Thank the weather gods, it’s cool today. It’s seventy something degrees and the dog, the Prof, and I are loving it, though our ridiculous swamp-acclimated sons are dying of hypothermia. New Orleans hit a record high of 40+ nights where the temps did not dip below 80 degrees this summer (previous record was 13 nights – cough, climate change, cough cough). Each month this summer was the hottest on record. In short, it’s been brutal to experience, and we are glad the heat has broken for now.
My father-in-law came for a brief visit last week and taught us how to work the back door (thanks for that!), so now we know how to open and lock it properly, which apparently we had not been doing all this time. This tricksy house and its tricky tricks. (It also required a facetime call to the prior owners to figure out how to turn on the hand-spray in the master bathtub. In our defense, many of these quirks are not exactly intuitive or obvious.) So our back French doors are flung wide, and the dog is bee-bopping in and out enjoying this more Welsh-ish weather (he’s a Pembroke Welsh corgi, so not really the right breed for NOLA’s swampy summers).
Meanwhile I am planning Halloween costumes and meals for the week, and plan to pull out the Halloween decorations this morning. We’re also watching College Game Day, and the kids are doing crafts and getting all up in my business as I try to do this. Jack is doing dances in front of me trying to distract me from what I’m doing so I’ll go help him make a construction paper t rex. So, in short, here are the week’s meals:
Mon: Chicken and black bean enchiladas, and rice (I’ll toss cooked chicken and black beans in oregano, cumin, chili powder, and paprika, then roll up in a tortilla with some shredded cheddar, smother in canned red sauce, and bake)
Tues: Stuffed peppers – mother-in-law’s recipe. I happen to have a ton of ground beef right now so this will use it up.
Wed: Sheet pan honey mustard chicken with vegetables. Looks delicious and autumnal.
Thurs: Ginger beef stir fry and rice
Fri: Baked potatoes with broccoli cheese sauce
Now I must go referee the children!