Soup seems like a good plan for post-holiday dining

We had a really lovely and surprisingly productive Thanksgiving break. Poppy and I went to the movies twice (to see “Hidden Figures” and “Moana,” both of which we loved), Rockford and his team of junior Griswolds put up all of our Christmas decorations, we finally installed threshold pieces in the house where we’d taken up the old carpet, and we replaced a light fixture that broke an embarassingly long time ago.

Today we’re back to our regular schedule and our regular meal-planning. By which I mean, we’ll be eating tacos this week.

Monday: Chicken pot sticker soup
Our first stop at Trader Joe’s is always the sample kiosk, and that’s where we tried this soup. It’s just their miso-ginger broth with chicken and veggie pot stickers. We’ll also be having spring rolls. It’ll be a simple, light meal after our weekend of indulgence.

Tuesday: Festival of sides
Pete was pretty sad when the sweet potato casserole went home with its maker on Thanksgiving, so Rockford decided he’d make a whole new one for him. We’ll also have green bean casserole and rolls.

Wednesday: Grilled ham & cheese
Poppy talked a lot on Thanksgiving about how much she loves a “holiday ham,” but she won’t even try deli ham. It’s a mystery.

Thursday:Tacos
I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner this Thursday, and they agreed on tacos. Tacos are clearly a miracle meal.

Friday: Pizza
We’re supposed to get a good bit of rain this week, so it’s possible that the burn ban we’ve been under will be lifted and I’ll feel free to use the grill again. But I may order pizza rather than make it anyway. We’ll see how the week goes.

soup

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

Thanksgiving week in photos

Monday

Poppy and her soccer team finished their season a few weeks ago, but they decided they still wanted to get together to play. They spent about an hour playing before we had to go. I spent most of the time in the car, because it was super cold.

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Tuesday

Poppy and I got to see an advance screening of “Hidden Figures,” and I took this not-so-great selfie.

us

Wednesday

I made so much macaroni and cheese.

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Thursday

It’s nice having a big field nearby for those days when we try to pack 19 people into our smallish ’50s house.

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Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is traditionally the day we put up our Christmas decorations. It’s also the day I put a Santa hat on Marsha T. Cat. She’s a very good sport.

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And apparently I didn’t take any pictures over the weekend.

Dreaming of more space

We’ve been feeling slightly claustrophobic in our house lately — and not only because we just hosted 19 people in our house for Thanksgiving. Our house was built in the mid-’50s. One of the bedrooms is pretty tiny, the kitchen is serviceable but cramped when more than one person is in there, and it would be nice if Rockford had a space he could use as an office.

The real estate market in our town would make it easy to sell our house, but it would also make it tough for us to find something with the space we’d like in an area we’d like that’s in our budget. So we’ve toyed around with moving, but I don’t think it’s in the cards.

We’re currently talking about the possibility of either building a tiny house or converting the garage, which of course means I’ve been googling “garage conversions” quite a bit. There are some really beautiful conversions at Houzz — including a few that were turned into kitchens! — and some helpful info at Garages.About.Com and Money Pit.

My current garage-conversion dream moves the kitchen out there, with a half-bath, a laundry room and a ginormous pantry. I’m still trying to figure out what we’d do with the current kitchen. A formal dining room? A den? Who knows!

I’m not sure if it’ll happen, but I’m feeling inspired.