Our most recent houseguests (my parents) have returned home, and I have such a mixture of relief and despondency that I don’t really know what to do with myself. I love them! I love spending time with them! It feels like vacation when they are here, because we go hiking and they take me out to lunches and we spend lots of time chatting and we drink copious amounts of wine! They are so great with Carla, and she has SUCH fun with them, so I am despondent for her as well. But I am also glad to have it be just the three of us again, when we have had so little of that these past three months. Which, of course, makes me feel guilty! Well. I am consoling myself with the knowledge that my parents will return in just a few weeks for Thanksgiving.
I stuffed myself with Gigi Hadid’s vodka pasta last night, which I paired with a very dirty martini. That should say a lot about my current mental state, no? It was deeply comforting, and I have a better outlook on life today. (And: leftovers.)
It seems significant to note that we will have no houseguests for a month. However, in that month, my husband is on call, we have parent-teacher conferences (and two days off from school), I have a freelance project to complete, our ceiling is being repaired (by a totally different person than I referred to in this post; he was the fourth person I talked to and I will believe the repair is happening when I see it), I will execute the week-long volunteer event I have been planning, Carla has a school concert… and then we will have Thanksgiving. And then, the week after our Thanksgiving houseguests leave, we will have another houseguest for what seems to be a minimum of four days. It is all good! We are so lucky to have visitors we love and a life full of activities and events and work! And yet I am just not a person who thrives on Being Busy, I am a person who squeaks and wants to curl into a silent ball.
Moving swiftly on: Halloween is imminent! I have not thought one iota about Halloween, except to thank the costume deities for the fact that Carla wants to be the same thing she was last year and her costume still fits. Perhaps I should give some consideration to decorating for the holiday, or at least buying a pumpkin?
But! Let us not think of all that! Let us think only of food!
Dinners for the Week of October 24-30
- Chicken and Zucchini Stir-Fry: I am not honestly sure I will have time to make this, but I am desperate for stir-fry. It seems like it has been weeks since I’ve eaten it. This is the quickest and easiest stir fry that I make. Plus, I love it.
- Black Bean Tacos: This is my current go-to dinner for the three nights a week when my husband and I eat separately. I don’t use all the yummy toppings listed in the recipe. I just do melty cheddary cheese, lettuce, and copious amounts of my dwindling supply of hoarded sriracha.
- Broccoli with Beef: Can I sneak in a second stir fry?! This one is really easy, too. Although I add a red and a green bell pepper to the broccoli, which makes it a teeny bit more labor intensive.
- Spaghetti with Meat Sauce: I have really had pasta on the brain lately, and the way I make meat sauce is very easy. (Brown a pound of ground beef – say that five times fast – with half a diced onion and as much garlic as makes your heart sing. Add a jar of Ragu pasta sauce, a small can of Hunts tomato sauce, a palm-full of each dried basil and dried oregano, a few shakes of Tabasco, a few shakes of cayenne, and some salt and pepper. Simmer for as long as you can stand it. Eat over pasta of your preferred shape.) Produces leftovers.
- Chicken and Wild Rice Soup: Crockpot. Fall-y. Delicious. Produces leftovers.
What are you eating for dinner this week? Any Halloween plans in the offing?
Oooh that is a busy month. And then more houseguests! Suzanne! You must be tired. I can see how you would be so mixed. On the one hand – yay, love having loved ones here! Also, need a little downtime. I SEE YOU. Tomorrow’s stir-fry will be made in your honour. I love stir-fry and we have some iteration of it every week. Nothing too exciting on the roster, foodwise, this week. My husband is going out of town for a couple of days, but I don’t think that’s going to factor in much to my meal plan. I might make soup on the weekend, because it’s suddenly winter!
We’re going to carve pumpkins today. Our yard is only partly decorated because North’s been sick and Beth’s been out of town and I just didn’t have the energy to do the whole thing myself because we have A LOT of decorations. When I told North we might not put everything up this year, they said, “How could we do that?” and I thought, well, if no one else helps…. (speaking of task assignment).
I will be out of town on Halloween proper, so we will be carving pumpkins before I leave. I have left instructions on trick or treating for my husband and lots of candy and toys. We have lights on the house and I feel like we are doing Halloween right.
But dinner? Who knows? We have been surviving on leftover butternut squash soup and I don’t have a ton to report otherwise.
