Scattered Sundays and Meal Plan

That giant happy sigh you heard earlier this week? That was me dropping Jack and my nephew off at school. Thank goodness there is some space between us from 9-3:40.

Oh, wait.

I mean, I love my kid so much and hate the school year because it prevents us from spinning wool together and weaving our own clothes. That we then wear while we attend the annual Motherboy dinner and dance benefit.

No seriously, the first day back to school was awesome. I took Bennett out for a long walk when we got back from school. I hit 21k steps that day, and it felt amazing to not deal with so much dang whining. Picking them up was fun, and it was nice to see Jack after a bit of distance. Bennett was waiting near the outside of his classroom, and when Jack emerged, he took off running as fast as his stubby little legs could take him. Jack also ran to him, and they tackled each other on the concrete. It was adorable.

And then we went out for fro yo. And I ate a Muddy Buddy head first, and all was right in the world.

We’re going to use Jack’s college fund for shoes. He grew out of a pair in six weeks.

Jack’s teacher seems perfectly lovely so far. Jack likes her a lot, and all of my interactions with her have been positive. She seems upbeat and to truly love being a teacher. She also gives a week’s worth of homework on Friday, and it is due the following Thursday. I love the idea of this and am excited to see how it works for us throughout the year. Jack is able to breeze through homework quickly, but even with him basically doing it solo with zero help from us, daily homework can still be overwhelming with afterschool activities. I adore the idea that he can knock it out on the weekend, and not have to stress when we have soccer, basketball, or baseball. Oh, and he just signed up for a (free. Woot!) lacrosse workshop after school. For the kids who do better working daily, they can do that too. From what I can see, everyone wins with this method.

Little Man Snaggletooth (Jack) has his initial orthodontist appointment on Friday. It will be a comprehensive evaluation to see how many new cars we will be purchasing for his dental team. His dentist is assuming they will recommend at least four teeth get pulled and then braces when he is 12/13. At the very least. Should be a freaking blast for everyone involved. As soon as Jack’s adult teeth started coming in, Troy said he would be doing a lot of overtime shifts to pay for that hot mess of a mouth. I started saving $40 a month a few years ago, and I think we have over $700 put aside for that kiddo’s pie hole. Poor Jack.

This week was a bit of a culinary adventure. I shared on Instagram my fixins’ for some spring rolls I made.
I got some requests for the recipe, but there is no recipe. Basically, I just put some stuff in a spring roll wrapper, folded it, and declared it “a spring roll”. The recipe I use for peanut sauce is absolutely delicious and that I can happily share. Predictably, Jack didn’t like the spring rolls. Predictably, I gave zero shits and made him eat it anyway.

I would say you can make the spring rolls a day ahead but line the container you store them in with a washcloth or paper towel. Ours got a tiny bit gooey on the bottom the next day.

Instagram is the last social media platform I got on board with, and I have to say that it is so fun. I don’t know why I waited so long to join. I love following some readers (and a few other people), and it’s great to sneak a peek into other’s lives. Cause I’m nosey. So come join us; we have a blast.

On another night, I took a stab at making crepes. It um, did not go well.

But at least I made some people on Facebook laugh.

I have friends in Florida, and I’m sending the best(est) wishes and prayers for everyone who is currently being impacted by Irma. Between Irma, Harvey, the earthquake in Mexico, and the west being on fire, it kind of feels a bit end of days right now. We had ash flying all over this past week from fires 90 miles away. Our air was thick with smoke, and my throat constantly hurt. I couldn’t even imagine the poor people who are dealing with it firsthand.

The smoke hung in the sky for days

With all these events going on, it’s hard to find answers as to the “why” bad things happen. I once heard a quote on Call the Midwife that has really stuck with me. A character in the show lost her fiance and asked the nun who ran their midwife practice about where was God during the accident. What the nun said next spoke to me to the point where I rewound the scene multiple times so I could type the quote into my phone.

God is not the event. He is in the response to the event. In the love that is shown and the care that is given.

