I had the most delightfully social week, with visits and connections and gatherings every day, culminating in the most wonderful girls’ night out on Friday night: a candlelight tribute to ABBA, as played by a string quartet. I love music generally, almost all genres, but I really love disco, and ABBA specifically. We all dressed up in our most disco outfits, and when the audience was encouraged to sing at the last song, Mamma Mia, we got it started. Actually we might have been the only ones singing. It was a fun concert followed by snacks and rose at my friend Joy’s house (HI JOY).
In a move that I did not see coming, and was not mentally prepared for, my older son is not moving home for the summer. I’m luckier than most in that he lives fairly close by, and comes home every Sunday night for dinner. On occasion, he’ll text me to say he’s coming by for dinner on a weeknight; my friend Sam (HI SAM) was driving me home on Friday, and we were talking about this. She asked if on those random weeknight visits I make him a special dinner, but that’s not the case. I have a meal plan, and I rigidly stick to it; he knows this and is happy for pretty much anything I make.
Do you meal plan? I don’t know how I would live without one; the thought of not knowing what to make for dinner at 5:00pm gives me waves of anxiety. I meal plan, I shop accordingly, almost nothing is wasted, except for the occasional mini cucumber that goes mushy. Why is it only one cucumber? You’d think I’d be able to account for this by now. In any case, here’s what we ate last week.
Monday
This was a stir-fry with rice stick noodles, tofu, cashews, broccoli, carrots, and the lone half pepper that was left in my fridge.
Tuesday
Wednesday is grocery day, and by Tuesday things were getting a little Mother Hubbard-y. I made coconut rice with roasted sweet potatoes and the last of the broccoli. The guys also had air fryer chicken breasts.
Wednesday
I baked a loaf of the no-knead bread that I mentioned last week and served it with The Big Salad. It’s a big salad! With lots of stuff in it!
Thursday
This was a very busy day and so I made one of the easiest and quickest meal around: black bean tacos!
Friday
Since the ABBA concert was early, I had my favourite meal – Greek salad with pita and hummus – all by my lonesome at 4:30pm, just like the senior citizen I aspire to be. My younger son made breakfast for supper for himself and my husband; this is their standard Guy’s Meal, since it isn’t a meal that’s great for me to eat.
Saturday
Another quick meal as my husband and I were out drinking wine with friends in the afternoon (well, I was drinking wine). Crispy cauliflower fajitas with red pepper and the only bit of the CRAPPY AVOCADO I could salvage. Friends, I have had the worst time sourcing avocados since we moved here in 2023. The farm market is a good place, but they are not open in the winter. Costco has been nothing but a disappointment; every bag of avocados I buy ends up being completely unusable, and if I wanted to throw away $12.99 I would not choose to do so while hoping to have guacamole. This particular avocado came from Superstore, which is a hit and miss avocado source. Local friends, help! Or should I just give up my dreams and wait until the farm market opens in May?
Sunday
Sunday dinner is the only one that actually centres around meat; I made a roast beef dinner with lots of veggie sides that I can enjoy. Asparagus is in season right now, so we are enjoying that in all its roasted glory, along with roasted potatoes, roasted broccoli, and homemade Caesar salad.
Sunday is also my day to make a dessert, and I decided to make frozen strawberry daquiri pie, made with evaporated coconut milk. Typically I don’t hoard food anymore, but I had grabbed several cans when they were on sale at Christmas, and I’m glad I did as Superstore is no longer carrying them. I’m hoping this is a seasonal thing and I will have enough to keep me going until next Christmas. Just when I thought I was out of the hoarding habit, they pull me back in.
Weekly Reading
Didion and Babitz. I have long admired Joan Didion’s writing, which is what attracted me to this book. I knew next to nothing about Eve Babitz, also a writer and a visual artist, and wow, now I know too much. I did not like this book AT ALL. The author proclaims that she is obsessed with, loves and adores Babitz, and that bias comes out wildly in this book that is supposedly about a feud-like, frenemy relationship between two writers. Instead, it reads as a confusing narrative about a 60s party girl who lived the messiest life you can imagine, and who died in extraordinary squalor. Babitz accidentally set herself on fire, is what I’m saying. There is little about Didion and what there is, is mean and scathing and tends toward body-shaming. The author says of Didion’s grief after the death of her husband and child, that it was disingenuous and unfelt, as an example. Mostly, though, this book is incredibly hard to follow because there are so very many names involved, randomly dropped here and there with zero context about who these people are. I found this boring and confusing and honestly, so biased and mean. I would have DNFed but the part about Babitz having sex with Jim Morrison (while he was with Pam, god, the Sixties were a gross time) and being a “regular at the clap clinic” was semi-interesting, so I kept going. I wish I hadn’t.
