last week

 I guess this would have been considered a recovery week after being in New Orleans last week.

Monday: I stayed at home most of the day, did some house work, and did a little low carb baking for TheHub. Even though his diet has altered, he still has a sweet tooth. I figure I might as well make a few things for him to enjoy occasionally.

What I learned: TheHub actually appreciates the effort I am making to accommodate his dietary needs.

Dinner: I had not been to the store to restock our produce since we got back from New Orleans. Though my freezers are full, the produce was almostbare.

 Black beans and hamburger skillet meal (with bits of whatever vegetables were still in the crisper), tossed salad (one romaine heart, a few carrots and some cherry tomatoes were left)

Tuesday: I needed to run an appreciation basket to one of the members of our church staff. We do these once a month and I accidentally forgot it was the end of the month pushed it to the last possible moment. 

TheHub had a couple of quick errands and went with me to drop off the basket. We have been trying to conserve gas by combining errands that are in the same area. 

After we completed our errands we stopped by Mark's Market to check out the new store. I bought a chicken swirl, greek style pork chop and some speciality mushrooms. It was a little pricy, but I will be going back.

After that we hit Publix. It was the last day of their ad and there were a few things I wanted to get from the BOGO sale. Ham and salami might have jumped in my buggy while we were there.

What I learned: Evidently I have the reputation as being a good basket giver. Honestly, I just look at their favorite things list and fill it accordingly,

Dinner: An Alabama variation of a Muffuletta

Wednesday: I had put chickpeas and great northern beans in water to soak overnight, and began the morning (even before coffee) putting them in pots for some seriously slow cooking. I don't do anything before coffee but starting the beans did not tax my limited pre coffee daze too much.

I was really looking forward to the day, for I had planned nothing and could hang out all day in shorts, flip flops. and zero makeup. Simple pleasures are sometimes the best.

I thought about working upstairs, but came to my senses and realized I had rather read, so I did.

What I learned: I investigated canning dried beans and realized since I have an electric canner, that is what I need to do with my excessive stock of dried beans.

Dinner: The stop at Mark's Market Tuesday turned into something delicious

Chicken spiral, brown rice, roasted vegetables

Thursday: This was just a normal day around the house, with nothing new to look forward to until the early evening. Alabama softball was playing Texas. They were creamed! Oh well.

What I learned: More about trains from Budapest to Zurich than I wanted to know. One of us is a trip planner and loves to cover every detail and possibility.

Dinner: I had a pack of hot dogs in the fridge but no buns. The dinner was a pretty easy way to use what was on hand.

Hot dog "coins", sauerkraut kale and onions, great northern beans

Friday: This was another stay at home most of the day kind of day. I had nothing really important to do and opted to do little other than the usual housework/laundry until I crossed a kink in the proverbial road. My dryer, that I had for decades decided it did not want to start. which I only realized after I had transferred a load of jeans to the dryer and begun washing a second load. 

One advantage to using the same repairman for at least 3 decades is that when I call he answers, and sends one of his repair people out right away.

Before he started working on it, we decided the dryer was too old to put a lot of money in it to repair the blooming thing. It turned out to be two internal fuses, so while he was there anyway, he vacuumed the exhaust. I am not sure how much longer the dryer will last, but at least it is working right now. So a big thank you to Sam.

What I learned: TheHub's reluctance to cleaning out the lint trap when he does laundry probably led to the dryer overheating and blowing the fuses. (I clean it every time I do laundry. TheHub likes to do his own clothes and never cleans it, even if there is a load of towels in the dryer to be emptied before he uses it.)

Later after drying a few loads of laundry, we watched Bama play Texas again. This game was not like the first one. Bama won decisively , which for us was much better.                                      Dinner: We wanted a simple dinner to eat before the game came on.

Sautéed chicken tenders w/ blue oyster mushrooms, coleslaw,  

(Sorry, I could not resist putting in a Blue Oyster Cult video)

Saturday: TheHub and I made the rounds, going first to Walmart, next Aldi, (I was in a produce dearth)  then to get gas for my car. Costco is on the way home and it makes sense to combine errands that are near each other.

We got home in just enough time to grab a quick bite of lunch before settling in to watch the Bama/Texas softball game. Whoo Hoo! Bama won the series 2 out of 3 games. As soon as the softball game was over TheHub turned the tv to the Bama/ Oklahoma baseball game. I only watched it while I was folding clothes.

Later that night we watched to Final 4 basketball games. I am not a Duke fan, but you could not have had a more exciting ending. Again I watched while reading, but did watch the final 3 minutes of the Duke game intently.

What I learned: This was the first time I have ever used Walmart's pick up. I think this might be a game changer.

Dinner: It was a ball game meal kind of night.

Hamburger and all the fixings

Sunday: We are regular church attendees and the fact that it was Easter did not make any difference in whether we were going or not. However, it did make a big difference in the early church crowd. Though the pews are open to any and everyone, people like us tend to sit on the exact same row each week. We did sit on the same pew, but we were at the opposite end which just felt funny. And precious little AK who sits behind us with her parents was not happy we were not sitting directly in front of her.

Once home I began cooking. We invited Son2, DIL2, and My Beloved Sister for a late Easter lunch. which I am counting as our dinner for the day. 

What I learned: Due to limited cemetery space the Hallstat graveyard in Austria left the "inhabitants" in place for 15 years, at which time their remains were disinterred, the skulls bleached, decoratively painted and placed in the lower level of St. Michael's church.

Late lunch/Dinner: Herb stuffed boneless leg of lamb, asparagus, scalloped potatoes, biscuits, tossed salad, pecan praline cheesecake, chocolate cake

Meals possibilities for this week:

1. BBQ chicken, great northern beans, coleslaw, toast

2. Lamb stew, tossed salad

3. Salmon, rice pilaf, green beans, dinner rolls

4. Ham, turnip or collard greens, great northern beans, tomato onion cucumber salad.

5. Pizza bowl, tossed salad

6. Hot dog w/ kraut and onions, coleslaw

7. Egg roll in a bowl.

Used from the freezer

1 sm. pack ground chuck

2 hamburger patties

2 TJ's salmon patties (lunch)

1 chicken breast (chicken salad for lunch)

3 chicken tenders (I thought I was defrosting thighs)

boneless leg of lamb

pecan praline cheesecake

8 Pillsbury biscuits

Read:

The Correspondent

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

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne