This Week With Dee – where I share our menu, my planned home tasks for the week, what I’m reading, self care plans and more. I hope it will give you some ideas for planning your own week or at least a glimpse of one homemaker’s life.
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THIS WEEK WITH DEE
MENU:
David will be out of town Wednesday and Thursday so that’s Chris’ and my opportunity to have sushi and fish, things David doesn’t care for. On Friday, we’ll grill burgers – probably our final time to grill this year.
Monday…
This turned out SO good! I browned a package of Italian sausage along with chopped onion, bell pepper, garlic and a little jalapeno. I drained the grease and added a carton of diced tomatoes, a little chicken broth and a splash of heavy cream. I combined this mixture with cooked elbow macaroni, put it in two baking dishes (I’ll probably freeze one unless we end up having it for lunches), topped with shredded cheese and baked until the cheese with lightly browned. The Italian sausage was sufficient seasoning so I didn’t need to add anything else. David raved about it, and as he’s told me several times, said I need to do cooking videos. I told him after he retires he can do the filming and editing. “Cooking With Dee” – ha!
- cheesy pasta & veggie casserole
- salad
- garlic bread
Tuesday…
- Lentil Tacos
- Mexican rice with peas and corn
- chips & queso
Wednesday…
- sushi takeout
Thursday…
I haven’t decided how I’ll cook the cod. Any suggestions?
- cod
- twice-baked potatoes
- broccoli
- salad
Friday…
- grilled burgers
- macaroni salad
- homemade french fries
- fresh fruit
Saturday…
I bought chicken thighs for this as they should take about the same time to cook as the rice. I love one-dish meals. Well, two…since I’ll serve it with some veggies on the side.
- chicken and rice
- steamed veggies
Sunday…
I’ve got some flour tortillas that need to be used. I haven’t decided if I’ll make homemade tomato soup or use canned. Depends on how the day has gone.
- tomato soup
- quesadillas
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IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
Monday…
I had a Zoom call, cooked for Mom, did my weekly grocery pickup, took groceries to Mom, and wrote the “This Week” post. David had a firefighter meeting so dinner was fairly late.
Tuesday…
I got a couple of birthday cards ready for David to mail when he went to town. I had our monthly Retro Homemaking Club Zoom call. This is something my daughter hosts and I really look forward to it each month. If you are interested in joining the club, here is my affiliate link with all the info:
Every single month more is added to the membership including…
- A Paid Product ($5+ Value)
- Live Virtual Meeting
- Homemaking Printables
- And Much More!
It was a lovely night so David and I spent almost an hour in the backyard stargazing. Such a nice way to end our evening!
Wednesday…
I wrote the weekly grocery haul post and planted the pansies I had bought last Friday. I don’t know if they’ll make it though. It seems that our cats think that pansies make a cushy bed for them.
Thursday…
This was a full but very nice day. I had an Azure Standard order to pick up and David needed to drive to Shawnee (about 50 miles away) to get new miter saw. His was old and the guard had broken off. I’d much rather he keep his fingers! He’ll be using it a lot while remodeling our bathroom and when he saw they had one on sale, he figured it was a good time to go get it.
We decided to combine errands. I rode with him and we picked up the Azure Standard order at noon. I had ordered an item for Lisa so we dropped that off at her house. We picked up sandwiches from Jimmy John’s and headed to Shawnee. There is a Starbucks across the street from Harbor Freight (where David bought the saw) so of course we “needed” a cold brew coffee (David) and an iced London Fog Latte (me) for the trip home.
We each did a bit of work then went to Potrillo’s Mexican Restaurant for dinner. The weather was perfect for a patio meal, although the flies were a bit bothersome.
Later that night we drove down the road away from our trees in order to view the Northern Lights. This is an unusual event for Southern Oklahoma and yet the second time it’s happened this year. We missed the first time as we were out of town.
This was from our yard:
Friday…
I took more food to Mom and we enjoyed grilled hot dogs, homemade potato salad and baked beans for dinner.
Saturday…
I washed the sheets, remade the bed, folded a load of laundry, did dishes and used the blower on the front porch and walkway.
The mirror we ordered for our bathroom arrived and I’m very pleased with it. It came extremely well packaged and arrived without a scratch. Here is a photo. It will be hung horizontally. For now, it’s in my office.
Sunday…
I scheduled social media, made our weekly menu, ordered groceries, and cleared out the fridge.
THIS WEEK
Monday…
Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day!
