Social Distancing Diaries: Day 368

Dear Diary

7:30am: Went for my run. I had to wait for daylight, but the wind did not thwart my meager efforts today!

Neither of these is authentically Irish. Both are delicious! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

8:00am: Breakfast. Since it’s my blog I can talk about the food I eat. I just pretend someone cares. I just discovered Overnight Oats. Am I a few years late to this party? Probably. I don’t usually care for oatmeal and I REALLY don’t care for quick oats. But Overnight Oats is 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 tablespoon chia seeds, 1/2 cup milk, and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup. Put it in a jar in the fridge overnight and eat it for breakfast the next day! Or a few day later. I add a little more milk in the morning and then microwave it for 30 seconds to take the chill off. Today I added half a banana to it. Yummo! The only downside is the pile up of eggs in the fridge when I don’t eat one every morning. And now that I add spinach or asparagus to my eggs, those aren’t getting consumed as fast as they should. I need to balance the egg vs. oatmeal breakfasts.

10:30am: Today I met with a delightful local shop owner who is interested in carrying my things. I won’t spill the beans until it’s a done deal, but she was just a treat and her shop is wonderful!

Afternoon: I tackled the dreaded pantry. I needed to find homes for all of the fun Sharp Shopper finds from last night. The task was made a bit easier by propping my phone on the shelf so that I could watch Netflix while I stacked cereal and Cheez-Its. Then I finished sewing together the top of my patchwork blanket. I hope Grandma would be proud! I still don’t know what to use on the back so who knows when it will actually get done, but the hardest part has been accomplished!

Trigger Warning: I’m going to talk about food again.

Organized chaos

Supper was chicken soup. This decision came about because of the rotisserie chicken bones I cooked off last week. So I had a bowl full of broth and a bag of chicken. Eden is eating a special Lenten diet for 2 more weeks, so I took a portion of soup out of the pot before I added the chicken to the rest of it. This meal was also prompted by the abundance of frozen carrot coins in my freezer, courtesy of the daily school lunches. The soup was broth, wild rice, carrots, green onion, and fresh ginger. Y’all, do yourself a favor and add fresh ginger to your chicken soup. Trust me. At the last minute I was inspired to make some Irish Soda bread. I loved Darrenkamp’s Cranberry Orange Soda Bread—I would get it when it was on the “Day Old” shelf. A quick Pinterest search resulted in a simple recipe that I could make in less than an hour. It was not what I would call “Irish Soda Bread”, but it was delicious. Definitely cakier than it should have been. Now I can look forward to a slice with my breakfast eggs and asparagus!

I like to think that Grandma would be proud!

6:00pm: Off to our church’s Midweek Refresh (worship, book study, prayer). Tonight was the first of many Wednesdays to come. The book is Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Warren. It’s excellent. Next week is my turn to teach, so turn up or tune in. It will be Zoomed.

Shout out to Brenda who shared such kind and encouraging words with me about my blog. I told you you might make the blog! Thanks!!

7:30pm: Tom and I popped into the coffee shop to steal a few minutes together before heading home. It still feels so strange to be in a restaurant. We were only there while we waited for our drinks to be made, but it feels unfamiliar. I guess a lot of things will be like that for a while.