This has been a good week thanks to some long awaited sunshine and warmer weather. Only one day of rain for which we are truly grateful. The rivers are slowly getting back to their normal levels and the snow is almost gone even from the big piles in the parking lots by the grocery store. There is a little snow left on the ski hill where we walk and the dogs seem to like rolling in the snow for some reason. Percy’s snow pile is now gone but he certainly wasn’t happy about saying good-bye to it.

Walking This Week

We were encouraged to explore a little this week so we took a different road that took us off our regular trail. We didn’t find anything amazing except for a junk yard but it was good to get a different perspective while adding a little more distance to our daily sojourn. The dogs love it and I rather enjoyed seeing a slightly different section of the area. We continued to add a swimming stop to our treks as well as a couple of days where Percy enjoyed chasing after a tennis ball as well as sticks. His dad was home for the weekend and gave him a really good workout in the field as well as the stream.

The picture below isn’t great but it was the most exciting thing that we encountered on our walks this past week. Five fox kits, who appear to be living under this house, have come out to play almost every day. Some very professional photographers were there a couple of the days but my poor iPhone just doesn’t have the zoom to get a clear picture and I wasn’t going to get any closer and scare them. The dogs didn’t pay any attention to them but the kits knew we were there. They are adorable and I wish I had a better picture.

Week #3 of the Academy

Jack has now completed two weeks at the Fire Academy. As he gets ready for week #3 he is doing his food preparation for the week on Sunday afternoon. He gets all his food prepared and packaged in portions to eat each day. It saves him a lot of money as well as making sure that he is getting the nutrients that he wants. I can barely cope with making one meal let alone six or seven at once.

Cooking This Week

I did actually cook a couple of meals this week. Jack was at the Academy and Katie was in Hawaii so it was just the two of us which was rather nice. I brought out the trusty Half-Baked Harvest and made a rather delicious chicken dish. We are big fans of Spinach Artichoke Dip so I thought this would be good. It turned out very well but I used chicken pieces that were too big so it took longer to cook.

Lemon Butter Spinach and Artichoke Chicken

4 chicken cutlets or small breasts
salt and black pepper
¼ cup all-purpose/gluten-free flour
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons salted butter
1 lemon, sliced + 1/3 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
chili flakes
½ cup broth
½ cup salsa verde (optional)
2 cups baby spinach
1 jar (12 ounce) marinated artichokes, quartered
⅓ cup cream
½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the flour, onion powder, and garlic powder in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken through the flour mix.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chicken in a large skillet set over medium-high heat. Sear on both sides until golden, about 5 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
3. To the skillet, add the butter, lemon slices, garlic, thyme, and chili flakes. Cook for 2 minutes until the butter browns. Add the lemon juice, broth, salsa verde, if using, and spinach. Slide the chicken and any juices left on the plate back into the skillet. Add the artichokes. Pour in the cream. Simmer 2 minutes.
4. Sprinkle over lots of parmesan, then bake for 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Serve the chicken and sauce with fresh herbs.

Wishing you a wonderful week, I leave you with this lovely poem from Mary Oliver and you might guess why it caught my eye.