Sometimes focusing on what's important means doing a bit more cooking

Today I worked on being aware of myself and being "grounded" (in a good way, not a I'm six years old and was just grounded for a week for watching the new movie Ghostbusters because it's heathen and I could be letting evil spirits pollute my mind so I'd better be punished sort of way).  It helped.  Every time I felt myself starting to get a bit crazy I thought, "Okay, take deep breaths.  Connect with the earth.  Release stress.  Now go."  When I focus on being intentional and being aware, I feel more generous toward others.  And when I feel more generous, I cook.

I'm not sure why there is a good feeling = food connection, but it's there.  If I am upset with someone, I really resent having to do anything, especially cook a meal or bring the person a drink.  When I am well-rested (a rare occasion), I have more tolerance.  And of course etiquette sometimes dictates that I need to feed people (family) even if I am less than thrilled to do so...and so on those times I try to keep the meal as simple as possible.  I don't think that those around me (save Honey, who notices everything) have realized this pattern.  That's okay.  It can be a surprise.

This past weekend I worked a few things out with My Baby and The Teenager, and so I felt better about dealing with them and their adolescent antics.  Between that and my grounding exercises, I was feeling -- am feeling -- generous.  And so it's into the kitchen!  Here's what I made for today -- and all the recipes turned out well, so I definitely encourage you to try them, too!

Overnight Blueberry "French Toast" -- I would really call this more a bread pudding, but regardless it was easy and yummy.

Breakfast muffins -- These were the easiest things in the world and I loved that they were so portable (not that I needed that this morning, but the cool factor was definitely there).  "Muffins" made out of cheese, eggs, sausage (I used turkey sausage), and broccoli.  The Teenager ate several and he never eats breakfast, so I'll call this a win.

Sweet & Sour "Pork" -- The Teenager loves this.  I make it with chicken and instead of using celery and carrots I use bell pepper, but other than that the recipe is the same.  Honey has cooked the chicken out in the deep fryer for me before, but since Honey is out of town this week I took care of this part myself.  And I started teaching The Teenager to cook rice (he's gotta start somewhere, right?).  It was a bit of a "miss" today in the rice department, but he'll learn eventually (and perhaps it wasn't his fault -- our rice cooker is ten years old and on its last legs, so sometimes it doesn't do what it should).


I'm not sure what I'll make tomorrow.  Honey gets back late in the evening, not in time to eat.  I'll have a long day at work tomorrow.  The Teenager still has a huge tub of leftovers from tonight, so it's not entirely necessary for me to make something...but we'll see.  I'm been using my Pinterest board to keep track of things like recipes and so now I have more ideas than I have time.  I might make "Pop-up Pizza Pie" because it sounds interesting, but after today's heavy food we might choose to go for toast and fruit...