Monday: Goal Day

*Well, next weeks goal is to get it posted on time. I've had a terrible tummy bug the last two days.

Personal:

1. I want to finish my English Final ahead of schedule
2. Read two chapters for pleasure
3. download a Christmas book for the holidays
4. Wrap gifts and update the gift spreadsheet, yeah I have a gift spreadsheet, don't you?
5. lose 1 pound

Domestic:

1.  get control over the clutter invading our home
2. make yummy gifts for the secretaries of the History Department
3. try 1 new recipe
4. organize my recipe bookmarked list....yeah right, it grows by the hour

Economic:

1. research best way to invest in stocks
2. research Roth IRA
3. Earn a $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks

It's hot in the kitchen

It is cold here. I don't want to go outside, or the grocery store, or in the office to find my phone for delivery.

What I do want is lunch. I always have food on the brain so it helps to satisfy that craving at least 4-5 times a day. My favorite lunch at present is a big plate of roasted veggies. Hey, it keeps me warm with the oven going for 40 minutes! Since there is minimal oil and it "is" veggies, I feel good about myself and my healthy plate of food. yeah right!

I use what I have in the house. This week it has been: asparagus, potatoes, and mushrooms.

Recipe:
1 large russet potatoe, diced  into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup asparagus, sliced into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup mushrooms, rough chop
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon steak seasoning

Preheat the oven to 425*F.
Chop up your veggies and put into a bowl.
Pour olive oil and spices over veggies.
toss to coat.
bake for 35-40 minutes based on your oven.

Monday: Goal Day

Personal:

1. Share a home-cooked, non hectic dinner with The Fella
2. Walk 5 miles
3. Read 3 chapters in Social Blunders (when you are in school any reading for fun is hard to fit in!)
4. Lose 1 pound

Domestic:

1. Vaccum
2. Deep Clean master bathroom
3. Stick to the meal plan
4. prep for the party Friday...before Friday morning

Economics:

1. Check on 401K
2. Earn $5 Amazon gift card on Swagbucks
3. Plan out Christmas gifts

Education:

1. homework
2. extra credit
3. study for LR final

In the land of Beer...

This week the fella and I are in North Carolina, the land of craft beer. We are both two very happy people. I didn't drink beer until I met Fella, I was a scotch drinker, nice and neat (pun intended). He told me, if you haven't found a beer you like, you haven't tried enough. So true.

It is time to bake

I am traveling out of town for Thanksgiving. That fact did not stop me from agreeing to make 1 pie, 1 cheesecake, 2 side dishes, and 3 dozen homemade yeast rolls with honey butter. Have I lost me mind? Of course I have, and to top it off I am baking a 5 layer birthday cake.

What else is a woman suppose to do on a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon?

Slowing down time

I am in the foothills of Tennessee this weekend. We are brought here for both work and pleasure. The fella has a conference he is presenting at, and I am enjoying strolls through empty campuses covered in orange, red, and gold trees.

I walked all over Maryville Campus yesterday. I felt like I had the whole place to myself. The students have retreated home over fall break. It was peaceful, quiet, and perfectly crisp. The few people I did bump into were from the SWEHA conference. Truly brilliant people to sit and have a chat with.

We aren't to far from The Great Smokey Mountains. We took a drive through them yesterday and it reminded of why I love this time of year so much. The trees are putting on a vibrant show, everyone sells apple cider ( or mulled wine), and when we get home we lobotomizing two of the most perfect pumpkins you have ever seen.

Since you put up with my gaping absences I will share my favorite mulled wine recipe with you. It's on heavy rotation in our house during Autumn and Winter.

Mulled Wine

1 bottle (750ml) merlot

2 cinnimon sticks

2-3 cloves

1 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cups water

juice of 1 small-medium orange

orange peel, careful to avoid the white pith (bitter)

In a large dutch oven or stock pot bring water and sugar to a simmer. As soon as the sugar is incorporated add the wine and orange juice. Drop the cinnimon sticks in, add cloves and orange peel.

*I push the cloves into the orange peel and little it simmer in the wine. It is much easier to pull them out this way that accidentally serve a clove up in a drink to friends. 

I simmer this for about 5 minutes and serve or I leave it on the lowest setting on my stove and let people ladle it out at their leisure for parties.  Some friends even serve it out of their slow cookers/ crock pots.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

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