The Bard said it best in his play "Twelfth Night"
"If music be the food of love, play on"
Let's skew his meaning a bit and see just where the love of food and the love of music takes us.
Lady peas, squash casserole, tomato cucumber onion salad
BLT salad
Out to eat
Leftovers or stuffed peppers with leftovers
I am planning our menu Wednesday -Tuesday to take advantage of the weekly food ads for my area. For the past 7 days I stayed almost on plan with slight revisions.
We still had a veggie meal but instead of lady peas we had speckled butter beans, with sautéed squash rather than a casserole.
The night with the dijon chicken, I substituted mashed potatoes for the rice, but all in all any changes were minor.
The one meal I changed totally was simply because I had some tomatoes that needed to be used, and I had 1 deep dish pie crust in the refrigerator. Because we really do like it, tomato pie became our meal.
Also, the out to eat meal turned into a takeout meal for the family.
Possibilities for the week:
1. Leftover tomato pie, tossed salad
2. Leftover baked ziti (take out meal) tossed salad, green beans
3. Stuffed bell pepper, mashed potatoes, coleslaw
4. Veggie meal TBD
5. Ball game meal (most likely hot dogs, coleslaw)
I can think of absolutely no reason why the Gods of Spotify chose this as the first song of my Discover Weekly list, but it happened. Boogie Woogie Country Girl had possibilities, I was sure, but I had no idea the direction it would take. I knew very few boogie songs and even fewer possibly no songs mentioning country girls
Monday: The very hot Labor Day came and went with little fanfare other than having Son2 DIL2 and My Beloved Sister over for lunch (which I am counting as dinner since that is the only meal we ate for the day)
Once they left I did a lot of reading while TheHub nodded off in his recliner.
We watched the FSU-SMU football game, which was delayed because the lights in the stadium were not working for a while. What was that about? Did someone forget to pay the power company?
While we were waiting I read a couple of magazine articles (Thank you Libby app)
What I learned: We watched a video about Patagonia and I learned about the southernmost post office in the world. It is not on my bucket list for places to go, but the post office has its own passport stamp that is pretty neat and I would not mind having it.
Dinner (or lunch really): We enjoyed a Labor Day spread curtesy of Saws BBQ.
Tuesday: I started the day with a loads laundry followed by a little cleaning and a lot of reading. Then it was time for a little cherry picking at my local grocery stores, followed by an evening of trivia. Our neighbors joined us there to multiply our brain power. It was fun, but even with their help we were not the brightest bulbs in the box.
What I learned: James Brown was known as the "Hardest Working Man in Show Business" (Obscure trivia question. We had no idea!)
Dinner: When we are playing trivia at The Electric, TheHub and I split a sandwich and order an extra side.
1/2 Cuban sandwich, coleslaw, adult beverage
Listened to: Jungle Boogie
Wednesday: My Wednesday class began after our summer break. It was wonderful to see everyone again and catch up on what everyone did over the summer. Other than running a couple of errands after class, making my grocery list and menu plan, I mostly had a pretty low key afternoon. I did talk to Son1 and Son3, and of course I talked with My Beloved Sister.
What I learned: TheHub and I watched a video about the English Channel island, Sark. It has a population of a little over 500, allows no cars on the island and all transportation is by horse and buggy, bicycles, or tractor drawn carts.
Dinner: I am going to be using a lot from the freezer and pantry this week (as long as I remember to thaw what is needed)
Chicken in dijon cream sauce, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Listened to : Boogie Oogie Oogie
Thursday: TheHub and I got ready and left the house fairly early to do some running around to gather a few things for the upcoming Parkinson's Association Gala.
While we were out we ate lunch at Nicki's. If any of you are familiar with this long standing meat and three you know how it goes. If you aren't the best thing I can compare it to is the Soup Nazi episode from Seinfeld. You better know exactly what you want when you are going through the serving line because there is absolutely no dawdling allowed.
You can always tell when someone is bringing a rookie with them. While standing in the queue you can hear them say "Look at the board so you will know what you are getting before you get there" .
After a delicious lunch we headed to Aldi and Trader Joe's. I cherry picked Aldi, but I bought some of the seasonal items at TJ's. When it get a little cooler I will be baking the Maple Butterscotch Blondie mix I bought with a London Fog from the concentrate I also bought.
What I learned: There is a new coffee shop fairly near us and I have driven by it several times and never even noticed it.
Dinner: Because we ate a much heavier lunch than normal we wanted something lighter.
