Weekend Snaps | Arctic Blast

Oh my word has it been cold this weekend!

I know, I know … I live in Minnesota, after all. But I don’t care how native you are to this state, when you wake up to this on your phone, it’s officially bleeping cold!

This kind of cold doesn’t necessarily keep me tethered to the couch under a multitude of quilts, but I definitely do not rush to get outside. Here’s what we did accomplish:

We bundled up Friday night and headed over to the high school to watch the girls basketball team play – and win! 

My coworker’s husband is the head coach and their daughter is a starter on the team, so it was fun to finally catch a game this season. (That’s Hailey, making a clutch free throw at the end of the game. #GoBison!) 

I bundled up in some nice new warm socks that also happen to be pretty adorable too. I’ve got to have my cuteness factor, you know – even with socks! (These are from The Gap – not available anymore but some other cute options here.)

After the three of us braved the northwest winds to go back to the high school on Saturday morning – this time to run on the indoor track – we played a new game (new for us, anyway) in the afternoon, The Settlers of Catan. The directions, I’m not going to lie, looked fairly intimidating but once we started up, it was pretty easy to get the hang of things. It’s a fun strategy game that we all liked!

Saturday night seemed like the perfect time to try this Baked Ziti recipe from The Pioneer Woman’s news cookbook. It’s definitely stick-to-your ribs comfort food, which paired up perfectly with the cold January night.

Of course I didn’t really notice the recipe serves 12 people – so now we’ll be eating baked ziti for the next four days. Ha!

Sunday morning, I whipped up a banana read recipe from Smitten Kitchen. And yes, it was as yummy as this photo would suggest. It’s a little bit different than traditional banana bread recipes – using nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves to give it a fun twist. (The original recipe calls for bourbon (!) but I didn’t have any on hand so that was omitted.)

And just because that wasn’t enough baking for me, I made a small batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies after lunch. (Full disclosure: I used the Betty Crocker bag from the supermarket and just added extra chocolate chips! Fast, easy, and the boys were happy.)

Almost forgot – the obligatory adorable pug photo of Earl from Saturday night! He (like his mama), is not a big fan of this arctic blast we’re having. I’m pretty sure I don’t have to spell out the reasons why on that one! 😉 

Now I’m off to help Teacher Man edit a few photos he needs for a Powerpoint presentation he’s updating for his classes. Later, after trying a new turkey chili recipe for supper, I will finally huddle under my quilts, do a little more writing, and most definitely watch Madam Secretary, which is back on with a new episode!

Have a great start to the week, friends!

Lara