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
Hello, my friends! Can you believe this is the last full week of February? Today it’s supposed to be in the low 70s which makes me very happy. It’s Presidents Day so David and Chris are off work. We are taking advantage of the opportunity to have a (very) early dinner on the patio of our favorite local Mexican restaurant. We haven’t done so since last fall so I’m pretty excited about it. I like to cook but it’s getting a bit ridiculous – ha! My mom is going to meet us there and I think she’s really looking forward to getting out, too.
I’m going to go get a cup of coffee and be right back. Feel free to do likewise and then we’ll enjoy this lovely playlist as I share what I’ve got planned for the week.
We’ll kick things off with our menu. We have icky weather coming in Wednesday and Thursday so I’m not planning to get a grocery order this week. I’m well-stocked and I need to use up some things anyway.
MENU:
Monday…
- early dinner at Potrillo’s Mexican restaurant
Tuesday…
My mom loved this the last time I made it so I’m making a big batch. I’ll take enough to her to eat at least a couple of times over the next few days.
- Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas
- flour tortillas, cheese, all the usual toppings
- chips & salsa
Wednesday…
- pork tenderloin
- roasted veggies (potatoes, onions, peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, asparagus)
- salad
Thursday…
- chicken and veggies in red Thai curry sauce
- rice
- naan bread
Friday…
Somewhere I read about using the Aldi “red bag” chicken breasts to make a Chick-Fil-A copycat sandwich. I don’t eat there so I can’t say how it compares but we tried it a couple of weeks ago and the sandwiches were delicious! I toasted and buttered the buns, put the cooked chicken on them and we added dill pickles, cheese, lettuce and mayo. Easy and so good!
- chicken sandwiches on brioche buns
- french fries
- salad
Saturday…
- lasagna
- salad
- garlic toast
Sunday…
- quesadillas
- Homemade Tomato Soup
IN MY HOME:
REVIEW OF LAST WEEK
What did I do last week? I cooked, washed dishes, tidied up, did laundry and made the bed each day. I got a grocery order. I organized the fridge. I took food to my mom. You know…same ol’, same ol’…
I wouldn’t say that I’m bored. I have so many things I like to do and am interested in. However, I will say I’m ready to shake things up a bit. At least we get a meal out today!
THIS WEEK
I’d like to start spring cleaning next week. This week I want to go room-by-room with a notebook to write down the things I’d like to accomplish during the month of March.
WORK
I’ve been blogging for many years and have a huge amount of content here on the blog. I’d like to begin systematically going through older posts, updating some and maybe deleting some others. There are lots of broken links (sites I linked to in the past which no longer exist). I’d like to clean those up. I would also like to create some collections of topics in a way that would make it easier for readers to access them. Just a general freshening up of the blog, you know?
READING
I finished Cozy Minimalist Home, What Falls From the Sky and The Secret this past week. I highly recommend What Falls From the Sky. Very thought-provoking and well-written.
I started The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (the author of Anne of Green Gables). I’m listening to the audio version on Scribd. I’m going to continue with book two of the Beverly Lewis series – The Missing. I’m also continuing my daily reads: The Bible, The Daily Stoic and Finding Your Own North Star.
SELF CARE
In my mind, I lump “self development” into this self care category. Nurturing my mind is very important to me. I’m pleased to report that I’ve done Duolingo French lessons for 56 days in a row. Haven’t missed a single day since I started! I also have an annual subscription to Master Class. I’ve completed two courses and started a third. I want to do these at least 3-5 days a week. By the way, I can give a few free 14-day passes so if you’d like to check it out, let me know and I’ll email you the link.
HEALTH & FITNESS
I’ve been reading more about the importance of daily walks. I’m still not doing this. No excuses – I MUST make this a habit again!
FUN ACTIVITIES
I’ve mentioned it several times but let’s just say it again – a meal out on the patio of Potrillo’s! Can you tell I’m excited? We used to eat out in restaurants at least once or twice a week and I miss it greatly.
Chris and I watched an excellent movie together last week – The Straight Story. It was sweet and sentimental without being sappy. It has a well-deserved 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. If you get a chance, do watch it!
