Sunset Friday Afternoon
Well, the hot week ran into a hotter weekend. With highs in the mid 90's (though the thermometer at the house was showing 100+ on Saturday), it was a scorcher.
Friday afternoon, I got to leave work a bit early and ran some errands. On the way home however, I did catch one great picture, it's my latest wallpaper :-).
Unfortunately, I had some yardwork to do. So Saturday started out with a ride (bicycle) of about 10 miles to get stretched out and ready for the day. Then it was onto the scooter to go get the mulch hauler from the office, and off to Lowe's. Unfortunately, the area I'm mulching is on the wrong side of the septic system drain fields, so bags, while more expensive, are the better choice. Grab 25 bags of mulch, and head home for the unload. Empty the car, and take it back to the office to pickup the scooter and come home on the scooter. For the record, it is a perfectly valid excuse to go 10 miles out of the way for the added cooling effects of a blast down the highway for one exit and 75mph. At least by the time I got home the sweat had eased of to a dry creekbed instead of the raging Mississippi river that it was after unloading.
Then there was a quick mow of the yard before spreading the mulch. With all of that done, dinner was fast approaching, so a quick swim in the pool with the kids and in for a pizza. A bit of XGames with the kids and off to bed.
Then came sunday. Another trip to the get the mulch hauler, and two trips to Lowe's for another 60 bags of mulch, and got it all spread, but it was a hot, exhausting day. After I got all the mess cleaned up, a quick shower and off to pick up the scooter.
Saturday and Sunday, I rode the People for most of my running, but Sunday evening, I needed a break, so I took off for a nice relaxing ride for about an hour exploring some of the roads that are in the area that fell into the category of 'I think I know where they go, but I've never been down them', before coming home to cook dinner.
Speaking of dinner, this is a relatively easy to make meal that my family loves, but is also reasonably low in fat. Chicken Alfredo Lite, grab the Mccormick's Alfredo packets as a base. Replace the butter with with your favorite butter substitute (we use one of the buttery spread / 0 trans fat options), replace the milk with plain non-fat yogurt, and add 1/4 cup of white wine. I know most would use a chablis for this, but I don't keep chablis in the house since noone will drink it, so I use the white I have on hand, usually an Ecco Damani Pinot Grigio, which is well suited to enjoying a glass while cooking. Then follow the directions on the package to get your base started. Before heating the sauce, add 1 tbsp of fresh chopped garlic, 1 tsp of italian seasoning, and 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese, other than that, follow the packet. Prep the chicken by splashing a little olive oil in the skillet, along with another tsp of the garlic and a dash of italian seasoning, then cooking the chicken in there. I prefer to cook the breasts whole until they are about half done, then I'll cut them down into bite sized pieces and return them to the skillet to finish cooking them. I figure if you got this far, you know the noodles :-), We use rainbow rotini for the colorful presentation for the kids. Served with salad and some bread, it makes a nice easy meal.
Finally, after dinner and a game of scrabble, it was time to finish up the prep for next weeks trip to Chattanooga for the Hill on Wheels Rally. This is just their second one, but it looks to be well organized and should be a great rally. In prep, I did put together a t-shirt for Two Wheel Junction that I'll be wearing on Saturday and Sunday if they come in time. So, if anyone else would like to wear one, they are now available TWJ T-Shirts. I hope to see a few new faces in Chattanooga at Hill on Wheels.