When I'm Hibernating...And the School Work is Done for the Day

Warning:  Not really school-related.  That is all.  :)  But there are recipes attached.  So if you like food, read on!  

Really, winter in the Midwest is about hibernating a bit.  I believe in outside when you can, but also treasure the time spent together in our home together.  

As I'm leaving church today, word began to spread that school was cancelled for tomorrow.  After the media inundated us with weather forecasts, I was prepared for this.  On Friday, I made the decision after daycare pick up to turn the car around and gather my materials for lesson planning; minus that "one thing" I forgot!  (Ugh...)

So I was given the gift of time.  Coming off of winter break, this feels like a gift.  I ate lunch with my family, and then promptly used our 'rest time' for a nap.  Upon waking up, I wandered into the kitchen, where I'm finding my groove again.  The short story is, I Love cooking and creating in the kitchen.  I love collecting cookbooks and pouring over them to decide what I'm going to try next.  Some of this has been revisited after having a family and addressing what they need.  Efficiency and health had taken over as priorities in the kitchen.  So after dinner and family time, I promptly revised my lessons for this upcoming week, and now I have time to write and reflect.

But as we grow and change as a family, I've been venturing back into the kitchen for fun and as a place to try new things.  In the past couple of weeks, I've been having a lot of fun in the kitchen.  So I wanted to share some of the fun with you.  Lesson plans are revised for the week, so here's what's cookin': (I know.  Thanks for reading...)

1.  Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes.  The link is here.   I consider baking and cooking very different beasts. I always said I loved to cook, but hated baking.  I thought cooking to be too precise.    However, with the extra time, I dug out my piping tool and gave this a whirl.  Based on my husband's reaction, I think they turned out okay.

2.  In my quest to eat healthier lunch, I started with a pot of Spicy Black Bean Soup.  The link is here.  It's proof that I will also read anything to gather some new learning.  And no, I'm not in it for the weight loss.  The soup is spicy, but kept me full for an afternoon of teaching on Thursday and Friday.   It's not something I would make for my family, they wouldn't enjoy the spice or the beans.  However, it freezes nicely, and it didn't make so much that I'll be sick of it when it's gone.

3.  Tonight I made Scramblewiches.

This recipe is from Rachael Ray's cookbook: 365: No Repeats; A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners.

They were a hit with the family.  A picture of the recipe is below:

How do you hibernate?  Have you cooked anything good lately?  

Kendra