Meal Plan Monday - Week of August 30

Yeah yeah yeah, today is Tuesday. We'll all just have to get over it.

I don't have many meals planned for this week for two reasons. First, last week resulted in a LOT of leftovers, so last night was "finish the leftovers" night. Second, we are heading out of town on Friday for Labor Day weekend. Here we go:

• lemon pepper chicken, sweet potatoes, broccoli
• salmon, rice or couscous, peas
• BBQ porkchops, corn, sweet potato fries

Wardrobe Rehab (Before)

Ugh. I need a wardrobe overhaul. In the last four years I've had a lot of life changes and some body changes, but I haven't kept my wardrobe updated to match.

This is the current state of my closet. Please don't judge me.


















That doesn't look so bad, you say? Yeah, here's the other angle, the one that shows the floor.


















And then there's this:

Yup, those are two bags labeled "skinny clothes" that I just haven't had the heart to donate yet.

But now Matt and I are getting ready to move, and so I have to ask myself, what is really worth moving?

I think I need to admit that I'm probably not going to fit into those "skinny clothes" anytime soon. (I'm only five pounds heavier than I was when I wore them, but it seems like my hips have just spread out a bit. As in, my hip bones have spread out a bit. Is that normal? I read somewhere that it happens, I just thought it wasn't supposed to happen until after you have a kid.)

So between the move and this new admission, I need to refresh the wardrobe. Updates to come.

The Epic Sugar Cookie Project

I promised months ago to post about my sugar cookie project. It turned out to be epic, and then I went out of town a few days later for an extended trip. Anyways...

Back in June, both the Army and the Army Corps of Engineers celebrated their 235th birthdays. To celebrate, Matt and I made sugar cookies for his entire office, plus some extras to send to his supervisors.

This is the Corps of Engineers logo:

I found a similarly-shaped cookie cutter and used them to make sugar cookies. These things were HUGE!

Multiply that by one hundred and something... laid out on the dining room table. The frosting takes FOREVER to dry!

And then we packaged up a few sets to send to DC. The rest went to Matt's office.

Of course, a few cookies suffered from snapped-off towers, which turned them into "taste test" cookies for quality assurance purposes. :-) It mostly turned out well, except that a lot of people in Matt's office didn't recognize the castle... they thought the cookies were E's for Engineers. It was a good project, but we probably won't attempt anything like this on the 100+ scale ever again.

Making Progress

A few weeks ago, my sister was in town for a short visit. As I made a grocery list, I asked her if she had any special requests. She said she'd like some blueberries, but then worried that I'd be stuck with them if she didn't finish them before heading back home.

"No worries," I said. "I'll just make blueberry muffins, or a pie."

My sister just stopped and blinked at me. And that's when I realized that I've made some real progress in the cooking department. Sure, I could make some stuff, but I didn't have the breezy confidence I showed when faced with the prospect of extra blueberries. So hey, yay me!

Meal Plan Monday - Week of August 23

I didn't bother with a meal plan last week because Matt was out of town. I did fine on leftovers and a few nights out with friends. But now he's back and this week's theme seems to be leftover-friendly meals. All of these meals are just as good the second time around as the first... and sometimes better!

• meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peas
• macaroni and cheese with ham and peas
• chicken pot pie
• chicken and mushroom pasta

Hierarchy of Cleaning [Brilliance!]

Remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs from that Psychology 101 or Educational Psychology class? This is like that, but more useful. It's for those times when home is a wreck and everything is just all too much:

Brilliant! These really are the things that make you feel better, in order of effectiveness.

[Small Notebook via Apartment Therapy]

Meal Plan Monday - Week of August 9

Yeeeeah, we ate out a lot last week. Reasons include "just felt like it", "power is flickering on and off", and "went to the casino". So the first three meals are carryover from last week:

• spaghetti
• chicken pot pie
• shake-n-bake chicken, mashed potatoes, peas
• stuffed manicotti
• beef stroganoff

Missing the 'Burg

Around this time of year, Matt and I usually manage to make a trip to Colonial Williamsburg so we can get our history on. It's our happy place, our escape from the craziness of D.C. (or wherever). We get to do the history thing, eat some super good food, and catch up with good friends. We like it so much, we got married there.

We were supposed to be there this week while Matt attended a conference, but the trip got canceled. Which means that I did not get my annual visit to the Colonial Williamsburg Spa. And man, I could use it after this past year.

So as a (poor) substitute, I'm drinking apple mint tea. The spa serves it year round, hot in fall and winter, iced in spring and summer. And let me tell you, it tastes fantastic both ways. Get yourself some Numi Moroccan Mint tea, and brew it with apple juice instead of water. (You can also cut the apple juice with water a bit if you find it too sweet.)

Meal Plan Monday - Week of Aug. 2

All right, after being out of town for the last six weeks or so, it's time to get back on the meal plan bandwagon! Here we go:

• chicken pot pie
• salmon, rice, broccoli
• spaghetti
• shake-n-bake chicken, mashed potatoes, peas
• tunaburgers, couscous, sweet potato fries

Now I just need to get back on the cooking bandwagon...