A Look Into Our Notebooks | Week 20 in 2021

Each Monday I spend a little time looking at the week that just ended. This is to make sure I’m using my time to cultivate habits that support my overarching goals and values. But it’s also to look back and remember all that I accomplished because sometimes that’s easy to forget!

Now that we’re back to homeschooling, this was a pretty typical week for us. Today marks day 414 of my daily journaling streak and 149 straight days of meditation. The most exciting change is that I’ve added daily flower watering into my morning routine – I’ve been doing it after I take care of the chickens and bunnies. I enjoyed that early morning time outside last week!

Another exciting shift is that I spent a couple tiny drops of time sewing in the basement. I’m hoping I can embrace the slowness of inching towards the completion of something instead of racing through so I can call it “done”. I’ve been thinking a lot about my making over the last few days, thanks to this post from Kat. I think part of why I’ve completely stopped sewing and knitting is because I haven’t been very thoughtful about what I need. In a lot of ways, the things I make work against my goal of paring down to the essentials in order to simplify my life. It doesn’t make sense to knit another shawl or pair of socks because those drawers are overflowing. My quilt chest cannot be stuffed any tighter. I think it’s time to tackle garment sewing to fill some holes in my wardrobe and that is a SCARY thought.

Meals this week:
I share my meals to keep me accountable to meal planning. We went light on cooking because it’s really starting to warm up. I’m going to try incorporating some crockpot meals next week so we don’t have to add heat to the house by using the oven!

Monday: we had leftovers from the weekend, so we ate through those on Monday to prevent waste.

Tuesday: Matthew made a quick carbonara. We had everything on hand (spaghetti noodles, bacon, and plenty of eggs thanks to our hens) and it was delicious!

Wednesday: Black bean burrito bowls + quinoa – this is another delicious vegan meal that comes together in a flash, especially when you cook the quinoa in the instant pot. My 7 year old gets the most excited about it! One of the best parts is that we only have to buy two cans of black beans because all of the ingredients are staples that we nearly always have (yes, even the quinoa. We keep this great big bag on hand.) It’s affordable, easy, and takes almost no planning.

Thursday: hot dogs and potato chips. Because sometimes that’s just the best meal possible.

Friday: Matt braved the warming weather and made homemade pizzas again. We’re going to have to think about how devoted we are to pizza Fridays as summer approaches and ordering weekly pizzas isn’t an affordable option for our family of 5.

Saturday: We ordered barbecue from a local place. They never disappoint!

Sunday: Matthew made kabobs – Greek Steak Kabobs and Greek Chicken Kabobs. The weekend was humid, so cooking outside was a major perk!

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And that’s it! I can’t believe the weekend is over and I’m already writing another Monday post. Tomorrow I’m planning to be back with my monthly One Little Word check-in. I hope I see you then!