menu plan Monday

A menu plan and a Sunday dinner conundrum

As our guest list has grown and my diet has constricted, planning our Sunday night dinner has begun to look like a lateral thinking math quiz.

If Nichole cannot eat dairy and is avoiding gluten, her sister-in-law is a vegetarian, her father-in-law is diabetic and her daughter only eats beige foods, what can Nichole make for Sunday night dinner?

The answer has thus far often been Curries, Big Salad or Tacos. I’m trying to find some more options, though, so I’ve been saving recipes that look promising to my Sunday Night Dinner pinterest board. I’m planning to try Huevos Rancheros from Cookie and Kate and Sweet Potato Black Bean Burgers from The Minimalist Baker sometime soon.

The rest of our week somewhat less restrictive, since I’m the only one with dietary restrictions. Here’s what we’re having this week:

Monday: ???
We were supposed to have chicken sausages this evening, but the chicken sausages didn’t make it into the house when we got home from the grocery store. They spent a whole 90-degree day in the back of the car, so I opted to toss them into the trash. If I get back to the grocery store today I’ll replace them. Otherwise we’ll have Breakfast For Dinner!

Tuesday: Chicken salad sandwiches
We may go to Chicken Salad Chick, unless I decide to try to replicate one of their crazy-delicious recipes.

Wednesday: Orange-Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry
I didn’t realize how much chicken I had on the menu this week until I started typing this.

Thursday: Cheeseburgers
A very windy day conspired with a tent in our backyard a few months ago, and they took out my grill. I haven’t ordered the replacement parts to fix it yet, so we’ll be having oven-roasted burgers.

Friday: Pizza
The soy-cheese pizza I had last week was a poor substitute. This week I’m going to try making a cheese-free pizza with roasted veggies. Wish me luck.

Do you have any favorite meals for the difficult dinner party?

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

menu plan Monday, On the Road

What I Did On My Summer Vacation 2017, and Also What I Ate After My Summer Vacation

Hey everybody, welcome back to Butterscotch Sundae Dot Com.

Here’s a TLDR of my Summer Vacation: It started with a theft and ended with a shooting.

I used Priceline for the very first time to book a room. I’d never stayed at a La Quinta before, and for some reason my impression of it was that their properties were a bit run-down and sketchy. But the Priceline thing was nonrefundable, so we were going to stay there. They put us in a smoking room first and then moved us to a room with a moldy tub, and then we got to the car the next morning and discovered that someone had stolen my laptop, Rockford’s headphones, Poppy’s headphones and all of our road snacks. We were not blameless in this situation. We shouldn’t have left anything in the car in the first place, and the lack of damage to the car would indicate that someone forgot to lock the car. But it wasn’t a great way to kick off our vacation, and it solidified my belief that La Quintas are a bit run-down and sketchy.

The rest of the week was a maelstrom of swimming and movies, baseball games and family time, and septic failures and driveway replacements. My in-laws had to break the lock on our storm door to get into our house while we were gone, my dad wrapped up the week with a kidney stone, and Rockford heard a shooting near our house about 20 minutes after we got home.

It was a weird vacation.

Monday: Crunchwraps
Rockford loves them, and we haven’t made them in quite a while. I’m hoping they’re just as good without cheese.

Tuesday: Orange chicken meatballs
This Just A Taste recipe is sufficiently tasty, and it’s a hit with most kids.

Wednesday: Shake ‘n’ Bake chicken
I’m endeavoring to teach Poppy how to make a few meals on her own, so she’ll be making dinner on Wednesday.

Thursday: Undecided
Poppy has a dentist appointment, so she’ll be on Soft Foods for the evening. She’ll probably have mac ‘n’ cheese.

Friday: Pizza
We haven’t been doing family pizza night very often since I quit eating dairy. I bought a soy cheese pizza from the Amy’s collection this week, though. Hopefully it’s decent.

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

How’s your summer going?

Reading

The portrait of a family falling apart

Among the Ten Thousand Things “Among the Ten Thousand Things” is the story of a family falling apart. Julia Pierpont shows the reader in exquisite and funereal detail all the ways in which the Shanley family — Jack the philandering artist, Deb the former dancer, teenage Simon and pre-teen Kay — is uniquely unhappy.

It’s a well-written, sometimes lyrical book, but it isn’t a particularly enjoyable one. I slogged through it, but I didn’t like any of the characters and every chapter left me feeling melancholy. Which I guess is the purpose of the Unhappy Family genre.