In The Refiner's Fire

Salad Lunch! YUM!   This week starts December - wow!  In some ways 2020 has gone so fast; in others, so slow.  This Saturday we will start the Christmas baking - shortbread cookies this weekend.  Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent so we will start with the Christmas Decorations.  We will be putting the tree up early this year, since we need to have it down by January 4.  We typically leave it up until the 6th (Epiphany) or a bit later but this year we need it down for the construction on the house to continue. Here is what we are eating this week: Sunday, November 29, 1st Sunday in Advent:          Brunch:  Egg Bake          Snack: Popcorn          Dinner: Taco Soup, Tortilla Chips Monday, November 30:          Breakfast: Eggs and Toast          Lunch: Leftover Soup          Snack: Yogurt     ...

A beautiful sunrise earlier this month!  This week the U.S. celebrates Thanksgiving - a holiday dedicated to giving thanks for everything good from the last year.  I am so grateful for a day to rest, a day with my immediate family, phone calls with others, and lots of good food to eat!  I am grateful that we have everything we need, some of what we want, reliable housing and transportation, and jobs we can still do.  I am grateful that I was able to work from home two of three days this week and that my husband was able to have the minor surgery he needed this week.  I am grateful he is recovering well from that surgery and will be back at work soon.  I am also grateful for the ability to help others and to call and write (email, text, and letter) those we love when they cannot be with us in person for the holiday. We have been enjoying not doing much this week: we have done a  lot of staying home and watching movies and reading.  It has been heav...

New dirt in our garden bed - the two baby tomato plants did not make it through our freeze, unfortunately.  Our weather has been so up and down here.  Today we are in the high 30's F (~5C) for temperatures but we have a "stiff" wind today.  That makes it seem much colder when outside!  After a few days of sunshine the clouds today make it feel like real winter, even though it's not quite there yet. We found out that the new windows for our remodel project are a couple of weeks out so we are on hold with everything for a couple of weeks.  I am okay with that.  It gives us more of a chance to clean things out and work from home.  Once they get started on the windows, we have three to four weeks where we will not be able to work from home easily each week.  I am grateful that we do not need to change things up yet again for a few more weeks. Here are some things we have done the beginning of November that we felt were frugal: *  We continued to ...

  Roasted Veggies are a staple for dinner around here! This fall seems to be flying by so quickly!  We have had up and down weather here in Minnesota - something very normal for this time of year.  Last week it was lovely, mild weather with lots of sunshine and this week started out with cold and snow and ice.  I am so grateful for a warm, safe, sturdy home and the ability to cook warm food when it is cold out and make something cool when it is hot out. So many are not so fortunate! The garden is done for the year (and currently under snow and ice), but our freezer, pantry and refrigerator are very full.  Here is what we are eating this week: Sunday, November 8:          Brunch: Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Yogurt          Snack: Popcorn          Dinner: Chicken Divan Casserole, Whole Wheat Buns Monday, November 9:          Breakfast: Eggs and Toast, Bananas   ...