He’s always outnumbered by the strong-willed women in his life, but he is our biggest fan and we are his, and he is an amazing team player in our family.
Recently, my kids were showing me an online video of a man who surprised his girlfriend by getting down on one knee and proposing to her during a photo shoot. I was misty-eyed watching her reaction and his proposal. I was telling my kids afterwards that when my now-husband and of course, their dad, Don, proposed to me, he asked if he should get down on one knee, but I said no, that instead I wanted him to sit down on the bench next to me in the gazebo where he’d chosen to propose. I wanted us to be equal, at the same level.
Now, more than 20 years and three kids, several dogs, multiple goldfish and one frog later, that equal level, that partnership and teamwork still stands. I don’t think we could make it through a day or a week if it didn’t. As I sit and write this, it is International Women’s Day and I am reflective and thankful for my chosen partner in life, my best friend and all he does to support me and to support us. He will literally do anything that we four women ask him to do or need him to do, even things that are considered traditionally to be a “woman’s job.” In a day and age when so many are not so privileged as we are to have such support, when women’s rights are being taken away on a daily basis, or have yet to exist at all, I am grateful for my own personal situation, my teammate. I could be married to this guy, or some of the many men in our world just like him, or someone much, much worse.
This week’s menu is brought to you by my husband Don. We usually both sit down together to figure out the family’s schedule and the coordinating menu for the upcoming two weeks, and most often he then goes and does the shopping. He often cooks at least half the dinners. This past week was so busy that we didn’t have a chance to sit together and figure it out, so he created the menu AND did the shopping. I appreciate all he does, very much. Our system would not be successful here if we weren’t both equal partners, and I can’t imagine it being any other way.
Here is Don’s list of meals for you for two weeks of dinner inspiration:
Sunday: Homemade Chicken Soup (now made with gluten free pasta)
Monday: Paninis
Tuesday: Pork Chops with Homemade Applesauce
Wednesday: Shepherd’s Pie
Thursday: Pasta with Tuna Sauce
Friday: Homemade Pizzas
Saturday: Tacos
Sunday: Chicken Pot Pie (not homemade this time, but here is a recipe for homemade if you’d like it)
Monday: Steaks
Tuesday: Cobb Salad (This is new for us. It’s a salad with bacon-we use turkey bacon, hard boiled eggs, avocado, and grilled chicken, in addition to the usual lettuce, tomato, and cucumbers.)
Wednesday: American Chopped Suey
Thursday: Stir Fry
Friday: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Corned Beef and Cabbage
Thanks Don!
Don and all his ladies, looking fierce.
The Whole bag of Chips 