Small BLT salad
Listened to: Boogie Nights
Friday: I did not feel well enough to go anywhere and instead concentrated on cleaning another area in the laundry room. I was able to get rid of some fabric I will never use, and reorganized the sewing area, including cleaning all the drawers and cabinets there.
Other than that there was just some routine household chores and the beginnings of changing over my clothes. It is still seriously hot here, but some of the very summery looking things will not be worn again until next spring. There is no point in them taking up drawer or closet real estate.
It is still too early and too hot to bring any fall/winter clothes downstairs.
What I learned: We watched a video about Greenland. Learned a lot about the icebergs that change the seascape almost hourly.
Dinner: We both wanted something that was not bland.
Deconstructed lasagne, tossed salad
Listened to: My Boogie Shoes
Saturday: Woke and listened to College Game day while having my coffee, all three cups of deliciousness.
While TheHub was in his office working on the Gala, I had a mini spa morning. It's been a while since I did that and I honestly enjoyed the self care.
After getting all lotioned and potioned, I was ready for some football. That would be Alabama/Kentucky football, but in reality the TV was already tuned on to whomever is playing the first game of the day. I didn't watch it, but couldn't help but hear it.
Alabama, on the other hand, was actively watched.
What I learned: A friends daughter has an antique business and agreed to look for a few more dining room chairs for me. The ones I have now were bought from a friend who was emptying her mother's house and they are so much better than the ones that came with my table. Our family has grown and the lower profile chairs make everything less crowded.
Dinner: Ball game days require ball game meals
Hamburgers with all the fixings
Listened to: Cow Cow Boogie *
Sunday: We woke and did our usual Sunday morning church thing. We were at the early communion service before going to our traditional service followed by Sunday School. Doing that sets my week in a direction I would like it to go.
Afterward we had lunch and both settled in the den to read. I was still not feeling great, and covered up with a light throw (both the a/c and ceiling fan were going) A couple of years ago we bought a new love seat with reclining seats. It might have been a dangerous purchase because my reading turned into snoozing.
What I learned: We watched the Netflix show about Thomas Jefferson and learned a bit about his beginnings.
Dinner: Veggie night!
Speckled butter beans, sautéed squash and onions, okra, tomatoes, cucumbers
Listened to: Give Back My Heart*
Read this week: Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
Have a great week.
May all your weeds be wildflowers.
Anne
*Most days my mind went straight to disco songs for a boogie tune. I can't believe it took me until Saturday to remember Cow Cow Boogie!
** I could not think of a single song with Country Girl in the title so instead I used this which is about a redneck cow girl. (It was the closest thing I could think of that hints at a country girl.) I listen to this album regularly.
Man oh man! Have I ever been flunking Christmas prep!
I guess I have been in a funk with the extreme heat. I need to think about cooler temps. maybe a funky Christmas tune will help!
In August while I was cleaning one of the laundry room cabinets, I found a tracing of Pip's 3 year old little hand. I cut it out, and decided to make clay handprints I can weave through a garland for the dining room windows. This way even though she will not be here, a part of her will be with us throughout the holidays.
Also while cleaning the same cabinet, I found an almost full box of Christmas cards. I have added several new names to our Christmas Card list and have gone ahead and addressed them to the people I added. The cards are really nice cards and this way I can use them without worrying about someone getting the same card from us two years in a row.
I did buy a couple of gifts. I can't say what they are because they might be for a couple of relatives who sometimes read the blog.
Other than that, I have started putting together ideas on what to serve at the Christmas party My Beloved Sister and I are having for our childhood neighborhood friends. The party is scheduled for Dec 2, which will make me have everything done and decorated as soon as Thanksgiving is over. I don't know about the rest of you, but for me time flies, so I need to start early.
I am hoping then 2nd half of September sees great strides, but I know me and doubt it will. I seem to work best under pressure, and I am an excellent procrastinator.
I had a menu planned for the week, but forgot to allow for leftover meals. From now on if we have a veggie meal on the plan, I am going to have an additional leftover meal planned at least partially around the excess.
The food ads are less than stellar this week, so other than cherry picking some shelf stable longer term storage items, I need little. Looks like I will actually only have to have a little bit of produce. The upside is that cooking for the next 7 days will result in using foods I already have on hand.
Other than that I've got nothing, or maybe a little something
Asian stuffed lettuce leaves, sliced raw veggies
Deconstructed lasagna, tossed salad
Tomato pie, green beans, sliced cucumbers
Veggie meal TBD
Out to eat
Meatloaf, rice, broccoli
Labor Day meal TBD, most likely BBQ of some sort
1. Deconstructed Lasagna, tossed salad
2. Hamburgers with all the fixings, coleslaw, baked beans
I am still letting Spotify decide what my weekly listening theme will be.
