It's a chance to share news: a post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books,
and share what's coming up on your blog in the week ahead.
T H E W E E K I N R E V I E W
What a difference a week can make. Last week I mentioned how it had been such a crazy stressful week. This week was so relaxed and chill. I'm sure it had nothing to do with that fact that two of my three bosses were out of the office. 😉
I think we grabbed take-out every night this week (yes, that makes two weeks in a row) and that needs to stop. I never managed to make a plan for the week so I was winging it for basically every meal. My goal this weekend: block out some time to menu plan, make a grocery list, and hit the store (or place a pick-up order). I really need to come up with more quick and easy weeknight dinners. Any suggestions?
Speaking of foodstuffs, these Nutri-Grain Bites are seriously tasty. The strawberry ones have a dismal rating so I'm steering clear, but I can vouch for theses chocolately banana bites. They're my new afternoon snack.
This week's 80's music fix is I Beg Your Pardon (1988) by Kon Kan. I seriously loved this song back in the day. I remember having the 12" vinyl remix version and being devastated when my sister borrowed it and scratched it. Oh, the drama! 😆
O N T H E B L O G
Tuesday, July 26
Wednesday, July 27
Friday, July 29
W H A T I R E A D
Kindle: Knotted (Trails of Sin #1) by Pam Godwin - ★★★★.5
Audio: My Scorned Best Friend (The Greene Family series #7) by Piper Rayne - ★★★★
Kindle: Call It Unexpected (Sterling Mill #0.5) by M.E. Montgomery - ★★★
Knotted was dark and a little twisted. Bad people doing bad things, and good people doing questionable bad things. But I inhaled it in a couple days (that's fast for me) and am itching to pick up the next book. I loved returning to Sunrise Bay, Alaska in My Scorned Best Friend. Finally getting Clara and Xavier's story gave me all the feels. The Sterling Mill series sounded interesting so I picked up the prequel novella to give it a try. Call It Unexpected was okay but I don't feel compelled to continue the series.
C U R R E N T L Y R E A D I N G
Kindle: Reason to Believe (Legacy #1) - Rebecca Yarros
Audio: My Lucky #13 (Hockey Hotties #1) - Piper Rayne
I totally enjoyed the two prequel novellas in the Legacy series and was certain I would love Reason to Believe. In typical Rebecca Yarros fashion, I'm already completely invested and have got choked up several times. Because I apparently can't get enough of Piper Rayne, I started their hockey series this week. I had previously listened to the prequel audio and My Lucky #13 picked up right after that. I'm loving the chemistry between Aiden and Saige.
N E W A D D I T I O N S
T O T A L L Y R A N D O M
HOW WAS YOUR WEEK?
I'D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT IT!
Hooray for stress-free work weeks! Since we're both back on "diets" before our vacation, we've been better about not eating out during the week, but there are times we definitely go overboard!
ReplyDeleteAngela - It's easy to fall into the habit of take-out!
DeleteFinally an easier week! And what I prepare is vegetarian lasagna. I altenate between layers of eggplant, lasagna, mozarella and tomato sauce (with salt pepper and herbs) and end with a layer of grated cheese and in the oven!
ReplyDeleteSophie - The veggie lasagna sounds wonderful... thanks for the idea!
DeleteYay for a chill week. I am having the same struggle with meals. I spent some time googling for "easy dinner recipes" to get some ideas.
ReplyDeleteSamantha - Same here. I've definitely been searching for "quick and easy weeknight dinners."
DeleteThat's great this week was chill! And I know what you mean about eating out too much. That was us this weekend. I'm tired of cooking, but also tired of eating out.
ReplyDeleteDeanna - LOL I can so relate! I'm tired of cooking AND tired of take-out. Gah!
DeleteLiving alone it is so hard to not just grab take out meals because I hate cooking and then having to clean up. Not to mention it gets expensive when I end up not wanting to eat all the leftovers I spent all the money on. But I guess that's my problem! I need to work on cooking more myself. Glad you had a better week! You had some good books to share too. And I love that "wow" meme! Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteLisa Loves Literature
Lisa - Cooking for one is such a pain. Usually take-out just seems like the best option. It's quick and easy, possibly cheaper than buying all the groceries, and no waste. See how I just justified that for you? LOL
DeleteI'm so glad it was a better week! I have gathered recipes for years and continue to do so, more recently because we are gluten-free so I've been adding things and reworking others based on my daughter's requirements. She loves soup and most of them keep well or some freeze well so it could be made on the weekend with leftovers during the week. We also grill plain meats - salmon, burgers pair them with steamed veggies or salad. I make turkey meatballs which the first round is in sandwiches with cheese and tomato sauce and the leftover round we do with spaghetti. With everything I try to get in more veggies and fruits of some sort. Good luck. It's always a challenge.
ReplyDeleteAnne - Books of My Heart This is my Sunday Post
Anne - As much as I enjoy soup, I tend to limit it to cooler weather. For some reason, I just can't get on board with soups in the summer. Weird but there it is. :) We should probably utilize the grill more but it's so hot on the back patio by dinnertime. It's supposed to "cool down" to the upper 80's by the weekend so maybe we can grill up some meats then to last us a couple days. :)
DeleteAh the age old question- food lol. We're always wondering the same thing- what can e make that's fairly quick but good? Half the time it ends up being take out! I might steal Sophie's lasagna suggestion up above haha. anyway- hope you had a nice weekend!
