Sunday, October 6, 2013

Oh Fall Where Art Thou?

So after an unusual week (Lego build, Fall Fest, battery dying at a site 22 miles from home), we are settling in to our new normal this week. I know the boys are going to be bummed because it is really going to cut in to playing at home time, but I console myself that the early dark is doing that soon anyway, and this is just preparation for it. But it does make it crucial to have things ready to go for lunches and dinners, so I just spent most of today baking away for the week, so I know for a fact: this is what we're having, for realz. It's in my fridge.

Monday: Rachael Ray turkey shepherd's pie. This was a favorite for a long time but now it's been ages since they had it so the boys might go hungry.

Tuesday: Tacos are in the fridge, ready to go.

Wednesday: Spaghetti.

Thursday: leftovers--shepherd's pie, and also I made Armagnac chicken for Sunday dinner so there are leftovers of that. I finally got smart and something like quintupled the carrots. I love the vegetables in that as much as the chicken, maybe even more.

Friday: Unclear, but probably pizza. It will be after swim practice (which started last week but due to the crazy, we never made it--fortunately the coach was ok with it since the first meet is still far in the future) and it will be the kickoff to my older son's tenth (TENTH!) birthday weekend, so I suspect it will be an all-favorites weekend.

In my kitchen fest (ha ha) today, I also baked off two of the largest sweet potatoes I had ever seen (from the CSA--seriously, the one was about the size of a one-liter bottle of soda) and I will make my favorite miso-sweet potato mash for myself with those. I also have a wilting cabbage from the CSA (and STILL, potatoes aplenty) so I am making the cabbage-white bean dish from 101 Cookbooks; and finally, used the awesome suggestion of the potato gratin, and um, YUM. Also used some of the extra cranberries hanging around with the pears from the CSA to make this pear-cranberry crisp. I am making it for the Mothers & More meeting on Wednesday, though, so I don't know yet how it is. And--finally--I made my sister-in-law's frozen mashed potatoes so those are ready for the holidays.

We are so far relatively unaffected by the government shutdown but not so for our friends. A neighbor works in a federal prosecutorial office (unclear on the details, but we have all cheered as her office has put away several high-profile bad guys), and she's home. Another friend is a labor negotiator, and it strikes me that instead of furloughing him, perhaps they should take him down to DC to work with Congress. Another friend is in foreign service and since is in a language training rotation, is considered non-essential, but that post won't wait. Several friends in DC (of course) are out of work, though the one is a father of a bride-in-a-month, and despite his agitation at not being at work, has delighted his wife by being at home and able to help with the prep. Hoping and praying that sanity and compromise prevail, and soon.

I am completely obsessed with Lorde's Royals. I love her voice, the stripped down sound, the whole thing. Not as thrilled with the video per se but the song itself...I am humming it everywhere.

Busy season here for application prep too so enough blogging for now. Have a great week!

1 comment:

Mom24 said...

I'm coming to your house. That menu sounds wonderful and to have it mostly made? Awesome! Hope you have a good week. This shutdown is ridiculous, I hope it's over soon.

Good luck with the new normal. We're still trying to get on an even keel from school, we're 7 weeks in, this is getting crazy.