I picked up my grocery order this afternoon and took Mom’s food to her. David is at a firefighter meeting and I’m hoping to finish this post before he gets home for dinner. (*That didn’t happen. It’s after 9 p.m. and I’m just getting this finished.)
Tuesday…
I have a Zoom call, the weekly Grocery Haul post to write, and will clean the bathroom.
Wednesday…
David is going to Texas for an employee’s retirement party. It’s just a quick trip so I’m not going with him this time. Plus, my brother will be away so I don’t want to leave Mom with neither of us in town.
I’ll have Chris pick up sushi on his way home from work. This is something we enjoy together but it’s been quite awhile since we’ve had it. We haven’t been doing our weekly film night together in a long time (it’s supposed to be on Thursday nights) but with David out of town this might be a good time for us to restart our ritual.
Thursday…
David will either be home late this night or if he is too tired, may come home Friday morning. We’ll see. In any case, he won’t be here for dinner so I’ve planned to cook fish for Chris and myself.
Friday…
No specific plans as yet.
Saturday…
Wash sheets, clean house and maybe do a bit of cleaning on the front porch and back patio. The weather is still nice and this would be a good time to give these areas a good cleaning before winter.
Sunday…
Make the weekly menu, order groceries to pick up Monday, schedule social media for the week and read.
READING
Finished…
Trust by Hernan Diaz
This one took me a long time to read. I enjoyed the last part of the book but overall, it was kind of a chore to get through. Unless you have a strong interest in the stock market crash of ’29 and what played into it, I’m not sure I can recommend it.
Currently reading…
Tom Lake: A Novel by Ann Patchett
This was a LWD Book Club selection but I’m just now getting around to reading it. I’m actually doing the audiobook version because it’s read by Meryl Streep.
I’m almost half way through and LOVING it!
James by Percival Everett
I started this a couple of days ago and it’s excellent. In fact, I read until almost 2:30 a.m. last night because it’s hard to put down.
Other books ongoing…
The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady ~ Edith Holden
An Incomplete Education ~ Judy Jones and William Wilson
On our recent trip to South Texas, David and I listened to an audiobook on Audible:
Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000 Mile Adventure by Monisha Rajesh
This was SO interesting and now we really want to take a long train trip one day. Not in North Korea or India but maybe across Canada.
If you don’t already have Audible, you can get a free trial here. We’ve definitely been enjoying it on long drives.
SELF CARE
Manicure, pedicure and coloring my hair? Still on my self-care list this week. Must make these a priority!
HEALTH & FITNESS
I’ve been getting outdoors for a short walk each day and that feels great. When David was at his firefighter meeting tonight, Chris and I took a couple of laps around the driveway. I think we are going to start doing this each evening when he first gets home from work. Back in the spring David and I were taking a short walk after lunch. Now that the weather is so nice I’d like to start that up again.
FUN ACTIVITIES
- Sushi and movie night with Chris
- A donut run for the kids Friday night?
- at least one stargazing night
HABIT OF THE MONTH (October)
LWD October Challenge:
If you aren’t already in the group, here is the link:
LIFE WITH DEE
I’d love to see pictures of your challenge so feel free to share them in the group or on Instagram and tag me:
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What’s on your plan for the week ahead? Home tasks? Menu? Fun? What are you reading?
You may also enjoy…
A 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist, James is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn, an American classic and a favorite of mine.
I started Tom Lake and then never finished it so I need to re-check it out. You asked about Cod, maybe a partly steamed/partly sauteed sort of situation? steam until mostly finish and then sautee in butter to get crispy? Can you share more about what you order form Azure Standard and how you store it? I’ve looked at it several times over the years and never taken the chance.
Thanks for the cod suggestion. I may try that.
As for Azure Standard, I especially like some of the bulk items like sugar, oatmeal, flour, dried beans, etc. I have several 5 gallon buckets with screw on lids for an airtight seal which are especially good for things like sugar and flour. I have some large glass jars for lentils and dried beans. I find this helpful since I live in a small town without much access to organic foods and almost no bulk options. I’m not sure I’d end up using it as much if I lived in a city, though, unless I had cause/desire to keep a large stockpile. But since we have the storage space it’s nice to keep all the staples in good supply. David installed extra shelves in our large storage closet as an extra pantry during the early part of the pandemic when it was challenging to find a number of food items. We jokingly refer to this as our personal grocery store. And it does save money to buy certain things by the case.
That makes sense. Thanks for the insight. I think that’s why I’ve never actually bought anything from them.