Meatless, Week 4

We have been Spring Cleaning this week and I have spent more time vacuuming closets than I have spent in the kitchen. We started bright and early Monday morning working on this ambitious checklist from Oprah.com, promising that the whole house can be cleaned in 8 hours. Don't tell Oprah, but 12 hours later we weren't even halfway there.

When we moved here in July I didn't do much organization in our closets and cupboards. We have been blessed with lots of storage space, which meant I could toss random objects into a closet, shut the door, and forget about it. Down here we have to spray for bugs regularly, especially those of us living in the country, so I decided it was a good time to completely empty each closet, spray pesticide, organize all the junk, and put it back neatly. It almost felt like we were moving again.

Now here I am on Friday morning, with four rooms remaining on my list - kitchen, playroom, half bath, and utility room.We have sent four bags to Good Will and filled two bags of trash from cleaning alone. Ew. It is very refreshing to get all this STUFF out of my way.  I have to admit that I am running out of steam, but hopefully this cup of coffee will help me get motivated for the rest of today.

Meanwhile, here is a peek at what we've been eating.

Wednesday - Curried Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup (repeat from Week 1)

Thursday - We had to drive to the city to pick up the car from the mechanic, so we grabbed dinner out at Taco Bueno.

Friday - Spinach Madeleine Pizza (but you already knew that)

Saturday - White Bean Paste & Tomato Chutney on homemade whole wheat french bread, and leftover Lentil soup (rating: 4/5)

Sunday - Ginger Broccoli Stir Fry (repeat from Week 1) served with Quinoa

Monday - Spaghetti, sauce from a jar, cheese (this was our big cleaning day, so lazy supper)

Tuesday - Onion Quiche and Cranberry White Chocolate Scones (rating: 5/5)

Both recipes from America's Test Kitchen. I used Kerry Gold Blarney Castle cheese (found for just $3 at Aldi), farm eggs from a neighbor, and Texas sweet onions (very different from those onions you Yankee folks have). Amazing. The leftovers made an excellent breakfast the next day, and it was so good we didn't mind eating the same meal twice in a row.