MPM--The Unstructured Month

Is anyone else having trouble finding the memo about it being August this week? Because, dang.

Camp ended. The surgery went well (thanks for the prayers).  My health is better. (Now I sound like an old person. Oy.) The kids are ok. Now we are just trying to settle in to these unstructured weeks before school. I'm excited for them, and nervous too. Wish me luck.

Monday: Taking advantage of my husband coming home early to rest from surgery: he'll be grilling. Along with what we grill (which will include zucchini), beets, tomato salad (ok, tomatoes and feta tossed with vinaigrette...I call it salad) and some dessert. Maybe. I think there are chicken breasts in the freezer, in which case--yogurt chicken. I know you are shocked.

Tuesday: still love taco Tuesday. Rock on.

Wednesday: Ack, last day of summer work for me. So, stuff from the box. And something to go with it...um... I have a pesto chicken dish (from Dinner A'Fare) that will work for this night.

Thursday: Man, leftovers would be great about now. Barring that, probably Dinner A'Fare, and the buttermilk edamame-cherry tomato salad, and something.

Friday: Kids are back in to pizza Fridays. Who am I to judge?

So I finally made the salmon salad from Dinner: A Love Story. It was a hit with the grownups (and I wasn't even bothering for the kids, though the older boy piped up, "I'll have the salad without the salmon," so I guess I need to remember this expanding palate lives with me now). It was awesome. Even the day after surgery, my husband loved it, and it felt like a big bowl of summer. It did, of course, take me days to make it, doing it piecemeal, but eventually I had enough momentum that it worked. And it was delicious.

And? Extra tip, especially for local folks but I bet it would work at a lot of places: I went to my favorite grocery store (which has a great meat/fish selection) and noted they had a bunch of smallish pieces of salmon left over. When I told the man at the counter I needed salmon but it was just for a salad so I would be happy to take small pieces, his face lit up and he said, "If you want the tails, you can have them for a song." And next thing I knew, he cut the price by a little over half. It was awesome. I knew it was going in a salad so I didn't need a pretty piece, and it still tasted phenomenal.

Here's wishing you a lazy summer week full of happy surprises and old favorites (still eating tomato sandwiches every day for lunch, yum). Go check out I'm an Organizing Junkie! for more inspired summer menus!