Winter-y Days

There are some days it's so nice not to have to be at work before the sun comes up and this morning was one of those. It's so beautiful outside in its starkness with the trees frosted, a light scattering of snowflakes and the fog in the distance. These are the best mornings for sitting on the couch and sipping on a cup of chai tea as one plans one's day.

It looks like it might be a nice day. It's currently 8' out and the forecast is predicting 25'! Temperatures that are above 0' practically swoon worthy! Okay, a bit over dramatic BUT we're tired of the arctic weather temperatures and the record amount of cold weather we've been having up here. We've had a record 28 days of below 0' weather so we're hoping this warming trend continues. The vehicles are starting to have issues with these continued low temperatures too, even ones that typically have no problem. Temperatures this low are hard on the engines.

Plans for the Day:

• Organizing my office area in the living room better so I can get my new printer set up. I have to get the printer set up today as I have a bunch of papers I need to scan and get sent to my insurance and Worker's Comp. Keeping up with the Worker's Comp is taking more time than I thought it would and they still haven't approved my claim yet so I haven't been paid. It's becoming a little bit more than frustrating. 

• I also have physical therapy this afternoon so I'll be gone at least 2.5 hours for that.

• I plan on visiting Mr. B's dad after physical therapy as he's still in the hospital.

• Set up my business Facebook page.

FOOD:

Last night I'd planned on making a roast chicken in the Instant Pot but we didn't get home until 7 pm so that wasn't going to work. I had some thawed hamburger in the fridge so I decided to try making salsbury steak for supper.

I don't remember my mom ever making it when I was growing up but I do remember having it in the frozen TV dinners on occasion. It seemed an easy enough recipe and ended up tasting great. Find the recipe HERE. I did use low-sodium brown gravy mix.

Mr. B said "Tasted better than if we'd gone to town!"

Sides were mashed potatoes and buttered corn.

This was a great budget meal and cost less than $6 for the whole meal. I'd gotten a clearance deal on hamburger a while back so that was only about $2 for the meat, the gravy packets were probably about 90c each, the corn was 88c for the bag on sale and I used half the bag, and the Idahoan mashed potatoes were $1. I had everything in my pantry so that was a huge plus. I was going to grab some rolls and heat them but forgot.

The recipe made about 8 patties so this would have fed four people. If I were feeding four people, I would have made 2 packages of the mashed potatoes and used the whole bag of corn. I think I might also have increased the gravy as we like gravy on everything so maybe another packet of that. I only ate one patty myself and Mr. B ate two. I have leftovers in the fridge for our lunches.

Some planned meals for the week include:

Roast chicken and sweet potatoes
Shrimp fettuccini and salad (for me)
Hot Dogs and baked beans
Brat burgers and potato salad
Pancakes and sausage

READING:

          


A new book came out in the Vampire Knitting Mystery Series!!!! I'm so excited I've got it downloaded for my next read.

Witch Summer Nights Cream  - 57% completed

Living Lagom - 51% completed

Cozy Minimalist Home - 43% completed

SUNDAY LUNCH AND THIS WEEK'S HAPPENINGS

Physical therapy, doctor's appointments, Mr. B's dad was put in the hospital and visits with him, car breakdowns (see below), and attended a wedding. I feel like I haven't had a chance to catch my breath lately! All I want today is a simple and relaxing day after a hectic week.
Mr. B wants us to go snowmobiling today. I'm hoping he'll let me stay home but I have a feeling it's just wishful thinking. We have his family arriving throughout the day that will be staying at his dad's farm.

We all watch things on videos or TV and think we know how we'd react if it ever happened to us. I learned otherwise. I was heading into town for my physical therapy appointment when my front tire broke off and it rolled down the road in front of me (told you it had been hectic!). I learned that these moments are surreal and I didn't react at all. I remember thinking to myself "so that's what this is like." Called Mr. B and he came out and picked me up, took me to physical therapy and then met the tow truck. Isn't he awesome! He picked me up after my physical therapy appointment and we went to the garage where he had the Jeep towed. We have no idea why the lug nut posts broke off but thankfully it was a fairly cheap fix and he was able to do it in under an hour.

Then I was heading to Minot for my appointment with the specialist when I noticed smoke pouring out from under my hood and through the vents in the Jeep. Talk about scary! I was so worried it was on fire or would catch on fire. I was fortunate that I was close to the garage and drove it in. Thankfully it was only the water pump. I had to be rescued again though, this time by Desi, who kindly drove me to Minot for my appointment. It was her third day in a row having to drive someone to Minot for doctor's appointments so she was a great sport!

FOOD:

I finally got to break in my new-to-me KitchenAid mixer. Today for lunch I made Mr. B a homemade pepperoni pizza. I apparently have been depriving him of the homemade version because he ate nearly the entire pizza by himself! I used this recipe - pizza dough 

The dough takes about 15 minutes to make. A jar of pizza sauce or tomato sauce, pepperoni and a bag of mozzarella cheese makes it a fairly easy meal and typically less than $5, which makes it a great budget meal. A bag of pepperoni makes us about 3 to 4 pizzas so it's cost effective.

The kids went to Minot Friday so I picked up Bella from school and we made these Vanilla Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies from Pretty.Simple.Sweet.

These were a definite hit and will be added to my recipe box for future batches. The vanilla pudding gives a wonderful boost to the flavor. I used Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips. 

READING:

I haven't gotten to read much this week as I've been on the computer nearly constantly. I did treat myself to lunch at Rancho Grande in town and enjoyed reading more of this cozy mystery while I sipped on my Marguiretta after my doctor appointment. I'm a little over halfway through the book so I should be able to finish it off this week, especially with another doctor appointment, this one in Minot.

I did download The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and there are a couple other business books I want to read. Years ago I read The 7 Habits but I don't remember anything so it will be a good read for me.