Meal Plan 10/23/23 - 10/27/23

I don’t know if it’s the weather getting chillier or the nights getting longer or me getting older but … I am tired. I am tired to my bones. I am tired of the rain. I am tired of the laundry. I am tired of all the words, all the time. I am a real treat to be around is what I’m saying.

This week, I’m going to trick my brain into feeling less tired with zippy flavours and interesting food.

Monday: Cheesy Beef Empanadas served with arugula salad

Tuesday: Thai Buttercup Squash Soup served with some form of bread for dipping

Wednesday: Vegan Unagi Don served over rice with Soy Butter Glazed King Oyster Mushrooms

Thursday: Leftovers!

Friday: Takeout? Cereal? Popcorn? We’ll see where the week takes us.

What’s on your meal plan this week?

Meal Plan 10/01/23 - 10/06/23

We stuck pretty closely to the meal plan last week and life seemed to run a little bit more smoothly. By the time evening rolls around and we’ve been up for 12 hours and done school and work and made hundreds of decisions, it’s nice to not have to think about what we’re going to do for dinner. I’m committing to the meal plan (again) is what I’m saying.

Sunday: Today was sunny and warm for October so I couldn’t argue when Poppy suggested burgers.

Monday: Soft corn tortilla tacos filled with carnitas, homemade guacamole, and quick-pickled red onions

Tuesday: Burrito bowls with the leftover carnitas

Wednesday: Takeout pizza because it’s going to be a busy one

Thursday: Poke Bowls (tuna for Shawn, tofu for me) because I accidentally bought too many avocados

Friday: Poke Bowls take two because we love them. I chop enough everything on the first day (except for the herbs and leafy greens) and keep everything separate and assemble fresh on day two.

For snacks, lunchboxes, and treats, I’m making Grossy Pelosi’s Every Fruit Crisp with apples, strawberries, and local cranberries, Pumpkin Bread, and Pumpkin Brownies without the walnuts because I will burn this house to the ground before I become someone who puts walnuts in brownies.

Meal Plan 09/24/23 - 09/29/23

Yesterday marked one year since our sweet senior pup, Wolfgang, died. It feels unbelievable that we’ve lived a full year without a fallen-crumb cleaner-upper. In some ways our floors are much messier (it has been an adjustment having to pick up every scrap of grated cheese that falls off the edge of the plate) and in other ways our floors are much, much cleaner (poor Wolfie became quite … leaky in his later years.

I spent yesterday feeling tight and brittle and snappy. Today I am a busy mouse, keeping my brain occupied and my hands constantly in motion. It has taken me a really long time to realize that sometimes emotions get stuck and it’s okay to have a giant cry about your dead dog one year after you say goodbye.

The silver lining (my toxic trait: I am an aggressive seeker of silver linings) is I’ve built a meal plan and set us up to have a yummy, healthful week (in theory).

Sunday: Smash burgers with Grossy Pelosi’s Secret Burger Sauce served with a fruit & veggie plate.

Monday: Ina’s Perfect Roast Chicken served with Air Fryer Baby Potatoes, steamed broccoli, roasted acorn squash, and garlic bread.

Tuesday: I’ll use Monday’s chicken leftovers to make Tortilla Soup. Macaroni & Cheese for the kids.

Wednesday: Roasted sweet potatoes topped with Cuban-style Black Beans served with green salad.

Thursday: Leftovers!

Friday: Some sort of sheet pan situation with sausages, peppers, onions, and zucchini. If I’ve got my life together enough to manage it, I’ll pick up some crusty bread and make garlic butter so we can take things to the next level.

What’s on your meal plan this week?

Happy not-quite new year

I took the last week of August and first week of September off work to go camping with my family and get the kids’ back-to-school stuff sorted. The camping was amazing. We camped in yurts, which meant we had full-sized beds and comfy linens, and we were a five-minute drive from Whistler village, which meant I had hot coffee and a croissant every morning. I am using the term “camping” loosely, obviously. I look forward to the time when my kids are in their twenties and they go camping with their friends and show up expecting flush toilets and hot showers and full-sized beds and hot lattes and gently warmed croissants every morning. It will be quite the awakening. We are an inside people. Don’t get me wrong, we love nature. We’re just very gentle about it.

I had big plans post-camping but instead of getting organized, I got Covid. Not “just a little cold” Covid; I didn’t get out of bed for three days. I have never experienced a headache like that (and I am not new to headaches). Two weeks later, I am still experiencing annoying symptoms. The kids’ return to school did not go smoothly is what I’m saying, but it did happen. The kids are back in school and I am trying to recapture the magic of late summer. The beginning of September is usually one of my favourite times of year, full of possibility and January 1st vibes without the grey and gloom of BC’s actual New Years’ Day. Normally I use this time to set intentions and evaluate how I’m feeling about my yearly goals. I haven’t quite got there yet but I’m trying.

It’s a time of transition and I’m trying to embrace it and not fight the change. I’m not sure how successful I’ll be but I’m trying to look at it as exciting. Life is full and it is messy and it is sometimes chaotic, but it is never boring.