I received this piece when Bill and I divided up our parents' things after Dad married June. And I have loved having it in my home. Right now, I use it to store table linens. For several years, this piece was out in the garage. Last year, I decided to bring it back into the house. I cleaned it up well and put it back in the living room where it has been ever since. And now that I no longer have a fish tank in the living room, I have moved it to where the tank used to be. Somewhere I have a photo from the 1920s of Aunt Billie sitting in front of the cabinet. I need to find that picture and frame it for display on the cabinet. It's a lovely piece and I am blessed to have it.
I have not done a whole lot of things over the past week or so for fun. That is not to say that I have been in a bad place, I just have been getting things done around the house and simply trying to keep up with my daily existence. But there does seem to be a pattern of things I gravitate to first when it comes to doing something for myself that I find enjoyable. While I hope to expand on those things and do more and different things, at least I do have a few go-tos in my life.
I tried a few new recipes over the past few weeks. I made a Thai shrimp pasta dish with a pineapple cucumber salad on the side. I really enjoyed the pasta dish. I had never cooked with coconut milk before nor had I used rice noodles. I was happy with how it turned out and will make it again. The pineapple cucumber salad ended up being a big surprise. I wanted a salad to go with the pasta but something different and came upon this recipe. It was really easy and tasted so good. It's very fresh tasting, even though I did use canned pineapple. A good summer recipe.
I went to Golden Antiques on Saturday before last. It's always dangerous for me because I never leave empty handed. And that was true this trip as well. I bought a beautiful set of six glasses and a covered vegetable dish. What can I say? I'm addicted to pretty things. There are worse things in life I suppose. But I will upload pics of them soon. It was a nice trip, and I always like to support local businesses.
I have also enjoyed my morning walks this week. I never really thought about exercise as being a fun thing to do but I am slowly gravitating towards that. How I feel after I'm done is pretty exciting to me so I am hoping to keep that up. Well, that is it for me in the excitement department. I will find bliss in domestic chores this weekend I have no doubt. Mainly because I have nothing else to do LOL And no money to do it with. All in all, I am happy. Even a little fun is better than none!
I did not realize how much I missed exercise until this week. For the past year, I have mainly been sitting around like a slug as far as physical exercise goes. I have been totally unmotivated to do anything. And it shows. Over the past year I have gained a good amount of weight. That's not good for my heart, BP, cholesterol, etc. And my lower back started to hurt because of all the excess weight it's having to carry. So, I have recently started making some good changes with my diet and with how I go about life. This week I started back with some daily exercise. I can already tell a difference.
I am just starting off small. I am walking every day. While it is good exercise, it is also good just to get out of the house and into the outdoors. I desperately need to work on my cardio, and I have to start somewhere so why not now. Better late than never! While I have lost a lot of weight this week, it's only been three days after all, I can definitely tell a difference in how my day goes. I have been walking in the mornings before work. My workday goes by quicker now. I am more productive at work, and my mood is definitely elevated. I am really liking how that feels.
Years ago, I used to train at a gym here in town. I loved it and hated that I had to give it up for financial reasons. But beginning in earnest to exercise again has reminded me how much I actually enjoyed it. There was a rush of energy after my workouts, and I always felt better about things. And I was in much better shape then than I am now. That is what I want to rediscover. That great feeling of accomplishment that comes with working out. I am going to begin adding new workout routines to my daily regime on top of the walking every day. I am quite looking forward to it. The 15-year-old me would never imagine me being someone who enjoyed exercising but here we are!
When I am grocery shopping, I will often stock up on things that are ridiculously on sale or on close out. One day I came across a close out on butterscotch pudding. Naturally, I got multiples of it. I love the flavor of butterscotch, but I had not done much cooking with it. I went on an online deep dive to find recipes that used butterscotch pudding. I found this one and it is awesome. I have only made it once, but I shared it with multiple people, and they all agreed it was good. Try it and see what you think!
Butterscotch Blondies
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 sticks of butter, softened at room temperature
2.5 cups dark brown sugar
1 box instant butterscotch pudding
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9x13 baking dish well with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Use a stand mixer and combine butter, sugar and pudding mix. Beat until fluffy then add eggs one at a time. Slowly add dry ingredients until you have a soft sticky batter. Use a spatula to fold in butterscotch chips. Transfer to baking dish and smooth out evenly. Bake 45-50 minutes. Let cool for at least one hour and then cut.
Enjoy!
