Winter Blahs

I've been missing in action, haven't I? I think a case of the winter blahs has hit me lately. The temps have been struggling to get into the 20s for a while and we've had 18 days of snow.

I've completely given in to the urge to curl up on the couch in the evenings and haven't even been cooking much.

Sometimes these things happen.

To try to combat the urge to hibernate, I signed up for my very first yoga class. I'm taking it at my Y through February. My first class was Sunday, and I'm not sure what I think about it yet. Many of the people in the class are regulars, so I felt a little lost. But other than that it was fun — something new to try at least!

I've been trying to cook more this week, but I've fallen back on tried and true favorites and a few convenience meals. The Uncle Ben's rice above is the perfect example of how laziness in the kitchen sometimes gets the best of me. It's much healthier to make my own rice, but darn it, sometimes convenience trumps all.

The chicken is boneless/skinless thighs I thawed from my freezer. I forgot to label it so I had no idea what I was actually putting out. I could tell it was chicken, but that's it. Dinner was a surprise when I got home last night! I ended up browning the chicken on one side, turning it over, and throwing it into a 350 degree oven until done.

I removed the chicken from the pan, drained off most of the grease and sauteed mushrooms in the pan until browned. Then, moved them off to the side, and made a roux with 1/2 tbsp butter and 1/2 tbsp flour. Once the flour has cooked out a bit, I whisked in about 1/2 cup red wine and let it thicken up and seasoned it. Not outstanding, but not bad for a quick sauce.

How do you combat the winter blahs?