Meal plan 01/14/2019 - 01/18/2019

Last week was a busy week for us but I managed to stick to the meal plan and I’m happy to report that mealtimes felt less angsty. We ordered pizza one night but we also plowed through a lot more produce than we have recently so I’m calling it a win.

Monday: Black bean and sweet potato enchiladas leftover from last week (my biggest kitchen time-saver is doubling recipes and freezing half for the following week.) Fresh guacamole if my avocados behave.

Tuesday: Spaghetti bolognese on spaghetti squash (Shawn) and on spaghetti noodles (the rest of us). Served with green salad.

Wednesday: Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce served with roasted carrots and broccoli.

Thursday: Oh She Glow’s Indian Lentil-Cauliflower Soup served with roasted broccoli.

Friday: Breakfast for dinner! Buttermilk pancakes, extra crispy bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs, and fruit salad.

What’s on your meal plan this week?

It’s in a Book

My friend wrote a book. This book to be precise.  

I am ridiculously proud of my friend. When her book arrived I cried literal tears of joy. I know how hard she worked on this book. I know that blood, sweat, and tears went into this book. 

But I can’t read it.  

I can’t read any book.  

I used to read all the time. I would crack through a few books per week. I’d have multiple books on the go and switch between stories to read what suited me. I would choose reading over watching tv any day of the week.  

I don’t know what changed. Maybe it’s having kids, maybe it’s my iPhone, maybe it’s cancer and the changes my brain’s gone through on different meds and no thyroid, maybe it’s the lack of sleep, maybe it’s Instagram and the ability to scroll endlessly, maybe it’s the moon. I have no idea. All I know is that I no longer have the attention span to read.  

But I really want to read! I want to read my friend’s book and the other books languishing on my bookshelf. I enjoy listening to audiobooks but there’s something I’m missing by not curling up in a cozy blanket and flipping through the pages of a good book.  

Have you experienced this loss before? How did you retrain your brain to be able to read for longer than 15 seconds at a time? Or am I lost cause?

Tiny Happy Tuesday 2019:1

A small list of very good things. 

1. We’re getting back into the swing of things after an extended holiday break. I forgot how sweet it is to come home after a long day of work when Shawn’s picked Poppy up from daycare. She hears me open the garage and runs to the baby gate at the top of the stairs. I feel like a ding dang rockstar when she screams with joy when I appear at the bottom of the stairs.  

2. Tidying Up with Marie Kondo on Netflix. I wasn’t a huge fan of her book when I read it a few years ago. I didn’t really understand her methods and parts of the book seemed smarmy. Watching the show and seeing Marie interact with the people she’s helping is making me actually get excited about de-cluttering the house. I’m utterly charmed by her.  

3. I did a whole lot of meal prep on Sunday and it means I managed to pull together homemade, nutritious, satisfying dinners on Monday and Tuesday, our two busiest nights of the week. It feels like a major win. 

What’s making you happy this week? 

Meal Plan 01/07/2019 - 01/11/2019

Listen, I see all you “resolutions are solutions and I don’t need to be solved!” people and I love you for it but I like to start the new year with a list of goals. I don’t strive for a 100% success rate, and I don’t beat myself up (too much) if I’m a complete failure, but I like the idea of starting a new year trying to make some new habits.

One of my goals for 2019 is to meal plan three weeks out of every month. My life seems to run smoother when I take the time to prepare the week’s meal plan ahead of time. I used to worry that meal plans would limit my imagination but there’s nothing wrong with a little routine, especially when everything else feels like it’s careening out of control.

So here I am. Back on my bullshit. The first meal plan of 2019.

Monday: Spaghetti bolognese served with green salad.

Tuesday: Coconut chicken curry served with roasted vegetables and coconut rice.

Wednesday: oven-roasted chicken shawarma with garlic sauce served with roasted cauliflower with tahini sauce.

Thursday: Black bean and sweet potato enchiladas served with lime crema and fresh guacamole (if my avocados cooperate).

Friday: leftovers? Pizza? Snacky dinner? I like to keep ‘em guessing.

What are you eating this week?