I am a creature of habit, as boring as that may sound. I'm not great at being spontaneous most of the time. I have a very set routine before I go to bed - everything must be done in order. I have a system for getting stuff done at work. I'm happy with eating the same breakfast almost every day (English muffin with peanut butter and banana). I plan my meals and my outfits on Sundays for the week ahead. Some people thrive on chaos and excitement, but I need order and structure and routine to feel safe, comfortable and happy.
Lately, I've been wanting to shake things up. Not in a "ditch everyone, quit my job, shave my head, and spend a year stumbling around the Middle East" kind of way.
But I've been craving a little change of scene. I think it's the end (hopefully? soonish? PLEASE??) of winter and the beginning of spring that makes these feelings kick in. A new season, new beginnings...it just makes me think about changes.
It starts with jotting down ideas to reorganize a hall closet, and then all of a sudden I'm drafting a plot for a novel or a business plan outline, or trying on drastically different hair colours and styles in one of those online simulator things, or printing out a training plan to run a full marathon, and everything I've been doing feels boring and wrong, and all I can think about is making waves, getting crazy, doing something new and different.
It happens every year. I stifle it and ignore it, and eventually it goes away. The sun comes back, the snow melts, patios and beaches beckon, I get busy and stop plotting for a while. I change my mind. I don't have the time/money/perseverance/drive to do __________.
What I need to do is figure out a way not to smother my little spark. Fan it a bit, add a little fuel, see what happens. Learn how to finally stop making plans in my head and start getting them down on paper, nurturing them and letting them grow. I need to learn how to get comfortable with the idea of change. Doing something is always better than doing nothing, right?
Lately, I've been wanting to shake things up. Not in a "ditch everyone, quit my job, shave my head, and spend a year stumbling around the Middle East" kind of way.
But I've been craving a little change of scene. I think it's the end (hopefully? soonish? PLEASE??) of winter and the beginning of spring that makes these feelings kick in. A new season, new beginnings...it just makes me think about changes.
It starts with jotting down ideas to reorganize a hall closet, and then all of a sudden I'm drafting a plot for a novel or a business plan outline, or trying on drastically different hair colours and styles in one of those online simulator things, or printing out a training plan to run a full marathon, and everything I've been doing feels boring and wrong, and all I can think about is making waves, getting crazy, doing something new and different.
It happens every year. I stifle it and ignore it, and eventually it goes away. The sun comes back, the snow melts, patios and beaches beckon, I get busy and stop plotting for a while. I change my mind. I don't have the time/money/perseverance/drive to do __________.
What I need to do is figure out a way not to smother my little spark. Fan it a bit, add a little fuel, see what happens. Learn how to finally stop making plans in my head and start getting them down on paper, nurturing them and letting them grow. I need to learn how to get comfortable with the idea of change. Doing something is always better than doing nothing, right?
Somewhere along the line, I discovered I love cooking. The girl who once went through an entire apartment lease without turning the oven on once now enjoys preparing food for fun.
I like finding recipes that sound good, usually accompanied by some mouth-watering photography, and pinning them for later. I like turning on some tunes, getting all my ingredients together, mixing everything up, and sampling the finished product with my boys. Eli is a good cooking buddy and loves to run around the kitchen with me, playing with cookie cutters, wrestling the dog, and dancing. Some of my happiest moments are hanging out with him in the kitchen, just watching him bop around while I make some food: simple, happy stuff.
I like finding recipes that sound good, usually accompanied by some mouth-watering photography, and pinning them for later. I like turning on some tunes, getting all my ingredients together, mixing everything up, and sampling the finished product with my boys. Eli is a good cooking buddy and loves to run around the kitchen with me, playing with cookie cutters, wrestling the dog, and dancing. Some of my happiest moments are hanging out with him in the kitchen, just watching him bop around while I make some food: simple, happy stuff.
Weekdays we're pretty crunched for time, so not a lot of cooking happens. Breakfast is always cobbled together quickly, and I pack my lunch for work the night before. Dinner is usually something pretty simple: stir fry, soup and grilled cheese, veggie burgers and oven fries, some kind of one-skillet situation involving pasta or rice, vegetables and chicken or tofu. Lately we've started having breakfast for dinner on occasion since Eli is such a big fan of pancakes and waffles and not much else.
But on the weekend, I like to spend a good chunk of time in the kitchen. A good Sunday afternoon for me involves baking some kind of sweet treat and a big pot or pan of something warm and filling for dinner and leftovers. I don't experiment too much. I mostly just follow the recipe pretty closely and will omit things here and there, like too many onions or funky spices.
Peter tells me to relax and sit down and that I don't have to spend my Sundays "working" but honestly, it's not at all like work for me. Cleaning up afterward: that's work. Cooking is fun, it's relaxing, it's time to just concentrate on nothing except making something awesome to eat and share. And maybe sneak some bites of batter/cheese/sauce. Cooking calories don't count, didn't you know?
Here are some of the things I've made lately:
-Spaghetti Squash Au Gratin - not a bad little side dish, kind of breakfasty.
-Skinny Peanut Butter Brownies - definitely making these again. They do not taste "skinny" in any sense.
-Soft Pretzels -these get five stars. DEEELISH
-Crepes - love these and I only ruined one mid-flip. I made them with Nutella and bananas. Remember the batter needs to sit for at least an hour to let the air bubbles settle out. A good idea is to make and refrigerate the batter the night before.
-Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken - this was good, and easy, but it didn't taste like I expected. Kind of more like "generic soy sauce chicken" with some nuts sprinkled on.
And some things that will hopefully be on the menu in the coming weeks:
-Rosemary Chicken Lasagna
-Light Cajun Chicken Pasta
-Southwest Sweet Potato Hash
-Crispy Avocado, Bacon, and Tomato Salad
-No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars - no weird ingredients!
-Really curious about these pancakes - only a ripe banana and two eggs? Seems too good to be true.
Happy Friday!
-Crepes - love these and I only ruined one mid-flip. I made them with Nutella and bananas. Remember the batter needs to sit for at least an hour to let the air bubbles settle out. A good idea is to make and refrigerate the batter the night before.
-Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken - this was good, and easy, but it didn't taste like I expected. Kind of more like "generic soy sauce chicken" with some nuts sprinkled on.
And some things that will hopefully be on the menu in the coming weeks:
-Rosemary Chicken Lasagna
-Light Cajun Chicken Pasta
-Southwest Sweet Potato Hash
-Crispy Avocado, Bacon, and Tomato Salad
-No-Bake Chewy Granola Bars - no weird ingredients!
-Really curious about these pancakes - only a ripe banana and two eggs? Seems too good to be true.
Happy Friday!