Friday, July 7, 2017

What's for Dinner: This Week's Menu

Just to let you know I am working on my shopping goals (which I do have a few), monthly goals and the weekly frugal recap.  I spent yesterday just trying to catch up on housework as much as humanely possible because for the first time in...man it feels like forever but I know it's just been months, I actually was able to do so. 

My son's behavior has been BAD of late.  Like really bad.  Fourth of July I was on the verge of tears most of the day.  I had a short list of things I wanted to bake for the 4th and from the moment my son woke up, it was terrible.  I couldn't do more than three minutes worth of work at a time before he'd be bashing his head into the nearest wall and screaming bloody murder.  I'd have to scream at him to be heard above his screams and manage to get him into his bed so he could at least bash his head on something soft (thank the Lord for memory foam mattresses).  My husband (thank goodness he's a heavy sleeper anymore) woke up in the afternoon and wrestled the son.  I was able to make a mad dash to make a Fourth of July cake (I promised my daughter we were going to do something special and by God I was going to keep my promise) instead of the star shaped sugar cookies we'd planned and I made some graham crackers to make s'mores with.  Overall, I was proud of what we got done (especially considering the circumstances) and my daughter was really proud of her "space cake" design.  I then chuckled and reminded her it was the Fourth of July, so it shouldn't it be "fireworks cake".  She looked at the cake, weighing her options and then just shrugged and said, "Okay, it'll be both.  Fireworks in space!" I love the way kid's minds work sometimes *laugh*.

We went to the psychologist on Wednesday and I explained what I was seeing with Stritera (I'm PRETTY sure that's misspelled) and the improvements we were seeing on it with his ability to concentrate, but we really needed something for his outbursts and moods as those were BAD.  She was actually pleased with his progress on the Stritera and prescribed him something for irritability and outburst type of reactions on top of it.   Yesterday he was already doing better than he's been in a LONG time with a handful of outbursts and actually showing some happy moods.  His outbursts were also shorter lived and not as violent.  So far so good and we'll see how he does today.  Because of the new medication, I was able to vacuum his room yesterday without him freaking out and beating himself off of walls and things and was able to get things like ice cream made and such.  I nearly cried I was so grateful that the medication is working and with noticeable results right out of the gate.  Now if I can get him to sleep better...we'll be on the road to "yay" with him I think :).

So, yeah, now that I can actually DO things again, I'll be able to work on getting the blogging and things done here, I hope (at least I'm praying we're over the hump here on starting to get the son leveled off).  You can not imagine how happy and relieved I am to say things like that!

So, onto the menu plan for this week!

Wednesday:  Crock pot cranberry pork roast (use last jar of cranberry sauce from pantry), rice pilaf (mix from pantry), salad with thick and creamy french dressing (this was quite good.  I used a half tsp. of onion powder instead of the fresh onion so it would keep in the fridge better)

Thursday:  Tacos (using left over hamburger from Fourth of July...husband wanted burgers instead of hot dogs, so I made both), use can of refried beans to pad out hamburger (works great doing that by the way).

Friday:  Fauxtisserie chicken leg quarters (I'm going to try it and see how it goes), salad with buttermilk ranch dressing (we're out of prepared salad dressings around here...can you tell?  By the way this stuff is awesome.  My husband doesn't even LIKE ranch and likes this salad dressing...I do use powders instead of raw ingredients just to help it keep in the fridge longer), roasted root vegetables, home made multi-grain bread.

Saturday:  Farmhouse stew (basically just throwing bits and bobs of left over meat scraps and a bunch of veggies into a pot and turning it into stew...hope it tastes good), home made rolls (use other half of dough to make cinnamon rolls...use left over cinnamon sugar left over from graham crackers that is in fridge for the cinnamon sugar).

Sunday:   Leftovers (because I know we'll have some)

Monday:  Chicken Alfredo (use jar of Alfredo sauce from pantry that needs to be used up) with Peas and bacon

Tuesday:  Black Bean Burgers, salad with choice of dressing (note:  Make Italian dressing too), fries (or chips or fried potatoes...depending on what we have in the freezer)

Desserts:  Space Fireworks cake, s'mores (using left over Easter chocolate for chocolate part), home made ice cream with easy home made fudge sauce

Breakfasts:  Cinnamon rolls, cereal, toast, English muffins

Snacks:  S'mores (okay, not the healthiest choice, but still yummy!), apples, cheese slices on crackers (note:  Make crackers), home made beef jerky


So there you are folks.  Our menu for the week.  How about you?  Making anything good this week?

6 comments:

  1. Erika, I am so sorry you are having such a time with your son. I pray everyday for things to get better and you finally be able to get some much needed sleep. Your menu sounds really yummy and the cake is really cute.
    Paula in Kansas

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  2. My heart goes out to you and your son. This has to be so difficult for all involved. Bless his heart.
    I pray the new medication will work wonders and you can get some 'normalcy' back in your lives.
    May the Lord bless you and your family.

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  3. Aww, I am so sorry its been so tough with your son. Its good news though the newest medicine might be helpibg right off the bat!!

    Your menu sounds great as usual we aren't doing anything too exciting and honestly I'm trying to eat a little bit cheaper this week because my in-laws and youngest brother-in-law are coming in in about 2 weeks. I'm not at all ready because the house is a disaster but we will manage to get it all done in time and I plan to do much nicer meals while they're here than we usually do

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  4. The cake looks so good! Sending prayers your way for your son.....

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  5. Erika, I am sending you a huge hug from Canada. I don't know how you manage to get through each day. I worked for years with non-verbal adults with Autism (who grew up in institutions). One woman in particular went through a 2 year period of stripping naked and screaming for hours each and every day. She was violent towards staff and self-injurious in shocking ways. She was PRN'd literally every single day. She was hospitalized for 4 months and came back with new meds and most importantly, a schedule that we had to follow religiously. Today, 5 years later, she is a different person. She still screams on occasion, but it is seldom. She smiles and laughs and has a beautiful quality of life. All this to say, there is hope and you are an amazing mother. God bless you for loving and supporting your son. You are an inspiration.

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  6. I know this is one of those Facebook things, but I thought of your son so much when I saw this. https://www.facebook.com/thedodosite/videos/1196878770446796/. Not sleeping is so awful! I had a hysterectomy in December and the biggest problem I had from the loss of hormones was that I would wake up every hour to hour and a half all night long. I thought I would lose my mind and this was only for the few weeks until I could get hormones.

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