Everyday Adventures {Week 26}

This is what is in my reading pile this week. Spark and Holding Fast. Plus, I have two books started on my Kindle. I don’t think I will ever be a one book at a time person. I always have several going at once.

I am enjoying the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. I actually started reading it a few years ago, but never finished it. I decided to reread it. Hopefully I will actually finish it this time. The book is interesting, but it is one of those books that is harder for me to get through and read for long periods of time. I can’t just sit down and read it for hours like I can other books. It is full of facts, studies, etc. and is a bit on the textbook information type side. But if you enjoy learning about exercise and its benefits, it is probably a book that you will enjoy. I will try to give an update when I have finished it.

Also in my reading pile right now is Holding Fast: The Untold Story of the Mount Hood Tragedy. I picked this book up used and it has been in my to read pile for awhile. It is a little different than the normal books I read, but it caught my attention because it is about Mount Hood.

I grew up in Northwest Oregon and I have been to Mount Hood many times. The drive from where I grew up into Portland has a beautiful view of Mount Hood. Mount Hood and the surrounding area is beautiful. I love it. I did not live in Oregon at the time of this accident, but I remember hearing about it on the news. So, I think this is a book I will enjoy.

I picked up one of my favorite busy day shortcuts this week at Sam’s Club. We love their fully cooked brisket. It is not cheap, in fact it is a little bit expensive, but I figure it is something my whole family can have and it is cheaper than eating out. Plus, we usually get several meals out of it. This week we ate it for dinner and then used it for sandwiches, wraps, and salad for lunches.

This is what my counter looked like yesterday. That is eight pounds of various ground meats.

And this is what I did with all that meat.

I made freezer meatballs. Meatballs have always been one of my favorite things to freeze. I make them into meatballs, cook them in the oven, and then freeze them in ziploc type bags. This gives me an easy meal when I need it. We can eat the meatballs as is, over pasta with sauce, or as meatball sandwiches. I have not made any in awhile and my family was thrilled that I made some again.

And I wish I could share the recipe that I used, but I did not really follow one. I used multiple kinds of ground meat. I used ground beef, ground venison, ground pork, and sausage. I added in a few other things and that is it. The best tip I can give for making the best meatballs is to use several different kinds of meat. I like to use at least two different ground meats for the best flavor. And if I am making a large batch, like I did yesterday, four different kinds of meat is even better.

I also made peanut butter free flourless peanut butter cookies yesterday. Yes, I made peanut butter free peanut butter cookies. They are actually pretty good. But I am not sure I will ever be a huge fan of Sunbutter.

I am thankful for it and we do use it, but it is not the same. The cookies taste like sunflower seeds, not peanut butter. But I think the worse part of it for me is the color. You can’t really tell in the picture, but they are a bit green in color. Baked goods always seem to have a greenish tint when I use Sunbutter. I have read that this is because it reacts with the baking soda and/or baking powder, but these cookies did not have either of those things, so I think it just has something to do with baking the Sunbutter.

For those of you that use Sunbutter I would love to hear your thoughts on that. Is there a way to keep things from turning green?

I know much of the East Coast has been hit with cold snowy weather this week, but here in Oklahoma it has been a beautiful spring like week. Spring like weather in January. We will take it!

We had temperatures in the 70’s earlier this week and it was 80 here on Wednesday. That is rare for January, and this weekend it is back to cooler more normal like temperatures, but it was nice while it lasted. It made great weather for running. And since we live in the country you can tell by the picture we run on country gravel roads. Some of them narrow one lane roads. You are not really in the country until you are on a narrow one lane gravel/dirt road. 🙂

How was your week?