Under The Weather… Beautiful Weather… Now Snow?

I have been meaning to come on and write a quick post over the last week, but you know what they say: life happens! My work has been really kicking into high gear while I was still getting through my sickness, which is never the best combination. This post is going to be very lifestyle-y as I try to catch you up on my last week and a half. Regular programming will continue as the week goes on including an AWESOME slow cooker pork roast recipe.

My cold lasted 10 days. So, I am not a doctor , but I’ve had a lot of colds in my life.

(Up to this point, this post was written on Monday…. Now it is Thursday…)

Looking back on it, it seemed worse than a cold… maybe (but hopefully not) strep. Who knows! My throat hurt real bad, but that was the only symptom that I was feeling. I didn’t have a temperature, so that was a blessing.

You know that saying, “Feed a fever, starve a cold?” During this cold, I just kept on feeding it because I get so hungry. I was on a serious rotation of chicken soup, leftover chili from the freezer, Advil, cough drops, and salt water (gargled).

Chicken Noodle Soup (Photo by Jack Fitzpatrick)

Just so you know: Shamrock Shakes do not cure colds, even though I worked really hard to disprove that fact. But, I have good news: It is pretty much gone and I am feeling about 97%. Woot woot!

Last weekend’s weather was unbelievable! I am still not over how beautiful it was here in the Twin Cities. It was 60 degrees and sunny for most of the weekend. I made sure to get out and about and take advantage of the weather. If you didn’t know, it isn’t usually 60 degrees in the middle of February in Minnesota. But when it is, it is unreal:

Most importantly, I got to see all of the puppies running around and enjoying the weather.

Once of the more interesting sights of the weekend was the juxtaposition of the warm, active land and the cold, frozen lake.

Shoreline Divide (Photo by Jack Fitzpatrick)

I hit my 10,000 step goal for the day with ease on Saturday, as I decided to take the long 1.5 mile walk to Whole Foods. I putzed around the store for about a half an hour reading labels, looking through the bulk spice section (never seen that before), and, most importantly, deciding on a treat from the bulk foods section.

I ended up with Chocolate Peanut Butter Malted Milk Balls for my walk back home. Wow were those good! It was the malted milk center surrounded with peanut butter and then covered with milk chocolate. I was confused after my first one re: how they got all of those flavors inside. But with my second one, I took the time to investigate. I only got 5 or so, as I was trying to make cookies that night as well (which didn’t happen in case you were wondering).

This past weekend, I kicked up some killer recipes that I have been dying to post and share with y’all. I did a cuban style pork tacos, overnight oats, and polenta. LOTS to share! So be on the lookout for lots of new content the next few days.

And they say global warming isn’t real… It is supposed to snow tomorrow. As of yesterday, it was going to be once of the largest in Twin Cities history. But from what I am hearing from the conversation immediately to the right of me in this Starbucks, it is not only going to be a couple of inches or just wind. And if you are worried that the storm may be a phallic shape, CityPages wrote a story here.

With this in mind, I am not as worried about the storm, BUT I have a major goal of baking those cookies this weekend. A bag of dark chocolate chips is burning a whole in my pantry. I will nosh on those while I watch the Oscars (full predictions coming this weekend).

Before I end this rambling post, i will leave you with one more picture from last weekend: