Well that was fun O_O

[missdiane]

I am glad that I decided to do another WFH morning. I finally went out to clear off my car about 15 minutes ago and it was quite the adventure. I brought a shovel but they'd already cleared around the cars which you'd think was great but on both sides of my front driver and passenger side doors is a massive ice slick. So I managed to contort myself in to start the car and put on the defrost and then I lightly whacked at the snow with an ice crust on the car to clean it off. I didn't shovel it since the crunchy snow finally provided some traction to walk on. It's only supposed to get to 24 today but it's sunny so it might melt a little and refreeze but the powderly layer of snow should make it that I can get in the car tomorrow morning to go to work without causing injury. The passenger side was especially awful since the slope there is more pronounced and to clear it off meant standing on an icy drainage grate. I slid but managed to grab onto my rear view mirror to stabilize myself. I don't mind snow especially but boy I hate ice.

In the meantime, after many years of the heat being super hot in my apartment during the winter, this year they decided to keep things on the cooler side. The law is "Under the state housing codes, from October 1 to May 1, the landlord must provide enough heat so that the temperature in the apartment is at least 68 degrees from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m, the temperature in the apartment must be at least 65 degrees. N.J.A.C."

Yeah, just barely meeting that law now and only because I'm supplementing with alternate sources of heat. I have a small space heater in my bedroom that I'm turning on at intervals during the day to work in here. For some reason, it's colder in there even though I'm not noticing any more drafts, so the radiator must be less effective. My oven is also not currently being used just for pan storage. Yesterday I roasted potatoes (took longer than I thought it would and I had to turn the heat up to 400 to get them browned) and a salmon filet (turned out lovely) for lunch. This morning I decided to try baked eggs. I overcooked them but they weren't bad. I'll probably have them again tomorrow and make sure not to overcook them.


I'm thinking of baking an apple with some oats with a touch of honey or syrup for this afternoon and then tonight since it's supposed to dip near the single digits, I'm going to bake the big vegan lasagna that's in my freezer and will take about an hour. It's supposed to be about the same frigid temps over the weekend so for my grocery delivery that comes tomorrow, I tossed in the fixings for a turkey meatloaf and some frozen scones that take about 35 minutes to bake up. I have some other veggies that I could bake up and just might. If anyone has suggestions for other - preferably healthy/low cal - things to bake, I'm all ears.

It's the one time that occasional hormonal hot flashes have not been completely unwelcome.

Comments

[spiffikins]

Potatoes always seem to take way longer to bake than I think they should!

You can bake fried rice! baked fried rice

Sheet pan fajitas - sliced onions, peppers and chicken tossed in fajita or taco seasoning, and baked on a baking sheet. You can have them with tortillas or in a bowl over rice/beans with some salsa?

[missdiane]

That baked fried rice is BRILLIANT!! Thank you! I can put all kinds of veggies in it too.

I have an onion that part of it is going in the turkey meatloaf and I did order a pepper. If I make the baked fried rice without the Asian ingredients, I can use it in burrito bowls.

[spiffikins]

It is *magic* rice - it has always come out perfectly moist and it's so easy! And yeah - it can totally be modified to be non-asian and just...veggie rice!

I've added spinach - I just stirred it in at the end when I pulled the pan out of the oven, and then put the lid back on for a few minutes to let it steam wilt. And when I don't have frozen carrots, I do throw my raw diced carrots into a bowl of water and nuke them for a few minutes so that they are at least partially cooked.

[missdiane]

It'll be a good use for the bigger bag of jasmine rice that I don't use as often since I usually make sushi rice for my Korean dishes. I have some shredded fresh carrots that should cook ok since they're already pretty small and I also have frozen spinach (and corn). I can also use the veggie rice to make bibimbap since I have some kimchi in the fridge.

[spiffikins]

yummy!