In My Home This Week: Summer Sizzles

This week in my home...

...the weather has decided to be summer-like.  I have every intent of continuing to work on that flower bed  around the Faith Tree, but I'm sure not going to push myself on doing much more than watering and sweeping porches unless I can go out very early.  Goals tend to somewhat lose importance when the temperatures soar into the 100f range for days which is what they are meant to do this week.   Gracious, I don't even want to do so much as think  when it's this hot.  When Summer sizzles, work fizzles! 

Hot weather is the best time to plan, though.  For one thing it's time to bring out my August magazines which is fun to contemplate.   I'll bet hey have plenty of hot weather recipes in those magazines.  And it's time to dig around and look for as many good crockpot and frying pan meals as I can conjure up because it's too hot to even think of turning on that oven.


What's more, it seems to me a nice time to settle in the sewing room with a project I've been meaning to start.  Or maybe even to finish up some of the UFO's, Unfinishished Objects.   

Or maybe I'll go into list making mode, which is a lovely way to feel productive and pass away a few hours of time, too...

Oh and I'll be sure and make plenty of iced tea this week...Now doesn't that sound like a plan?

...I plan work:

It's Harvest Week.  That means: balancing my checkbook, writing out bills, planning errands and grocery shopping.

Grocery shopping means planning meals and doing a quick pantry/freezer inventory.

Clean out the fridge...Which brings up a question:  How often do YOU clean out your fridge?  I've read online that most recommend once a month.  I don't wipe down shelves more often than that unless I have a spill,  but I do try to check it once, and sometimes twice a week, for foods I need to use up.  It sort of keeps my meal planning on it's toes, too.

Get a haircut.  I'd meant to do this last week and postponed it.  I can't postpone any longer.  My pixie cut isn't looking pixie-ish these days.

Get another bag of soil so I can properly plant those two tomatoes that are somewhat planted.  They don't need the stress of heat and not quite enough soil.

Thaw some more broth to make Maddie more pupsicles.

Try to get the big freezer better organized.  I'd really like to move the meat into the big freezer and out of the fridge freezer.

I added some deep cleaning tasks to my cleaning list last week.  I mean to tackle them this week: vacuum under all the furniture in the bedroom and living/dining room;  sort out the jars and lids in the storage cabinet, and remember that job from last week: sort out the kitchen cupboard on the back side of the dining room wall.  I never did get around to that task.  While I'm sorting I might as well go ahead and clean it really well.

Get up all the items that are meant to go outdoors to the shed and take them OUT of the house.

...I plan meals:

I need to go back to planning breakfasts and suppers.  I'm struggling with that area once again and it's all due to lack of planning.

Oatmeal x 2
Breakfast sandwiches 
Steak and Eggs with Hash browns and toast
Pancakes and Sausage
Crockpot breakfast casserole, Fruit cups
Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls, Fried Spam

on my own x 2
chicken salad plates, Gelatin
Chicken and noodle soup, fruit and cheese plate
Roast Beef Sandwiches, Chips, Canned chilled peaches with whipped cream dollop
Baked Potato (Microwave) with toppings, melon
PBJ, Berries

Mongolian Beef, Wild Rice, Stir fry vegetables
on my own x 2
Tuna Pasta Salad, Crackers, Lemon Pudding 
Fried Chicken, Black Eye Peas, Corn on the Cob, Coleslaw
Hot Dogs, Potato Salad, Cucumber and Onion Pickles
We'll likely have one meal out this week.  We generally do on Grocery day...

...I plan shopping:


Facial Tissues.  These typically go on sale at the beginning of the school year.  I had a decent supply but they were taking up donations for a school and I offered up my stock.  I figure I can pick up more reasonably.

Printer Ink.

Condiments: Mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup.  I have a woeful lack of these items on my pantry shelf.

Mulch and soil.

All items still on my list from last week.  I bought the chicken breasts and ground beef.  Nothing else was purchased.

...I plan my leisure:

I've started a Jane Austen book.  It seems a suitable read for summer though I can't tell you why.  Perhaps it's all the natural landscape she describes.

Play in the sewing room.  I have a couple of UFOs and I have a project in mind that I've put off paying about with.  

