One of the posts I enjoy writing the most is a link up with Emily P. Freeman. I really enjoy writing what I learned this summer. Basically she divides the year into seasons 3 months each and takes the time to look back and reflect upon them. I find this practice gives me enough time to think about all that has changed and also helps me with moving forward to a new point in time. Simple is BetterI fall into the trap that I am pretty sure most of us do where I think something new and shiny must be better. One of the ways this has occurred is with breakfast. I have decided that I want to try out new breakfast recipes, when what ultimately ends up happening is that I do not like them and would have preferred my standard go to breakfasts. This is true with breakfast, but it is also true in many other parts of our lives. My husband is an engineer and he often states that when you add more moving parts you have more opportunities for the machine to fail. I think this is true of life as well. We try to add in all the things, with the American ideal of "having it all" urging us along, when in reality we do not need all the things. By complicating our lives we make them more chaotic and stressful and can lose sight of what really matter. It does not matter how much you can accomplish if you aren't treating those around you well. I am finding in this season of much change that simple is best, less things, less on my plate and making space for what is to come just feels right. It is the simple things in life that allow us the time to stop and see a rainbow. To recognize what is around us in nature and to watch the seasons unfold. Trusting My BodyOne specific effort I made since being pregnant is to listen to my body. Not to eat what I think I should, not to try to psych myself out but to simply listen and respond in kind. I think this summer I have gotten the hang of it. I have eaten when I am hungry stopped before I am overly full and am able to better adjust for what my body needs. I am not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I am finding more and more that my body knows what it needs. It has taken me until a few recent weeks to actually look pregnant and I think that was trusting my body as well. I do not need the visual to know I am pregnant and that I can feel the baby moving around. I am trusting it to do what it needs to do. I think ultimately being able to listen to my body is a skill I will take with me for years to come. My body is not to be doubted and second guessed, but rather to be trusted as a source of information. Now that I feel I can actually do that I can move onto something else and find peace in places it never existed before. Letters are great mailThis summer I was inspired by my dad to write letters with him the old fashioned way. When I was younger I used to write more letters in an effort to save the post office myself. Yes, for some reason I believed me using it would be enough to make their business model viable. Nowadays I do not send letters that frequently, but I have started sending a few and it feels so nice to sit down and get some words on paper and to really be able to sit with your thoughts long enough to write them down. Also then getting a letter in the mail is usually a piece of joy mixed in amongst the bills. Appreciate the seasonIn the past I have been one who has wanted to rush through summer and have it be fall already and this year I am instead relishing summer. I am enjoying summer produce and loving the parts that are uniquely summer, wearing shorts and just enjoying the sunshine. I think we oftentimes want to hurry up and move on, or at least I do and this year I feel like I have been better able to be present and appreciate all that summer has to offer me. What have you learned this summer? If you want to read more click here to see others reflections on the summer.
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One of the things I do regularly is yoga. I have done this for a few years now and have been slowly but surely working my way through the plethora of Youtube yoga channels. My most recent completion was The Journey Junkie. Following her I have to say pushed me out of my comfort zone in a few ways. She pushes to do a number of balance postures that I cannot necessarily do, especially now when pregnant. She also is a bit more into the spiritual side of yoga that I am not sure I follow completely, but overall I was glad to learn from her and as with all things I found things she did that I really enjoyed. Yoga is funAllie, the instructor of The Journey Junkie, constantly talks about the challenging postures in a way that truly invites you to have fun. She wants the journey to be enjoyable and viewing difficulty as a fun opportunity to try something new actually seemed to help me in doing the postures. I really also found that it was contagious and made me want to find more fun elsewhere in my life. Even when she was participating in spiritual practices that I found odd or uncomfortable, I remembered to have fun with it and enjoy the process. Listen to your bodyShe is constantly inviting you to listen to your body and not push yourself too hard when you are not warm or when your body tells you to stop. She talks about how she pushed herself too much early on and now she trusts her body. I feel like the repetition of this message was important for me and is something I continue to take with me. I feel like this is the central message and I have found again and again that my body can be trusted. My body knows how much to eat and how much to move and how much to rest, it is my job to listen and not try to push myself too hard. Look WithinIn addition to trusting your body and looking for cues within, Allie asks us as her audience to dig deep. She wants us to question our understandings of ourselves and to be willing to face ourselves in all of what lies within. She suggests that taking the time to consider our thoughts and our minds as a large part of who we are is a useful and important practice. I am grateful for the number of ways she has asked me to question beliefs and to trust what I already know rather than listen to the sea of doubt. Do you have any yoga suggestions? I have a new channel I am hoping to test out but am always on the lookout for more yoga.