ReplyDeleteGreg - Sophie's lasagna does sound awfully good, doesn't it?
DeleteI'm glad you had a much more relaxing week. Trying to figure out easy meals is the worst. LOL. I hope your meal planning is successful. Please share some of your ideas next week, lol.
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday Post
Thanks Jenni. I actually planned menus this week so we'll see how well I stick with it. And I'll share if we have any winners. lol
DeleteGreat song choice! And that quote at the end totally made me laugh. Hope you have another less stressful week this week. :D
ReplyDeleteThanks Lark! I hope your week is off to a great start.
DeleteWe also had quite a bit of take out this week! Let's do our best to make some food at home this week! haha currently waiting for some groceries to be delivered, planning usually does the trick.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the week ahead!
Sara - Less take-out on my end this week... hopefully you've been successful as well! :)
DeleteIt's always nice when the bosses are out of the office, makes it much more relaxing to do your work!
ReplyDeleteCarrie - Isn't that the truth! :)
DeleteYay for a stress free week! I could use some of those!
ReplyDeleteAs for the meal planning/prepping... You may not love my solution but it works great for me. Every Friday I make my meal plan for the next week and place a grocery order. Saturdays I pick it up and clean the fridge. Every Sunday I spend about 1.5 - 2 hours prepping/cooking my meals for the week, so that I just have to either reheat, turn on crockpot, or stick in oven the day of. And I make just 2-3 dishes and lots of repeat foods. I try to make 1 dish where I have lots of extras that I can freeze and then defrost for the following week, giving me a bit more variety without meal prep. It works really well. My nutritionist says there are parts to meals - (1) cost (financial and time), (2) taste, (3) health - and you can usually pull of 2 of the three but not all 3. I choose cost and health. I can't pull of tasty meals (aka something different and fresh every meal). So you have to pick what you're willing to sacrifice - I have to admit, I think she's right. Good luck this week! And hope you have another stress free week.
Berls - Thanks so much for sharing that info from your nutritionist! I've never thought of it that way but it makes sense. I need to decide which two are most important and let the third go. Definitely food for thought (no pun intended!).
DeleteI'm so glad you had a better week. I'm not any help with dinner planning. Maybe a meal delivery service?
ReplyDeleteWendy - I used a meal deliver service once but overall felt it didn't suit us well. It might be worth it to explore others. I know there are plenty of options now.
DeleteI don't know the names of a lot of these songs, but once I play them, I KNOW them. That's a bop for sure. Glad your week was more chill. Always a good thing. I got lazy with my meal prep, but it just meant more old foods for me. HA!
ReplyDeleteI run into that a lot with more current songs. I don't know the titles but when I hear the song I know it. My niece is 14 and is forever telling me about songs she hears on TikTok. I rarely know the names but when she plays the song it's familiar. :)
DeleteI'm glad this week was better! Work is always more fun when the boss is away. Except, stuff always seems to break when the boss is away. Then I don't know what to do. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteAJ - LOL Can't say I've had anything break with the bosses away. That would be stressful! :)
DeleteWe've been doing a lot of take out lately too. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want and need to do, plus plan meals, lol. I'm with Sam on that 80s tune. I didn't think I knew it until I hit play and immediately recognized the intro.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne - I so agree. Between working and home (and you add a child to the mix) there's just not enough time to do it all. So I do give myself a break usually when it comes to take-out dinners.
DeleteSo happy to hear you had a chill week! Yes, the bosses being gone can make a huge difference! It's hard to make homecooked meals when you work everyday. Taco salad is quick and easy and nice for the hotter weather. That random is too funny!
ReplyDeleteRachel - It really is tough to work long days and then get home and start dinner. My husband is great about prepping stuff for me in the afternoons and that's a huge help!
DeleteYay for a chill week! Meal planning is the only way I can get dinners done with our schedule, and I hate cooking btw. I'd much rather spend my time baking, I hate making dinner eeps. So I have an app I bought forever and a day ago, Paprika, and I imported recipes from favorite websites and cookbooks over the years. You can tag stuff, like on Goodreads. I'm up to over 20 recipes we'll gladly eat every single month of the year. And then over 30 recipes we'll gladly eat every other month. I always double so we can eat leftovers of it that week on another night. And then I throw in a few new recipes each month. The crockpot is also my best friend sometimes :).
ReplyDeleteJen - I finally sat down over the weekend and planned meals for the week. It makes all the difference when that's decided in advance. Leftovers are always a bonus. It helps take care of my lunch the next day or two. And crockpots definitely come in handy! Especially during the summer when I don't want to heat up the kitchen with the oven.
DeleteThe bosses being away had NOTHING to do with it lol
ReplyDeleteI don't remember that song! I'm sure I knew it back in the day though. I think lol
Karen @For What It's Worth
Karen - Based on this week, I'm starting to suspect there is a distinct correlation between bosses being in the office and my stress level. How strange! ;-)
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