Continue practicing my embroidery.

Put all the printed material into my genealogy book.  Jot down questions I have so I can look up some finer points.

5 comments:

Lana said...

Our sixth grandchild was born yesterday! His name is William, named for both grandpa's.

We are staying inside here as much as possible, too. Early morning watering and continuing to work on organizing the garage are done very early and then we are inside. I even had iced coffee for breakfast one morning last week. It was delicious and I am planning to make much more of it! But, when I want to complain about the heat all I have to do is remember our besties who are in Uganda right now living in a grass hut and working with refugee children. There is no where to cool down no matter how hot is is and they are out in the full sun.

Margie from Toronto said...

Although I'm pleased that this summer has not been as hot & humid as usual (90F but feeling like over 100F with terrible humidity is not unusual here in Toronto) frankly all the rain is getting me down - we get a couple of lovely days and then 3 days of rain - there has been a lot of flooding - so not the best summer.
However, I am taking advantage of the cooler weather to get in more walking. I've just retired and this is my first summer off since I was 15 so it is a big adjustment.
I clean out my fridge and freezer (just the top of the fridge) as needed i.e. spills etc. I corral most items in plastic baskets so that helps and makes it easier to tidy things. I do go through the fridge at least once a week to use up anything that might be getting past it's best and I keep a close eye on any open jars of condiments or jams - and try to always give them a wipe down as they are used. Even my freezer is full of plastic bins so meat is in one, cooked foods in another, side dishes in another - that sort of thing - it helps me to see what I have on hand - especially at the moment as I'm trying to eat down the freezer so I ensure that nothing is wasted. I also have lots of frozen fruit & veg on hand so I can always pull something together.
As it's just me I don't always plan exact meals for each day but I do have a general idea of what I'll cook each week and I don't mind leftovers or repeat meals, although I do make up my own freezer meals as well. I cook a lot in the cold weather but not as much in the summer - I'll cook up one type of meat and roast some veggies and then prep a lot of salad veggies plus maybe prepare a pasta or grain salad each week and then fill in with cold meats or canned tuna or hard boiled eggs, that sort of thing.
I do need to update my planner tomorrow as I want to ensure that I have plans for the good weather days and not waste them - don't mind working at home or catching up on reading or Netflix if it's raining but want to ensure I'm outdoors as much as possible when the sun is shining.
Love your blog - it is so lovely and chatty - and you certainly accomplish a lot each week!

Debby in KS said...

Terri, I LOVE what you call your unfinished projects!! UFO's. I'm gonna adopt that very name for my several (dozen). It's an ideal name because not only are they unfinished, it's been so long since I've worked on some of them, that I sometimes can't remember what exactly I had in mind when I started them!! So, they're almost alien to me!!

Cleaning the fridge. I wipe the shelves down every week when I clean the kitchen. That way, the crumbs or whatever will get mopped up, which is the last thing I do. I imagine that's probably the reason we have no food waste. I'm always very aware of exactly what's in there. If something like celery is looking a little limp, I just chop it up and freeze it for soups later on. I deep clean it about once a month. That's when I take out the shelves, physically wash them in the sink, etc. I need my husband to help me do that. I have old wrist injuries that make them too weak to hold the glass shelves safely.

I would love to hear your crockpot breakfast recipe. In the summertime, my husband loves to get out to mow at 7am, but he needs to eat a hearty meal first. Since we sleep in until 6am on Sats., he can rarely eat early enough. If it was something I could start the night before, he could just get up and chow down!!

Another sweltering day. I'm heading into the shower for a cooling rinse before I sit down to watch Grandchester on PBS before bed!

Anonymous said...

We have had no 90 degree days so far. A lot of days have been rainy, which means lawns are so pretty and green. My fridge gets cleaned each Tuesday. It is garbage night and Gramps always goes prowling through looking for garbage so i try to beat him to it so I can pretendI am efficient and used all the leftovers! Gramma D

Debbie said...

Loved this post! I do not do well in heat either so my gardens have gotten away from me. I am blessed to have a hubby who will go out and weed for me when I am feeling ill or just not up to it but even he can't keep up with all of it. It takes both of us to do it.

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