Uncorked

  Family favorite on St. Patrick’s Day Since marrying into an Irish family almost 35 years ago, St. Patrick’s Day has always been synonymous with one particular dish: corned beef and cabbage. Our tradition of cooking this hearty meal comes from our matriarch Teresa (Murphy) Backus. Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, Mom has taught us many traditions from her homeland since coming to the states…

Top Staples for Weeknight Cooking

There’s one thing I’ve found to be extremely helpful in addressing the question — “what’s for dinner tonight?” Having a handful of staples on hand to work with makes all the difference, and eliminates much of the stress associated with the Weeknight Chef job. Looking through the pantry, fridge and freezer, here are some of the items to keep stocked. Freezer Stock Buying a stand-alone deep freezer…

Egg Roll in a Bowl

I made this recipe for the first time recently. It was a hit and immediately added to our “regular” dinner menu. This dish checks so many boxes as a weeknight meal. It’s fast, seriously takes 10 minutes to make. It’s an all-in-one pan recipe, cook the meat and just dump all other ingredients together, heat and serve. It’s tasty, the blend of asian flavors is delicious. It’s low carb and…

Quick and Easy Stuffed Peppers

First up as I venture into the foodverse is a recipe for stuffed bell peppers. It’s not a dish that’s all that common on our family menu. But it always receives rave reviews when served. It’s fairly simple to put together and so colorful. I’d love to say I used peppers from our garden in making this recipe, but ours are not ripe yet. The game changer I discovered in this recipe from Bellyfull.net…

Learning to love weeknight cooking

Cooking is something I’ve always enjoyed. Nowadays, without the pressure of rushing off to kids’ practices, games and dance classes, I enjoy it even more. Suffice to say, we eat better now than when the kids were growing up. I feel a little guilty about that … sorry kiddos. Gone are the days of Kraft Mac & Cheese, tacos, sloppy joes and other such staples. No more whipping up dinner in the rush…

7 things to listen to for a positive boost

The level of uncertainty in our world continues to grow. I hear it, see it and feel it everywhere. It seems impossible to escape. So how do we cope? In a recent conversation with a family member about her level of angst, I asked the question “what are you surrounding yourself with”? Meaning… what are you watching, listening to and reading. This query prompted a personal assessment, which turned…

How to muster motivation in the midst of a pandemic

Motivation. It seems tough to muster these days. More difficult than ever.

In the midst of this pandemic, reasons to not come far too easily. Understandably, some of these reasons are beyond our control, with quarantine mandates. Other reasons we don’t are up to us. But still, it seems easier to just not.

It’s not like we haven’t had extra time on our hands. I mean, we’re home more now than…

7 takeaways from our pandemic garden project. Building our raised bed garden turned out to be a community project, thanks to participation from so many.

Learned a few things from growing a garden during the pandemic

I’ve been remiss in sharing our pandemic project. Perhaps you’ve noticed a few photos of tomatoes, broccoli, squash, peppers, radishes, cucumbers and a baby watermelon filling my social media feeds, along with messages saying “home grown”. Adding a garden at the cottage was our pandemic project.

We’ve talked about planting a…

What's your perfect day? How often do you take time to do the things you love? For most ... not often enough. Time to do you.

It’s a perfect day. Sleeping in. No alarm clock. Steaming cup of coffee. A muffin for dipping … lemon poppy seed flavored. Sitting on the patio with a cool breeze. Listening and watching the birds dodge on and off of the collection of feeders scattered in backyard.

No make up. Glasses versus contacts. Shower — or not. Sweat pants or leggings, over-sized long sleeve t-shirt and slippers.…

So many orange barrels, so little construction work

Back in my favorite city visiting my favorite girls … finally. Far too long between visits. But apparently not long enough for the endless road construction projects along the way to be completed. So many orange barrels, yet so little construction actually happening. Seriously, miles and miles of barrels closing off driving lanes way before the actual site of any work being done. WHY??

Why…

6 tips to add to College Freshman Orientation

Sharing a few more tips to prepare new students for college.

The first step in our youngest son’s journey toward his next step — new student orientation at Central Michigan University. We checked this off the list this week. Attending the day-long event with Ryan allowed me to see things from the other side of the fence, as a parent rather than faculty member.

As an alumna and teacher,…

Why slowing down takes getting used to

A comment on my most recent blog post from a friend, who is also a soon-to-be-empty-nester, caused me to recognize a benefit of empty nesting I had not realized. The feeling of not being so rushed. This is something I’ve actually been experiencing little-by-little throughout the last year without even recognizing it. Surprisingly, a slower pace takes getting used to.

We’ve been living in the…

Empty nesting — 3 things to do with ‘me time’

Graduation party done. Commencements finished. Now what … ? What’s next is up to me. For the first time in 28 years, I get to decide what I want to do. Honestly, I’m not sure I remember what it is I like to do. It’s been so long since I’ve had the chance to even consider it.

I have had a bit more freedom this past year. Our youngest, the independent fourth child, has been easing us into…

5 Lessons teaching has taught me

Another semester is winding down. As exam week nears, I’m prompted to reflect on some of the lessons I’ve learned through teaching college students for the past few years.

I should preface this by saying, I never imagined myself in a teaching position. Getting a last minute request to help fill in for a professor on family leave, I agreed. Little did I know how much I would love it. I quickly…

A hockey mom’s final game

Senior night — celebrating our senior #10 Ryan

The end of another hockey season. Not just any season … the final season. One more “done” checked off the list for senior year. One step closer to an empty nest.

The closing of this chapter hits harder than others. The past 18 years have been spent bundled up in ice rinks cheering on both of our son’s teams. I remember people warning us not to…

5 things to love about being snowed in

The polar vortex, along with record-breaking frigid temperatures have resulted in 10 snow days in the past two weeks. Stir crazy and cabin fever don’t begin to describe the current situation. Normally, I don’t mind being cooped up in my own house, but that’s when staying home is my choice. Snowed-in is different.

Being homebound does have its advantages though. (Trying for a “half-full”…

Bye Bye Grocery Store, Hello Shipt

I just placed my very first order for groceries through Shipt. Not sure why it’s taken me so long to jump on board. It definitely hasn’t taken me any time to get hooked. Seriously, why didn’t I do it sooner?

Talk about time savings. Literally, I spent maybe 15 minutes shopping for the week’s groceries, and another 10 minutes putting everything away once delivered. Typically a trip to Meijer…