Her First Palestinian. This short story collection, by a Canadian author born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, has some really great stories, and some that really didn’t do it for me. For the ones that I didn’t enjoy, it was the writing style that did me in; the author’s attempts at creative POV and styles just did not work for me. However, the stories that hit really hit, and all of the stories were extremely interesting in concept, if perhaps not in execution. They centre around Palestinian immigrants and refugees, the difficulty of living a life in which your existence is questioned, and the experience of working in an unnamed but powerful kingdom in West Asia (Saudi Arabia, perhaps?). It’s well worth the read; the last story in particular is very nuanced and moving.
Isola. I think that historical fiction is the most difficult genre to write; it’s so rare that an author can really capture the time and place in a way that is captivating and realistic. This is one of those rare novels. What an incredible work; this compelling page-turner is based on the true story of Marguerite de la Roque, who in 1542 is coerced into leaving France with her guardian, sailing to New France (now Quebec, Canada) in search of riches. She angers her guardian by having a romance with his secretary; her guardian then MAROONS the two of them, plus Marguerite’s servant, on an island between what is now Newfoundland and Quebec, just south of Labrador. The island is deserted and they have few supplies; and if you know that area at all, well, winters are brutal even if you DO have shelter. She survives for two years, eventually all alone. It is an incredible story and an epic work of art. This was definitely worth the hype!
I’m looking down the barrel of a much quieter week, which will be great for my writing. For those of you who have asked, thank you! It’s going well, I’m on my third draft of my novel – still as yet unnamed, I’m hoping I can figure that out soon – and am in the thick of revisions and edits. I also wanted to check in with everyone who is participating in Yoga Club! I hope to get a new little video up soon but in the meantime, keep doing your one (or more) pose a day, keep practicing loving-kindness toward yourself, and remember that we are all in it together. xo
No Rex, alas… But those meals, Nicole! I’ll gladly pop around when you have a spare seat at your table!
_Isola_ sounds absolutely amazing. I’ll have to put it on my list. Should I read it in Summer when the weather will be comforting or in Winter when it will be more atmospheric? Decisions, decisions!
Ooooh I don’t know, but I will say I think you’ll love it! It’s SUCH a well done book.
I seriously don’t know how people don’t meal plan? Like, how would you even grocery shop? I’m quite rigid about it as well, unless something random comes up and I can’t cook that day. But I always have leftover meals in the basement freezer for that. You and I eat a lot of the same foods and yes, those Persian cucumbers tend to get soft quickly, but I love their convenience. I try new recipes I’ve found on TikTok and Pinterest, so we eat something new once or twice a week.
That’s my question too, Bijoux, how do you shop if you don’t know what you’re going to make? I think maybe some people are more creative with what they have than I am.
Arg, dinner. I wouldn’t say I “don’t” meal plan. I mean, I have to go to the store and have SOME idea what we’re going to eat. It’s rarely 5 pm and I have no idea. It’s just that I don’t want to cook, or plan, or think about it anymore. All you meals look delicious- but I’m also thinking “All that chopping…” I did get inspired by your stir fry- I think I’ll make that this week.
Wow, Isola sounds amazing. I’m going to see if I can get it from our library.
There is definitely chopping involved, but I don’t think any meal takes longer than 20 mins or so to chop. I just throw on a podcast and go to town!
“I had my favourite meal – Greek salad with pita and hummus – all by my lonesome at 4:30pm, just like the senior citizen I aspire to be.” Ditto to the salad and the early dinner time. Goals.
I’m thinking I’d like to read Isola. Your review has sparked my curiosity.
Ally, early dinner times are really underrated. And Isola was so incredible, I loved it!
I don’t have a plan in the sense of having a set meal for each day of the week (except Friday, which is always pizza), but every week is planned out ahead of time. Coming up with ideas is the hardest part for me, so to be faced with that obstacle when it was time to make dinner would feel quite disheartening.
Isola sounds interesting.
Enjoy your quiet week. I hope it’s productive on the writing front.
Coming up with ideas IS the hardest part! Luckily no one expects a huge variety – we repeat meals on a weekly or biweekly basis. I am totally with you, I cannot even fathom coming up with a dinner idea on the fly.
I can’t imagine saying Didion’s grief was disingenuous! I read The Year of Magical Thinking and was so moved by that memoir. It was so heartbreaking and visceral. I feel like it’s the pinnacle in terms of books about grief.
