August 3, 2026

WEEKLY MENU 08.02.26

We’re celebrating HUGE during the Weekly Menu 08.02.26~ and we’ve got fast and easy meals to see us through.

What are we celebrating during the Weekly Menu 08.02.26? Bert’s birthday! It’s a milestone day, but I’m not going to mention which one. But it’s big. HUGE. Here’s a picture of him back in the day.

Young Bert for Weekly Menu 08.01.21 — ^{I’m not going to say how old Bert is turning this week, but he’s about 20 in this picture.}

Proving irrefutably that I am one lucky woman, he has just gotten better looking with age.

Bert isn’t best pleased about turning this milestone over, so what are we doing about it? Celebrating all week. And brininging up the actual years he is pretty mUch constantly. Nothing major. He’ll have his family surrounding him – which is always a win. His Big Day is actually Monday, so we’re going out for a family dinner. And we’re going with bakery cake this year, which is why we’re having Toll House Bars for sunday night. Don’t want to overhwelm on the sugar! (Affiliate links follow – see Disclaimer Page for details.)

We’ve been together for over 34 years now, so this birthday thing should have gotten easier, but he is, bar none, the most difficult person to buy for that I’ve ever encountered. He’s an amazing guy who honestly doesn’t want anything. He is the epitome of partner, and my favorite person in the whole world. But he’s tough as hell to surprise with a thoughtful gift. I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve, but I can’t share them now – so I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

Weekly Menu 08.02.26

Of course we’re also eating regular din-din too, during the Weekly Menu 08.02.26 ~ it’s still summertime, after all, so we’re grilling and crockpotting (I must NOT have made that word up – the spellcheck did not react.). We’re also working in an Erieland Festival on Saturday. That’s how we’re “figuring it out”.

Italian Festival!

Luckily, the Italian Festival is going on with business as usual, so we’ll head down to support Saint Paul’s Church on Friday night by eating Meatball Sandwiches and Sausage Subs the way God intended: standing in a church parking lot, juggling a beer in one hand and food in another while chatting up like-minded folks. Festival season is literally the only time of year we see some of these people! We’ll probably be able to score a pepperoni ball or two as well. Fingers crossed!

We’re starting out the Weekly Menu 08.02.26 with a summertime classic – grilled chicken. We’re going to stuff it with a little bit of cream cheese and some cheddar cheese to gussy it up a little bit for Sunday dinner. We’re starting with more cheese – the Queso Bread Bowl is a family favorite that comes together in about 15 minutes, so I love it too!

Bert approved favorites all week long…

We’re eating out for the actual big day. I don’t want you thinking I’m the “Well Seasoned Fraud” because I have Pork Salsa Verde on the menu for all y’all. We’d have it if we weren’t already confirmed elsewhere, I swear.

On Tuesday I’m cleaning out the pantry – and using all the partial boxes of pasta in there. It’s not often that I cook an entire pound of pasta anymore because it just goes to waste. We have some rigatoni, some spaghetti, a little bit of penne, and a partial box of elbow mac. I’ll put the rigs (and maybe the penne) into a bag and break them up a little bit (and get out any aggression) by slamming them with the pan so that they all cook at about the same time. To my cooked sausage-beef mixture, I’ll add a jar of pasta sauce (we’ve been enjoying Ragu lateley) the noodles, and enough water to cover. The one pan dish bubbles away until the noodles are cooked, and we serve immediately with some whipped ricotta/mozzarella/parmesan dollops. Delicious, easy, and clears out the pantry. Super win!

We’re pressing the slow cooker into service on Wednesday AND Thursday with some easy recipes. The crockpot gets WAY more use during the summer than it does during any other season.