Get Things Done Day!

I love get-things-done days! Having them on the heels of vacation makes them that much better.

A strong bike ride (cut two minutes off my time on that route), laundry and grocery shopping, for starters.

Then I dove into my list of food I wanted to make.

Apple topping for fall breakfasts or treats.

New trick this year. Peel the apples with a potato peeler, cut with the apple slicer, toss the core,

turn the slicer on it side and cut the apples while still in the device. Much faster!

(five apples, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 

1/2 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup water, pinch of salt

Saute on stove until soft.)

My most common breakfast is brown rice with fruit, pecans and rice milk.

In the summer I usually eat it with blueberries or strawberries and bananas.

But the fall calls for something cinnamon-y!

Spiced nuts -- another fall favorite and neighbor christmas gift.

(3 cups of raw pecans, cashews, almonds. 

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 1/2 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice, 3/4 tsp sea salt, 6 Tbsp maple syrup, 1 1/2 tsp vanilla.

 Grease cookie sheet. Spread nuts in single layer. Bake at 325 for 15 min. turning once.)

Finally, harvested a lot of basil to make pesto to freeze.

(3 cups basil leaves, 1/2 cup pine nuts, 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 

1/2 cup olive oil, squeeze of lemon juice.)

I've made this in the past in the food processor. But thought it could be easier in Blendtec.

However the leaves weren't getting small enough. Added more nuts, cheese, olive oil and lemon juice

per the Blendtec recipe. Everything blended perfectly smooth after that, but a little too smooth.

I'm going to try again tomorrow. Still yummy though.

And of course made dinner. Meatball soup with gnocchis. One of our favorites.

Meanwhile Nick put ski racks on his car. Dan had bought them from a friend who dropped them off.

As soon as Nick saw them, he got to work. I love that he isn't afraid to jump in and figure something out!