SNOW DAZE

Super low-fat, low-cal mini pizzas. An experiment during yesterday's snow day.

We had plans for a cross-state day trip Friday. We probably should have canceled Thursday but we thought there was at least a 50/50 chance that the weather media was freaking out prematurely, and the bread shelves were barren needlessly.

Early Friday we decided that since there was ice on the ground and snow coming in, we wouldn't take the chance and rescheduled.

Once all the cancellations and rescheduling were finished, we had ourselves a snow day.

There's something cozy and comforting about a snow day. It feels as though you've been gifted a block of "free" time to spend however you want, within the boundary of your home or your farm.

I'm a new year's cliche -- back on Weight Watchers. After the act of slithering back in there, I quickly learned that WW embraces such creatures as myself and I'm back in the fold. This time, I was most pleasantly surprised to learn they recently rolled out a new program, and there are aspects that so far, are satisfying to my taste buds like no other program I've been on. Of course the test is if I feel that way writing here a year from now.

Around noon, we went to the grocery store with no problem, and came home with ingredients for WW-friendly mini pizzas, shown above. Not half bad. In fact, Brian liked them too! Boom! A new go-to recipe.

Along with cooking, I most enjoy cleaning on snow days. Yes, cleaning! I feel driven to make the house as cozy as I can and that begins with cleaning (at least on a snow day). So the kitchen got a good scrub, cabinets organized, 2017 papers to keep bundled up and put elsewhere, and more cooking: butternut squash sliced into spaghetti-like strips and flavored with spaghetti sauce. Crunchy, bulky, boom!

Next came straightening laundry-room shelves, bathroom storage and I even scrubbed under the kitchen sink.

Tonight, I'm grateful for a warm home, a cozy house and for a fresh start, and a pantry and fridge full of food. How did you spend your snow day or days?