A Day In the Life: April 2017

I haven't done a "Day in the Life" post in forever (since February of 2013!!), so today I thought I'd have some fun. I'm also changing the format of the traditional "Day in the Life" post, just cause I can 😜

I woke up yesterday with the intention to blog. It was one of those mornings where I felt completely uninspired and couldn't come up with anything to say. I wrote out a post and then I reread it. Even I was bored. Deleted. One of my intentions since coming back from my break was to share quality work, not just sharing work for the sake of sharing. So I decided to take the day off from posting. To work in the garden. To do some yoga. To enjoy my pups. It was then that I had the idea to do a "Day in the Life" post so I decided to take some pictures throughout the day.

Oh yes, it's definitely time for a fun post! Let's get started-

Books Read in 2016

You guys...

I almost didn't share the books I read in 2016. I'm embarrassed. I only read 13 books in 2016, and 31% of them were those fluffy romance novels you buy at the grocery store. The kind of books that you would never review and probably not recommend either. Fun for you, but they are what they are- brain candy. The literary equivalent of a pint of ice cream. It goes down smooth and easy with no thought whatsoever. Ironically, I also read 31% of the years books in the last 2 weeks of the year, while I was on my Oregon vacation. It was a tough year. Dealing with my back injury for the entire year took its toll. Along with the injury, I also fought depression for most of the year. And when I'm depressed, my concentration is affected. My attention span is nil. It makes it tough and sometimes impossible to read. That being said, I did read some wonderful books that I'd definitely recommend. I hope next years list is more prolific but 2016 was what it was. In 2016, I read-

From New Construction to 3 Years

December 2012

3 years.

Well, technically it's been almost 3.5 years. But I digress. Can you believe it's been almost 3.5 years since I've done an update on the state of the homestead? Mercy. I thought we'd take some time today to remedy that. 

In case you were wondering, you can find the link to that old update here.

But for now, let's talk 3 years in!

2015: By the Numbers

Oregon Trip 2015

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a healthy, happy, and safe holiday season. Let's wrap up 2015 by summing up last year in numbers, shall we? Here we go!

1- Oregon finally has a Heisman Trophy!
59- amount of points the Ducks scored in the Rose Bowl (new record!) against Florida St. on January 1st

Books I Read in 2015

Time to start wrapping up 2015!

I'm looking back at the list of books I read in 2015, and it's so weird, but I feel like I just read these all yesterday. It's hard to believe that some of these I read more than 365 days ago. It was a good year for reading, if a light year. I usually aim to read 2 books a month, but I only made it to 19 this year. Mainly because I stopped reading after I read "What Alice Forgot" in October, and started writing. So I'm not beating myself up. I probably would have read 4 more books in November and December. And writing is whole other type of self-education that I'm learning to enjoy. Here's how the year of 2015 went in reading-

November In A Nutshell: 2015

November is nearly gone. Unbelievable. This year has flown by. I'm sitting here in a bit of shock that the hubby and I are going to be putting away all my fall decor to make room for our Christmas stuff today. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were putting up last year's tree. I guess time flies when you're having fun, huh? 

The other night I found myself reading my old blog posts. Like, really, really old blog posts. Besides feeling a little sheepish at the quality of what I used to post, I found a blog theme that was left along the wayside at some point. And that theme was the end-of-month wrap-up. I found, for my memory purposes, that those monthly wrap-up's were some of my favorite posts to read. The hubby told me those were some of his favorites too. So, I think it's time to reinstate that tradition. Here's what the hubby and I got into this month:

Oh! And that top photo I took when the hubby and I took the nephews and niece to Buffalo Wild Wings on Black Friday. We had a grand time. The boys' expressions are priceless, aren't they? Haha.

Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze

Last week I confessed that I'd had a doughnut pan for over 6 months that I hadn't tested out yet. There must be something about putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) that made me want to change that. And since everyone, their mother, their mother's mother, and their 2nd-cousin-twice-removed is posting pumpkin recipes, I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring.

With homemade doughnuts! 

Raspberry Jam Pops

I'm running out of summer time to post my summer fruit recipes, so today (much like many, many days this summer, ahem) is about raspberries. Lemonades, truffles, jams, smoothies- I've featured them all in raspberry this summer. What can I say? This is my life. And my life includes truckloads of raspberries. Seriously, open my fridge during the summer and what do you think you will find? Cartons of raspberries. 

I'm an addict. I'm not happy until my fingers are stained red and I've got seeds stuck between my teeth.

