It’s another week. Give thanksgiving.
Despite my Monday not starting off quite great…I’m still in a good mood. It’s easy to see the glass half-full when you were nearly without keys at 6 am in your apartment building parking lot. I hope Aaron sees it as a good day despite being woken up and begged to search his house for my keys.
My Sunday was productive! I tend to be able to relax more on weekday nights more than the weekend. I was in my kitchen for 4 hours yesterday (and racing to the laundry room and back).
First up was pizza dough. This has been a sudden struggle. I picked up different yeast yesterday and this just may have done the trick!
I made 4 pizza dough balls and said a little prayer.
They turned out fabulous!
I threw each in ziplock bags and put them into the fridge to allow them to continue to expand. This morning I discovered that they expanded/rose even more. My dough drought is over.
At this point I got really smart. I put in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and began chopping away at a squash that would be soup for dinner.
Once the squash, shallots, and ginger were roasting, I began on stuffed shells. I like stuffed shells and then amount of shells that last for 2-3 days. I just need more oomph in the shells. I added in minced shallots and a roasted red bell pepper to add extra zing.
I nearly scrapped soup for dinner because I wanted these shells so much. I’ll be heating them up after my run tonight. Pre-made dinners are one of the greatest things for a full-time worker…or really anyone.
With an aching back (bare feet on a tiled kitchen floor for 4 hours), I gathered up soup and sandwich ingredients and headed over to Aaron’s place where he was watching the Packers play. While he shouted at the TV, I gathered up final ingredients from the garden and made grilled cheeses.
Roasted butternut squash soup and grilled cheese sandwich with basil, tomatoes, and mozzarella. This is one of the ultimate cold weather meals.
Cue me falling asleep before 9 pm. Tell me I’m not the only one who does this on a regular basis!
Cold weather finally called for the return of stove-top oatmeal.
I mixed in frozen berries to make things easy. I already had the missing apartment key fiasco.
Get your October off to a great start! This month brings a niece for me. Life is good! 
