We are back from our trip, which was wonderful! Rich and I had such a good time while we were there. He had to be in class during the day, but I had a week of (almost) no responsibilities, and rested, knit, walked, visited shops, went out to lunch, hung out in parks, whatever I wanted to do each day. In the evenings, we'd go out to eat together, and twice we were able to go dancing. Since we were on the west side, we also went and visited "home" twice. It was such a refreshing break.

Our dinner out on Friday was skipped, though, as all of the highways or freeways we needed to take home were closed or had significant closures in our way because of all of the fires and smoke. I-90 opened up and we decided just to push through to get home. Please keep the towns that have burned to the ground, the fire fighters, those who have lost their homes, and the rest of us who are still in relative danger of fire spreading, in your prayers. Our house had a fine layer of ash on every surface, inside and out, and the air conditioning in the big van puffed out ash before any cool air started circulating.

Since I hadn't been here to go grocery shopping, the fridge is pretty empty. We're fortunate that we have so much in the freezers and pantry, but there were also some things that really needed to be used up, so I'm making quite a few Musgovian dishes this week. Our dinner tonight was basically Musgovian, we had the ground beef, we had the sour cream, there were the tater tots and peppers in the fridge, and a tiny bit of salsa that was getting rather strong, that I added to the mix. It tasted pretty good, actually, and we were able to get in touch with Rich's white heritage this way. Our soup for tomorrow is also Musgovian, as there was the ham bone in the fridge, some tomato something or other from one of the meals, red lentils from Friday, some white beans in the freezer, and some sad vegetables that need to be eaten. Even our breakfast before church was Musgovian, as we had a bag of thawed peach halves in the fridge that we peeled and tossed into the hot cereal, and fruit from the fridge is featuring in many of our meals this week.

Also this week is my birthday. We've spent a ton of money on travel and emergencies that have popped up, so I asked Rich to grill steaks for us, and do some projects for me that I've been wanting done for a while. Also, I bought a few patterns online that I had been waiting on for a while, and of course, while we traveled, I picked up yarn, too.

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Peaches and Sultanas, Milk
  Dinner: Mexican-ish Hamburger Helper (basic instructions at the link, I make it with whatever we have and want to use - this time, Italian peppers, garlic, olives, fajita seasoning, sour cream, and tossed in two pounds of organic tater tots that I cooked in the oven while making the rest), Grape Tomatoes, Frozen Yogurt
• Monday
  Breakfast: Blueberry Buckle with Lemon-Almond Crumble, Milk
  Dinner: Musgovian Soup with Ham Bone, Rolls
• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Toast, Cherries, Milk
  Dinner: Deli Sliders, Salad
• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Peanut Butter Pancakes with Butter and Blackberry Preserves, Milk
  Dinner: Tomato Basil Pasta from Freezer, with Feta and Capers, Salad
• Thursday
  Breakfast: Sausage, Egg and Herb Breakfast Casserole*, Fruit, Chocolate Milk with Coffee Cubes
  Dinner: Grilled Steaks and Bratwurst, Cool and Creamy Potato and Pea Salad, Grilled Vegetables, Glazed Lemon Cake
• Friday
  Breakfast: Yogurt and Jam, Buttered Toast, Milk
  Dinner: Tacos de Papa, Avocado Relish, Quick and Dirty Mexican Rice
• Saturday
  Breakfast: Berry Waffles with Maple Syrup, Sausage, Chocolate Milk with Coffee Cubes
  Dinner: Beef and Pepper Stir Fry, Rice

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Labels: Birthday, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Prayer Requests, Tales from the Kitchen