Roast at my mother-in-law’s house
Hamburgers with homemade Thousand Island dressing and sweet potato fries
Meatloaf muffins, roasted potatoes, peas
Korean beef with green beans and rice
Leftovers
I have not included Saturday because I don’t know what I want to eat then.
This year, I changed school districts. I am one of the cross-categorical intervention specialists at the middle school I’m currently teaching. This means I have a homeroom. My students either stay in my room during the whole day or go out for portions of the day.
There are a total of 8 students. 3 of them are in the room full-time.
Of the remaining 5:
So this week, I have been working on revamping the schedule I’ve had since late August. Lunch, science, and cooking all had to be changed. One of my students has his science changed to me just teaching him while his classmates each lunch. He eats lunch with his same-grade peers.
One of my students did not come back to school yesterday. So she was completely confused when she came back because the schedule had changed.
The one nice thing is there is now a block of time for two of the students who do not leave my room to go and walk throughout the building.
Oh, and there’s a new student in my class. I’m changing how we do math because not everyone is learning new skills. Some students are confused, and absences are holding us back. The good news is that we haven’t changed how we teach reading.
What have you been working on this week?
This post has been linked to the Writer’s Workshop.
In order to be kind to myself, I’ve created six meal plans that I can use when I’m not feeling very creative.
This week I’m sharing the first meal plan. There are no specific days for each meal. You can choose which meal to cook based on your schedule. I do have one suggestion which is to cook the soup at the beginning of the week. This way you will have it to use as leftovers for lunch.
I get my skillet sauces at Aldi. All 3 of the ones I get are gluten-free and delicious. My husband loves the butter chicken one the best.
If you don’t want to use the skillet sauce or don’t have an Aldi close by, Google butter chicken, tikka marsala, or curry recipes or look on Pinterest.
Join me next week for another menu.
I thought it was going to be something like the word expectation or expect the unexpected. I clung to them because they are phrases my church uses, but that word and phrase didn’t feel right.
This morning, I found a quiz that helped me narrow it down. You see, in the year 2023, that was an expectation year. So many new adventures and experiences happened this past year. I cannot IMAGINE what will happen in 2024.
So without much further ado . . . My word for 2024 is IMAGINE.
What is your word of the year?
Can you believe it is already the new year? Have you made any resolutions? Or do you focus on a word or phrase of a year? I haven’t formally done that since 2018. In 2017, I focused on bucket lists. I had lost my sister and decided life was for the living. Then in 2018, I focused on Health because I was dealing with my gallbladder issues.
I am still praying about what 2024’s word of the year could be. Maybe I will be enlightened soon because well it is the new year.
We discovered this holiday train display when we were in downtown Dayton, Ohio. I say a mural that said Greetings from Dayton that I needed to get a photo with and was pleasantly surprised there was this train display in that same building.
When you give your husband the phone to take a photo of you. You get a lot of photos of you doing random things.
At the music center, there is a holiday display. During the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, a downtown department store would decorate their windows for Christmas. Every year I like to go see the displays. Although they are the same for the most part, there is always something new hidden in the displays. It becomes a treasure hunt to find the new item. We talked to a security guard this year who helped us with finding this year’s hidden item. He didn’t tell us what it was but told us to look from a kid’s view. We ended up finding all of the items in the 6 different displays. Some were fairly easy to others being almost impossible to find. It was a lot of fun.
My first year going to the display was in 2016 right after my sister died. Mom talked about the Christmas window displays. Once I found out they were putting them out, I knew we needed to see them. Now it’s a tradition.
My local bakery decided to sell gluten-free sub platters for New Year’s Eve parties. I don’t get to partake in subs very often, so this is awesome.
Every year, we have pork and sauerkraut for our New Year’s Dinner. This year is no exception. My mother-in-law is making the potatoes to go along with the pork.
Chick-Fil-A at home
Naked chicken tenders, waffle fries, lemonade
Pantry chili, cornbread
We discovered we enjoy the gluten-free cornbread from Aldi. If you haven’t tried it out, please do.
Soy sauce pork chops, fried potatoes, veggie
When I looked in the freezer, I saw we had a package of pork chops. We haven’t had soy sauce pork chops for a while, so I decided that would delicious. I use tamari instead of soy sauce, so that it is gluten-free.
Barbecue chicken nachos OR barbecue chicken with whatever side they want to cook with it.
Hubby does not like nachos. I can’t eat those quick sides, so this is the best of both worlds. I can eat what I like while he gets to eat what he likes. Oldest will not eat the barbecue chicken but Youngest will. Youngest likes both the sides and nachos, so he can decide which one he wants to eat.
I have not included Saturday because I don’t know what I want to eat then.
As the new year begins, people make resolutions. Some of those resolutions are to eat better. One way to do eat better is to utilize appliances in your kitchen, so you can dinner on the table quickly instead of eating out.
I’m going to be sharing slow cooker recipes from my blog that can help you get either dinner, side dish, or a sweet treat on the table quicker. Since I have to eat a gluten-free diet, I have identified the recipes that are gluten-free or ones that can be adapted to be gluten-free.
I’ve also listed the ingredients that are needed for the recipe, so you can decide if you have those ingredients for the recipe or if you need to put them on your grocery list.
