Leisure Reading Recipes

First Quarter Plans

I know that sounds a bit like a business briefing.  Well, business is my background, you know.  Hard to change these stripes.  But here we are in the first quarter and I’m making some plans.  Not resolutions, mind you, plans and I’ll be sharing over the next week or so.

The holidays were used for laying low and resting.  I am feeling renewed and energized as I begin the New Year and am ready to lay out some new plans for our year and hope to share some interesting things on this blog.

For sure, 2020 was not a year to share too many enjoyable adventures, but I am happy we kept up and made the best of it.

We have a few new projects on the horizon and a few new purchases to share.

Of course, this blog isn’t about spending money, it’s about enjoying life.  But it is nice to spend a little money in the course of things, isn’t it?

I feel like I’m needing a refresh on my style and exploring some new things.  Hmmm.

New Pillows from At Home

Let me show you a couple of new inexpensive and (in my opinion) beautiful new throw pillows that grace our sectional.  They are from At Home.

Right now, things are still a bit bare around here as I try to figure out my new decorating direction and what my budget may be.

Bare Entry Table

On a completely unrelated note, it’s pretty chilly here in the mornings, but the roses blooming outside the gym are beautiful right now.  The ones I pictured here have an actual smell like a rose.

What I’m Reading

On audio I finished a new author for me, John Hart and King of Lies.  Hart is a former lawyer and this is a legal thriller.  I really liked it, but it tended to get a little long for me.  Really, how many bad decisions and character flaws can a good man have?  Ok, I might have skipped ahead a few chapters to get to the good stuff.

Overall the characters were likeable, the dialog good and the twists compelling.  That makes for a good recipe and I recommend.

In print I’m reading a new detective series and I don’t know how I missed it over the years.  The character is Cecil Younger.  Don’t you love that name?  The title is The Woman Who Married a Bear and written by John Straley.  This guy is a total mess similar to Hart’s character, but it’s a good book and it’s locale in Alaska is so wonderfully drawn it is its own separate character in the book.  Almost done and I can hardly wait to finish.  And then there are more in the series.  Yahoo.

What I’m Eating

Sweet Potato White Bean Soup

For Meatless Monday, I tried a new soup recipe – Sweet Potato and White Bean Soup.  Here is what I did:

Soup Ingredients

Sweet Potato and White Bean Soup

  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • Avocado oil spray
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 can white beans drained and rinsed
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Chopped jalapeno to taste

Sauté onions, garlic and turmeric in small amount of avocado spray until clear – about 5 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients except beans and simmer for about 30 minutes until potatoes are soft.  Stir in beans and return to a simmer.  Blend soup and thin with additional broth if necessary.

Soup Cooking

Two notes about this soup.  #1 is that the turmeric stains so you might want to get any spills up right away.  #2 is that this soup is delish but is full of starch and fiber, so you may want to limit yourself to one serving.  If you get my drift.

Also, there is no attractive way to take a picture of a sweet potato. Nice name, homely vegetable.

So tell me, are you feeling energized and ready to get this party started? Let me know your plans and where you want to head this year. XO

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