I tossed this deliciousness together for a late lunch today:

A made-almost-completely-from-scratch bowl of chicken and dumplings. It tasted so good and it’s the best batch I have ever made. It tasted “old-school” even without the fat.

I say “almost” because everything was made from scratch by me, except the ¼ teaspoon of chicken soup base I used to boost the flavor just a little. Otherwise, I made the stock/soup in my Instant Pot from chicken thighs a little while back, and I made the dumplings from scratch – no box mix! It turned out delicious and very healthy.

And that was after making up some high protein whole-grain pancakes for breakfast (this was the last of a box mix – I had it left). I ended up with a couple of extra breakfasts out of it (just enough for my maple syrup supply!) so they ended up in the freezer.

It’s been good getting back into the kitchen, and even more rewarding to get into making things start to finish. Box mixes are convenient, but it’s good to try new things.

Plus, I have left the house only once in the last ten days, just staying in and staying warm. Spending time in the kitchen has been fun, and I have been trying to stay busy. I am having issues with one of my hands so I have not been able to work in the basement like I wanted to. I’ll try to get down there and do some small things but it have more cooking to do. It’s too cold to fire up the Ooni, but I did buy a bag of pizza dough so I can make a pizza in the oven. Just gotta get some more fresh mozzarella and a basil plant.

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I had to make a few adjustments in the basement the last few weeks. The sub-zero temperatures froze the drain for one of the sump pumps. That meant I had to move the dehumidifier to where it could drain into the other pump. I wrapped a heat tape around that drain as a little extra insurance. It kept pumping even on the coldest days.

I’m glad I researched how this drain is supposed to work and got the issues resolved. Everything seems to be functioning as it was designed to now that I finished up the initial work. There’s still more to do but the work I have done has pretty much taken care of the water in the basement. The rest will just be a little touching up and finishing some areas to improve drainage even more.

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Got the traveling fever happening and it’s raging. I’ve seen several travel shows and articles recently. Really got it bad. I’m ready to go most anywhere and see whatever. I just need to go.

I think it’s a little worse for me this year since I have my new trailer. I’m ready to get it out and hit the road. The more I am in it the more I like it.

I have a couple more things to do in the trailer. I have to mount the towel bar and TP roller but I’m anxious about drilling holes in my brand new trailer. Also, I’m going to measure my cabinets and find a set of different size storage bins for storage in the cabinets and refrigerator. I’m tired of trying to make do using what I have as it doesn’t work well. Measuring will help get me better use of space and organize us keep stuff from knocking the cabinets open.

Maybe that stuff will keep me busy and occupied until I can get out.

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That’s it for now. See you next time.

Shawn