Day 285 - today's going to be productive

I am speaking it into existence - I am going to be productive today.

I started with making an oatmeal/banana/apple bake. I had looked up a recipe yesterday so I could use up my rapidly ripening bananas and leftover apple before it all went bad. Then of course I tweaked the recipe as needed.

It turned out well. And it might even save me from having to grocery shop today/this week. Since now I have breakfast already set for the next several days. 

I do still need to figure out a lunch plan with what I have here in the house.

I enjoyed my morning chai tea and re-read the most recent Fall Magnolia Journal while the oatmeal baked. 

Then I headed to get ready for the day and put away all my clothes (from recent laundry and from my trip). That felt good once that was done. Next, I headed outside with the pups, ready to start tackling the day. We first collected all the old pots where we've already removed the plants, as well as the potted tomato plants that are done for the season, and the seasonal flower pots. Over to the compost we went! It was time to turn it over - which I need to ensure the rest of the household knows to do a little more often than it has been. Then I checked on the pond, adding some water in prep for what is going to end up being a big chunk of today - getting the fishies into their new and improved home. 

Also on the to do list is some time in the garden, but that is on hold for the moment and the pups want to follow me everywhere but they won't be much help in there.

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So it turns out the hubster did not want to work on the pond today. He has soccer this morning and then a friend's party in the afternoon so he was gone most of the day. 

I did go out to the garden and harvested some cucumbers for me and marigold flowers for the chickens. The bees were extremely active today so I left most of the flowers for them.

I then got back to work in the kitchen prepping lunch for the week. I still had sweet potatoes that needed to get used. So I roasted those up and then made a veggie bean mix with black beans, chickpeas, diced tomatoes, corn, and a ton of jalapeños from the garden.

I ended up bagging some to freeze. 

So now I'm all set with breakfast and lunch for the week and I didn't even have to go to the store. I used up things from the garden or from our current supply that needed to get moving. 

Then I took a late lunch break and had the last of my last week meal prep. I actually took out most of the green beans to share with the doggos for their dinner and added some extra chickpeas I had in the fridge. 

It was fine but I'm ready for something new. The sweet potatoes shrink a lot more when roasted compared to how much quantity you achieve from mashed. And I may have gone a bit over board on the jalapeños though historically through this season they haven't been too spicy. But after cutting them all, I did feel some sting in my nail beds so this batch has at least a few with kick. 

For the rest of the afternoon I read. 

Went outside with the pups and read the magnolia special holiday edition 

Enjoyed the scenery 

Then headed up to my reading nook to read a bit about wild escapes and SLOW living. More on those later...

'dinner' was some baby cucumbers from the garden

Wrapped up the evening getting everything ready for tomorrow. I feel much more prepared this week which was what I was striving for this weekend so big checkmark. I finished watering all the plants. Kitchen is cleaned up. Packed up my stuff for tomorrow. Foods are prepared. I'm set. I even got around to setting out some Fall decor. I didn't get it all out and I plan to leave the bin in the house since it won't be long before it'll be time to swap over to Christmas decor. But I'll enjoy my pumpkin theme while it's out.

Finishing up the evening with a yoga session and then getting to bed a little early!