Sunday, October 23, 2016

Menu plan & a crazy soccer day

We survived our trip to Fresno for a soccer game today (we lost, 2-3, but it was a great battle!) & M still has Sam at another game. He dropped me off on our way, so I could get dinner ready, throw together a menu, and get sorted out for the week.


Menu Plan:
Saturday - out, for our anniversary dinner
Sunday - Costco pizza (freezer), as we will be getting back super late from soccer
Monday - clam chowder & salad
Tuesday -  Fish & rice
Wednesday - my parents are arriving. Maybe chicken pesto pasta + goat cheese crostini
Thursday - out to dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday. Sam has been very interested in taking my parents to an Indonesian restaurant near us. We'll see how everyone likes that. ;-)
Friday -  we will be on our weekend getaway, so somewhere out
Saturday - same as Friday
Sunday - ? Maybe chicken rice pilaf or risotto

Oh, and I got up at 5:30 (on a Sunday, no less) to pack a lunch to take, so we wouldn't have to buy anything while we were traveling. Unfortunately, we were out of ice (someone forgot to close the freezer the last 1/2" or so). All of the food was fine, but the ice trays (in the front) were liquid. Which means, we had enough cold water to survived the game, but it was 85 in Fresno & the boys were dying for cold drinks after their game. I used my Starbucks gift card (2x in a weekend!) & treated them to passion iced tea, water, a chocolate chip cookie & a bathroom stop. Zero out of pocket.

I'm also feeling super neighborly after my weekend. I picked persimmons & gave away 6 batches to grateful neighbors. One traded me for 6 gorgeous apples from their yard. I also biked to a friend's house to drop off another batch of persimmons. Persimmons are fabulous, but once they ripen, we have 250-300+ at a time. And, if I don't get to them, the squirrels will. The squirrels knock them onto the pathways, where they splatter & make a giant sticky mess. Giving them away before the squirrels get to them is good for everyone. Well, except for the squirrels. :-) Trading or just giving away your produce is the best high. I love it!

I also picked our recently ripened oranges & dropped off a huge batch at another friend's house, and made amazing fruit smoothies using freshly ripened oranges off of our tree. If only the cost of living wasn't so high, and my family didn't live so far away. . . California definitely has its pluses. :-)

If the squirrels leave me any avocados this year, it will be epic.

In other fun news, my mom & dad are checking a bag on their way home (it's free with their credit card) & taking all of my unused toiletries back to a disabled aunt that I have. I've been trying to figure out how to use it up before we move, and this is a perfect solution. My mom will help my aunt (it's her sister) & then donate the rest to the homeless shelter where they volunteer. I feel SO GOOD about this. I've felt really wasteful for the things I've bought & can't use, and it's so nice to know that it will go to people who can use it.

And, that's it for us! Super excited for our weekend away. Much less excited about the work week ahead. ;-) More details about our fun weekend & how we blend splurge & frugal coming up!

Tell me one great thing about your weekend!

9 comments:

  1. Persimmons...oranges and avocados! Well, my green tomatoes are ripening in the window does that count lol. Great idea on taking your toiletries to someone who can use them. I gift my stepdaughter any freebies we can't use.

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    1. Definitely count the green tomatoes! We had a really small crop of tomatoes this year. Not sure what happened. It's hard to substitute persimmons or oranges for tomatoes ;-)

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  2. I think sharing your over abundant fruit is fantastic. I watched my neighbor's pear tree blossom, fruit, ripen then fall and rot. It made me very sad to see all the waste. I know she could have gotten one of the food pantries or homeless shelters to have someone pick them and put them to use.

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    1. That makes me so sad! It's hard to get around to picking all of the produce that ripens, but so worth it vs letting it rot!!

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  3. Other than raspberries, no fruit in my yard. What a treat to everyone.

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  4. Other than raspberries, no fruit in my yard. What a treat to everyone.

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    1. Raspberries are my favorite! We could get quite a trade on if you were local. :-)

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  5. Your yard sounds yummy!!!! I would fight the squirrels for the avocados. No really, you would find me in the tree with a broom.
    Being on the IL/WI border, we don't have much of a growing season in ur yard. Maybe some raspberry plants that snuck into our yard form the neighbors. We grow tomatoes, basil(which got a fungus and had to be pitched), dill, green onions, parsley, and oregano. Hmmmmm, that sounds like a lot but we only get handfuls. It's really not worth the effort. Can you tell that I am the one that takes care of it?

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    1. I tried to convince my husband to put up a giant net around the tree. Sadly, the net was more than the value of the avocados. ;-) But yes, I'm ready to fight them off this year!!! I love avocados. There are about 25 on the tree right now, needing to get just a bit bigger. . .

      Also, your yard actually sounds like it's producing a variety, but not enough quantity. I hate that! Makes it feel like a waste of time.

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