I am a big meal planner. I really do not know how people eat if they don’t meal plan. They must have much more expansive pantries than we do… we are more of a “just in time” kind of family, mostly due to space (our 1925 house does not have a pantry so we don’t have tons of storage space). We typically plan 3 meals/week and then get by on leftovers and easy meals on the other nights. Sadly, the boys rarely eat what we are eating. I don’t want to eat like a child and I can’t die on the hill of forcing my kids to eat what we eat (which tends to be spicy/very flavorful things that they can’t handle). That’s not a judgment against others who have threaded the needle of getting everyone to eat one meal. I grew up in a house where there was one meal and I am just mystified by how my mom raised such good eaters… but our kids were raised nearly identically and one loves fresh veggies and the other will fish out the teeniest piece of onion from a pasta sauce…
I had a really good Greek salad when I was traveling last week! The base was cucumbers, tomatoes, chickpeas, and kalamata olives. There was no lettuce which made it so much easier to eat in my compromised state. I have the hardest time cutting anything, including lettuce. And this was a client meeting lunch so I was nervous about how I would eat the salad… and yet I badly needed some fresh vegetables since I knew I was flying out of a tiny airport with no restaurant. So I was so relieved when the base was bite-sized! I can’t wait until I’ve recovered to the point where I can easily cut things up/maneuver a fork and knife…. I am not there yet.
Lisa, I loved that book too and I was absolutely disgusted when the author said it was disingenuous.
We also grew up in a “one meal” house, but I was the “picky eater.” I think I was just an undiagnosed vegetarian!
I never have lettuce in my Greek salad, so I think you would enjoy it!
You sound like the most fun person to hang out with, Nicole! I would love a string quartet tribute to ABBA! I love ABBA! I will have to get out my ABBA CDs and listen to them! As usual, all of your meals look amazing. I love what you said about eating your salad a 4:30 like the senior citizen you aspire to be. Me too!! And guess what – I got my first senior citizen discount at the grocery store the other day – and it was awesome! I saved 15% on the total bill, and I was like, “Wait a minute…being a senior citizen is very cool!”
15%!!!! That’s really great, Michelle! I’d take it!
ABBA is SO fun, I love all their music. It’s impossible to hear them and not break out into song and dance!
Nom nom on the food! What’s the sauce on the coconut rice/sweet potato/broc?
I’ve been through bad avocado phases, where anything I buy ends up being money in the trash. When I get burned too many times I take a break from avocados. For whatever reason we’re in a good avocado place right now, and I will take the win while it lasts.
I am glad that you read Didion and Babitz so that I don’t have to! I am intrigued by your review, but also taking your “I wish I hadn’t” note seriously. Setting yourself on fire and being a regular at the clap clinic…you just made me appreciate my boring life all the more.
Birchy, the sauce is a store-bought Harissa, from Superstore, and it’s really good!
OMG that book was a dumpster fire!
I’m not sure I will ever be mentally prepared for hearing my girls are moving out. Maybe dinners are the way to bring them back! I’d be lost without meal planning that’s for sure. Your weeks sounds fun and I’m still part of the yoga club, recently trying to do an online class most weekday mornings. 🙂
It’s definitely an adjustment, Anna! But when my son comes home for dinner, he’s always SO thankful to be eating Mom Cooked Food, as opposed to his own cooked food.
I used to be a meal planner for many years, but once Anna moved out, it all kind of fell apart. Mike and Ella are picky eaters—that’s all I’m willing to say about that. We all get fed, though. But man, if I lived closer, I’d love to sample whatever you’re having. Maybe I’d just move in.
Well I DO have a spare room!!!
Our Costco has little individual containers of avocado (don’t confuse them with the little individual containers of guacamole) and that is what I use when I need a guaranteed avocado. It’s probably more expensive by ounce, but it is reliable and there is no guesswork about when/if the avocado is ripe or a dud.
We meal plan for the week on Mondays because we grocery shop on Monday nights. We don’t have a regular rotation, but my mom recently reminded me that my grandmother used to have a day of the week rotation Monday = pork chops, Tuesday = tacos, Wednesday = soup and salad, etc. and I realized that my grandmother was a very smart lady. I like the idea of literally just knowing without having to think!
Oh I wish my Costco had those! It would be definitely cheaper since I end up throwing away most of the bag. It’s SO depressing.
I used to have a really rigid day of the week rotation when the kids were in school/ activities. Monday was pasta night! Tuesday was stir fry! Etcetera. It really simplifies everything.
Well, in the US, we used to have a plethora of avocados, but I’m suspicious they are going to be like gold now, what with our trade wars with Mexico. Maybe the price will go down for you this year?