Overnight Slow-Cooker Chicken Broth

I've got all kinds of things to talk to you about today. Slow cookers, chicken carcasses, herbs, veggies, broths, oh my! 

To tell you the truth, I haven't bought chicken broth in years. Years. I keep a can of chicken bouillon with my spices, but that's it. I've been making my own ever since I learned this super-simple way to make broth.

Blueberry Breakfast Bars

Happy Wednesday!

I'm going on my 3rd day of not leaving the house. We are currently buried under 6-7 inches of snow. The roads are snow-covered and icy, and the hubby hasn't even been driving his car. His car has been parked at his office all week, because thankfully, his boss gave him a huge 4-wheel drive truck to tackle the weather with.

Broccoli Rigatoni

This dish is a lesson in simplicity folks.

There isn't much to this recipe. Olive oil, crushed red pepper, garlic, broccoli, pasta, and parmesan cheese. That's it. That's all you need. Somehow, someway this dish never fails to come together and send me into pasta overdrive.

My 2015 Goals

It's time to talk change. Self-improvement. Growth. You know, all that stuff that we humans loathe to do. I, myself, am a highly self-motivated person. When I set a goal, I work hard to get there. As such, I thought before I laid out my 2015 goals that we would see how I did on last year's goals.

My first goal was to run a 10k. Accomplished! I ran my first 10k in August. It was extremely hilly and my time wasn't the best, but I did it.

Me and the hubby at the Cincinnati Beer Run in May 2014.

Books I Read in 2014

Happy New Year!

Well, it's 2015. Time to put 2014 in the rear view. One of my goals for 2014 was to read more. I didn't set a goal of a certain amount of books to read, mainly because I wasn't reading much in 2013 and anything would be an improvement. I thought I would simply see how I could do.

Creamy Shells and Cheese

-with broccoli and grilled chicken

If December were to call for any kind of food, I would think it would call for comfort food.

Yes, December is a month for indulging in all things food, it's true. However, you also have to keep in mind that December brings cold, cloudy, gloomy weather. It always seems to bring a time crunch. I mean, doesn't it seem there is never enough time this month? Between shopping for gifts, baking and cooking, relatives in town you only see but once a year, Christmas decorating, Christmas recitals and pageants... Where's the time to breathe? To sneak in some yoga? To calm down? There's not a lot. My advice? Slow it down at dinnertime a little bit. This recipe is super-quick and easy, but it's guaranteed to get your family in the kitchen to enjoy it. What's not to love? It's a one pot meal slathered in delicious cheese sauce. Yep, sure to be a hit :)

Call me crazy, but I enjoy grilling year round. I may not sit around on the patio in the snow and sleet while the meat cooks on the grill, but I'll run in and out of the house to do some flipping. I just set my timers, and run. This year is a lot better than last though, because I have a garden path to run along to the grill. You know, instead of running and tripping through mud. Grilling is my preferred method with chicken. It gives it the best flavor, and comes out juicy every time. 

The pasta is customizable. Throw in your preferred shape. I'm obsessed with mini-pasta right now. I used these mini-shells for this dish, but I am pretty preoccupied with mini-farfalle right now too. 

While you can definitely use fresh broccoli, I use frozen most of the time. I have frozen broccoli on hand 100% of the time, making this recipe a complete pantry recipe for me. Something I can always throw together without having to make a trip to the grocery store. I steam the broccoli in a little steamer basket over the boiling pasta, it's a complete time-saver. I love steaming broccoli whenever I make pasta simply because of that reason- two things cooking at once. With relative hands off-ness. 

Here's another benefit of making this dish- Just as the pasta is customizable, so is the rest of the recipe! You could sub in a different vegetable, such as cauliflower, zucchini, asparagus, or even something like spinach. And you could totally use a different protein, such as shrimp, pork tenderloin, ground beef or turkey, or even something vegetarian like tofu. Or heck, you could even make the shells and cheese with no protein or veggie. Call it a side dish and watch the kids go nuts.

I cannot guarantee the kids won't turn up their noses and ask for Kraft mac-n-cheese, however. Only because I know that's what I did as a kid :)

It's Friday! Another week of Christmas shopping in the record books, though I can't say I've done any. Procrastination is my Christmas game, although I will be starting cookies probably on Monday. I can't wait! The hubby is working this lovely, sunny weekend so here's my agenda:

1. Run today, rest tomorrow, yoga and toning on Sunday.

2. Bake cupcakes (Vanilla Bean with Eggnog Frosting, yum!).

3. Take beautiful pictures in the sunlight of said cupcakes and the Salted Caramel Milkshakes I created (double yum!).

4. Finish my gosh-darn library books to leave my end-of-year book list at 24. Which would mean I averaged 2 books a month in 2014. A good jumping off point for 2015. 

