I made it back from Missouri and my time has been filled with work and more work. I got home prior to the ice storm, then I worked Sunday to get Monday’s work rescheduled due to weather for the next week. The new client rollout in Missouri went well. I didn’t have any time to see any sights there, but I did do a lot of driving. I wasn’t able to find any hiking trails near the hotel, but I did make it to the Springfield Buc-ee’s! By this March 1st, I will have another division. Which means that I will be traveling even more. I don’t mind the travel, it pays the bills and I often get to see some pretty neat things.
The weekend I returned from Missouri, we had an ice storm. Luckily we dd not lose power or have any issues due to the cold weather. Last weekend, we received around 7 inches of snow!
The huskies have been in heaven zooming around and around. They refused to come inside most of the time. We had to bribe them with treats. <laughter>
We received a little more snow this Thursday and ended uo rescheduling work because we had people unable to get out of their driveways….. again. It’s been a crazy few weeks in North Carolina! We are ready for spring weather to be here. Darn that groundhog!
We have also been very busy with the freeze dryer! It is really cool to watch the process. We have even rehydrated one if the meals we made to give it a try. It worked and the eggs tasted delicious.
So far, we have freeze-dried taco soup, hamburger veggie soup, cheese, keto chicken Alfredo, garlic, keto chicken parmesan, eggs and bacon, and Ghost’s Farmer’s Dog food. With the chicken parm, Sean ended up not eating his servings, so we went ahead and freeze dried the leftovers. So far, everything is turning out perfect. I can see how this will keep us from wasting leftovers.
This weekend, we are doing a run of apples, brisket and coffee. We are trying to freeze-dry coffee we made at home with cream. Freeze-dried coffee is very expensive and we figured we could make our own for the trails AND it will taste better, too. I’ll let you know how it turns out once the run is done. It has been taking 24-48 hours to complete the process so far!
We are very excited to see how this coffee turns out. We will definitely try it out so we know how much water to use per teaspoon of powder. We read that you can make your coffee at home they way you would drink it, then freeze it in trays before adding to the freeze dryer. This is why we decided to add the cream before freeze drying. Fingers crossed that it turns out yummy. 🤞🏼
In other news, we have been trying to be better about lifting weights three times a week. We have no excuses since we have a weight machine in the basement–but we always manage to find a reason not to follow through with lifting. I listed to a Huberman Lab podcast about weight training with Dorian Yates. Dorian discusses how lifting to total muscle failure in fewer reps is beneficial. I may have it all wrong, but the episode inspired me to set a goal of lifting 3 times a week.
We don’t have the greatest weight machine, but it was free. We like free. LOL It works for us and has enough stations to make it beneficial for us.
We have also decided to start taking Creatine Monohydrate. Several health podcasts I have listened to lately have discussed the benefits of creatine for those of us heading toward senior citizen mode. I’m curious to know if any of my friends use this supplement. Candace Cameron Bure has also discussed the benefits she has had with using the supplement.
With the brutal temperatures and the wind lately in North Carolina, I have been using my rowing machine in the basement a lot more. I follow by walking on the treadmill with my Osprey backpack filled with weights. We need to get the miles in somehow. We were going to do a 10 mile backpack trip at Bald River Falls near Tellico Plains this weekend, but have a funeral to attend. We hope to be able to camp there in a few weeks. Our friends were unable to make it to Florida and my work got out of hand, too…… so no everglades tis month. I was a little bummed, but we have plenty of adventures planned in the future.
We also have a NoricTrack cycle that I sometimes use. Recently I have been more focused on the upcoming Maine backpacking trip, so prefer the other two machines. What does your indoor training routine look like?
Last, today is the 6th anniversary of Marty’s and my first date. Who would have thought that life would be this good 6 years ago…….this year we stuck to our tradition of buying shoes for the anniversary and Valentine’s Day. The pink Birks have hearts embossed on the sides. 💗 So, so cute. I love our traditions. Last year we got camp shoes. Three years ago, we got new hiking boots.
Check out the gallery of our freeze drying attempts below and have a great week, y’all!
My Little Red Bike 