I was new to the district when I was told my room was not cozy, so I was given permission to set up my room.
As I was going through my memorabilia from my previous district, I found a card with her name on it.
After I texted her a photo of that card, she texted me back.
I ended up calling her and telling her my woes and triumphs.
As we talked, she reminded me of whose I was and how I had created a legacy through my students.
Then I stood in a doorway as she prayed over me, blessing me as I started a new chapter.
Last night, we were at a local historical site enjoying the Christmas decorations.
As we were leaving, I simultaneously saw and ran to her.
She embraced me when she realized I was there.
We talked for a few moments and then she blessed me into the new year.
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The week before Christmas, we went to the Columbus Zoo. If you saw the news, the zoo was a mad house because of the weather. It was in the 50s, so everyone was there. Some people took upwards of 3 hours to get out of the parking lot. We did our usual get there before dark and leave when the crowds truly got there. We took 20 minutes to get out.
At one point during the day at the zoo or during my various outings, I was exposed to gluten through cross-contamination. I have eaten a gluten-free diet since April 2021. (If you look through past posts, I also ate a gluten-free diet in 2017/2018.) Anyway, we thought it was an intolerance.
While we were at the zoo, my back started to itch. I thought nothing of it because nothing like what happened next had ever occurred before. That night, as I was sleeping, my legs started to itch. By the time I woke up, I had hives covering my legs. As the day progressed, hives kept appearing.
The next day I went to work covered up because I did not want my students to know I had hives. All day I was itching while trying to finish up grades, teach my students, and be a productive human being. I went home, relaxed, and tried to think of a dinner to cook. With no energy and hurting, my husband brought home Chick-Fil-A which is a safe place to eat. Suddenly, I noticed my lip was swelling up. I took a Benadryl and an oatmeal bath to see if it would go down, and it was a fluke. After a few minutes, it was getting worse, and I was scared it would go into my airway.
I convinced my husband to drive me to the nearest ER. I had to have an EKG because my blood pressure had risen, and they got me into a bed in the hallway as quickly as they could. (Within 20 minutes) They confirmed what I was thinking, which was I was having an allergic reaction, and I had been having one for 2 days at that point. So now, instead of being intolerant to gluten, I am allergic.
I am 48 years old. I have never had an allergic reaction like that, so I didn’t know what to do. Now, I’m the proud owner of an Epipen for when it reaches my mouth area. Benadryl and Pepcid need to be near me at all times.
After I was given a cocktail of Benadryl and steroids, I was observed for an hour. The swelling reduced and I was sent on my way home with the stipulation if it started again to come back in.
The next days were a blur of hives mysteriously appearing and disappearing, levels of itchiness increasing and decreasing, tiredness and insomnia, and medications not causing me any relief.
On Saturday, or as Friends referred to it, Christmas Eve Eve, depression almost started kicking in because I was tired of feeling as though my skin was going to burn off my body. I wanted to feel like myself. As I drove to a local bakery to pick up my Christmas goodies that were allergen-safe, I cried. “God, help me,” with tears rolling down my face.
What I didn’t realize was that I was missing a piece of my medicine cocktail. In a drug stupor at 10:30 pm on Monday night, they told me to take Pepcid alongside Benadryl like you do for babies when they have a fever when you give them Advil and Tylenol. One dose of Pepcid, four hours later, Benadryl. And the steroids, which made me gain 10 pounds.
We had Christmas Eve Eve lunch with the family and I was told to take the Pepcid. My mother-in-law had some at her house. I took 2 doses that day and woke up on Christmas Eve feeling like Traci.
The hives have all but disappeared. Every once in a while, I get the urge to itch, but it’s not enough to make me feel as though my skin is going to fall off.
My Christmas gift was taking the last of the steroids.
Tomorrow, I see the doctor for a plan of action. Do I need further testing, or can we use what happened to me during the week before Christmas as an indication of what we now know? Gluten is no longer a friend but a foe.
Stay kind!
Just over a week ago, I had an allergic reaction to gluten because of cross-contamination. Even though I have eaten a gluten-free diet since April 2021, it scared us because it took me down for a week. Anyway, my mother-in-law made sure I had food that had no gluten. She used my gluten-free flour blend in the potatoes. I had not had those since I went gluten-free, so I took an extra large portion.
We had ham, mixed veggies, hashed potatoes, and bread. My bread was gluten-free cornbread from the gluten-free line at Aldi’s. So delicious.
My favorite gift I have ever received was my Ninja Air Fryer. I don’t use it as much as my boys do. However, it’s nice because they can cook their own food. We received it last year.
December is a hard month. These past two years have been easier for me. In past Decembers, I lost both of my maternal grandparents (20 and 15 years ago), my father-in-law (10 years ago), and his aunt (9 years ago). My mom’s birthday was in December, so all of those memories made it hard for me. This year, we lost another family member. That was tough, but it was nice getting the family back together and creating core memories.
The one with the hat is my dog Gaston. He “allowed” us to put on the hat as long as he got a treat.
The other two dogs are my mother-in-law’s dogs. The one carried around that green toy for several hours. He was not going to allow the other two to get it.
They each got a toy from my mother-in-law. Gaston keeps trying to steal his friend’s green toy, so she gets him one similar to the one they have.
