I love weekends! Especially when they are super productive!
After waking up at 5.30am on Saturday morning (this is becoming increasingly more common and also frustrating!) we did a big bedroom cleanup. While we live quite simply and uncluttered, I wanted to do a big bedroom clean deep clean. Cleaning the mattress protector, doing a full vacuum and swifter under the bed, dressing table, tall boy bureau, tv stand and beside tables, throwing things out, cleaning out clothes, dusting everything including the lampshades. It was hard work and you can’t really tell much difference but it feels so good!
I got a sample in the mail of the new Downy Unstopables in-wash scent booster. Oh my gosh – it is so good. The scent really does last and for sheets, it is perfect!
Our sleep last night was a very interrupted one due to the torrential rain storm that came through the city. It has rained for hours and hours and is still going now. When it came time to leave for Mass this morning, it really bucketed down and it was only standing in our foyer that I realized how beautiful our street looks in every season. The rain was falling straight down and it was so loud we could not hear anything else. It was the perfect rainstorm!
Once we got home and had some lunch it was then time to start my bulk cooking. We are still cooking in bulk and freezing and find that still works perfectly for us. We have our fresh produce meals for the few days after our food delivery and then towards the end of the week we use our ‘other’ meals. So lasting through on one Fresh Direct delivery a week is great for our budget as unless it is urgent, we never do any other food shopping. Dropping into the supermarket to get just a carton of eggs or block of cheese always ends up always resulting in spending $30 on other stuff! Using Fresh Direct religiously also works because I only ever buy the things on our list rather than being tempted by the specials in the supermarket. Of course, we can only do this as I plan our meals always a week in advance.
So on the menu today, I made a big batch of Tyler Florence’s Spicy Chicken Coconut Curry which is my standby curry and also Ina Garten’s Parker Split Pea Soup, which is my standby Split Pea Soup recipe. Yes, that is totally me – making curries and soups when it is still humid outside! I am yearning for winter so badly!
So one batch of Tyler’s chicken curry made up 6 meals. One for tomorrow night and five in the freezer. The Split Pea Soup does 10 servings all for our lunches this week. Bill takes turkey on rye every day and I take broccoli slaw with our basic tomato/bell pepper/mushroom sauce. With our soup, it is a great lunch.
We also make our breakfast for the week with a huge batch of Steel Cut Oatmeal that we heat up at work. Using unsweetened almond milk in the steel cut oats is SO yummy and gives it so much flavor. I could live on Steel Cut Oatmeal!!
So after doing all the dishes, tidying up and having a beautiful fresh Tilapia (fish) and salad dinner – I am ready for Monday!!!
And yes, it is STILL pouring. No complaints here though.. it is a great reminder that winter cosiness is just around the corner!