Mealplan Monday #124 and a sore knee

I had the best of intentions on getting the mealplan posted this morning...but things just didn't go my way.

After a weekend spent taking Aleve, using Icy Hot, and limping around like an assault victim, I made an appointment with my regular doc.  Result - possible osteoarthritis.  Still more testing to come, though.  And for dessert tonight Ill be having tramadol.  

Monday - Mediterranean Pork Chops, rice, green beans
Tuesday - Order pizza out (we're going to start doing this every Tuesday for a while)
Wednesday - Chicken tacos, beans, pico de gallo
Thursday - Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet, carrots
Friday - Turkey Lazy Daisy Meatballs, masheds, limas
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Ham and Cheese party sammies, chips, coleslaw

Gina

The stuff you do for your band kid

I volunteered to clean the ice rags for marching band practice last night.  The ice rags help the sweaty kids cool off so they don't pass out at practice - it's a good thing.  It involves picking up the rags, washing them, then returning them to school.  Not rocket science, but time consuming.  My washer got a real workout yesterday with the regular laundry during the day, and rags at night.

The lady that coordinates it all calls herself the Ice Rag Nazi offered to give a demo the first day of band camp.  I'm not even kidding. 

 I washed all of the rags with a little bleach, then spun them well, then grouped them in tens in the coolers.  It makes no sense to dry them in the dryer to turn around and wet them down tomorrow.

I also cleaned out the inside of the coolers, because, YUCK. Now all that's left to do is layer them with ice and cold water.  Ice rags are a nifty thing on your neck when it's blazing hot at band practice!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #123 and lunch in Brenham

Friday was a super hot day and I had a nice visit with my mother and Carol (a friend from college days!) in Brenham.  Mother and I spent the morning talking and looking at quilts and learning how to do fancy stitches on her new Bernina and feeding the chickens bread and petting Gus.  Time seemed to go by fast.

 At about 12:30 I met Carol for lunch at the Funky Art Cafe just a couple blocks away.

 It was a fun place full of ladies who lunch.

 We feasted on mahi mahi tacos and chicken salad and caught up and what our peeps are doing.

Monday - Baked Mexican Tilapia, squash, rice
Tuesday - Spagetti and Meatballs, salad
Wednesday - Chicken Lazone, masheds, fresh veggie
Thursday - Taco Salads
Friday - One Pot Tortellini in tomato cream sauce, broccoli
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Sloppy Joes, chips, carrot and celery sticks
Dessert will be ice cream - it's so hot I barely feel like cooking, but ice cream makes all of us feel better!

Next to the cafe there was a cute gift shop we wandered through.

 Full of stuff that ladies who lunch like to look at.  Then we strolled up the downtown streets, ducking into cute gift and antique shops, pausing to admire a town garden and a cistern with historical plaques.

 Which led us to Must Be Heaven, another place to try for lunch on another visit:

In all of time my mother has lived here, I have never been to the creamery.  

Can you believe how quickly summer has slipped by?

Gina

5 thing Friday - frugal cooking, twins?, dates, band camp, patches

Sometimes I find things in the pantry that challenge me to be frugal and creative.  Like these cupcakes:

Halloween cupcake liners, Key Lime cake, blue raspberry vanilla frosting = Sharkbite Cupcakes. Ha!  Delicious.

Leftover grilled chicken plus a couple of grilled corn on the cobs with everything you have from the crisper drawer and some grated cheese = BBQ Chicken Salad.  Oooh, that was good.

These two are looking more and more alike every day.  Some lady in Walgreen's asked them if they were twins, then asked who was older, then asked Scout if he was 12.  Scout was not amused.

Hubby and I are going to start going out for date nights where we don't discuss the kids.  We discovered that Whole Foods is a fun place to go.  There are tables and leather couches to kick back in, or you can sit out on a deck. 

Band camp started, Summer is winding down, marching season is ramping up, life is going to get more hectic until Winter Break. 

Someone outgrew his scout sash, so my current sewing project is sewing all the patches onto the new one.  I don't really mind!

Gina 

Tourist in our town - Katherine Fleischer Park

Scout and I had about an hour to visit this North Austin park off Wells Branch Parkway - I never even knew it existed.

 Huge park, very large trees, a gravel track that goes on forever.

 

 It was relatively quiet, except for the swimming pool area which had a lot of elementary-aged kids having a great time.  The weather was mild and breezy and beautiful for late July.

 The park site was once a homestead way back when, so there are pioneer era buildings with a sign saying they do tours.

I wish we'd had more time to spend there.  It would be a great place for me to walk when school starts back up.

Gina

Mealplan Monday #122

 

Monday - Beef Stroganoff Crock Pot, noodles, green beans
Tuesday - Ranch Buffalo Chicken tacos, charro beans
Wednesday - Cashew Chicken and broccoli, lo mein noodles
Thursday - Scrambled eggs, Rotel Cheese Grits, sausages, biscuits
Friday - Apple and Sage Pork Chops, couscous, brussels sprouts
Saturday - Dad grill
Sunday - Taco Chili Crock Pot, fritos

Gina

Summer Bucket List update 2014

Time to review my bucket list and see how my summer is panning out.

*Sonic - only been a couple times - will do more often.  Part of the problem is that they keep putting Bluebell on sale at Walgreen's, so we eat that at home!
*Make pickles - yes.  I found a great recipe for refrigerator pickles here

*Eat on patio  - no, it's been so humid and terrible outside.  We are grilling out there, but eating inside.
*Den blinds - not yet. 
*Pool more often - when it is sunny, I take my old mama self over there and try to exercise  with my kickboard.
*Library - no, but I am making my way through this stack of books.  I have read Heaven Lake and I really liked it.  Plowing my way through The Samurai's Garden now. 
*Get Bubbie ready for camp - done.  He had a good time and came home worn out, and with three merit badges.

*Help Scout find a job - he didn't need my help and found a job in Receiving at Macy's.  He really likes it, but they don't schedule him much.   And it's time for us to get him scheduled for college classes.
*Driver's ed - I told Bubbie we would wait til Spring. 
*Make donuts and pretzel bread - no.  My pretzel bread was a fail.  However, we have a plan to explore coffee shops in Austin where we will consume plenty of baked goods.
*Carol -  The rain cramped our plans.  We set a rain date of August 8th.  I have this to bring her:

*Paint chairs and kitchen - may Fall.  It just can't happen right now.  
*Visiting my mother - still haven't done this.
*Lunch out - We've enjoyed Lucy's, BJ's Brewhouse, Asia Cafe, Super China, 

Hopdoddy's, Cafe Java, Niki's, Whataburger, and Torchy's, to name a few.

*Couch for firstborn - I think I'm going to give him the futon. 
*Grass - helped by rain and growing faster than we can keep up!
*Vacay - not yet.
*Car for me - ditto

No worries - we still have about 3 weeks of Summer vacay left!

Gina