The sunshine is making it soooooo easy to love life today :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 chicken breast

salt, pepper, garlic powder

8 oz mini shell pasta

12 oz broccoli florets

2 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp flour

2 cups milk (I used 1%)

3/4 cup cheddar cheese

3/4 cup white cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Season chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Heat gas grill over high heat. When hot, turn middle burner down to medium. Place chicken on grill, grill for 4 minutes with lid closed. Flip chicken, and grill another 4 minutes. Flip chicken again, grill for 2 more minutes. Flip chicken one more time, and grill for a final 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and allow to rest while preparing recipe.

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add pasta to water, stir. Place broccoli in a steamer basket, place over pasta water. Steam broccoli for 4 minutes, remove from heat and set aside. Continue to boil pasta for another 2-3 minutes or until tender. Drain pasta, and set aside. Add a little olive oil to pasta to keep from sticking.

3. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. When melted, add flour and cook down for 2-3 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk in 3-4 additions, whisking constantly. When milk/flour mixture is smooth and slightly thickened, add cheeses, salt, mustard, garlic powder, and pepper to skillet. Stir constantly until cheese is completely melted. 

4. Chop up chicken breast into bite-size pieces. Add chicken and broccoli to pan, toss to coat with cheese sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until everything is heated. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately. 

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Eat, Live, Run. 

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Garlicky Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta

Orecchiette with Roasted Peppers and Spinach

Porcini Mushroom Risotto

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Snickerdoodle Sunday, Treasure Box Tuesday

Lately: November 2014

Happy Sunday from two warm and cuddly Chihuahuas! This is truly how these guys like to enjoy the weekends. Curled up in their favorite spots. Happy as little furry clams :)

I thought I would squeeze in a little weekend post here. I've been overflowing with food ideas lately, and haven't been thinking much about the in-between. But I do have a life outside that wonderful kitchen of mine. I read books in between batches of cookies. Scatter bird seed while concoctions are chilling. Or roasting. Or cooling. I run to get my creative juices flowing. I kind of wish there was an invention to dictate what goes on in my brain while I'm running, because I write some of my best stuff as my feet pound the pavement. A new techie idea perhaps? C'mon, doesn't anyone from Apple read my blog? Hehe. 

Anyhoo, it's been a great weekend thus far. The hubby actually had a 3 day weekend of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We don't get these traditional weekends very often! We took full advantage last night by getting together with one of our couple friends. We watched the first half of the Oregon game (Go Ducks!) and sipped margaritas before heading out for Mexican food. There may have been a tad too much tequila last night, but eh, life is short. I'm currently hard at work on pie crust, my first batch yesterday having been a dud. Rest assured, by the time this pie is completed, I'll have lots of "don't's"! I made a new batch of dough that chilled overnight, so I'm soldiering forward today. Fingers crossed. 

I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend so far. I've got a few pictures to share of what we've been up to lately-

Haloti curled up in the hubby's sweatshirt. If you leave clothing on the furniture, the Chihuahuas will find it. 

The affair continues. It's been going on for almost 4 years now. We are venturing into common-law marriage territory at this point. 

My beautiful new FoodSaver! It arrived last week and I am so thankful! I literally squealed with joy when the UPS guy left it at my house. Thank you Mom and Dad! There was no hesitation- Out went the old FoodSaver, and in its place went the new. Immediately after getting the new machine set up, I sat down to write my totally overdue big-box store grocery list. 

Ah, the fruits of my labor. I picked up loads of chicken, ciabatta rolls, and bacon in bulk to freeze at aforementioned big-box store. And what did I do as soon as I got home? Vacuumed-sealed it into 2-person portions. I cannot say it enough, I LOVE that machine. I cannot live without it. Love it. 

So, I've been using FoodSavers for 8 years now. I do have a common-law marriage with my FoodSaver! :)

I think this poor little dude flew into either the side of the house, or the living room window. I heard a soft thud, but not the hard thud that usually kills these kids. I went outside and looked on the ground, and didn't find anything. However, when I went to empty my compost buckets, I found him sitting on our large composters. And he didn't move. He did let me pick him up, though. I was having the hubby set up a nesting box on the front porch for him to recover in when he decided he'd rested enough, and he took off. 

