It's been a week of big decisions here at the de Jong house. We have been tweaking our budget and interviewing cleaning ladies for awhile now, and this week we hired someone! She starts on Friday and the timing couldn't be better because the other big news is we are finally putting our house on the market. Our cleaner comes on Friday morning, and we've having the photos taken on Friday afternoon. It should still be clean by then. This will be a crazy week of going through each room and getting it decluttered and staged. As a former neat freak, I've wrestled with the idea of hiring someone to clean. I know that I can do it, it's just that if I used my energy to clean, I don't have the energy to cook, take care of my son or have a coherent conversation with my husband. I'm very blessed to have a fairly high functioning level post brain injury, it's just that I have such a small tank of energy and I have to recharge way too often. So, I'm getting some help. A clean house will energize my brain and give me more time to love on my family.
The photo above is of a marble-topped cart I saw at Marshall's and really love. I want to find something exactly like that for my new pantry...in the new house...which we will start building soon!
Here's what's cooking at our house this week:
Sunday:
Mediterranean Quinoa. I found this recipe on Jenn's Girl Heroes blog. If you have an afternoon to spare, hop on over there and read up on her life as a figure competitor. She's a lot of fun and I find lots of great fitness inspiration there. And my favorite quinoa recipe ever.
Homemade Tortilla Chips.* Full disclosure: we spent all day working on the master bathroom and running around for staging decor, so I was too tired to make the quinoa. I'll make it on Thursday instead. However, I did manage to make this little treat while the hubs was putting the kiddo to bed. Super, SUPER easy, and built in portion control. Warm chips fresh out of the pan are pretty awesome after a long day of working on the house.
Monday:
Crock Pot Italian Chicken. I'm pretty sure this is the world's easiest dinner. Since we're meeting with the tax guy tonight, I knew I'd have no brain power left for cooking. Literally, all you do is put chicken and a bottle of Italian dressing in the crockpot, and press "on." I like to fancy it up with some frozen veggies and rice, but that is it. So easy. So yummy. We also have Italian dressing on hand so we can make this at any time.
Cinnamon Raisin Bread. Last week's loaf didn't even last 24 hours.
Tuesday:
Rustic Italian Tortellini Soup. I'm getting six cavities filled on Tuesday--thank you, pregnancy--so soup seemed like a good menu option. I tried out this recipe last week for a gathering with our small group from church. And wow, was it a hit! YUMMO! I was going to make dill potato soup, but the hubs pleaded with me to make this one instead--so he can have leftovers. Love to make the hubby happy.
Wednesday:
Jacci Hilton's Stromboli.* For most of my pregnancy, I was either sick or on bedrest, or both. By the time kiddo came around, any muscle I might have had was long gone. Our church family was really good to us, with gifts of food and house care. The meal I remember most was this stromboli. It took forever to track down who provided it, and then get the recipe. I hope it lives up to my memory. (Which reminds me, does anyone remember this episode of How I Met Your Mother?)
Thursday:
Leftovers. But really, the quinoa from Monday.
Friday:
Pesto Vegetable Lasagna*. I love pesto. I found this recipe a few week's ago when I read Bethenny Frankel's cookboo. Can't wait to see how it turns out! I may regret making this the day my house gets cleaned, so it could get pushed to Saturday.
Saturday:
Leftovers.
Eet smakelijk!
* New to me recipe
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