Also-disco! Yes! My parents used to go disco dancing at the Rare Cherry in the 1970s and then would come home and teach us all the moves. At all of our weddings, the bride is always the Dancing Queen and the whole family gets up and busts out their best disco moves.
My daughter was threatening not coming home for the summer but she didn’t get the internship she wanted. Next summer though, it looks she’ll be gone for good. And she lives three hours away so I can’t enjoy surprise dinners or Sunday suppers.
Finally, I totally meal plan. I have since my daughter was little and I cannot imagine living without it. So, as usual, we are living parallel lives. 🙂
Gosh I hope the price goes down, but I won’t hold my breath!
I love love love disco!!!
Of course we are leading parallel lives – glad your daughter is coming home this summer. Three hours isn’t too bad but certainly isn’t a “pop over one Sunday” kind of commute.
I don’t really meal plan exactly, but I can usually come up with an idea before 5:00 pm. We live 30 miles from the nearest grocery store and 70 miles from the nearest Costco, so we keep a well stocked up pantry and freezer along with two refrigerators. So I can be a bit spontaneous most of the time. We recently were snowed in for six days and it was no problem as we had everything we needed. All your meals look delicious! I recently bought a bag of avocados at Costco and they were all fine, so maybe it’s a localized issue? The ABBA night out looks like it was crazy fun!
Hi Dulcie! I think it is a localized issue as I never had this problem when I was in Calgary. Now, however, it’s a disaster! I don’t know what changed!
I was sucky at meal planning, and then I got better, and then my kids left and my husband travels and now my meal plan mainly consists of ‘cook one thing Monday, eat for rest of week’. I love all your meals, but my ADD brain freezes up every time I try to implement them. I cooked a bunch of proteins to bring to Eve for her freezer to get her through until graduation (eep), which made me remember that I like cooking.
I’ve never liked Joan Didion’s writing as much as I felt like I should, and I can never figure out quite why. The book of short stories is going on my list, and I’ve been eyeing Isola on the express ebooks list, so good to have a solid rec.
I’m so sad for guacamole-loving you that you can’t get good avocados! Will attempt to manifest for you.
You’re such a good cook! I don’t understand why your brain freezes up, you always make so many delicious things!
The guys are going to be gone for a while in the summer and chances are I’ll eat Greek salad and hummus for like fourteen straight days.
I’ve been meal prepping for years. I had people say to me, “how can you possibly know on a Saturday (menu prep day) what you want to eat on Monday or any other day?” Well, I preferred knowing what I needed to make, having the ingredients in the house, rather than standing with the fridge and cupboard doors open going, “what am I gonna make??”
Your food looks great! I love Greek Salad and hummus. So quick and easy to make and delicious!
I’ve made a note of Her First Palestinian. I’ll skip the Didion/Babitz book. What a horrible thing to say about someone’s grief!
I look forward to another yoga video from you! I have continued to add new poses and improve on the old ones. I’m seeing progress in both my flexibility and balance and it feels really good.
I am pretty good at meal planning Mondays – Fridays and then I just go all willy-nilly on the weekends, which is where I run into the MOST trouble, lol. Most weekends I’m out and about and doing things, and I just find it SO BORING to eat food at home. I need to change this mindset, though! Maybe breakfast for dinner is a good compromise for weekend dinners – it’s a little more “fun” than a traditional meal. Hmm… you’ve got my gears spinning!
I’m sorry about the avocados! I feel like you may just need to wait for the market to open. 🙁 WAH.
It gives me all the warm fuzzies to see you hanging out with your girlfriends all the time! <3
I spent decades of my life meal planning, and perhaps I will go back to it some day but right now I cannot be bothered. I hate trying to come up with a week’s worth of meals and then go get everything, etc. It became too much of a chore, so I started going on my lunch hour (when I still worked in an office! I’d put my groceries in the work fridge! I’m a lot sometimes) and now that I work from home, that’s my jam. I figure out what I feel like eating at some point, and I go to the store and get it during my lunch hour. I pretend that I’m French, since I have heard that French people pick things up fresh and don’t get a week’s worth of groceries at once. I often have a lot of food in the freezer though, in case things get crazy at work. This has backfired this week, because I suddenly have to go out of town tomorrow and Wednesday, and there isn’t really dinner ingredients in the house. I told my husband that if he could let me know what he wanted, I would buy ingredients for him when at the store today, but he didn’t know, so they’re going to get take out. Who knows what will happen on Wednesday. He’ll probably ask me what time I’m going to be home, forgetting that i told him I won’t be home till late. Such is life.
Oh goodness, that book about Didion and the artist! Horrible! I mean, I haven’t read much of Didion, but to say her grief was fake??? WTF.