Menu Plan: Week of July 28

This Past Week

Husband Jeff is taking some time off before starting at his new engineering firm and he's tackling some projects around the house.  The biggest one is building a banquette (an upholstered bench along a wall) for our dining room.  The room is so narrow and this will allow for more space since we can push the dining room table up to it. We designed it together based on what we saw online for other banquettes and was easiest for him to make since I didn't have a whole lot of preferences. He's also planning to build us new bedside tables, which are actually going to be more of a box-shaped shelf with a couple drawers.  Should be pretty neat.  I also want a hamper that will hold two laundry baskets (saw the idea on Pinterest!) I also requested a bathtub tray so Sonny D can play in the middle of the bathtub instead of putting things on the bathtub ledge and ending up with water running out on the floor. 

Dining room banquette so far.

I picked up some roma/romano beans at the farmers' market and turned them into a delicious dish.  I boiled them for 5 minutes and then tossed them with a garlic oil and breadcrumb topping.  If I can find the time, I'll share the recipe.  I need to figure out a shorter way to share recipes, my standard recipe posts take too much time for me to write up. But anyway, back to the beans, I loved how they were super quick. 

Roma/Romano beans.

Sonny D has been really interested in the doughnut pan so he and I made banana doughnuts with chocolate glaze and chocolate sprinkles.  So fun! 

Banana doughnuts with chocolate glaze and sprinkles.

Husband Jeff ran in the St Dennis fun run and won third place for his age group (30-39)!  Yay Jeff, way to go!  This summer he has been working on running faster and it has definitely paid off.  

Husband Jeff finishing the St. Dennis run.  He's the guy in front on the sidewalk.

We also went to Waunafest (neighboring town's summer festival) and Sonny D rode his first carnival ride and then later went on his first solo ride!  For his solo ride he was on the little kids' alligator roller coaster.  He had his head down through the whole ride.  He didn't cry, but he didn't seem to like it.  I agree with him, it seemed faster than the previous times we watched it.  We also went to the Tip Top Tavern for dinner with friends.  The fried pickle and carnitas appetizers didn't thrill us, but two of us got the homemade veggie burger and loved it and the other half got the brat casserole, which they loved.  It was a huge slab that looked like an egg bake.  Oh, and Sonny D got a fried baloney sandwich, we called it a hot dog sandwich and he ate half.  It had great bread from a local bakery. I tasted it even though I don't like baloney, and it was quite tasty. 

This Week

• Monday - I'm finally making Mexican beef over polenta but using turkey instead since that's what we had in the house.  I'm trying a new taco seasoning, the Mrs. Dash low-sodium version.  I hope it's good! 
• Tuesday - We'll have leftovers for dinner and then I'm heading out to Latin hip-hop cardio class.  The guys might head to the high school pool for open swim.  They tried to go last week, but somebody barfed in the pool. 
• Wednesday - Sonny D has been home two years, so we're going out to dinner.  It seems crazy that it's two years, feels longer than that.  I don't think we've decided on a place yet. 
• Thursday - Tonight we've got my company "summer picnic" event, a baseball game.  They actually provide a ballpark buffet (burgers, hot dogs, chicken breast sandwiches), but it's not the greatest quality, so we'll eat at home.  I'm going to make oven-fried fish and zucchini tots.
• Friday - It's Me & D night and Husband Jeff is going out for yet another baseball game with friends (think this is maybe number 4 for him this summer?).  His night out includes all you can eat and drink, so Sonny D and I are having hot dogs and pesto pasta made with basil from our garden.  I'm not sure what we're doing for the entertainment part of our evening, got any ideas?
• Saturday - I've got Core Fusion class in the morning and then my friend Jessica and I are meeting for shopping at the local outlet mall.  We don't have a ton of time to shop, but we'll make the most of it.  For dinner I want to make peanut butter-stuffed french toast.
• Sunday - We've got our standard Sunday morning visit to the farmers' market.  Then for lunch we're going out to the Bassett Street Brunch Club to try their food.  The cyc omelet (mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and feta) or farmer's hash (sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and parsnips with two eggs).  For dinner I had my eye on using up the other package of ground turkey but I came up with too many options - cheeseburger noodle casserole, garlicky eggplant and sausage rigatoni, gochujang meatballs, or Persian kofta kebabs.