I relate so much to your feelings of both overwhelm when family is visiting, and guilt when they go. We see my parents a lot, and I LOVE LOVE spending time with them. But, as you well know, it just throws off any “normal” routines- yes, you chat and relax and get lunch/ dinnner with them and in our case watch movies and do fun things, etc etc. But it is difficult to, say, stick to your workout routine, or clean your house as you might, or just have your normal alone time to blog or read, etc. Or even get groceries or plan your week. So I also sometimes feel a little sense of “relief” in a way when they do leave, just because it is nice to get back to “normal life”, but then I feel absolutely horribly guilty, because I simultaneously love every second that I am blessed to be able to spend with my (now aging…) parents! They live near enough that we see them usually a couple times or several times a month, but not so near that we can just get together for dinner and have the rest of the day free to our own thing. So they do often either come for most of the weekend, or at least an overnight + most of another day. I sometimes wish they lived right here in town, because then we could see each other very frequently, without needing to disrupt the ENTIRE weekend, either. Our boys are already so busy with sports and things, that when we do have a free weekend, sometimes I just want to chill or relax- but then we also want to see family, which then means we basically never have just free/open time. Anyway! This is clearly a struggle for me too because my comment is now longer than your post. LOL!
I have chicken tortilla soup AND chicken and sweet potato stew on the menu this week– I am also looking for fall-y and delicious with leftovers.
Yes to all of the feelings about having beloved houseguests. I’m tired FOR you.
We’re eating this week: Flank Steak, mashed potatoes & green beans (seems very hearty/appropriate for cold weather); chicken tenders (from frozen) and salad; chili mac, maybe with broccoli cornbread if I can get that put together (https://site.jiffymix.com/recipe/broccoli-cornbread/); and Friday night, possibly, lasagna. I’m allllll about the comfort foods this week, somehow. Didn’t realize that as I put my menu/grocery list together but I can see it plain as day by typing it out, lol.
It is wonderful and exhilarating to have house guests, but it’s not like just having the immediate family there. Not as relaxing. I love black bean tacos; my daughter makes them quite frequently. (with goat cheese and sweet potatoes)
I understand your mixed emotions. It sounds like you had a nice visit and are missing the experiences you had. But it’s also good to be back to your routine. It’s wonderful to know that the holidays are just around the corner, which means more opportunities to see loved ones. And, well, there’s always tacos…❤️
OMG. That amount of hosting would be so hard for Phil and me. I like hosting people, especially family because then I don’t feel like I have to do much/entertain them, but it’s still a drain because I feel like I have to stay up later than I would like to! But we very very rarely have guests!
your meals all sound delicious! We are having ground beef tacos tonight and then I think on Friday I will make a turkey breast in the instant pot and we’ll have mashed potatoes and gravy, which is kind of a lot of work. But the whole reason I make it is to have leftover turkey to use in a wild rice soup!
Hang in there, Suzanne. This has been a VERY BUSY fall for you!!
My youngest stepson was a cat for Halloween many years in a row…he wore the costume until it fell apart. Then he took a hiatus because he decided that he was “too old” but all of a sudden he’s into it again.
I made the Ree Drummond beef with snow peas stir fry that you posted a while back tonight – so quick, so easy, so yummy.
I also struggle so much with overnight company. One part of me likes it (I love the people we’re seeing), but a huge part of my soul shrivels up and dies when I have someone in my space around the clock. I get overstimulated with all the interaction and I never fully exhale until people leave.
Also: I cannot believe Carla wants to wear the same costume. That is amazing!!! How convenient indeed. I heaved a HUGE sigh of relief when my daughter decided she wanted to buy a costume (well, we bought a hat and borrowed all the other items from a friend) instead of making one out of cardboard. We did the elaborate homemade costume last year and I was NOT on board for doing that again.
And I so, so hope you get that ceiling patched soon. Coming off almost 5 straight years of renos, I can relate to the hassle and frustration of it all.
I can totally relate to your feelings about having people over. I love it; I do!!! But it’s a lot of work for me. I always admire those who do it often and do it with such ease!
I struggle with overnight guests, mainly because we don’t have much space as is and it’s always a hassle to accommodate other people, although I really enjoy the company. So happy that you’ll see your family again so soon though.
You do stay busy and like you, I honestly DON’T love being busy. I love some me time, some quiet family time, etc…
That being said, how fortunate are you to have your parents? SO very. I know you weren’t complaining about them, but I just wanted to drop that there. I know you know how lucky you are.
I’m copying the chicken/zucchini stir fry link for a future meal.
I can’t believe it’s almost Halloween, then bam Thanksgiving and Christmas!
I guess since I am showing up so late – my meal plans will not alter your meal plans. I didn’t do anything earth shattering this week anyway. I made cheesey chicken and mashed potatoes. We brought some to my folks as my mom really isn’t making meals anymore. Then we ate a rotisserie chicken from Costco and I dropped a chicken off to my parents too. I heated up Italian Beef in a crockpot last night. Tonight we’re going out. I think I’ll do chicken tacos this weekend. I am going to plan to do that chicken zucchini stirfry soon. We need something new in the rotation.
Enjoy your short time frame when you are not hosting. I can’t imagine having rasied my kids far from family, so I get that it is sad when they leave. I also understand how essential routine is to keeping focused on all the things going on. Best of luck with your busy week.
Oh gosh, all of that houseguest time would be really stressful for me – on top of how busy you’re going to be in November! I hope you can carve out some “Suzanne time” in the midst of all the craziness.