The Accidental Boilermaker

After a long day of travel, I am back home in Virginia (which is good because now I can start taking care of Nathan who was, and still is, sick). A few more pictures from Florida. We like our ice cream. We played miniature golf at Fantasia Gardens -  I was pretending to be a dancing hippo.  Our last night we ate at the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we got to see a couple different animals.  This guy's a wildebeest.

Spent all day poolside yesterday. And then had dinner with our dad at Kouzzina on the Disney Boardwalk.

Florida vacation is going great. The weather has been perfect for running, pool hopping, and eating outside. Sunday night Kate and I watched Brave outside on the beach and this afternoon we walked around Downtown Disney.

After a successful day of travel I made it to Orlando! My dad took me behind the scenes of LotusSphere before we got some dinner. Now we are just waiting for Kate to arrive.

Meatless Monday comes from Daphne Oz and The Chew -  Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew .   (sorry for the bad picture) This recipe is definitely a keeper even though there is a lot of prep work.  I used red pepper flakes instead of chipotle chili flakes, maybe an 1/8-1/4 tsp.  It added some nice heat to compliment the sweet potato and carrots.  It was extra good with fresh baked baguettes.  

We got about 5-6 inches of snow yesterday afternoon.  Nate left work early, right about when the snow was really coming down.  Which was a good thing.  Driving to work this morning, he called me to report all the abandoned cars along the road. The chickens did not want to play in the snow. Our driveway The goats seemed to like the snow. We walked out past the barn to find the cows by the creek and then they followed us back to the gate. View from the front of the house.

I didn't get to post a meatless Monday update yesterday because we had a surprise visitor.  While cleaning up from dinner (see recipe below), Nate got a phone call from the pastor at the church we've been going to for the past couple Sundays.  He was in the area and wanted to know if he could stop in, just to chat.  As luck would have it, I had baked some cookies  earlier in the day, so we sat around our dining room table, ate cookies, and talked about the Southern Baptist Church.  It was actually a very pleasant visit and it felt nice to have someone take a personal interest in us. But back to meatless.  I am not particularly happy with any of the pictures I took of my most recent vegetarian meals, so you will just have to click on the links to get the details. Stuffed sweet potatoes with kale and white beans : I really liked this recipe and would definitely make it again.  Nate said he would eat it again too, but it wasn't one of his all-t...

Since the temperature has been on the rise the past few days, Nate and I planned a hike early in the week for today.  We hiked up to Tinker Cliffs, a 6.6 mile out and back hike not too far from our house.  And it was a perfect day - low 70s and lots of sun. We got an early enough start that the trail was pretty quiet on the way up, but hiking down we met lots of people excited to be outdoors in January. A view from the cliffs.

Meet Tebow. His presence on the farm means there will be baby goats in the spring. Hooray!

I have noticed over the years of trying to eat more vegetarian that I often end up eating more pasta and/or cheese, not necessarily more vegetables.  So I was excited to see this recipe from  Whole Living  pop up on my Pinterest - Creamy polenta with roasted veggies.  I have never made polenta, but I do have cornmeal in the pantry, so I thought what the heck.  We both enjoyed it, especially the roasted veggies.  And the best part is you can use any veggies you like or have on hand.  We used carrots, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, and a few cloves of garlic.   My Notes: I think high quality chicken stock makes a difference in how the polenta tastes.  I typically use chicken bouillon in recipes because it is cheaper and lasts longer.  However, if I make this again, I will probably buy store brand or Swanson brand stock (since I have never tried making my own). 

5 years ago today , Nate and I visited the Humane Society of Lafayette and came home with Penny.  Probably the best decision of our married life.