. Here’s what she had to say:
This is so good! I was looking for an easy weeknight dinner and this is it. Threw in the random vegetables rolling around the crisper and some chicken sausage and voila! Dinner was served. Great and easy recipe!
On Sustainable Cooks This Week
Best Ever Trader Joe’s Whole30 Shopping List – The most comprehensive Trader Joe’s Whole30 Shopping List ever! A printable Whole30 shopping list and Whole30 recipes to help you rock Week 1 and the rest of your round.
{Pin this}
Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes – Whip up a batch of delicious Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes for an easy and healthy breakfast. Gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, and freezer-friendly, these pancakes are so tasty!
{Pin this}
Meatless Gluten-Free Lasagna – Whip up the world’s fastest Gluten Free Lasagna and have it on the table in under 25 minutes! This meatless lasagna will become your new go-to weeknight dinner.
{Pin this}
The Five Most Popular Posts This Week
- The Ultimate Instant Pot Beef Stew {Pin it}
- Instant Pot Sous Vide Egg Bites {Pin it}
- Best Stocking Stuffers {Pin it}
- Aunt Barbara’s Old Fashioned Fudge {Pin it}
- Homemade Marshmallows {Pin it}
Hop in the DeLorean
Last year the top post from this week was: How to Make Chapstick {Natural Lip Balm} {Pin}
Meal Plan
Looking for a meal plan that pulls all the recipes and lists together for you? I’m now teaming up with Once a Month Meals post to help my readers accomplish more batch and freezer cooking. Make 30 meals for the freezer in 1 day!
They offer meal plans for traditional, vegan/vegetarian, AIP, paleo, Whole30, vegan, gluten-free and so on and so on. If you have a way of eating, they have recipes for you! You can check out their awesome program on their site. Or, get a gift card for someone in your life who may need a hand with their meal prep game.
Monday:: Christmas Eve at my in-law’s
Tuesday:: Christmas dinner
Wednesday:: Chef salads. Nice and easy and healthy after mutliple days of excess.
Thursday:: I’m leaving a frozen pizza for boys. And salad. We’ll see what gets eaten…
Friday:: Popcorn, leftovers, and movie night
Saturday:: TBD
Sunday:: Family dinner
What We Bought This Week
Smith Brother’s Farms: $17.47
Costco: $77.36. The ham was for a Christmas meal drive through Jack’s school. It’s a good ham and we’re happy a family will be enjoying it this week.
This post contains affiliate links and we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase. This allows me to continue to provide free content, and I only share products that I use and love myself.
I actually discovered your blog from Katie’s, so it’s kinda cool to me that you two are meeting. Have fun!
How cool is that? Such a small world!
welcome to Canada 🙂 And good luck with that poutine thing, I hear there are like 100 different kinds these days … you know Greek, Italian, Mexican….
Love that seagull thing too …. fly in and crap all over everything.
Ohhhh I didn’t realize there were so many types!!
I head up tomorrow and am very excited.
“ to seagull supervise (fly in and shit all over everything).”-I am so using this quote at work. The best ever!!????.
I feel like I picked that up from Troy years ago, but the origin of it is unknown. We do use it a lot though!
I made your gluten-free lasagne this week and we were surprised by how delicious it was. We rarely have lasagne unless it’s with zucchini instead of noodles due to my hubby’s celiac issues so this recipe will definitely be a keeper for us. Thanks and keep ‘em coming!
I’m so glad you both enjoyed it Wendi! I do love the ideas of zucchini noodles during the summer garden glut.
I am a super introvert but I have found it’s my favorite thing in the world to give compliments. A big way I do this is emailing my students’ parents. I’m a public school speech therapist and see about 70 kids through the week so it’s very easy to send a couple of emails a week about a great thing someone’s kid did or said! I know these are especially appreciated by parents who tend to hear more negative than positive about their kids.
My dad was an extrovert who talked to everyone everywhere. He always made conversation with service workers and sometimes just people in line. And almost always people seemed to appreciate it. So since he passed away I have made a conscious effort to do the same. I’m sure I’m 100x more awkward about it, but I’m always glad I tried!
I am going away for THREE days by myself next week to visit my sister and nieces. I have never been away from my kids for more than one night but my husband has all kinds of fun plans for them and I know they’ll be just fine without me!
What a wonderful way for you to give back to both the kids and the families. You’re right in that those parents don’t always hear positive things about their kiddos.
Three days sounds glorious and super well-deserved! Enjoy every second of it.
I think you’re doing a great job! Funny, I’ve heard you on two different podcasts lately. I hear you almost gave up blogging. I’m so glad you didn’t!
Yep, I was totally on the brink of throwing in the towel! I’m glad I stuck with it too, and thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Just cooked 2 pounds of bacon for our usual holiday breakfast dinner coming up. I used your recipe for oven baked bacon. It was easy, no splatter, and all pieces were uniformly cooked. There were no big globs of white fat that don’t cook because the curly bacon can’t touch the fry pan. Clean up was easy. I’m converted!!!
Thanks Sarah!
MIL
You are awesome. I love all the special things you do for those around you. Thank you for always making me smile…seagull supervise :]
I’m really liking the weekly challenges, I’m going to try and put them into practice and encourage my kids to do the same.
That date night sounds lovely and even sexier knowing you used coupons, haha!
Merry Christmas Sarah, Troy, Jack & Bennett.
Good luck with all the complimenting and getting the kiddos on board! Merry (belated) Christmas!