Right now... (an occasional meme, alternating from time to time with "The Current")
Reading: Between books right now. Year-to-date, I've finished 13 books (out of my Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge goal of 24 books). Halfway there at the halfway point of 2018!!
Recent purchase: The Race to Save the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport.
Watching: The Handmaid's Tale," which continues to be gripping, extremely well done television. Just a few more episodes to go in season 2...! (Episode 11 of 13 tonight!)
On the big screen, we've recently seen (& enjoyed) "Ocean's 8" and "The Incredibles 2."
Listening: To a podcast by Civilla Morgan, who runs a site called Childless Not By Choice, interviewing Gateway Women's Jody Day. Listen here!
Following: Tweets & stories from the staff of the Capital-Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, where five staff members were murdered this past week by a nut with a gun & a grudge. :( And yet, they are still publishing a damn paper. :) Journalists have been my heroes since the days of Woodward & Bernstein (maybe even earlier). The Capital-Gazette survivors show why journalists are still my heroes. :) (NOT the "enemy of the people," as some people (cough cough) would have you believe... :p )
Drinking/Eating: Dinner tonight: baked chicken breasts with peas & rice. Drinking lots of water this weekend, as we're in the middle of a heat wave...!
Wearing: As I've gotten older, I've felt more self-conscious about wearing shorts in public in the summertime (although I wear them constantly around the house). I tend to wear capris instead. But I've been making an exception this weekend...!! (Current temps: 34C & 43C humidex -- that's 93F & 109F. And it was even hotter yesterday!)
Trying: To get better about meal planning. I found a cheap little magnetic dry-erase board (sticks to the refrigerator) with seven boxes on it, one for each day of the week. Not every slot gets a dinner plan written into it at the beginning of the week (although Fridays are usually lentils and Saturdays we usually eat out) -- but we're at least trying to be a little more pro-active in thinking about it, so that it doesn't get to be 4 p.m. and we're staring blankly at each other saying, "So, what do you want to do about dinner?" (How about you? -- any meal planners out there? Any tips to share?)
Buying (besides books, lol): A cute new foldable/crushable straw sunhat from Zara, in anticipation of our trip to the beach this weekend (that didn't happen -- thank goodness!) I'm not very good about wearing hats or remembering to put on sunscreen when I'm outside for more than a few minutes, but am trying to develop some better habits as I age. ;)
Wanting: Would a break from the extreme heat & humidity be asking too much??
Loving: (Despite the current heat wave) Being able to go outside in shorts or capris & sandals -- no jacket, boots, gloves, hat, scarf, etc., required!! YAY!!
Debating: Whether to head home for a week or so to visit my parents by myself later this summer (late July or August), without dh (who understandably does not want to leave his father right now). Or wait & maybe go for (Canadian) Thanksgiving (in October).
Anticipating: Our wedding anniversary this coming week -- we have tickets to see an all-Canadian production of "Come From Away" downtown!
Feeling: Extremely proud & thankful to be a Canadian... albeit a little depressed over the general state of the world right now... :(
My meal-planning hack is that I list the days of the week in the top corner of the paper I use for my grocery list, and the main dish I plan for each day. If one of us is going to be out that evening for a meeting or other activity, I know to plan ahead so there will be leftovers available. Then as I'm choosing recipes, I can add all the ingredients to the grocery list since it's all in the same place. We do tend to have a seasonal rotation of "greatest hits," favorite recipes that get made a lot, and I think it's time to find the minimal-heat ones, as Minnesota is having weather similar to yours!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd be proud to be a Canadian right now too and am actually quite jealous of you, given things over on this side... :( You'll harbor me as a refugee when we turn into Gilead, right? RIGHT?
ReplyDeleteI plan meals too, and when I'm good about it we are SO MUCH BETTER about food waste and not getting default takeout. I used to do my grocery list on one side of a paper and the menu for the week on the other, which isn't as nice as your white board. Then I did it in my bullet journal, and that was really helpful, although that took a bit of a nosedive in May and June and I'm getting back in the swing of things. Planning meals is super helpful, and then you can plan around ingredients (like if something calls for chicken broth, and if you like me waste half a carton of the damn stuff because you can't use it all up in 5 days...planning makes it possible to do two chicken broth recipes in a week! No waste!). I wish you luck! And an end to this heat. It's been like that across the lake, too, and it is AWFUL. We're sleeping on the floor of the TV room and while it's cooler, it's not exactly comfy. Sweaty and comfy bed, or cool and horrid springs in the hips? Tough choice... And happy anniversary in advance!
I just started meal prepping. I'm about to go to the grocery store to buy ingredients for my 4th week in a row. What I've done is pick one thing for breakfast, one thing for lunch, and then I think of really easy dinners. On Sunday, I make the breakfast item (quiche or egg casserole) and the lunch item for the week.
ReplyDeleteQuiches and egg casseroles are good because they're so easy to make and you can vary the ingredients that you use (meat, cheese, veggies) so you don't get sick of the same taste week after week, and it's easy to heat up a serving in the morning.
For lunches, I made taco meat one week and portioned out taco toppings and tortillas for each day; cheese enchiladas, rice, and beans the next week; and roasted veggies (chopped carrots, celery, and onion with olive oil) with quinoa and goat cheese the next week. This week I'm going to cook some ground beef, add a jar of sauce from the store, and boil some spaghetti. Surprisingly, I haven't gotten sick of eating the same thing for lunch every day.
Since I'm eating such filling breakfasts and lunches, dinner has been small (and easy!). I like soup or PB&J sandwiches or a bowl of cereal or store bought ravioli that I just throw in some boiling water.
This is totally new to me. I haven't been known for my great eating habits throughout my life. But I'm really enjoying it. Spending my Sunday afternoon or evening making food for the week relieves me from thinking of and preparing food every day. Plus, I'm eating better (protein, vegetables, etc.) and it tastes good. (For snacks I like nuts, air popped popcorn, or a piece of dark chocolate.)
And it's reducing my food waste too. If I have anything left over at the end of the week, I portion it out and throw it in the freezer. After this week, I'll be able to have a whole week of leftovers and eat something different every day.
Oh and I also write my grocery list in a way that groups things together that are near each other in the store. That helps me get in and out of the grocery store pretty quickly.
Keep me posted on what you end up cooking! I'm always looking for new ideas. :)