It’s been a perfect storm, this new year.

I set a personal goal to write 1,200 words every day. I am primarily only counting new words written in my fiction works.

An aside, So far, so good. I am working on the start of a new series, a contemporary romance set in the fictional town of Deerlake, Colorado. That one won’t release until September because it’s a Christmas novel and I think that most people are probably D.O.N.E. with Christmas at the moment. This one is scheduled to be done by the end of the month and I am on track to reach that goal, then it will rest for awhile.

Mr. Quinn also upped his game and has multiple triathlons coming up this year. It’s very exciting, but he wants to follow a paleo diet. In case you don’t know, a paleo diet consists mostly of lean meats and vegetables. No bread, no dairy. And no processed foods. So, there goes every quick and easy meal in my repertoire.

Not so fast! I’ve found a few new meals that I can get to the table pretty easily and can even have them going while I work. I thought I would round them up here for all of us:

Spaghetti squash spaghetti – This one is a favorite for all of us! I cover the spaghetti squash strands with spaghetti sauce. Cook a pound or 2 of ground meat (I use turkey) and add sauce of choice. I’ve used canned tomatoes and spices to make my own but sometimes just used a canned sauce with the lowest amount of sugar I can find.

Southern fried sausage and cabbage – tried this for the first time a couple of nights ago. There were no leftovers despite nearly everyone in my house professing hatred for cabbage.

Pot Roast – there’s something about throwing some stuff in a crockpot in the morning and eating dinner later that night without any further thought. This recipe uses onion soup mix, but I just closed my eyes and used it, figuring it was a small enough addition that the diet wasn’t blown. I set this up and then spend the day writing!