This week my Discover Weekly playlist had the song 96 Tears as the first song. To my brain it meant I needed to listen daily to a song with a number in its title. It was harder to think of them than I thought it would be, especially the last couple of days. So the week began!
Monday: I stayed home and honestly, other than the necessary chores, I did little but read a lot.
What I learned: Sometimes a good meaty book is just what I want to read, so I can ponder each sentence. This week was not one of those times, and I tossed a wonderful book to save for the winter, and started reading a faster less complicated book.
Listened to: 76 Trombones
Dinner: This was on the plan, I had everything on hand, so it became our meal.
Stuffed bell pepper, brown rice, coleslaw
Tuesday: This was my day to go to my Happy Place. My Beloved Sister and I headed to Independence Place with an experimental idea, peanut butter and jelly pancakes. The participants made the batter, had the jelly and butter melted, and I was all set to cook them. Oops! I realized I brought the wrong griddle. The induction burner they have requires a magnetic connection and I had packed my aluminum clad larger griddle, rather than the smaller cast iron one. We had to punt. Luckily they had some vanilla wafers on hand, so the treat turned into plain peanut butter with the melted jelly concoction spread on said cookies.
Mea culpa. When we left they voted on what they want next time and they obviously still had peanut butter on the brain because it was unanimous__peanut butter milkshakes. (I am thinking of having them make a hot fudge sauce to drizzle over the top to make it more like a Reese's shake, but don't tell them)
Once home, I read a little more while waiting for our regular trivia evening. Some nights we know most of the questions and some nights we are so far out of the demo it is not funny. This was one of those nights. Oh well! It was still fun to be around folks and not just sitting at home.
After trivia we swung by Publix to grab the final day's BOGO for Hershey candy bars. I am the Halloween big candy bar lady and 16 packs later, I am set for the big night.
What I learned: The hypocenter is the exact location underground where rocks start breaking at the onset of an earthquake. I know earthquakes can happen anywhere, but our area is not known for them, consequently I really don't know a lot about them. However, ask me about thunderstorms and tornados, because those are pretty regular around here.
Listened to: 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Dinner: The Electric
Flatbread, coleslaw
Wednesday: I have said before, I have the worlds largest laundry room. It was supposed to be a laundry room studio, with an attached dressing room and bath for the pool. Instead it has become a laundry room catch-all. The thought of organizing and rehoming or releasing things all at once is overwhelming, so I have been attacking it one wall at a time*.
The upside is finding things
What I learned: We did a little home study about life in Tasmania. I guess we were bored and looking for something we knew virtually nothing about. Just on case you are wondering, the collective noun for a group of wombats is a wisdom.
Listened to: 634-5789
Dinner: TheHub had run by the produce stand Tuesday morning and the veggies were yelling at me from the fridge.
Black eyed peas, squash casserole, leftover collards, sliced tomatoes
Thursday: I woke early and got ready for the day. TheHub and I ran to the produce stand to stock up on some items to prepare for the freezer. Peach season is at its end, along with most summer vegetables and we love having them through the winter. Processing them was going to wait until Friday since I had plans for the rest of the day, though I usually do like to do it the same day I get them.
I met my 2 elementary school friends, M and C for lunch. We started meeting quarterly or so, and it was wonderful to pick up where we left off after such a long time seeing each other. They were 2 of my 3 favorite friends when I was growing up.
When I got home I had a long chat with Son2. He must have been bored!
What I learned: Grand dog, Trixie weighs 100 pounds now. She was a rescue they got as a puppy who grew to be a much larger dog than they anticipated.
Listened to: 99 Luft Balloons
Dinner: I had a head of cabbage that had gotten pushed back in the crisper and needed to be used right away. It required a meal change from what I planned. And this is why having a freezer helps with a punt meal.
Corned beef and cabbage, new potatoes, cucumber tomato onion salad.
Friday: That boatload of peaches we bought needed to be processed. I spent the morning getting them peeled, sliced, tossed in citric acid and frozen.
The worst part of it is having peach juice up to my elbows, but the best will be having delicious icy peaches in the winter that taste like summertime.
After that I moved back into the laundry room. Yes! I only have one more wall to go before it is finished. Of course I have not even begun in the dressing room. It still has a lot of items from Mom and Dad's house that I don't know what to do with.
What I learned: We learned all about Svalbard, an archipelago of Norway. We have been watching videos about "off the beaten path" places that we will never visit. If you do go there, evidently you are required to carry something to thwart polar bears from getting too close.
