Wow, I Can't Believe It's Monday Again

Well this week flew by. I know a holiday weekend makes the week seem much shorter, but this one seemed to slip by faster than most weeks.

Meal plan I erroneously thought might happen:

1. Chicken bog, tossed salad

2. French dip, coleslaw

3. Grilled fish, baked potato, salad

4. Out to eat

5. Veggie meal, cornbread

6. Salad meal, rolls (?)

7. Skillet ratatouille, tossed salad, rolls

What did happen and what we actually ate:

Monday: Labor Day. We did not do a lot of laboring.  DIL2, Son2, and My Beloved Sister came over to swim and have a late lunch. 

The day was perfect for grilling burgers. We still had a lot of leftovers from the pre-labor day bbq meal on Saturday, so I warmed up anything that needed warming and served the coleslaw and potato salad straight from the fridge.

The food was good and the company was better. There is always a lot of good natured ribbing and a ton of laughs when we are together.

Monday dinner:  We ate dinner very late and were not very hungry after the lunch we had. 

Veggie salad, toast

Tuesday: TheHub worked all day from the dining room table, which means I have to be pretty quiet. His telephone rings continually and he is either on it, or on a zoom call. This is not the retirement I thought it would be.

I could have worked upstairs in the room of horrors, but instead I chose to hang around on the main level pouting, or finding recipes to try for Christmas, while doing a mountain of laundry. I don't necessarily like myself when I am being petty, but I can be so good at it.

The upside? All the laundry was done, folded and put away.

Also a couple of fall/winter dresses I had ordered a while back were delivered which made me a little happier.

Tuesday dinner: Planned overs to the rescue, thanks to the Mississippi pot roast

French dip, coleslaw

Wednesday: My Wednesday class started back and it was good to see the regulars back again after the summer break.

When it was over I ran by the bank. Fortunately I remembered my MC bill was due. I usually pay it early but the bank was not opened Monday for the holiday and I was busy pouting Tuesday and just didn't go. 

I know I am not their favorite type of cc customer because I pay it in full each month to keep from incurring interest. This card has a pretty low limit and I use it only for online purchases. Paying it off monthly keeps my usage in check.

After the bank, I went to Aldi to do a little cherry picking, and stopped on the way home to grab something to eat. TheHub was meeting some friends for lunch and I figured if I had a decent lunch also, I would not need to fix a regular dinner.

Once home I hit the rocking chair on the screened porch and dove into a book I have been reading. The bonus was a steady rain for a while and the smell of rain hitting the pool deck and the grass was an olfactory treat. A good book just added to the enjoyment.

Wednesday dinner: TheHub came in from his lunch group and did not feel well. He slept most of the late afternoon and wanted virtually nothing for supper.

Soup for him, a bowl of coleslaw for me

Thursday: The day was very pretty, a tad warm but I was glad. I had not been swimming regularly and wanted/needed to get back in the water. My beloved sister came over and we swam at a little after 2. By this time of year, the sun was hidden behind a neighbors giant oak tree and it blocked the light from half the pool. Since the nights are getting cooler the water temp has cooled a bit, and even swimming laps, I felt cold when I was in the shady part of the pool.

Lesson learned!

Other than swimming with MBS the day was just a regular sort of day, and I was still being a little petty about TheHub using the dining room* as his office.

Thursday dinner: I decided against the chicken bog and went with a simpler fare.

Chicken with orange pepper** seasoning,  broccoli w/ cheese sauce, sautéed mushrooms, baked potato***

Friday: MBS came over to swim again. The day was a little warmer and so was the water. In fact it felt really good even though the morning was overcast. After she left I messed around doing nothing anyone would considered important, but they were necessary chores. The Hub was working from the dining room again. Once he was through suggested we go out to eat. We have many gift cards to restaurants that we purchased through silent auctions at various fundraisers. We needed to use them instead of letting them sit in a basket gathering dust, when we go out to eat each week anyway.  

I gussied up and about the time I was completely ready TheHub decided he did not feel like sitting in a restaurant. 