David and I were going to watch a movie last night but he started working on our taxes that morning and didn’t finish until 1 a.m.! We’ve had our accountant do our taxes for the past 27 years but he retired and we weren’t happy with the people who took over his office. David decided he could do it on Turbo Tax. Some of our stuff is rather complicated but he finally got it done. I’m not sure if he thinks the cost savings was worth it, though. I think we need to find another accountant before next tax season. All that to say that we didn’t get to watch a movie. We’ll try again, though. If you have any movies to recommend, leave me a comment. He’ll watch most anything but I’m not a fan of anything scary (yeah, I’m a wimp). And I’m still grieving the death of my dad so I’m avoiding sad movies for the time being. Comedies or Romantic Comedies would be my choices right now.
HABIT OF THE WEEK
I’m going to make a real effort to put in a solid three hours of writing every week. That means putting it on my calendar as if it were a meeting or appointment.
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What’s on your plan for the week ahead? Home tasks? Menu? Fun? What are you reading?
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Tonight we’re having Parmesan pork chops (Crockpot) and broccoli; tomorrow is vegetable fried rice; then leftovers; then I’ll be making Half Baked Harvest’s recipe for Creamy White Bean Lemon Orzo Soup.
We eat out once/week. Sometimes it’s dining in a restaurant, other times a takeout pizza or Thai.
Have been slacking on my exercise! I need to get back in the habit of walking every day, too. It’s been so cold here (northern IL) that I have no motivation to bundle up and go out and walk. I do have a treadmill in my basement, but I never use it.
Reading…just started “The Good Life Method.”
I’d love the recipe for Parmesan Pork Chops, please! We have sleet/snow here today and a windchill of around 2 degrees. I’m not walking outdoors, either. I do have a treadmill in my toasty warm office so there’s no excuse for me.
I looked up the book and it sounds wonderful. I’m adding it to my “to read” list. Thanks!
On Sunday I did my shadow hosting session with the ACB, which is the first hosting session newly trained hosts do, where a host who has been doing it for a while acts as co-host to be there in case of any issues. It went well, so I’m now cleared for solo hosting, which I’ll be doing at the end of this week.
So, other than the daily things I never bother to mention (a check-in Zoom call I do every day with the ACB, daily houshold chores, petcare, etc) my week looks like this:
Monday: this is a roleplaying week.
Tuesday: Dad coming over for dinner, plus a Zoom crochet session.
Wednesday: a Zoom social call I like to go to, the weekly Zoom call for the Artists’ Way support group, and ACB open mic night. I also want to set up my post for Friday, so I can make sure it’s scheduled to go up on time.
Thursday: we have someone coming to do anual boiler maintenance. Plus, we have new computers coming, so I want to make absolutely certain all my files are completely backed up to my external hard drive and Dropbox to make them easy to grab when my new computer arrives and is ready for them. I also have a loom knitting Zoom call I want to go to.
Friday: the Zoom book club I co-facilitate, plus I’m hosting another Zoom call that starts about half an hour after the book club ends, and Friday night a friend I’ve made through the ACB is having a virtual birthday party I’m planning to attend.
Saturday: there’s a sewing-related ACB Crafters call I’m thinking of going to (it’s a beginners call, and I already know how to do a fair amount of things with sewing, but I might go anyway to see if I can learn anything new). I’m also hosting another call on Saturday, and there’s Zoom kareoke too.
Sunday: I have two Zoom calls I want to get to, which are the ACB Crafters book club and a cooking call I enjoy.
When it comes to reading, I just need to read a couple of short books I promised to read and review (there are three of them) as well as my weekly chapter of The Artists’ Way, and the rest of the book for the ACB Crafters book club.
As for my menu…
Monday: baked potato with salad.
Tuesday: veggie casserole with roast potatoes.
Wednesday: leftovers from Tuesday.
Thursday: jackfruit sausages, onion gravy, mashed potatoes, and peas. (which was on last week’s menu, but didn’t end up getting made)
Friday: leftovers from Thursday.
Saturday: baked potato with cheese and beans.
Sunday: pasta with tomato sauce and cheese.
It sounds like a nice, full week. Congratulations on being cleared for solo hosting! Hope the computer transfers went well. Have a lovely weekend.
Thanks.