The past couple weeks of our lives have been quite busy. We have been filled with preparations and getting things done. I have cleaned, cooked, shopped, and done what needed doing. The past two days have been a time for rest and honestly I can say I needed them. One of the ways God speaks into my life is by suggesting again and again that rest is necessary. We were not meant to work all the time, we were meant to rest. The idea of sabbath is something I have explored in many ways whether that meant slowing down upon entering a new space, or whether that meant taking a full day of doing nothing. I think we can find the rest in the moments and in the days, but we have to look for it. When I think about life, especially in our world of constantly being busy and going places, those are not typically the moments I relish. I find it easy to believe from the internet that people are constantly doing wonderful things all the time. If that is your jam, continue to do it. For me though, that is not my thing. I like my life to have a wide birth, lots of white space with which to enjoy the everyday. I would say it has taken me years to enjoy the space. Many years I tried to escape the space. I tried to fill it with more, more errands and activities, more noise. I would say for us, our lives are at a fairly quiet stage, more so than usual, but with all of the other changes occurring- getting ready for Tiny Human, I think we need the time and space. We need the room to breathe. I need moments without noise, with no podcasts, with no music, with just silence. Moments that allow me to breathe again and to think. My life is not visibly flashy. Aside from some food that will soon be eaten there is not much to visibly show what is occurring, but I feel a deep peacefulness within. I love these days of not tons to do and more time and space to think and allow myself to just me. One of the things I have really taken to heart since being pregnant is listening to my body. I sleep more and take breaks, and eat when I am hungry. I trust that my body knows what it is doing. My body gains peace in the quiet, peace in the stillness, and joy from simply being here in this moment, not looking forward, not planning, but knowing where I am is exactly where I want to be. I do not want more flashy excursions. I do not want a different life, I enjoy mine. I am finding joy in the quiet of mine and the simple ability to trust that everything is as it should be. In the past I may have thought that a quiet life, means I am not motivated, not learning, not challenging myself or pushing hard enough. I think in reality though to sit in the silence takes strength not often considered. If we are constantly running from ourselves we end up exhausted and not being able to take action on the things that need our attention. Our attention is not needed to be in a million places at once. There are many things I am willing to say no to to ensure that my time is really mine. I would urge you to take the time, even if it is a single minute to just sit in silence and see how it feels. See what a little bit of daily space will allow in your life. It may change you in ways you have yet to realize or in ways you won't see for years to come, but I think it is worth it.
One recipe that has taken me longer to perfect than I initially anticipated was a stir fry. When I was younger, I remember making stir fries often with whatever was around the house. I found though in attempting to recreate one I like I struggled. The first ones I made were too soggy and wet, some of them burnt, and overall I felt lacked flavor. I found finally one recipe I could stand behind. This is what I want in a stir fry, flavor and vegetables that are cooked, but not soggy. I start by making the sauce. I take 1/4 cup of reduced sodium soy sauce, mirin and honey and boil on high. Once boiling I reduce the heat to medium and reduce it until thick, which took me about 8 minutes. Then I gather my ingredients and prep them all. When it comes to a stir fry prep is essential. You are cooking at high heat, so if you have not prepped everything will overcook or burn. For this particular stir fry I diced 1/4 c of onion, chopped a small head of broccoli, and chopped 4 ounces of green beans. I sliced two carrots into half moon shapes, cutting them into rounds and then cutting the rounds in half. I also minced three cloves of garlic. Make sure you cut your vegetables into small pieces, when they are larger they do not stir fry as nicely. From there I heated two tablespoons of toasted sesame oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat until it was warm. If you struggle knowing when this is you can do this one of two ways, you can hold your hand above the pan to see if it feels warm or you can add a few drops of water to the pan and wait for them to sizzle. Next I added in the garlic until sizzling and cooked for about a minute, garlic can burn quickly so watch it closely if your stovetop is hotter you may need less than a minute. Once you see the garlic starting to turn a golden color at the edges you should move on even if it is a shorter amount of time. Next turn the heat up to high and add your vegetables and 3 tablespoons of the sauce. Cook for 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Make sure not to overcrowd your pan or your vegetables will get soggy. Also while the vegetables cook you should be stirring pretty constantly to ensure nothing burns at that high of a heat. Once cooked until soft, remove from the heat garnish with sesame seeds and enjoy. You will have extra sauce that stores nicely in the fridge. Stir FryOne of the things I have learned over the years through my epic cooking failures and cooking wins is that cooking for me is a hobby. I do not define myself by my wins and failures, but I try my best to learn and eat and enjoy a variety of foods knowing that each dish can teach me something even if that something is that I do not enjoy that particular food.
