Exhausted and Board

First week back to work.  I'm exhausted, but I expected that.  I also expected that my job would be different. I didn't expect that we'd have to figure out so much on the fly.  It's physically and mentally draining.  I'm so glad I prepped meals last week.  

This week I'm back to planning meals.  There are holes in the plan for the upcoming week.  That's OK.  Not only has my job changed, but my schedule has changed.  I'm not quite sure how everything will fit together.  I'll receive my groceries and my veggies tomorrow.  Once I see what I have I can fill in the holes for the rest of the week.

I'm relying heavily on prepared foods and simple recipes.  There's even hot dogs on the menu.  I haven't bought hot dogs in years, but they're simple and they remind me of past cookouts  By Wednesday I'm going to need something to remind me that there was a time when we weren't planning our lives around a pandemic.

Bean and cheese quesadillas will be my go-to lunch for a while.  Our staff room can only accommodate one person when we have to physical distance.  I've decided that it's easier to head out on my break. Quesadillas keep well in an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack.  And, when the weather is too wet to head to the park, they're easy to eat in my car.

I've also decided to use two dry-erase boards for meal-planning.  I think I'll be better able avoid food waste if I start planning next week as we use up things in the fridge this week. 

This week's recipes:

Chickpea curry: A cross between this recipe and the chickpea curry in Stephanie Kay's 5-ingredient cookbook.  The two recipes combined in a stove-top version should use up a few odds and ends in the fridge.

Beet pesto:  Made during last week's kitchen frenzy.  I don't think I mentioned that I used sunflower seeds instead of almonds.  Initial tastes while prepping were good.  Looking forward to trying it in a meal.  Pink pasta!

Sloppy Joes:  There are still a few jars of this in the freezer from the last batch I made.  We'll serve it on buns from my favourite bakery.  I love their hamburger buns.  I buy them and freeze them when they have them.

Chicken fajita salad:  I'll do a variation of this recipe.  I like that the same recipe is used for the marinade and the dressing.  The fewer steps the better!  I know I won't make it exactly as written, because I won't have chicken thighs, avocado or cilantro in the house.

(*Note:  I don't get anything for the links above.  They're there for your information.  Hope you find them useful.)