what jen does

Life, home, and a little travel

Year: 2016

  • Quinoa Beef Stew
    recipes

    Quinoa Beef Stew

    I didn’t really do an excessive amount of things today – but I did get a few things off my to-do list. Reorganizing some of my pictures. Watched a Hallmark movie (or two). Ate leftover pizza … and took a walk through the Hoyt-Hall trails in Marshfield. I rarely find a trail that I am…

  • red velvet banana nut bread
    recipes

    red velvet banana nut bread

    Merry Christmas Eve! Eleanor and I are currently in the middle of a long Hallmark movie marathon that has lasted for over a month. I started counting how many movies the other day and I can decide if I’m embarrassed or proud at the number. In my defense, I was on vacation for two weeks…

  • chicken & spinach soup with fresh pesto
    recipes

    chicken & spinach soup with fresh pesto

    I never thought I would put pesto into a soup – but now I’ve done it … and it’s delicious. Turns out you don’t need a ton of ingredients or sodium for a flavorful soup. It’s pretty clear that I’m back on the soup train hard these days.  One of the amazing things about my…

  • black bean croquettes
    recipes

    black bean croquettes

    I’m not sure what drew me to making this recipe. I rarely make vegetarian meals in part because unless there is pasta, I’m convinced that I’m going to be hungry again in a hot second. I found this recipe when I was on the hunt for low sodium ideas.  There isn’t really a lot to…

  • recipes

    corn chowder with chicken sausage

    Corn chowder is one of my favorite soups – and yet I’ve never made it before this time. Over the summer I traded some tomato jam and fresh garden veggies for my neighbor Tom’s corn chowder… and it was amazing. I tried to file it away on my cooking to-do list, but completely forgot until…

  • my family of trees

    my family of trees

    I was talking to this guy at work the other day about home automation… and how one of the best perks is that I can turn on all the Christmas trees before I get home. To which he responded “… all the trees? how many trees are there?”  So yeah, I have four trees now…

  • my christmas card

    my christmas card

    After sending my first photo Christmas card last year, there was zero hesitation that I would send one this year. I broke the seal on whether it was appropriate for a single woman without children to send pictures of herself via snail mail – and I was not turning back. I actually had to work…

  • winter weekends

    winter weekends

    Recently it has been a real struggle to get any form of exercise. There is no one real failure point … but really like three. New Job. Windy, cold weather. And the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies. All the Hallmark movies. But, given these factors I’m still giving it a concerted effort to get out there…

  • get outside

    get outside

    I started a new job last week – and was asked to provide a short description of myself for a company “get to know you” email. An introduction is such a tricky thing. It’s a fine line in honesty and personality. Here’s what I went with: I’m Jen and super excited to join the team!…

  • brown sugar chocolate icebox cookies
    recipes

    brown sugar chocolate icebox cookies

    I’m going to get straight to the point. These cookies are fast, easy, and delicious. There is also a high probability that you already have all the ingredients in the cabinet. I was sitting on the floor this morning scanning old pictures and really felt the urge to make some cookies. In between batches of…