I am going to complain only briefly about my body’s continued avoidance of sleep. As is the law of Internet magic (which works only once per situation, sadly), I slept Very Well Sunday night – from 10:30ish to just before 6:00. I only woke up twice. It was lovely and refreshing but did not compensate for the many many previous nights of poorer sleep. Then last night I woke up twice after I went to bed at ten, and then was awake between 2:30 and 5:00 ish. And then awake for the day at 6:30, which sounds like a reasonable time to arise but did not feel reasonable at all.
If you’ll allow me to recap: Friday night: slept until 3:30 am, then up for the day. Saturday night: slept until 4:30 am, then up for the day. Sunday night: nearly SEVEN (7) blissful hours of near-consecutive slumber. Monday night: large chunk of the night spent awake and despairing, up for the day at 6:30 am. While I wasn’t getting decent sleep before Friday (the one night I counted, I woke up EIGHT (8) times), it was at least preferable to being awake for giant swaths of the night.
This is all to say that I have nothing at all to give to meal planning. I am relying heavily on a) takeout, b) comfort food, and c) easy things that we eat all the time.
Dinners for the Week of April 27 – May 3
- Chicken Paprikas: This is not the recipe I use (I use one from Joy of Cooking and modify it to my specifications), but it’s similar enough. Except I use 4 cups of chicken stock instead of the crushed tomatoes, and chicken breast instead of thighs, so maybe it’s not really similar at all. Also I put potatoes in mine.
- Cuban Sheet Pan Chicken: I am skipping the mango salsa and will probably make these into tacos.
- Tacos: Yes, I just said I was making the Cuban sheet pan chicken into tacos. But THESE tacos will be ground beef tacos. Totally different.
- Caprese Salad with Balsamic Chicken and Balsamic Dressing: This might require too many dishes. It will be the first to disappear from the list if I Just Cannot Deal.
- Chicken Zucchini Stir Fry: There are a lot of chicken dishes on my meal plan this week. Well, too bad. Chicken is easy.
- Oven Baked Pork Chops with Roasted Potatoes: Here we go. A non-chicken option. This will be the second to be chucked from the list if I am not feeling it.
- Takeout: However many times is necessary.
What’s for dinner at your house this week, Internet?
We are having orange chicken (had that last night actually), Tangy Pot Roast (recipe from my friend Heather but you can text me if you want it, I’ve had the same phone number since 2009 so you probably already have it), cream of chicken and rice soup (no recipe, I eyeball it and it’s new every time), and pork char siu from the YouTube channel Cooking with Dog which is a delightful cooking YouTube show.
I just watched a Cooking with Dog video about matcha tiramisu! Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m thinking popcorn would make for a good dinner tonight…if I can catch The Husband before he falls asleep on the couch! 😉
I wish I had a magical solution to fix your sleep situation. Just a thought, maybe a white noise app could help?
I’m sorry you’re having such trouble sleeping. That sounds horrible. Beth’s having a stressful time at work so I have been making comfort food, too. We had skillet mac-n-cheese with a pea and radish salad last night and fried rice tonight, with vegetarian ham, frozen vegetables, and pineapple.
Hi! Have you tried listening to sleep podcasts? I like listening to Nothing Much Happens if I wake up in the night. As you might guess from the name, the episodes are cozy, comforting stories without much of a plot. They kind of turn your brain off in a good way.
Downloading some now – thank you!
Oh no. I hate to hear about bad sleep situations. I’ve BEEN there. For me it was gluten and I didn’t realize that I had celiac disease. I still don’t sleep great, and I just recently started eating an early dinner so I have no digestion issues or whatever you’d like to call it issues and I’ve been sleeping better with this new plan. I eat dinner at 5 pm.
I saw a ham at Costoc and I bought it yesterday because everyone likes ham in a crockput. It was pricey for just a meal during the week, but it’s also easy.
Tonight I did Italian Beef in the crock pot and I made vegetables and potatoes with oregano and balsamic and basil and olive oil. We love this and I make enough to eat with other meals all week.
I also bought a bunch of ground beef so I can do a meatloaf once more before I quit that for the summer. I also plan to make spaghetti and meatballs. I had no choice on the meatballs – Tank made all the kids text me and beg me to make it. I feel bullied, but I’ll get over it.
Tomorrow is leftovers and I might let them order pizza this weekend. Living on the edge.
Hope your sleep pattern starts to get it together. That’s the worst feeling.
One of the few things I have not tried yet is eating way earlier. But you may have hit it on the nose!
Ugh, I’m sorry you’re still not sleeping well. Hope that turns around soon. Nothing exciting on the dinner front around here. Today is my BIG grocery day – Superstore and Costco – and so it will be pita pizzas and veggie platter for dinner, as it’s simple.
I am avoiding Costco at all costs, LOL. So godspeed to you!