So, Its been a few weeks, going on 5 to be exact, I feel like I’m getting the hang of this staying at home thing. Granted there are sleepless nights waiting for the grocery delivery slots to open up, and moments when I can’t decide between another coffee or a glass of wine… Or that interesting feeling that your husband is home (but not really) as he has commandeered the office for the next 14 hours and your only knowledge of his presence are snacks missing and a mixture of French, German and English trailing through the house in various meetings.
But seriously, there are great parts! like exploring things with our kids, making food together, doing crafts together, learning together, enjoying the morning sun and taking our time together. This, yes, this has been enjoyable.
THIS WEEKS FAMILY FAVORITES
Lamb chops with lemon drizzle, Morning toast, Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Onion and Mushroom Burrata with pesto…
LAMB CHOPS
Super fragrant and delicious. Got this recipe from a friend and ‘tweaked’ it.
- lamb chops
- head of garlic (cut off the pointed side and roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes in aluminum with a little olive oil…at around 375)
- water
- olive oil
- fresh lemon juice
- thyme, oregano, salt and pepper
- coucous (done according to package)
Start with roasting the garlic. While the garlic is roasting, make the couscous and set aside. Then put a little oil in the pan, cook the lamb chops till done and remove. Leave all those wonderful roasted bits in the pan and add 1/2 cup water, juice of a juicy lemon, the garlic, a tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 tsp. thyme and oregano and a few shakes of salt and pepper. let simmer and taste, adjust seasoning as needed…Walla, couscous with lamb chops on top, drizzled with this delicious sauce.
Musroomy Grilled Cheese
In honor of Grilled Cheese day this past Sunday!
- onions
- mushrooms
- toast
- butter
- pesto
- slices of thick ‘mature’ cheddar (that name always kills me…is there some immature cheddar walking around making wise cracks at the other cheeses?)
Saute the onions and mushrooms in butter and remove from the pan. Butter the outside of the bread slices. lay the cheese then the mushrooms and onions on top and a few dabs of pesto, put the other slice of bread on and toast them on both sides until gooey. Serve with tomato soup.
Morning Toast
Oh how I love “morning Toast”
- toast
- avocado
- poached egg
- bacon
- sesame seeds
- olive oil
- roasted garlic (optional)
Toast the toast. load everything on in the way you love and finish with a drizzle of olive oil…
Project of the Week
We decided to start a small garden and observe how it grows. After planting the seeds we made a little ‘plant journal’ out of: copy paper, cardboard and scraps of colorful paper, then hole punched it and put some yarn through as fasteners…
A few Other fun ideas…
Yard Golf – We took wooden skewers and cut out triangles and added numbers 1-9 on them. then placed them in the yard and got out our golf clubs… I have to say, it was pretty fun.
Paper art– never underestimate the ability to create things out of scraps of paper. This provided several hours of entertainment.
Building a Blanket Fort – we scoured the house in search of blankets and then used a tepee, the dining room table and chairs and constructed this fort. We also put 3 camping lights inside. We used it to do homework, read, and watch movies in, for a good 3 days.
Making a Schedule
Having a general plan for the day (including snack ideas and meals) has been a huge stress reliever. Yes, I need to adjust it throughout the day, but just being able to consult it, when my coffee hasn’t quite kicked in, is a beautiful thing…
I’m keeping a running list of activities in my notes on my phone. Then I make the next days list on my notes as well, just updating from the previous day and adding in the little fun characters as they pop up, then print and have it ready for tomorrow. I’m doing this no matter what time I go to bed…because life is just better with a plan. Here’s one of my daily lists from last week as an example…
8:00 up workout and dressed
Refill Easter candy 🥚
Take picture of 🧁
Take crispy 🍗 out of freezer
Check on laundry 🧺8:30-9:00 Breakfast
Yougurt with jam and granola and cupcakeCheck on our seeds 🌱
Put holes in seed boxes
Run around the house a few times
Workbook in ⛺️ tent
Read1:00 🍴 lunch
Mashed potatoes 🥔
Green beans w 🍄soup & onions
Crispy chickenspelling
Make 🍞
Go to music website and explore
show in tent ⛺️3:30 snack
Strawberry 🍓 cupcake chocolate 🍫 and milk/coffeePlay volleyball 🏐 in back yard
5:00pm
Freetime
◦ Set up French learning
◦ Monoprix order ready
◦ Buy vegetable soil boxes and green house, climbing rope, basketball net
◦ Weekly WordPress post
◦ Write out 🍓 🧁 recipe and take picture6:30 🚿 shower
7:00 🍽 dinner
stuffed Red peppers stuffed with and tomato 🍅 sauce
lavosh
Game
8:30 Bed and books 📚
The Sweets
In the past few weeks we’ve tried to keep them light and healthy and delicious. Here are a few of our favorites…
- Mrs. Starnes special chocolate chip cookies. Love you Mrs, Starnes!!
- lemon cupcakes with real lemon. om-gosh, delicious. Note the teeny tiny amount of frosting on top…this it what we call “quarantine icing”.
- Strawberry cupcakes, with real strawberry…. these were wonderful, not very sweet, they only keep for a day, but let’s be real, the recipe makes 12… shouldn’t be a problem.
Favorite Instagram (next to mine) for the week
See You Soon
The Perfect Pour 
Thanks for this Calie! Totally agree with having a schedule: we also have one that we ue as a guideline to keep ourselves sane! And we also planted some seeds 3 days ago! Great minds think alike!
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Love all this I have enjoyed reading it thanks for sharing your life with us ❤️
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