It’s snowed the last few days and there’s been some rain. I’m still not seeing any water in the basement; the things I’ve done around here to mitigate the water drainage is really helping. It’s been very dry and the moisture is needed. We have more snow coming in overnight.

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So since the weather was supposed to be 💩 the last few days, I have been cooking and freezing a few things. I made breakfast sandwiches to freeze. The Aldi croissants are small and are a perfect size with a few less calories than others. No, a fine bakery croissant they’re not, but they are okay. I use an organic free-range egg (well, the chicken was free-range…an egg would just sit there looking confused, wondering what free-range” is.), a half-slice of Gouda and one paper-thin slice of prosciutto for just a little flavor. One of those a week isn’t too bad and fits within my diet.

Then I got out the Instant Pot and tossed some chicken thighs into the pool with just a little salt and some pepper. I ended up with enough chicken broth for six bowls of soup after I skimmed off the fat from the skin and pulled out the bones, skin and added the meat back in. Portions are in the freezer and I can thaw, add pasta, noodles or even dumplings into a serving. Another thing I can eat but not on a regular basis.

And here’s what I whipped up for lunch:

It is too cold to get out the wok burner and cook outside so I used the wok on my induction burner and created the above dish. A little bit of chicken in there for protein and it’s a pretty healthy meal.

After that, I made a pan of berry oat bars for a healthy sweet treat. I ran out of raspberry jam so the last third I just sprinkled frozen berries in there and crumbled the topping on it then in the oven it went. Both methods turned out good. The side with just berries was definitely different and seemed kind of like a pie in taste but without the juices.

I’m going to be doing more cooking the next few days. When I can get to the store I’ll get the farafelle pasta and make some Italian chicken pasta with olive oil, garlic, maybe some artichoke and sun-dried tomato. Today I made up some Italian chicken for caprese ciabatta sandwiches.

I’m still tweaking my caprese ciabatta recipe a bit and I have another idea or two for some new twists to try out. My original recipe was a little bit too cumbersome to eat so I have been making some changes. Not like it was bad – I was using a piece of chicken breast originally, and it was a bit too thick to eat easily.

I changed to using thin-sliced chicken breast the last few times and that really helped. It was easier to put together and eat.

I got wild with the latest version I made up todqay. I marinated the chicken overnight in two different flavored olive oils – one basil, one sun-dried tomato – and some Italian seasoning.

I browned the chicken and removed it from the pan to shred. I tossed some drop peppers in the pan along with some packaged sun-dried tomatoes (not in a jar so no oil or water). I gave them a stir in the pan to soften up in the oil and then tossed the chicken back in. I sprinkled on a little more Italian seasoning, black pepper and pinch of salt to pop the flavors. I decided to add a little water for the dried tomatoes and to loosen the flavor-packed fond (you know – that crusty tasty goodness) off the bottom of the pan.

I didn’t have any pesto but went for a sandwich anyway. I drizzled a little olive oil on an untoasted ciabatta (which I do usually toast) and put the mixture on. A few pinches of real mozzarella and some seasoning for garnish and let the delicious begin!

This was definitely not only tasty but also easy to put together and eat. I think this version would be good for making a bigger amount for a crowd or meal prep. The thin-sliced version feels a bit more “formal” and good for one or two people for a nice dinner, but both of these are improved over the first version.

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I guess when I’m not cooking I’ll be trying to do a few more things around here. I won’t be going anywhere for a few days and there’ll be plenty of time.

I’ll be working on doing some straightening out some areas in the basement. I went down and did sone this morning, sorting lumber between stacking on the shelves or a pile to go outside to haul off. I have things kind of jammed up by the door, staged to go up and out. I’m still waiting on doing that until it goes right onto a trailer.

My friend Dave has a trailer and he needs to make a dump run so we’re gonna work on hauling a couple of loads off when the weather gets a little better. I’ll keep on working on staging junk near the door to go away.

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Without a doubt I’d sure rather be hauling a different trailer traveling somewhere, even though it’s winter. This trailer stays nice and warm and is quiet & comfortable. With the way it’s built I can even have water in the tank in winter; I am still very cautious and watch it closely. The Scotty would have frozen solid and tanks and lines would have broken.

My friends are sitting out the next few months of camping but I don’t know if I can! But, I also know that not only are a lot of things to do closed in the off-season, but it’s too damn frosty to sit outside with an ice-cold adult beverage! Like I’ve said before, if the weather isn’t going to be somewhat good (mainly rain/snow/really cold) then I can sit inside at home for free.

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That’s it for now.

Shawn