Glad you like the new gym, Nanc.

Last night I tried some little potatoes in the air fryer. They were really good. Also some brussels sprouts which were good but need to play with the spices and cook time a little more to make them perfect. Picked up some tofu yesterday and will be trying that soon.

Oh, and then I chopped up an apple, tossed with a bit of maple syrup and cinnamon and air fried. Totally yummy.

I put off buying an air fryer for a long time because I don't really need all these kitchen gadgets but I'm glad I bought this.

We use our air fryer every day. This one is a toaster / oven / air fryer all in one. We don't use our oven unless it is something that doesn't fit in the air fryer, which is rare.

I'm getting inspired to do some fiber and yarn dyeing again. It has been quite a while since I've had the urge, so I am pretty excited to get back into it. My MIL gave me an Amazon gift certificate for Christmas and I used it to buy a Sous Vide machine/wand. I'm not using it for cooking though - I think it will be perfect for dyeing fiber. And I can control it from my phone and set the time and temperature.

I will have all of my supplies by Thursday so I'm prepping for a day of dyeing in the studio.

Yesterday I had a Plantage taco salad with tofu spiced meat and beans for dinner. I'll probably have that again tonight as it didn't upset my gallbladder.

The new gym sounds really nice, Nanc. And yes yum to pumpkin bread! I have a recipe for a chocolate pumpkin loaf that I used to make all the time and it is SO good. It may have been in the first Forks Over Knives cookbook. I'll have to dig it up. I recall it was oil free but used regular flour. I should play around with the recipe maybe make a whole wheat version.

Hope you had a nice visit with your cousin, Carla. Did you get to your dyes? Sorry to hear the gallbladder is acting up.

I didn't get out of the office until almost 8:00 and am actually having a cocktail which is nearly unheard of for me on a weeknight. It is too late to eat but maybe I'll make some "fried" apple again. That was yummy. I had the foresight to take an extra large salad today so I had half for lunch and ate the rest around 4:30. Will be another day like this tomorrow then I'm going to slow down for a couple days because I'm pooped.

On the bright side, I have been really good about eating whole foods, and still hitting the treadmill in the morning. There's a new brand of organic lettuce containers that has been around for a while but only at certain stores (local brand) and they are now at my regular stops. They have absolutely beautiful mixtures of greens and always so fresh and crisp. Makes me love salads again. They are a little more pricey, like $4.50 for a 4 oz container, but I actually look forward to eating them and they don't rot in the fridge, so I figure what the heck.

Got out by 6:30 today whew. I will be working all weekend but won't have to stay so late the next couple nights.

I still love oats, Nanc, although for some reason I started liking them cooked again. Maybe it's the cold weather. I throw them in a saucepan with water and let them simmer with cinnamon and frozen berries mixed in. I'm sure eventually I'll start having them raw again. I have tried making oats ahead for a few days and really don't like them that way. They seem gummy and blah.

So busy today I forgot to eat my salad and then I forgot to bring it home for dinner so I have to make a new one. Darn it.

Mornin' all,

Slept kind of weird last night and got up at 3:30 to drink some chamomile. Managed to get back to sleep for a couple hours. Going to the office both today and tomorrow. Not really taking any time off for the holidays other than might leave a little early Christmas Eve and of course Christmas Day.

Nanc, guessing your niece won't be in town for the holidays?

Oh you mentioned that your niece would be in Spain, Nanc. I forgot. Enjoy your time off with Lulu!

I didn't stay at the office long because I have a headache plus I didn't get to make my soup last night. I was out of red lentils. I always have those stocked so that was odd, but I already had all the spices measured out and the veggies chopped so now the soup will be a breeze to finish throwing together.

This is one of my all time favorite soups and it's simple/quick to make: https://ohsheglows.com/spiced-red-lentil-tomato-and-kale-soup/

I brought a few files home and after a nap I will get some more work done.

Oh, and Nanc, I think you are the one who had mentioned Well Your World youtube channel. Took me a while to get around to it but have been watching some of their videos on the treadmill and really like them. I've been doing this a long time and pretty good at throwing things together but still getting a lot of inspiration and new ideas from their videos.

Tonight I want to try the air fryer tofu. I'll let y'all know how it turns out. I got another bag of Little Potato Co. duos and loving the fried potatoes. I cut them in half and the last time I threw them in a pot of boiling water for a few... probably 10 minutes or maybe a little less. Then let them drain and patted dry before tossing in the air fryer. I thought they came out more evenly cooked that way and the spices clung better.

Mornin' all. I made the soup and it was delicious. Will be dinner for the next couple nights with a slice of hearty wheat bread from the bakery.

I made the tofu in the air fryer last night and man was that tasty and so quick! I tossed with a little tamari and a few spices before air frying.

So the plan for the next couple days is oats with all the usual goodies for breakfast, big ol' salad for lunch, soup for dinner. Apples or sliced veggies for snacks.

Merry Christmas!

It will be a relaxing morning around here, then we're off to my parent's place to hang out with family in the afternoon.

I'm on a dyeing kick, and have some cool results that I'll post once the yarn & fiber are all done.

That's all folks! Hope everyone has a great day.

Glad you had a nice Christmas with Miss Lulu, Nanc.

Carla, I am coming up with all kinds of concoctions in the air fryer. So fun to have "fried" foods again done in a jiffy and no oil at all.

I need to get over my fear of the instant pot so I can throw soups and stews together more quickly. I'm making black eyed peas with cabbage and potatoes on new year's day so I'll try it in the instant pot. The store was out of black eyed peas but I found a bag of dry in my pantry so yay!

Left work a little early because I was beat. We're going to be in there all weekend to finish the files that still need to be done before year end.

We had our Christmas breakfast out with Joe's dad & my MIL this morning. Good food and a nice visit. We've been getting together with them once a month lately and it has been nice.

I don't know what the food plan is for the rest of the day. Yesterday I thawed some of the jackfruit stew that I made but I discovered that it does not freeze well. The potato dumpling had a weird texture after thawing and all of the jackfruit pieces fell apart and became mush. It might be yet another sandwich for dinner.

Not sure if I'll head out to the studio or not today. I've got a bit of a headache and I'm not feeling particularly inspired so I'll probably take a another day before I get back into it. It is vacation so I'm not going to sweat it.

I hope you are able to get all your stuff done over the weekend, Mihani. Hopefully you get a few slow weeks in early January to recuperate!