A Day In

We had a winter storm advisory go into effect from Sunday night until Tuesday evening. You never know what you’re going to get snow-wise. The local forecast said there was a 40-60% chance of snow for about 50 hours straight (and we’re still in that time window). That could mean anything! That could leave us snowed in for days, or it could mean no snow at all. 

I tried to keep our schedule for Monday and Tuesday flexible for whatever the weather would bring. I was planning on school being delayed on Monday, but the snow wasn’t that bad, so school started at the normal time. Tuesday brought in some heavier snowfall, so school was delayed (this did not stop my kids from waking up by 6:30 and demanding all sorts of activities and entertainment). 

The path to my breakfast is complicated 

By 10:30, when the final two children went to school, I was pretty exhausted. Luckily, I hadn’t made any plans because, in addition to snow, I was sick. I didn’t feel too horrible, but I was sick enough that I needed to stay home as not to infect the world. That meant no gym. No going to the school to make the monthly birthday poster. No errands. Just… home. Which is fine. But since I didn’t have a plan for the day, that left me in a “world is your oyster” sort of position, but only within the walls of my home.

I ended up doing two of my favorite things: reading and cooking. 

(I also did some cleaning, but that doesn’t fall into a “favorite things” conversation, as I loathe cleaning).

Our library has a Lucky Day shelf where you can sometimes snag a popular book that there’s a long wait for. You can only check it out for seven days. I got one for our trip last week and it was due this past Saturday. I’m now racking up fines trying to finish it (my current library fines are $15.75, and I have a picture book I can’t find that I can only renew one more time, so we’ll see where things go from here). So I spent a lot of time reading my overdue book, but I also listened to an audiobook on the Echo while I was cooking.

I love being able to tell my robot to read a book to me. This might be the closest I get to living like the Jetsons. But you never know with the the rapid growth of technology these days (maybe we will teleport before I die). The problem is, with my current status of Being Sick (and having somewhat lost my voice), Alexa is having a hard time following my commands. We’ve had a few tiffs.

So what did I read? My Lucky Day book is:

And my audiobook (and this month’s selection for my book club) is:

But like I said, I also cooked. Sometimes I like to have a good food prep day and get some serious stuff made to stock the fridge or freezer. So with a lot of hand-washing, I made:

Meatballs

Raw Balls of Meat

(Remember this is not a food blog so I owe you nothing in terms of beautiful food photos! Nothing, I say!)

I found a big package of ground turkey marked down at the grocery store on Monday, so I made 60 meatballs. I don’t really use a recipe when I make meatballs, I just throw together meat, eggs, Panko, seasonings, and a bit of milk. 

I froze them and will use them in meals later. 

Tortellini Soup

We have a stash of Italian sausage we’re trying to work through, and I’m not the biggest fan, but I really like this soup. In fact, I’m the only one in my family who likes it, so when I make a pot, I’m stuck eating the whole thing myself. It feeds me lunch for several days. There are variations of this recipe all over the internet, but here is how I make it:

• 1/2 lb Italian sausage, browned (can increase to 1 lb.  but I like less)
• 2 cans Italian tomatoes (undrained)
• 4 C chicken broth
• 1 package tortellini, prepared according to directions (I use frozen)
• 8 oz cream cheese
• Handful of spinach (I’ve used fresh and frozen)

Put it all in a pot and heat it until it becomes soup.

Banana Muffins

When we have bananas that need to be used up, this is one of my go-to’s. I make them with honey so they aren’t full of sugar. We usually keep a stash in the freezer for quick breakfasts, lunches, or snacks. 

How many did I eat? Two. Do I feel guilty about that? No!

After I made the meatballs, soup, and muffins, I washed the boatload of dishes I dirtied, and then I remembered I would still need to pull together a dinner. 

And it would need to include an avocado.

The struggle is real

By the time Scotty and the kids got home, I was pretty wiped out and useless, but I felt good about my day in. Now hopefully I can get feeling better quick because I gots stuffta do!