I'm just glad he ended up being ok :)

The snow everyone was so worried about getting around our parts. Can you even see this dusting? Not especially. 

Contrary to popular belief, not everything I cook winds up on the blog. Sometimes the recipes are too awful. Sometimes, the recipes are too good, like this Garlic, Lemon, and Fresh Herb Stuffed Chicken.  This bird never made it onto the blog because the hubby and I devoured it. I mean, we really scarfed this one down. All before I took an after photograph. Oh well. A similar recipe may make it onto the blog someday. That is, if I can keep my hands off of it long enough. 

Cheese enchiladas that never made it on the blog. I'm still playing with my chile gravy recipe, and I don't get to play very often. The gravy on these ended up being too heavy, too thick, and too salty. The hubby is not the biggest enchilada lover, so I only get a shot at this one every couple of months. I hope I perfect this recipe in 2015, though. That will be one of my New Year's resolutions.

Asian Roasted Asparagus. What can I say? Also scarfed down without many pictures.

Broccoli and Chard Garlic Spaghetti. This recipe may still make it onto the blog, however I wasn't 100% satisfied with the pictures. It was delicious, don't get me wrong. It might take a repeat making with new pictures for me to publish it, though.

The hubby and I's favorite tequila we brought back from Mexico. I love this stuff! We broke it open last night for Oregon's last home game of the season. It must have been a good luck charm, because the Duck's pulled out the win! The hubby and I were happy campers. We were told by an employee at duty-free in the Cancun Airport that they only sell this tequila in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. He tried to talk us into buying a more expensive tequila that they only sell in Mexico, but we quickly informed him we didn't live anywhere near any big city and this was the bottle we wanted. I highly recommend trying this tequila if you ever see it anywhere. It makes the BEST margaritas.

Cue to the internet razing. Nickelback snuck a brand-new album out on Monday with absolutely no publicity. I had no idea they were even working on a new album. Some fan I am, right? Anyway, once I discovered their new album, I snapped it up. I've been listening to it on repeat. For days. Multiple times a day. I love running to this album. Most of the album has a really funky beat running though it and combined with Chad's voice, well, I've been tearing down miles. Well maybe not tearing them down, I did take a month off running. And lost a ton during that month. I really don't care that everyone hates Nickelback, I'm definitely not a person who follows the crowd anymore. That's one thing I love about getting older- the sheer inability to really care what other people think of your Nickelback addiction :) #iamunashamed

Here's my lazy morning. Finishing off one of my library books while loving my morning coffee. And pretty soon, I'll be rolling out my 2nd batch of pie crust dough. Oh man, oh man, I hope it's not crumbly!

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend! Ciao!

Boston Cream Pie Cookies

I think it's time for something fun! Something totally off the wall and different. How about cookies? And make it a cake-y sugar cookie, sandwiched with rich custard infused with vanilla bean, and topped with a luxurious chocolate ganache! 

Wow, these cookies are pretty amazing. As individual parts (i.e. cookie, custard, ganache) they are delicious. Combine them all into one, however, and you have a full-on dessert. I guarantee you won't be eating more than one of these at a time! The hubby and I had to split our first taste-tester. Of course, we were taste-testing before dinner, so neither of us wanted to fill up on cookie. One cookie + a glass of milk= the perfect after dinner dessert.

I'd also like to add that these are probably a weekend cookie. They are labor-intensive, but don't let that scare you. They are worth it. These took the better part of my Saturday to make, but I'm not one to complain about fooling around in the kitchen. In fact, I think I perfectly timed making these cookies. I ended up making the custard while I set my butter and eggs out to soften for the dough. Once the custard was chilling in the fridge, I started on my dough. The dough is super-easy to make, and using my stand mixer, it only took about 15 minutes to get my dough in the fridge to chill. I showered while everything was chilling, and immediately came back to pre-heat the oven. The cookies were all baked and cooling within another 45 minutes. The custard needs a couple of hours to chill in the fridge so by the time I'd made the dough, chilled it, showered, baked and completely cooled all the cookies, it was ready to go. All that was left to do was to make the ganache.

