Thursday, December 10, 2015

Cooking and Shopping...an antidote to cabin fever.

With the windstorms and the rain I have spent a lot of time in the house...
I am not walking as much due to flying twigs and snapping tree limbs
plus my walking partner has been pre-occupied with ailing family members.

What have I got to complain about?
in a nut shell, nothing!

I am just feeling a tad bit grumpy...and I want to shake this unsettling feeling asap.

Maybe I have "cabin fever,"
I am not sure...
that is what my Grandmother called it when she stayed in for a long time...

We actually chatted about this on the phone when she was alive...
I was home with toddlers...she with arthritis and a dodgy hip.


When your cat stares at you for a long time...
you wonder what he is thinking.

I am not one that has truly befriended idleness 
so I tie on my apron and get busy.

Cooking and cleaning are so therapeutic...


Store made BBQ chicken and salads were an easy peasy Saturday night dinner.
(after the neighbour's Cookie open house)

The next day it was transformed into a Chicken Pot Pie.

 It was not a Weight Watchers friendly supper...
BUT 
it tasted darn good.


I lapsed 
and did some online shopping at L'Occitane.
I rarely do this but Mr. HB was watching hockey!

I got a gift card and some small hand lotions as a bonus for shopping the site
plus there was free shipping...


In the frenzy of activity and between storms I popped over to the club.
Where there is a quiet spot to sit for a cup of tea
before
Mah Jong, Bridge lessons and games.


Eggplants were on sale at the market...
I have always been fascinated with them and I prefer to call them Aubergines.
I have no clue what to do with them so I posted on Facebook asking my "friends" what recipes that they might share with me.
One particular friend suggested I try Eggplant Parmigiana.

So I did a Google search
and then Martha Stewart's recipe popped up!


I served this to my Mother and Sister as a side dish for dinner.
Delivered some at lunch time for our amazing DIL 
and 3 gorgeous children to sample.


Took time out to take tea.
I feel infinitely better when I sit and have a cup or two.
Not so crazed after quiet time...feel like a new woman.
ready to take on new challenges and boldly go....


Just saying that this is my kind of Fur! (FIR)

I am hoping to get out for a long walk later this week but in the meantime I am keeping busy.
Hope that you are having a great week!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

From Margie in Toronto - Glad to hear that you are keeping busy despite outings being a bit curtailed due to the weather. I've been watching the news and you have certainly been hit very hard with all those storms! We have been so lucky here in Toronto - still at 10C - incredibly mild for this time of year.
I am a bit slowed down at the moment - put my back out last Sunday and it is still very painful. Not the time of year that you want to be slowed down but I'm just trying to do a wee bit each day and if it doesn't get done then it doesn't get done. Hope the weather stays warm and my back cooperates so that I can get out for a good walk this weekend - like you I get "cabin fever" if I'm indoors for too long.
Enjoy your weekend.
PS - love the tea canisters!

Karen said...

I'm not sure if I get cabin fever. I do enjoy being home but I get grumpy if I don't have a plan and waste the day. I haven't befriended idleness either. I really must start walking at the moment our weather is gorgeous and I do enjoy it I just plain forget to do it. Crazy I know especially as I walked consistently for 20 years. Eggplant parmigiana is delicious. I love buying online.

Anonymous said...

I have been following your lovely blog for a long time and this is the first time I comment here. There are many ways to cook eggplants. You can grill them, cook them like a steak, like mushrooms. You can also fill them and bake in the oven . . . all successful recipes. Your cat is gorgeous! Your blog is beautiful, positive and very calming. Greetings Maria from Italy

Unknown said...

I think cabin fever is a real ailment especially when being robbed of your walks at present in Brisbane Australia one has to rise very very early to walk or leave it until around 5pm, I get the feeling of cabin fever though, I need at least some days out, hope you get a weather reprieve and can go for walks again, have a great Christmas.
Lyn

Hilary said...

We eat a lot of aubergines here in Greece, especially in the summer when they are in season. I must look for the recipe you used, it looks delicious

Stephen Andrew said...

I like to cut eggplant in thick discs, season liberally w salt, cayenne, oregano, red wine vinegar, and olive oil and grill them. So good, so easy. Some people say you should never salt eggplant until after it's cooked, but I disagree. Perhaps it would be problematic in a skillet, where the weeping eggplant would stop itself from browning. But on the grill it works so well. Guess you can't do that if it's windy and stormy though!

Anonymous said...

How do you like your new body cream? I use L,Occitane hand lotion and love it.

La Vie Quotidienne said...

Maybe you have been at home but you certainly have managed to get an awful lot accomplished! I love eggplant and I also prefer it's french name, it somehow sounds more appropriate. I hope that your weather improves and you can get back to walking again.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Oh dear...back pain is no fun. I hope that you are on the mend and getting some pain relief. The tea canisters are fun and the tea is good too.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Wasting a day...if I am in bed sick with the flu or a nasty cold I feel like I have wasted a day but most of the time I enjoy the pace...I need not be super busy all the time...at my age I like to pace myself!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Hi Maria and welcome!
I love Italian food and pasta...
I will try grilling aubergines in the summertime when we use our BBQ.
Will look for more recipes online now that I have tried and succeeded in cooking them.
Take care and I hope that you continue to read and enjoy my blog.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

You are certainly having a heat wave in Australia!
Yesterday I managed to get out for a 5k walk but today the winds have returned and are fierce!

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Let me know what you think if you make it.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

Sounds yummy Stephen!
Windy again today...no chance of lighting the "Barbie!"

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I have not used it yet as I am finishing off the L'Occitane almond milk.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I got a walk in yesterday but today the winds are back and they are gusting and fierce...and I have to go out in it...yikes it is scary weather.