The Weekly Ramble – August 29, 2025
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It’s the end of the week! Let’s chat discards, one incomes, and homemade pimiento cheese.
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August ends this weekend. That went by in a flash, did it not?
This week I began my monthly review. We got a lot of work done around the house last weekend, so it’s nice to be able to cross several of my clutter projects off the list.
I still have a pile of discards to eject from the house. I’m dawdling because I don’t know how to dispose of the science kits. I’m thinking that Goodwill might not take them, and I’m not sure they can go in the trash. Let me know your suggestions in the comments.
Above is our school room loft. At the old house, we used the dining room for our school room. I’ve struggled to keep this space tidy over the last couple years since our move. It’s become the catch-all of things that didn’t have a home.
Last Saturday I locked in, as the kids say, and decluttered, dusted, vacuumed, and hammered nails. The art may or not be level on the walls because I didn’t ask my handy man to do it. (I figured I’d apologize to him later!)
He was busy painting all the things.
We don’t actually have all the things painted yet, but Bryan got four chairs and two music stands done and they look great! (Remember when we found these chairs for a steal on Craigslist back when that was cool?)
WHY have we never thought to paint the music stands?!
Those are items that always come in black and one assumes they are supposed to stay black. But they don’t have to. I think I now understand the vibe behind the old lady wearing purple.
There are no rules. At least not where you think there. I mean, there are rules (God’s rules), but a lot of what we think of as rules, aren’t His.
That includes colorful music stands.
Here’s what else I’ve been doing, eating, listening/watching, reading, and writing this past week.
What I’ve Been Doing
Monday was back-to-school for everyone and well as FishBaby’s 17th birthday. I baked the college kids an apple pie per our back to school tradition and made Miss 17 an apple crisp because she doesn’t like pie.
And this week was your typical 1st week back to school: exhausting.
Even though my work load is so much lighter than back in the day, it still is a change to switch gears and try to track everyone’s schedule. My kitchen clean up crew is somewhat diminished, so that is going to take some trouble shooting.
Another change: having to throw away a piece of pie. Wow. That one threw me, but with kids gone most days and some of us counting macros, we did not finish the pie. That’s a sad day, indeed.
What I’ve Been Eating
(Clearly not pie.)
On Sunday I made a knock-off Chick-fil-A pimiento cheese by mixing together mayo, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, green chiles, and some spices. We had leftover hamburger buns and the Costco chicken nuggets.
The sandwich was almost as good as what I remember from CFA, but I didn’t have spicy filets or hot honey. Those would have taken it over the top.
I decided to get way more serious about my nutrition than I have been, so I stirred the rest of the pimiento cheese into a Chicken Enchilada Casserole so that I wouldn’t eat it all week.
Instead, I’ve been making big salads and trying to get my 100 grams or protein. That is hard going!
What I’ve Been Listening to/Watching
Is it weird that I listened to myself? I was checking my work — as I was a guest on a podcast this week.
I met my friend Allison through her podcast, The Art of Home. We are similar ages with similar life paths (kids, homemaking, homeschooling, etc) and have become fast friends this year.
Even more so, Allison has graciously let me come on and gab with her on the podcast three times now!
We’ve done a homemaker portrait, a deep dive into family travel, and now we’re venturing into one-income living territory. We talked for THREE hours recently and we barely skimmed the topic.
Our discussion is airing in two parts. You can listen to part one here.
What I’ve Been Reading
I’m still working my way through Eve in Exile, not because it isn’t good, it absolutely is. But, I really haven’t been sitting down to read. I’ve been carting my kid around and trying to get in more work hours.
Speaking of which…
What I’ve Been Writing
I’m pleased to report that I clocked over 18 billable hours for Good Cheap Eats and Life as Mom this past week. I averaged 10-12/week for the previous month, so this is an improvement.
I don’t get paid by the hour, but if I’m going to be applying for jobs elsewhere (which I have done this summer), it would be good to have that same measure of work for my own business.
I am not done with my work for the Good Cheap Eats Club — Souptember is coming! — so my final bill to myself will be much higher by Saturday night. So many good soup-spired things!
Here’s what’s NEW on Good Cheap Eats:
NEW on the Blog
Alrighty, then, that’s what I got for you. I hope you’ll take a sec and drop a comment below. I love chatting with you!
How was your week?
What’s up in your world? Leave a comment or a prayer request. We’re all in this together!
I’m trying to get at least 80g of protein daily. It’s also been suggested that I try intermittent fasting, but I don’t think both can work for me simultaneously. In my thin days I ate small amounts frequently. I don’t remember when or why that changed, but there was a gap between that and my weight gain years, so that makes me think squeezing a day’s worth of food into a short time might not be for me. 🤷🏼♀️ Do you use a protein powder?
I don’t care for the flavors most protein powders, but I use Jarrow’s unflavored whey protein for baking, overnight oats, protein oats, and the occasional smoothie.
Now that I read your answer I remember I’ve asked this before. 🙄 I’m not sure I could consistently reach that high without powders.
Yeah, unfortunately, you’re advised not to rely on powders too much, so that’s where I lean on quinoa flakes and egg whites to help supplement in other ways.
Is it because of the possibility of the protein becoming toxic?
I did buy quinoa flakes to try your breakfast cookies.
Why egg whites instead of the whole egg?
The not too much on powders is because of it not being a complete protein and lacking certain amino acids (I think.) As for egg whites, they are pure protein without the fat in the yolk so for people counting macros or watching fat calories, it’s helpful.