I'd say the ganache took about 15 minutes to make, and it probably took 5 more minutes to drizzle chocolate on the cookies. So, to sum up, I started the cookies at 9 in the morning and by the time I finished cleaning up the fallout, it was 2 pm. As I said before, don't let this scare you! A lot of the time is hands-off (chilling, baking, cooling, etc.) and I was able to multi-task throughout. Indeed, I finished a book, got dinner prepped, took the dogs on a jaunt outside, and painted my toenails in that 5-hour window. A pretty successful day, if you ask me. 

I'd highly recommend trying these cookies. You won't regret it. They'd be great for a potluck or crowd. They'd be great for anyone that likes sugar cookies. Or vanilla bean custard. Or chocolate. Or cream puffs. You know, because these cookies kind of remind me of cream puffs. 

So, unbelievably, I seem to have caught another cold while on the tail-end of my first cold. I started getting a painfully sore throat yesterday, and it's even more sore today. Argh! This is incredibly frustrating. I'm not good at rest, and I've pretty much been resting non-stop for 2 weeks. Thank goodness for 2 things: bird-watching and books. I picked up 2 new suet baskets and a new feeder over the weekend, and the birds are coo-coo for cocoa puffs over the new seed dispensary. It's a tube feeder with 5 actual perches on it. I've caught up to 3 birds on it at the same time. It makes me giggle because it reminds me of people flocking to a bar. A bird bar, if you will (that could just be the cabin fever-induced insanity talking, peeps). I've also been burning through library books during this couple of weeks. I read one of my library books in 1 1/2 days. I literally couldn't put it down. Of course, the hubby did get a new video game for his birthday, so that's given me tons of reading time as well. I've surpassed my New Year's resolution of reading 1 book per month. In fact, my average is 2 books per month right now. Go Jessica!

So, will this be the week I get well? Fingers crossed!

Have a great week everyone!

Ingredients (makes 11 sandwich cookies):

Custard-

1 cup + 3 tbsp almond milk

1/2 vanilla bean

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbsp cornstarch

2 egg yolks

3-4 drops vanilla extract

Cookies-

1 3/4 sticks of unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temp

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Ganache-

1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

up to 2/3 cup half-n-half

Directions:

1. Before making custard, set out butter and eggs for cookie dough.

2. Make the custard: Heat 1 cup almond milk in a medium size pot. Just when it starts to simmer, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into milk. Add vanilla bean pod to milk. Remove from heat, and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove vanilla bean pod from pot, and discard. Place back over medium heat, and add sugar and salt. In a small bowl, combine 3 tbsp almond milk with 3 tbsp cornstarch. Whisk to thoroughly combine. While constantly stirring the milk and sugar mixture, slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the pot. In another small bowl, thoroughly whisk the egg yolks. Slowly stir 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture into egg yolks to temper them. Slowly add egg mixture back to hot milk mixture on the stove. Whisk constantly over medium heat until custard begins to thicken. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Strain mixture through a sieve. Place a piece of plastic wrap over completed custard to keep a skin from forming, and place in fridge. Chill for 2-3 hours.

3. Make the dough: In a stand-mixer bowl, combine butter and sugar. Mix until it forms a crumbly mixture. Mix in vanilla. Mix in eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Mix until well combined. Chill dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

4. Remove dough from fridge. Preheat oven to 350º. Lightly coat 2 cookie sheets with cooking spray. Using a 2-tbsp cookie scoop, roll dough into balls. Place dough 2 inches apart (about 8 cookies to a sheet). Using the bottom of a glass, slightly flatten dough balls. Bake in preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for 10 minutes on cookie sheet, them remove them to a cooling rack. Cool completely before moving on to the next step.

5. Place custard in a pastry bag. Pipe about 1 tbsp of custard onto the bottom of 11 of the sugar cookies. Sandwich with another sugar cookie. Place sandwiches on another cookie sheet covered with a piece of parchment paper.

6. Make the ganache: Using a double broiler, place chocolate in bowl. Add 1-2 tbsp of half-n-half and constantly stir while chocolate is melting. Add more half-n-half until chocolate is completely melted and consistency is good for drizzling chocolate onto cookies. Drizzle chocolate as desired onto cookies, allowing chocolate to drip down over cookies. Place completed cookies in fridge and allow to set for 30 minutes before serving. Store cookies in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Eat, Live, Run.

Looking for other cookie recipes? Try these!