Even if religion is not your thing, the sentiment still rings so very true. Even when we can’t find a “why” when bad things happen that are out of our control, we do have the option to help those around us and show compassion. It’s been encouraging to see neighbors helping neighbors in areas impacted by Harvey. Especially after watching the human dumpster fire that was the Charlottesville protests, it is a good reminder that we are better when we work together.

Since I’m already talking about religion, I have to tell you this story. I don’t hide the fact that we go to church and all that jazz. Troy is on the church council, and I bake the communion bread (adding “baker of Jesus’ body to my resume”). But I don’t go into it too often because I feel like there are blogs out there for that niche if you’re so interested. And frankly, even as a Christian, I’m sick of Christians being all up in my grill. So there’s that.

But this story. This story is too sweet to not share.

From the time my mom was diagnosed with cancer, we made sure to pray for her as a family before dinner. We prayed for healing, and when it became obvious things were beyond that, we prayed for peace. Once she passed, we took to saying hi to her instead of praying. It is now to the point where we say “say hi to Grammy”, and Bennett will look up at the ceiling, wave his chubby little hand and say “hi gamma”. It’s just so heartwarming to know that even though the boys miss her so much, they still feel like they have a connection to her.

My sister ordered bracelets (cuffs?) for the two of us from Emily Jane Designs. The quote on the cuff is “What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes a part of us”. The inside of the cuff has my mom’s birthday and the date she passed stamped on there. We love them. We also paid for them, so this isn’t sponsored or anything like that.

Before I share our meal plan, I want to extend a question to all of you who aren’t already a part of our Facebook community. I was preparing for an upcoming post about meal planning. After reading the feedback/questions on Facebook, it looks more like it may need to be a few-part series. My question to the group is “what is your biggest headache with getting a (mostly) healthy dinner on the table a few nights a week. Is it time, cost, interest, ability, etc”? I’m not promising to solve anyone’s issues, but I’d love to provide people with tools to make certain things a bit easier. Please leave your question (or a tip!) in the comments.

And now, it is time for our meal plan for the week!

Monday:: Mini quiches, bacon, and yogurt with fruit. Mini quiches are one of my favorite make ahead breakfasts. They are easy to freeze and reheat, and Jack loves them.

Tuesday:: BLTAs, this Southwestern Quinoa Salad, and watermelon.

Wednesday:: This Tomato and Tofu Salad, and biscuits. I was supposed to make it last week, but we ended up going to a Labor Day BBQ and were not remotely hungry when we got home.

Thursday:: Taco bowls and green beans

Friday:: Popcorn, leftovers, and movie night.

Saturday:: Dinner out. Somewhere. You pick.

Sunday:: Family dinner

My dad is off on a 10-day adventure in his motorhome. He will officially be ditching us for two family dinners (today and next week). The nerve! 🙂 My sis and I collaborated on an idea of picking a menu that is fairly easy but can easily be reheated. Then we’ll each bring way too much food and put it all together for dinner. But since we’re each making so much food, both families will get at least a meal’s worth of leftovers for the coming week. Today, for our debut, we’re doing a big taco bar with rice and beans.

Smith Brother’s Farms – $18.94

Fred Meyer – $41.78

Local butcher – $50.95

I bought a butt ton of meat this week for family dinner and our freezer stash. Two giant pork roasts for this recipe in my Instant Pot, and then some chicken breasts to also cook and shred in the Instant Pot.

Farmer’s market – $67.

Blew my budget yesterday at the market. I bought $50 worth of peaches from my favorite vendor. Peaches are very expensive, and I know he gave me a huge discount because we are produce buddies. One box will likely be canned, and at least parts of the other box will be halved and frozen with the skin on (read this post from Erica at Northwest Edible Life) because for the life of me I cannot find frozen organic peaches that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Costco sells so much frozen organic fruit, but I can never find organic pineapple or peaches. I’d rather get a breast exam from Edward Scissorhands than to pay $6 for a one pound bag of sliced frozen peaches at the grocery store. Oh hell no.

Costco – $78.12 (I only use our grocery budget for edible things. Items like dishwasher detergent, etc., comes from a different budget)

What are you having this week?