I cook for myself because I enjoy the process and I like eating a variety of food. I also cook for loved ones to show how much I care. I put pieces of myself into the foods I cook, and I have learned over the years that there are many foods that because I know my tastes better than anyone else I can make to my preference whereas I may struggle to find those foods cooked well by someone else. I am not the worlds pickiest eater, but if you can make it better at home than store bought you stop buying things except in extreme circumstances. I cook with all my soul and have been doing so since I was quite young. What hobbies do you throw your whole self and your heart into? Please share below. Lately I have been thinking about how my life and who I am as a person influences the food I make and the recipes I choose.
One of the realities about me is that I am blunt. I am not cruel or unkind, but I am honest to a large extent. I am not afraid to make people feel a little uncomfortable, if I have though through what I am going to say I typically have no regrets. I am not passive aggressive, for the most part how I treat you is how I will also talk about you when you are not there, the exceptions being sometimes I am just ridiculous and overtired, but when I am awake and alert my discussions to your face and behind your back will be the same. I like this because I do not have to pay attention to the lie or try to remember what I think or said. I can just be myself and I enjoy this thoroughly. When it comes to cooking I expect this same level of honesty from my food. I typically find that food that is pretending to be other food is not for me. I do not appreciate zucchini noodles. I love zucchini, but once it pretends it is a noodle I am no longer interested. I think mostly because there is no need to hide it in that fashion and in reality regular noodles are better noodles than zucchini. Many other substitutions and swaps I am not a fan of because I often feel like the original tastes better. I am constantly in search of taste and flavor and when it comes to food if you are trying to be something you are not the taste will suffer and lack. Honesty in all things, in life and in food. Have you noticed any trends that flow from life to food and back again? Even typing that word makes me cringe.
Why does failure feel so bad? Why do we spend time contemplating and evaluating and feeling bad about what we have done wrong? When it comes to failure, I feel like I fail fairly frequently, but if I am honest most of those failures are low stakes. I make new recipes that don't work, I try new restaurants I don't like. I feel like lately I am not taking a ton of big risks at once. I hate to be honest and admit that, but it is true. We took a risk and moved to New Hampshire and if I am being honest, we think it was mistake. I am not attempting to find a full time job or going back to graduate school, both dreams I have, but both are deferred. In part they are deferred because we do not want to live here and in part they are deferred because of circumstances. We have one car, which would make the navigating of that challenging at best. I am pregnant which would make finding a job more difficult, even though we are supposed to live in a society of equal opportunity employment I do not imagine many people love the idea of hiring someone who will have frequent doctors appointments and will leave when the baby comes. Instead I am in a season of sitting and waiting. If I am going to be frank, I find this to be harder than failing. I think there is a satisfaction that comes with knowing you have tried something. I do not feel that level of satisfaction, really I feel like I am not trying anything other than trying to be present with what is and accept life as it arrives. The lack of motion in my life, with the notable exception of pregnancy, makes me feel like more of a failure than any attempts would. I am not someone who loves to wait. I want to do it all tomorrow and if I have an idea I want to be able to follow through on it now, not after having to wait for it to come to pass. I have come to learn that making all the big decisions at once, does have a price, usually on my body and my sanity. One big decision per year was told to me, and although I think that is good, I do still find it not to be enough. I think I often believe if I just work hard enough everything will turn out the way I hope it is, and in certain areas of life this is true. Life as a whole though is not under my control. I can make decisions that have an impact and influence how it goes, but in reality I am not in charge. Many factors I have no ability to determine at all. I wonder though if this is just what life is a constant form of recalibration. We find the balance between making decisions and accepting life as it occurs. We try to see a way through all the obstacles and barriers between where we are now and where we hope to end up. The reality of it all is that there is no balance no perfect medium. We have to walk each day as best as we are able. We have to accept our failures even if they are in my case failures to act instead of failures that result from action. We all try things that do not work out and we move on, we all wait to try things and wish we had done them sooner or were glad we waited. Time will tell us how each decision or lack of decision will turn out. Failure can be a label we use or it can just be a part of life. We do not have to cringe from the word itself, but rather recognize it as a healthy and normal part of the process. I was talking to my mom who reminded me how good summer rolls taste. I really like them, but for me the problem is most contain seafood, in reality that means shrimp. I am not against shrimp, I just do not care for them myself. Instead I chose to create summer rolls with chicken. I love how fresh these came out tasting. I also appreciate that even though I made them for lunch the extras