Holiday Staycation

I have this whole week off from work!  My office decided to close this week as it is traditionally a slow week (unfortunately that means forced vacation time :/…) but I guess if I wasn’t “forced” to take this time off I never would be having a glorious staycataion!  I always carefully track my vacation time to save for trips, but never really just have time off at home!  I don’t know why either because it’s AMAZING!
Even better when the husband takes 2 days off as well…like on Monday, there was basically a blizzard from Sunday afternoon into Monday so we did a whole lot of NOTHING!
Except shoveling and taking the dog out…Bromley loves the snow it’s hilarious, the snow was almost taller than him so he was hopping in and out of it.
He also got covered!

I love how the white snow on his face makes it so you can’t see much of his mouth
and shake off…

The greatest aspect of being home this week is actually being able to cook…breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Let’s see, I’ll start with the not-so-great item from Sunday night.
I was sent a whole box of delicious Chobani Greek yogurt a few weeks ago and adding it to recipes here and there.  Delicious.  One meal I was dying to try is a beef Stroganoff using Chobani instead of sour cream.  Simple right?
Well I picked the wrong recipe as my base…woops.  It was an Ellie Krieger recipe and until now I’ve loved everything of hers I have made.  However I made the mistake of not looking it up online for reviews first (if I had I would have known!)
I only have shots of the prep…
(new shiny pan :)


And that my friends is where the photos end because I was so pre-occupied with saving this meal!  and I did!!
The main problem was WAY too much liquid and not enough thickening agent, so when I initially added the yogurt it just broke up/curdled.  Basically I strained out almost all of the excess liquid with a spoon, added another container of yogurt and then it was fine :)  It was actually quite tasty and I want to try again.
Onto Monday morning.  As I said before we had about 20” of snow and the winds were ridiculous! (a shingle even got ripped off our roof!)
This makes snow bearable:

Leftover Christmas sticky bun

and freshly made cappuccinos
(like my new post-Christmas sale placemats from Crate and Barrel??)

After fueling on sticky buns and caffeine, Brian and I tackled the driveway.  Shoveling is rough, but I just think about the great workout I’m getting!  400 calories/hour…yes!!  1.5 hours later…Breakfast #2 
Yogurt Parfait:

• 1 container 0% Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 green apple, chopped
• 1/2 banana, chopped
• cantaloupe chunks
• Bob’s Red Mill Muesli
• maple syrup drizzle

 
even had time to layer it all pretty
It’s also been hard to stay out of the Christmas treats!  I mean look what Brian got me…LOOK!!
Dark chocolate covered marzipan!!!!!   This stuff is incredible!!!!!  He went to the Hotel Chocolat on Newbury St in Boston…if you can get there I highly recommend this if you love all things dark chocolate and almond as I do.

Well I think that’s a long enough post for now :)
Happy Wednesday!  (why oh why does the week fly by so fast when you’re not at work???)
Today I’ve been doing some home organizing…what do you like to do when you have extra time off at home??