Soft and Fluffy Peanut Butter Cookies

S'mores Cookie Sandwiches

Zucchini Cookies

Linked to: Treasure Box Tuesday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday

Texas Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Creamy Coleslaw

Oh yes, it's time for a slow-cooker treat!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I don't pull out the crockpot near enough. I don't know why this is, because crockpot dinner days are my favorite. It's a magical feeling, almost like going out to dinner. As if you didn't have to cook. I'm one of those people who's filled with energy in the morning and during the day, but by 6 pm? I'm tired. Cranky. I don't feel like working anymore. So if there's a meal in the crockpot, and all I have to do is pull out some hamburger buns and coleslaw I made in the morning- I'm a happy camper. I'm an especially happy camper when that dinner in the crockpot is tender, delicious, and coated in a delicious concoction of BBQ flavor.

Pulled pork is so versatile. I started out over the summer with an 8 lb roast. I cut it half, and froze the half that became this Texas Pulled Pork. The half that I cooked in the summer probably made us 6-7 meals. This half that I cooked this week also made that many meals. We had sandwiches for dinner one night, and then sandwiches for lunch another day. I made Hawaiian Pizza out of a large quantity of pork. And then last night for dinner, we had sandwiches again. And there's still a little bit left. Pulled Pork Hash might be in the works...

I can't advocate pulled pork enough. Seriously. Nuff' said. 

If you like pulled pork, you are going to love this recipe. The sauce is lip-smackin' good, and only seems to flavor the meat more the more days after it's been cooked. The meat, literally, just falls apart when it's done. The sweetness of the coleslaw is the perfect foil for the slightly spicy pork. Gosh, I'm getting hungry just thinking about these...

Ok. Trying...not...to...think...about...BBQ :)

It's Friday! Does anyone have anything exciting planned for the weekend? I think I'm on the tail end of my cold. I'm feeling like I've gotten most of the crap out of my lungs. Therefore, I'm thinking I might try an experimental run tomorrow. I actually went to the gym yesterday, but I noticed I was getting very fatigued and out of breath after 20 minutes of cardio. I know I've lost some fitness in this almost-3 week hiatus from exercise, but I think the fatigue yesterday was because I still had some crud leftover in my lungs. Either way, every day I'm feeling better. And thankful for that! I'm also planning on making cookies, tackling that pumpkin I didn't get around to yesterday, making a trip to the library (I've been devouring books lately), and making a trip to Lowe's. Some evil animal in the backyard has made off when not 1, but 2 of my suet feeders. Not only did they take off with the suet baskets, but they completely broke another feeder I have out there. I'm a little irritated with whoever is doing this, my best guess being a raccoon. More than a little irritated, because as I look out the window now there's a poor little woodpecker looking for his missing suet. Poor little guy. 

One more thing before I run off, since I mentioned the library. I've really been trying to branch out this year and read some books I wouldn't normally choose. I do this by going to the library and haphazardly picking up a book. Or by going to different sections and picking the first book my hand lands on. I've found some really good authors by doing this. However, I just finished a book last night that has left me puzzled. It was "Love Me Back" by Merritt Tierce.  It ended on one of those notes where you ask yourself when you finish, "What was the point of that?". It's weird, because the book read easily. And fast. But when I turned the last page and discovered I was at the end... I was flabbergasted. The book just suddenly ended. The other odd thing about this book is the author wrote in a weird tense the whole book. I think I'm going to have give this book some thought, because I'm sure there is some meaning buried somewhere. It felt like a "fluff" book, but I'm not entirely convinced it was...

Anyhoo, I think I've covered enough topics for today. I'm all talked-out :) 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Ingredients (serves 10-12):

Pulled Pork-

1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp yellow mustard

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 large onion, chopped

1 tbsp garlic, minced

2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2- 1 tsp crushed red pepper 

1 (4 lb) pork shoulder

Coleslaw-

2 tbsp white vinegar

3 tbsp mayonnaise

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 cups cabbage, shredded

hamburger buns

Directions:

1. Combine BBQ sauce through crushed red pepper in the bottom of crockpot. Stir to combine. Place roast in pot, spoon sauce over roast until it's covered. Place lid on crockpot. Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Remove lid, and shred pork with 2 forks. 

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine white vinegar through black pepper. Stir to combine. Add cabbage, and toss to coat.

3. To serve, ladle pulled pork onto hamburger bun. Top with slaw. Serve immediately. 

Printable Recipe

Pulled Pork recipe adapted from Allrecipes. Slaw recipe adapted from About.com.

Looking for other sandwich recipes? Try these!

Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches

Mom's Sloppy Joes

Turkey Pesto Avocado Sandwiches

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday