Thanks to Methodist’s “My Chart”, I received the results of my Covid test this morning, and I am happy to report that the test is negative. Both the boys also tested negative on our home Covid tests. Brainy Bird had a runny nose earlier in the week, and we were around someone with an active case of Covid, so we had concern that we too were infected. I plan to call my doctor’s office as soon as it opens in eight minutes to confirm we can get out of quarantine, and to schedule my follow up exams.
There is some concern that I may have breast cancer. Odd that has been on the backburner of my mind the past few days. This has been an emotionally stressful week to the point that potentially having cancer paled in comparison to other things. Despite all of the chaos, there are positives to be found all around me.
First, every indication is that the boys and I get out of quarantine today. TopGolf!!! Mini Golf!!! Here we come! I carry few regrets as a parent, one thing I do regret is not getting the boys into golf. We just did not have the money when they were younger, and once I could afford it, I neglected to take action. Every parent will tell you that the time goes so fast. I suppose that it is never too late. Perhaps, I will float the idea of golf lessons by the boys at some point today.
Second, we can go out to eat, but I think we will cook at home. Being stuck at home had its advantages the past couple of days. First and foremost, we had time together. We watched movies, played dominoes, played Mario games on the Nintendo, and we planned our meals for the upcoming week. We spent a great deal of time on meal planning. I made a list of twenty potential meals. The boys then each vetoed five meals off the list, leaving a list of ten meals. This was fun. Here is how it played out.
The original list:
- Pot roast
- Turkey sausage meatballs in sage cream sauce
- Cheeseburger lettuce wraps
- No carb lasagna
- BBQ pulled pork sliders and coleslaw
- Chicken Caesar lettuce wraps w/ vegetable soup
- Asian chicken lettuce wraps, and egg drop soup
- Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps
- Roasted turkey legs, gravy, potatoes and Brussel sprouts
- Portobello mushroom pizzas
- Turkey, queso and scrambled eggs
- Beef stew
- Turkey meatloaf
- Thai basil chicken
- Kyle’s famous tuna tostadas
- Fondue
- Turkey breast cutlets with Dijon sauce
- Turkey benedict
- Red Lobster night – cheddar biscuits, salads and clam chowder
- Chance’s famous pork chops, rice, and green veggie
Brainy Bird’s vetoes:
- Pot roast
- Turkey sausage meatballs in sage cream sauce
- Cheeseburger lettuce wraps
- No carb lasagna
- BBQ pulled pork sliders and coleslaw
Brainy Bird vetoed pot roast, despite a love for pot roast, because he felt it was redundant of stew. Additionally, we only have a few days of cool weather in the upcoming week, and two cold weather foods felt like a lot. I am not sure what the boys have against the idea of turkey sausage meatballs in sage cream sauce, but both wanted to veto that one. They also both wanted to veto lasagna. They love lasagna, but it is labor-intensive from a preparation perspective. Apparently, my boys have never had solid pulled pork sliders, or Brainy Bird would not have vetoed that one.
Little Chirp’s vetoes:
- Chicken Caesar lettuce wraps w/ vegetable soup
- Asian chicken lettuce wraps, and egg drop soup
- Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps
- Roasted turkey legs, gravy, potatoes and Brussel sprouts
- Portobello mushroom pizzas
Little Chirp wanted nothing to do with lettuce wraps, and he thought that we had too much turkey on the menu, so he vetoed the turkey legs and all things lettuce wraps. I added portobello mushroom pizzas back on to the list, making our final list:
- Portobello mushroom pizzas
- Turkey, queso and scrambled eggs
- Beef stew
- Turkey meatloaf
- Thai basil chicken
- Kyle’s famous tuna tostadas
- Fondue
- Turkey breast cutlets with Dijon sauce
- Turkey benedict
- Red Lobster night – cheddar biscuits, salads and clam chowder
- Chance’s famous pork chops, rice, and green veggie
I am excited about our list. We do not normally eat this much turkey, but I processed a whole raw turkey from Thanksgiving. I carefully removed as much fat as I could, and I deboned it. I then separated the breasts into cutlets and then I ground the remainder. Our little freezer is full of turkey.
We then made a grocery list, and we purchased our groceries. I am not a fan of grocery delivery. I love grocery shopping, but it was our only option. This made me thankful on two fronts: 1 – We can easily afford the added cost of delivery. There was a time in my life when this would have been a point of stress. Now, we do not need to worry about it. 2 – It makes things fun as they inevitability get items on the order wrong or cannot find certain items. This means we will need to get creative and improvise. My favorite example being the fact that they either could not find the tuna steaks or HEB is out of tuna steaks. Little Chirp is going to have to find some alternative for his tostadas. He is already coming up with ideas; I just hope that it does not involve turkey.
Last night, we had our first meal off the list, which was “Red Lobster night”. We almost never go to Red Lobster, but we do Red Lobster night at home. Little Chirp makes the cheddar biscuits, and they are as good if not better than the ones at Red Lobster. We make a traditional salad just like they use to serve with the little salad shrimp on top. I make ranch dressing, and Brainy Bird is in charge of the soup. He did soup from a can this time around. I thought it was great. Little Chirp slipped a fourth of cup of grated cheddar cheese into the soup, and this was a game changer. Why isn’t cheese an ingredient in clam chowder?
After dinner, we watched a Netflix movie, “Vicky and her Mystery.” I give it a B minus. Vicky isn’t a mystery; she has a dog named, Mystery. The dog turns out to be a wolf. This is what happens when a man from the city decides to try to live in the mountains alone with his daughter. Luckily, the city man is a surgeon, and he saves the dog’s life after the dog is shot by an angry village man that is tired of wolves killing his sheep.
The boys and I now have five days together before I head back to work. We will spend the days together doing the simple things that we love, like snuggling the cats, cooking and playing Mario games. We will set goals, ring in the new year, and hopefully “play some golf”.
It is the little things in life…