A quiet, cloudy morning with an armful of recipe books, fresh flowers, my new weekly meal planner (sold at our shop – oh, I love it so!), hot coffee & the laundry basket nearby.
I find it so important to carve out time at the beginning of the week to set my intentions for the days to follow. A large part of that time is spent meal planning. Our meal planning & prep has looked different over the years, but it still remains one practice I cannot do without.
This week I thought I’d share our meal plan for the week along with recipes & what we’re harvesting from the garden.
Harvested from the garden: Lots & lots of greens. I plan to eat a large salad every day this week. We also harvested radishes, a delicious topping on homegrown greens. I want to also use up frozen broccoli from our freezer because a crop is coming in soon. If we don’t end up with a generous amount of leftovers on Sunday, I’ll make a crustless quiche with our bounty of farm fresh eggs.
Week of April 17th – April 23rd Meal Plan
Monday: Broccoli, cheese & potato soup with salad
Tuesday: Strawberry, blue cheese & poppyseed salad with rolls
Wednesday: *Date with Oliver* Flatbread pizzas with salad
Thursday: *Family dinner night with Luke’s family*
Friday: Fried rice with chicken wontons (from Trader Joe’s)
Saturday: Chili cornbread bake with light salad
Sunday: Leftovers
Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead… please share your planned meals for the week in the comments below!
love,
natalie
Every Wednesday afternoon at three o’clock, I pick up my nephew from preschool. When we get into the car, Oliver always asks, “Aunt Natalie, what’s our fun plan for today?!”
Our bit of time together is my favorite. I always pull together a fun, seasonal activity we can enjoy together. On warmer days, we head to the splash pad or down to our neighbor’s creek. Spring days have us outside planting seeds & flying kites. On rainy days, in particular, you’ll find us inside crafting.
Last year around Easter, I filled little plastic eggs with sour worms & gummy bears. We boiled eggs from the farm & dyed them with the traditional kit found at the big box store. I hid little eggs around the farm & we went on an exciting egg hunt together!
This year, I wanted to dye eggs with more natural, plant-based dyes. Making my own dyes felt a bit daunting (though I am always wildly inspired by my friend, Amy, of Second & Edgemont) so I grabbed the Natural Egg Dye kit from Whole Foods made from fruits, herbs & veggies. It’s about $10 & is super simple to use.
It’s so important to start with good eggs when dyeing. If you do not have backyard chickens, I’d recommend connecting with your local farmer or grabbing a dozen from the natural foods store. I am particularly impressed with Whole Foods’ commitment to sustainable farms & happy chickens. I grabbed a dozen of their 365 Everyday Value white eggs & they worked great mixed with our own farm fresh brown beauties!
Before picking up Oliver, I boiled our eggs & set up our supplies. A bit of parchment & white paper worked well to protect our thrifted farmhouse table. I poured the natural dye colors into mason jars, a wonderful no-waste solution for dyeing. Once we arrived back home, I simply added hot water to each jar & we began dyeing!
There are so many techniques you can try to make your dyed eggs extra special. I love this feathered egg tutorial from 3191 & hope to do this activity with Oliver next year!
This time around, we simply drew on our eggs with crayons. Oliver used every color of the rainbow to make little scribbles on his eggs before plopping them into the dye. I loved using white – the wax prevents color from seeping into the shell so you can draw sweet little patterns on each egg. The possibilities are endless!
Once we were finished, we placed each egg into an old egg carton & admired our handiwork. I’ve been enjoying boiled eggs for breakfast every morning since!
Such a wonderful afternoon spent with Oliver & an easy, seasonal activity to enjoy with the littles.
I’d love to read your favorite techniques for naturally dyeing eggs! Please share in the comments!
If you’re on Instagram, head on over to my account & enter to win Easter goodies from Whole Foods. This blog post was in partnership with Whole Foods Fayetteville & they’re graciously gifting a @nataliecreates follower within Northwest Arkansas a bundle of spring goodies!
love,
natalie
I am happy to say we have finally found our rhythm within the home since opening our shop. I knew I wanted to get back to a full night’s rest, home-cooked meals & regular exercise. But I also wanted to add in some simple practices that were much needed even before the shop’s opening.
I’ve been experimenting for a few weeks & I am finding that certain, simple practices are finding their place within our days. I thought I’d share some of those daily habits with you…
1. Putting up our dishes first thing every morning: I would get so frustrated every day around lunchtime when I would wash my plate & go to put it in the dishwasher, only to find it was full of clean dishes. I know, first world problems. Now, every morning with coffee in hand, I put up all of the dishes. It makes for a smoother afternoon & an empty sink throughout the day.
– Drinking more water: Truthfully, I struggle to drink water. Even in the heat of an Arkansas summer, I’ll grab an iced coffee over a bottle of water any day. But I am slowly working on this habit. In order to motivate myself, I have been filling up a pretty glass pitcher (a thrifted find, vintage Pyrex) with water & ice. I’ll add in fresh lemon, lime, herbs & fruit for a pop of flavor. Somedays I do well & other days I fail, but the reminder of that pitcher on the countertop sure does help.
– Putting away clothing immediately: Do you have that chair in your bedroom that serves as your chair to hold the mound of clean clothes not yet put up? Yes, us too. And it drove me nuts! The time to put up all. of. those. clothes each week was ridiculous. So I decided to set a rule for myself. Every time I was finished with a piece of clothing that wasn’t quite ready for the wash or a piece I decided not to wear that day, I had to take two seconds to fold or hang it up. This has been HUGE. A simple practice that keeps our bedroom clean & puts my mind at ease. Yes.
– Slowly settling down at night: The evening hours are sacred within our home. They’re oftentimes the only hours of the day when we’re both together. So I’ve been working to protect those hours. For an hour or so, just before bedtime & after the completion of chores for the day, you’ll find us by the wood burning stove with a book in hand (currently reading the Underground Railroad & loving it!). We make a cup of tea & savor the quiet for just a few moments before settling into bed. I apply essential oils & fall into my pillow for a deep night’s rest.
What simple practices are you adding to your day? How are you falling into a healthy daily rhythm? I’d love to read your thoughts & suggestions in the comments!
love,
natalie