Friday dinner: We ordered Thai takeout from Blue Pacific****

Laap (me) Shrimp pad Thai (TheHub)

Saturday:  College game days start the mornings with the TV tuned to the show, Game Day. We usually wind up with it turned up kind of loud so we can listen to it while we have coffee or breakfast and continue as we walk back and forth through the den while we are doing little chores. What can I say except Roll Tide Roll!

We ran out to our favorite produce stand to pick up some veggies. I was surprised they still had Elberta peaches, so a small container of them came home with us too. I see one with cottage cheese on my lunch plate soon!

TheHub had read that Red Snapper season had been extended, and we headed to our local fish market to see what they had. Score!

This week there were no games during the day that either one of use cared about really keeping up with and our team was not playing until 6:45. 

Instead I put on ski gloves to start inventorying the freezer. I really need to start doing this at least every other month. I was able to remove 3 different things I needed for the new week's meal plan that were on my shopping list to buy.  I had completely forgotten they were in the freezer. Additionally I found several containers with just enough food for one meal that I will thaw for TheHub's lunches.***** 

After hanging out in the freezer, I was cold. Instead of putting on something other than the tank top, shorts and flip flops I was wearing, I wrapped up in a blanket and "sat" on the couch. I promise after about 45 minutes all warm, toasty and comfortable, I was just resting my eyes!

Saturday dinner: When I planned this week's menu I forgot Bama played at night which meant a ball game meal had to happen.

Hot dogs, coleslaw

Sunday: We woke way to early for me after reading until about 2 am, and made it to the 7:55 communion service, followed by church, then Sunday school. Although I know it is perfectly acceptable to wear pants to church now, I still wear "Sunday clothes", I guess because old habits die hard, and it takes me a bit to get ready. 

Sometimes we go out to eat after church but this was not one of those times. Because of my freezer adventures Saturday, I was all too aware of the many foods we had on hand that only needed to be nuked for a pretty good lunch.

I did a fair amount of reading and talked with 2 of our sons. Then it was time to get our dinner started.

Sunday dinner: With the beautiful snapper filet in the fridge dinner planned itself. The planned tuna steaks can stay in the freezer until another night.

Greek snapper, tossed salad, baked potato

Possibilities for the week: (Planned only using foods I have on hand)

1. Veggie meal, cornbread

2. Meatloaf, corn on the cob, collards, tomato cucumber onion salad

3. Steak, baked potato, tossed salad

4.Sloppy Joe's, coleslaw

5. Out to eat or takeout

6.Chicken bog, green beans, tossed salad

7. Pork chops, brussels sprouts, au gratin  or scalloped potatoes, tomato slices

Books read in September:

None Of This Is True

Forever Odd

Wishin' and Hopin'

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*Please understand I am not upset that he is still working, even though he is supposedly retired. He has an office in the finished basement, that is outfitted with a desk, credenza, bookshelves, computer, and copier.

Then he has another office upstairs with a desk, cabinet, and bookshelves. He has a laptop computer that can go with him and though there is no copier upstairs, I would gladly sacrifice mine to complete his office.

And you might ask why he works in the dining room? He likes the view, which is the same view the upstairs office has, just one floor lower.

**If you live near an Aldi and like lemon pepper seasoning, by all means snag some of the

orange pepper and the lime pepper while they are carrying it. 🧑‍🍳

***ThePig regularly has a deal on 4 pound bags of potatoes, but they are very small baking potatoes. I am not a big potato person so I nuke one of them for TheHub. They are small enough that he really enjoys them, but not so large they add too much to the meal.

****Blue Pacific is the most unlikely restaurant I have ever seen to be as successful as it is. It defies every model of what a restaurant should be. They only operate Wednesday through Saturday. They only have a couple of picnic tables outside the door on a small sidewalk. Their parking situation is abysmal for a place that operates primarily as a take out restaurant, and once you finally get through to them on the phone to place an order, there is usually a 45 minute to 1 hour wait. Not to mention that they arbitrarily close on any given day, but the food is so dang good people put up with what a pain in the rear it is to get it.

*****He still does not realize that being at home means you don't get to eat what you want for lunch, you eat what is leftover or make a sandwich. Decades of eating out at lunch every work day has left him with unrealistic expectations of what lunches here are/will be.