Listened to: Mambo#5
Dinner: We both wanted a simple meal
Asian lettuce wraps, leftover brown rice
Saturday: We woke and had a little bit of running around to do. The couple who set up our favorite produce stand are going to be closing early this year. The extreme rains early and the blistering heat afterward had a serious impact on their crops.
Brenda, the wife, always brings packs of various shelled beans and peas. When we were there Thursday, we told her we wanted enough to freeze for the winter, and she brought pleanty. We stocked up on lady peas, butter beans, zipper peas, and butter peas.
After a couple of other quick errands we headed home. and the first thing on my list was to rearrange the freezer to accommodate all the peas and beans.
Roll Tide! This was the beginning of our college football season. TheHub has season tickets and usually goes to the game, but it was insanely hot and the game was at 11 a.m. He would have been sitting through the hottest part of the day and it did not sound appealing at all. Instead we gave the tickets to our nephew and his family and we watched the game in cool comfort. They have young sons and wanted to use them. That is what I call a win/win situation.
What I learned: Whatever ball game came on after the Alabama game was a good game for a 20 minute uncomfortable while sitting on the love seat nap. I have got to start going to bed before 2.
Listened to: 1999
Dinner: This became an unplanned leftovers meal.
Leftover black eyed peas, leftover squash casserole, toasted sourdough bread (found in the freezer), coleslaw
Sunday: We woke, and instead of going to church we stayed at home and watched the service online. It was a holiday weekend and instead of having everything we normally go to, there was only one service, no early communion service or Sunday School.
After that I headed to the master bath (and yes I know it is now referred to as a primary, but old habits die hard and I have never thought that referring to it by the older name gave any dominion of the room to TheHub)
Our bath is divided into 2 separate rooms, the actual bath room and a dressing room with cabinets and drawers and a double sink vanity. I decided to remove each item in the drawers and cabinets, toss anything that needed to be tossed and rearrange everything giving the entire space a thorough deep cleaning.
Then I moved into the bedroom itself and started a huge fall deep clean. (Ok it's still summer here but I can pretend can't I. If I wait for real fall weather it will be almost Thanksgiving and that is just too late)
One day not too long ago I was listening to a YouTube video while I was working. After it was finished another video started playing. It was some professional cleaner and though I was not paying close attention to what she said, one thing stuck in my mind and I thought I would give it a try. Her advice was to thoroughly deep clean 4 foot sections as a time.
I turned up the volume of the music I was listening to and followed her advice. I have to tell you it really did work. I managed to get 4 different sections totally cleaned from the walls down including all drawers and cabinets.
What I learned: Nothing, I was busy working.
Listened to: 28 Hours**
Dinner: Fresh tomatoes were calling to me.
Tomato pie, green beans
Read:Daisy Jones and the Six
The Birdwatcher
Have a great week.
May all your weeds be wildflowers
*The laundry room has cabinets, shelves, or wardrobes on each wall and there are all kinds of places for random things to hide.
** I normally never in a million years would have thought of this song, but I had been looking at the seating charts to buy tickets to a local performance of this play. We have seen it once before, and it is one we wanted to see again. While looking for tickets I was playing the Broadway Cast recording
The food ads for the week are mostly aimed at foods for a Labor Day celebration, which also includes several things I can stock up now for the pantry and freezer.
Again, I was working within the planned meals, for the past 7 days until I wasn't. I guess actions speak louder than words.
Planned for the past week
1.Veggie meal* TBD
2. BBQ chicken**, coleslaw, green beans, sliced tomatoes
3. Spaghetti *with meat sauce, tossed salad
4. Asian stuffed lettuce leaves, sliced raw vegetables
5. Stuffed bell peppers, brown rice, broccoli
6. Out to eat - Trivia night
7. Out to eat - Planned dinner with cousins
In addition to the two planned meals eating out, I forgot to include a club minimum that we had to use by the 31st. We had already planned 2 dinners out, but we would be paying the minimum whether we actually used it or not. I was not willing to let that money go to waste. I booted the spaghetti meal, since I had stored the sauce in the freezer anyway.
As it turned out we had spent only a little over half of the minimum the first time we ordered takeout and had to use the rest Saturday night, and had to stick the ground chicken in the freezer. Both of those meals will be carried forward
Potential meals:
1. Asian stuffed lettuce leaves, sliced raw veggies
2. Deconstructed lasagna, tossed salad
3. Tomato pie, green beans, sliced cucumbers
4. Veggie meal TBD
5. Out to eat
6. Meatloaf, rice, broccoli
7. Labor Day meal TBD, most likely BBQ of some sort
Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan or with no plan at all.
