WHY in the WORLD do I WASTE MY TIME complaining about packing school lunches?? Packing lunches is SO MUCH EASIER than having 5 kids HOME FOR LUNCH and making sure we have food people want to eat (we ate EIGHT Jack’s frozen pizzas in one single weeeeek) and then CLEANING IT UP. I mean, yes, the kids clean up, but NOT WELL.
Ben made this and taped it to the fridge, hoping some specific instructions would help everyone do better. LOL/shrug.
Other things to complain about:
Coop got 2 GIANT splinters in his foot messing around with some wooden benches the swim team uses for spectators and had to have a pediatrician CUT THEM OUT. Yikes.
And then I felt bad for him and took him to DQ and he ATE IN MY CAR **head desk**
Because I am who I am, I only read Car and Driver reviews of SUVs in the class I was looking at AFTER I bought my car. I spent a bit of time regretting not looking at the Palisade because ALL OF THE SEATS are heated. It's number 3 on the list I linked, and I have seen quite a few of them at the pool lately. The review says that you can get awesome features for a pretty average price-- I would have probably liked it, although I looked at the Grand Highlander and the Telluride (numbers 1 and 2) and liked them less than the Pilot. BUT. YOU GUYS. What sets the Pilot apart from its peers is that the CUPHOLDERS FIT MY GIANT OWALA WATER BOTTLES. I AM IN LOVE.
Also, I have officially passed along my addiction.
This is the last summer with 5 kids fully in the nest, and it's going way too fast.
The last full nest summer, how bittersweet!
ReplyDeleteI love the absolute wild swing in your lunches! My usual these days is a protein shake with a salad from my garden, or carrots and hummus. The protein powder I most recently bought is BALLS, and I am simultaneously trying to use it up quickly and not wanting to consume it at all.
I am so into carrots and hummus right now for snacks— especially Whole Foods store brand jalapeño hummus— love it!
DeleteAre Owalas the new Stanleys? They're so bright and pretty, OMG.
ReplyDeleteHope you get all you want out of this summer, Sarah! It's definitely a milestone.
(And nice cleaning up instructions from Ben! It's so sad that I'm itching to add "rinse the sink" too.)
MAYA— HE NEVER RINSES THE SINK. It is bananas. When he lived alone in grad school, he had MAGGOTS IN HIS SINK and still NO RINSING.
DeleteAw, enjoy the summer. I know that bittersweet feeling very well.
ReplyDeleteI have zero lunch ideas. I just gulp down a protein shake at work. For some reason I just can't get behind the concept of preparing an entire meal and calling it "lunch." I know- that's weird.
For awhile I was eating protein bars, but they always end up giving me a stomach ache, so I am back to food.
DeleteI should copy that how-to-clean-the-kitchen-after-you-eat instructions for my brood, but I don't think there is anything I can do that will inspire my people to use a WET WASHCLOTH TO WIPE DOWN A SPACE after they eat. They just can't. My gang all makes their own lunches and I hear about it when we run out of lunchmeat. This is rare and not even sure how it is possible. I buy SO much lunchmeat. Reg puts some form of a chip on his sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteI eat a tiny cobb salad every.single.day. And my favorite Greek yogurt.
So glad you've found your sweet spot for the summer. Swim team wraps up this week, and that's too bad because the girls loved it, but also - I'm excited to get my Tues/Thurs nights back.
Poor Cooper. That sounds crazy painful. Dying about kids calling him your fav, and then- oh wow, he's allowed to eat in your car. Ha.
He’s NOT my favorite, I swear. But I guess it’s a show don’t tell thing— ha!
DeleteI eat a bunch of crunchy veggies, some tuna, and a Wholly Guacamole pack with pretzels for lunch every day. The only thing that changes is what veggies are in season and which brand of tuna is on sale.
ReplyDeleteI love tuna. Now that I have jumped on Ben’s no meat bandwagon, I am going to eat it more, I am sure.
DeleteI typically eat a salad of some sort for lunches when I am in the office. At home I will typically make a tuna sandwich. I will not bring that into the office because that smell can travel! I go into the office 3 days/week and I bring lunches two days and treat myself to a bougie salad the other day.
ReplyDeleteThat hand written note is bringing back memories of the list of chores my mom would leave for us when I was a tween/teen. She co-ran a business with my dad so she'd go up to the office and leave a list and would come home at lunch to check on the status of the list... I was a little huffy about it as a child but now that I have children, I get it.
I also hit up a bougie salad place during the school year once a week-- such a fun treat!
DeleteI LOVE lunch because I hate nearly all typical "breakfast" foods so I usually just skip it and eat a very early lunch. Some of my favorites: chicken (or chickpea!) salad on toasted sourdough with sprouts or microgreens on top; hummus and roasted red pepper wraps with goat cheese; chicken (or chickpea!) caesar salad wraps; baked-ahead sweet potato topped with black beans and other "taco" toppings; air fryer salmon lettuce cups; air fryer grilled cheese; cold spicy sesame noodles with edamame that I meal prep...I think winter is easier because I will meal prep things like chilis and stews and eat leftovers but I don't want that when it's 90 degrees out
ReplyDeleteMY MOUTH IS WATERING-- thanks for these!
DeleteI mean, poor Cooper with the urgent care-worthy splinters, but I did giggle at him being your favorite because he got to eat in the car.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite lunches is a half a bell pepper filled with cottage cheese. I sprinkle Lawry's seasoned salt on top of both pepper and cottage cheese.
Lately I have been LOVING what I call a Nacho Salad, which is just everything I would put on nachos but with lettuce instead of chips. Black beans, corn, melted cheese, half an avocado, a little onion. Lettuce on top so it doesn't get soggy (I heat the beans/cheese). Then for the "dressing" I add a couple tablespoons of sour cream, loads of hot sauce, and squeeze a lime over everything. SO GOOD, Sarah.
Nacho salad sounds DELICIOUS! I also adore cottage cheese and was just thinking about it because I didn't buy any the other day because Ben doesn’t like it, BUT I DO. Have you had it with radishes and green opinions and tons of pepper? YUM.
DeleteI have NOT, but that sounds yummy and crunchy. I do like cottage cheese with carrots and celery sticks though. SO GOOD.
DeletePosted this on Jenny's blog too but cross posting it here just in case!!!! inquiring nosy minds (okay mine) want to know – how do you track the kids’ activities? How do you let everyone at home know the plans? I’m thinking google calendar + giant whiteboard? But that’s just a random guess! Please share if you can! It’s not very summer themed but would be an awesome blog post! Or BLP guest episode, if you are game . . .
ReplyDeleteI'd LOVE to be on your podcast are you kidding me. I am a combo of many different calendars-- mostly Google-- but also paper and laminated fridge calendars and millions of lists and so many texts
Deleteof course not kidding! emailing you!
Delete"Just general silliness" I APPROVE,
ReplyDelete