Purple Buckwheat

The last few mornings have been so beautiful in our little neck of the woods.

I always wake up before the dawn on weekdays, but I don't always get a pretty sunrise to match. The last few mornings, the sky has had such a pretty rosy glow that it catches my eye and stops me in my tracks as I'm getting ready. Something about a gorgeous sunrise just makes the whole day feel right.

We've also been getting lots of snow flurries, which I adore. I have New England blood running through my veins, and the cold days don't bother me a bit. I crave them! I love how pristine our backyard looks and how crisp and clean everything feels when I drive down roads lined with snow covered trees. Every morning feels like a fresh new start.

Yesterday it started snowing in the late afternoon, so I spent the last few hours of work intermittantly gazing out the window at the snowflakes falling down and powering through my to-do list so I could cozy up with my family at home for the evening. Snow-filled Friday evenings call for red wine, movies and fun dinners in my book.

Matt had picked me up a bottle of Yard Dog over the holidays but I was too sick to drink it then. It was pretty tasty last night, though. Especially alongside a plate of homemade pierogies.

Making homemade pasta is one of my favorite things to do on winter Friday nights (a glass of wine, some good conversation, music and dough-kneading - what more could a girl want? ;-) but I'd never done pierogies. Matt suggested I try making my own, so this was my project for last night. They were amazing. I'll definitely share the recipe soon!

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Breakfast this morning was a bowl of creamy buckwheat. I've been in the mood for hot cereal all week but never have time to make it, so when Matt asked me what I wanted to eat this morning, I knew the answer right away.

Buckwheat has only 140 calories per serving, but is so much creamier than oatmeal. It tastes similar to grits but without the corn flavor. I sometimes add cinnamon, nutmeg and bananas, but this morning I cooked it plain with water and topped it with a drizzle of the blueberry maple syrup we bought in Vermont last weekend.

All stirred up, it made purple buckwheat. Yum!

A clementine served as my fruit and I had a glass of skim milk for some extra protein.

I'm not sure where the day will take us today, but Riker is having one of those days where he's getting into literally everything, so I think we're going to try to find something to do to get us all out of the house for a few hours. Have a great Saturday!