MPM--Last Gasps of Summer

I wasn't thinking this way when I chose the title for the week, but it has been that kind of summer. I was diagnosed with asthma this summer and while I am really bummed out to now be a person who will not be able to answer "none" when a doctor asks for any medicines I take, I am relieved that my breathing issues have a name, and more importantly, a solution. I like (liked) being a person who surprised new doctors by not being on any meds, but I like breathing more. But it's been that kind of summer, dubbed Healthcare Tour 2012 by our beloved former babysitter. Emergency room visits, surgeries, not just us but many of our friends...I have loved summer but I am so hoping to be changing luck as we are getting in to fall.

Last Friday was National Waffle Day, and since the scrimmage didn't serve food, we had toasted freezer waffles for dinner, continuing the eating down the freezer theme for me. I am getting so spoiled by the scrimmages. There is easy parking and the kids can go play anywhere and I can find them easily. Love that. And I'm also getting spoiled by the Eating What's In the House. I love that my freezer and cabinets are empty enough that I can see what I have. There is a lesson in there for me.

So, last days of summer meal plan:

Monday: I haven't made my corn-zucchini-tomato thing all summer so tonight is the night. I might augment with a Dinner A'Fare meal (I thought I'd overdone it on those but you know what? It's been just right. Note to self: start stocking for summer next March or April and you will thank yourself in the lean weeks of August.)

Tuesday: Don't mess with success: Taco Tuesday. (Last week, the taco-off was amazing with two high school football players and my oldest boy--three pounds of ground beef, 36 taco shells, and almost nothing left over but lettuce. I'm glad I didn't make a fourth pound of meat.)

Wednesday: Freezer meal and CSA veggies.

Thursday: First grade orientation! Probably quinoa pesto for the boys and leftovers for the grownups.

Friday: The night before the first grader's first football game--it has to be a pasta dinner, right?

Last week, we still had the high school football player here so it was a little off. My husband got an extra set of chicken and in a total whiff, I forgot I could actually freeze it and instead made chicken with leeks (which PickyBoy decided he no longer eats, sigh) and I tried a chicken curry with apples from Time for Dinner, which was easy and another oh-wow-I-have-all-these-ingredients-booyah things. Three of four of us ate it, so we'll call it a success. I wish I had time to make rice, but you can't have everything. The curry recipe was so basic (brown some chicken; remove from pan and sautee onions in that pan; add apples and curry powder to the onions and sautee a few more minutes; pour in coconut milk and add back chicken. Done. Put cashews on top if you feel like it. We also added green beans and I was thinking I might do this without chicken and with chick peas instead.

I also tried to make my favorite roasted tomato sauce with some Roma tomatoes but alas it didn't work. They didn't shed their skins, and it wasn't the success they usually are. I'm trying to reconcile myself to the end of the season but I'm in denial. I bought a flat of peaches to freeze and we ate them all instead.

Oh--we went out to dinner last week to celebrate a friend's birthday (here, locals) and it was unreal--so good, and the final dessert course included grilled fruits but a crazy good tomato and peach tart with basil ice cream. It sounds gross but the acids and sugars played so well together, it was an ideal end to an August meal.

Wishing you whatever looks like an ideal end to your August. As far as meals go--I'm an Organizing Junkie! has some great ideas. And as the song says--see you in September.