Routine Monday

Let's face it- Mondays can be a little traumatic. Coping with the fact that the weekend is over and five straight days of work await may dishearten even the peppiest optimist. 

I've tried to combat these feelings by creating a routine for my Mondays that I really enjoy and now even look forward to. 

Since New Year's, I've been true to my resolution to work out before work on Mondays. As hard as it is to get up and out of bed a little earlier, as soon as I'm into the work out and for the rest of the day I feel great. When I get home, since I've already logged in my exercise time for the day, I have between 1-2 hours before Ryan gets home to prepare a decent meal. A lot of times, Mondays are my chance to try a new recipe or cook a favorite one that requires more time than usual. 

Tonight, that meal was meatless meatloaf and minestrone. It was my first time doing either. The meatloaf was rather tasty, though it was a little crumbly. The minestrone was also good, but I would halve the pasta next time.  

After dinner is done and the dishes are washed, Monday evenings continue to offer excitement. My favorite show is on from 8:00-10:00 (anyone know which one???), and there's nothing better than snuggling into the couch, under a blanket to relax for two hours. It's the perfect end to a productive and very satisfying start of the week. 

Restful Cooking

"Restful Cooking" is possible thanks to my new crockpot. This was one kitchen gadget we never registered for because most of the meals I had seen cooked in one contained meat. After finding sufficient recipes for vegetarian crockpot meals, I decided to put it on my Christmas list this year.  

So far I have made oatmeal, Southwestern Three-Bean & Barley Soup, and my newest attempt, Cream of Tomato & Chickpea Soup. This was the most time consuming of the three in terms of prep, but since I love both chickpeas and tomatoes, I had to try it. I was especially excited to use tomatoes from our garden that we had frozen months earlier, as well as bay leaves from our bay leaf tree (which is spending the winter in our garage!). The tomato skin peeled off so easily from the frozen tomatoes. (**The directions say to cook on low for 4 hours, but it DEFINITELY needed more time than that!)

Paired with a yummy Tomato-Edamame Grilled Cheese, this dinner is packed with plant-based protein and nutrients. And though the prep work took up some of my Sunday afternoon, Monday evening it was simply: plug in, turn on low, and relax while waiting- restful cooking.

Resolution Board

Ryan and I originally made a magnet board in college to be a desk organizer based on the picture below. It ended up not being so practical, but when I was thinking about making New Year's resolutions, this board came to mind and the rest of the pieces just fell into place.

(From MarthStewart.com)

I first started by cutting out exercise moves (directions and pictures) from the back of Better Homes & Gardens magazines. Then, using scrapbooking paper and my cricut machine and gel pens, I made pockets and a sign for this exercise board. When I work out, I simply choose the routine I want by posting them on the board! 

Ringing in the New Year

Ryan and I celebrated New Year's this year just the two of us. We started off the day by visiting our favorite local park to get fresh air, exercise and to feed the birds! It's something pretty special, even a little magical, to connect with nature like this. Despite the cold, we were each visited numerous times by the little feasting fowls. 

As for our evening, we opted to stay home. Being winter in the Northeast, a night of homemade food, a roaring fire and cuddly blankets appealed to us more than venturing out in the snowy cold to countdown midnight. We made a feast of vegetarian appetizers that were first-time recipes for us. All were successfully delectable! 

Raspberry Lemon Drop Martinis with fresh raspberries and lemon juice!
Basic recipe from here, but I changed it around a bit, adding more raspberries and some tonic water. 

Ryan made these delicious grapes. Pretty simple- green grapes dipped in caramel and chopped nuts. Very tasty!

Whole wheat pizza puffs with sun-dried tomatoes and onion. Basic recipe found here, but we used different fillings. 

These spring rolls probably took second place for the night. They were delicious and definitely nutritious, filled with lots of vegetables. This is another dish we will make again, and is substantial enough to be a main course. Recipe found here.