were fine in the fridge until dinner. The other thing I noticed when searching the internet is that many people serve theirs with a peanut sauce, I too made a peanut sauce. I also created a spiced soy sauce that my husband and I devoured with the summer rolls, just a tip from us. Another note, the rice paper I used I bought on Amazon here (affiliate link). It probably could be found at your local Asian market, I just was busy when I last went grocery shopping and had limited time. You can probably guess by now what I am going to say is the first step. Prepare your ingredients. I found for me having all the ingredients prepared and ready made the rolling part fun. One thing I would also note is that although your first summer rolls may not look the best, they stick together quite well. I think this could be something that is done with children and they would have fun rolling up the rolls or deciding what goes in theirs. Kids love having ownership over their food. Even if their summer rolls are not perfect, they will taste great and the kids will be proud they could do it by themselves, provided ingredients are prepared ahead of time. I started by preheating my oven to 350 degrees. Then I took a chicken breast and seasoning it with salt and pepper. I then heated a pan with a drizzle of olive oil over medium high heat. I cooked it 2-3 minutes until seared on both sides, the time this will take varies by stove in my prior apartment this took 3-5 minutes, just watch and be careful the chicken does not burn. Then placed the entire pan in the oven until the chicken registered 165 with a meat thermometer. Then allow to cool and slice. I wanted it to be more simple and that is why I seasoned it such. I found this whole dish to be quite fresh and clean tasting, which is what I wanted. Next chop into thin strips, 1/2 of a cup of napa cabbage, 1/2 of a cup of purple cabbage, 1 peeled carrots into strips, and 1/4 of a cucumber sliced and then cut into strips. You could make this easy by slicing an avocado as well, if you are doing this with kids I would suggest you chop this ahead of time. You can also use 1/2 of a cup each of alfalfa sprouts and bean sprouts. Next you will make your dipping sauce. In a small bowl combine 1/8 of a cup of reduced sodium soy sauce, 1/8 of a cup of rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1/2 of a teaspoon of powdered garlic and 1/2 of a teaspoon of powdered ginger. Stir to combine. Next add 4 tablespoons of peanut butter with at least 4 tablespoons of water and 1/2 of a teaspoon of powdered ginger. If you are using natural peanut butter you may want to add a bit of sugar to taste for sweetness. Stir to mix together, if still too thick add water a tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is achieved. This will look like it has separated but if you continue stirring it will come together in a creamy consistency. Then it should look a bit like below. Next you will take your rice paper and in a shallow bowl with warm tap water, you will wet the paper. The design will disappear when you wet the rice paper. Then you can place it on a flat surface, I used a cutting board. Next you will layer your ingredients in your roll. I found that I liked the look of avocado or colorful vegetables on the outside most so I put that down first and then added a small pinch of all the other ingredients. I found that it was better for me to lay them out lengthwise and not to attempt to overstuff the rolls. Then you tuck the bottom of the roll up, the one side and the other and then roll it like a burrito until the final side is tucked as well. Your roll should be done, repeat until your ingredients are all used up. You can then dip and enjoy. Summer RollsI am working to plan out future content and I figured who better to ask for thoughts than my current readers. What do you prefer I write about? Any topics you want me to cover? Here is what I have mostly written about in the past -food, books and reading, travel, exercise, and my thoughts on life. If you have any specific ideas please share them below. I just went to Japan and could write about that experience, I could also review local restaurants. I am working on more food and recipe posts but because I do not have an infinite budget and testing takes me quite a bit of time until I get it right, I do not share recipes daily, it just does not currently work for me, but I can work on specific recipes or share what I am cooking or working on? I also can share about other food or book related topics or about my life in general, just let me know below in the comments and I will work on it in coming weeks. Any questions you want answers to or want me to look into, please leave them in the comments below!
Traveling is hard enough. How can we make it easier? One of the things I have started to do is to prepare for traveling in advance. Depending on the scale of the trip this can mean different things. No matter the trip I always start with the basics. Cleaning my house thoroughly so when I come home I do not have to do a thing. I clean out the fridge, make the beds, wash and put away all the dishes, and take out the trash. I find the calm of a clean worth the work of doing more before we leave. For local trips or road trips, this means packing up the car and giving travel notices to the bank. We usually bring bags for separating laundry as it accumulates on the trip and for the car to contain the garbage. For larger trips, this means securing tickets, exchanging currency as needed, and ensuring all items we need are with us before we go, these include outlet converters, extra batteries, charging packs, laundry bags, and ensuring passports are still valid. We tend to leave packing to the night before because most of what we bring we use on a regular basis and we find packing all at once means less things are forgotten. When we return, we immediately unpack. I love the feeling of having everything be back where it belongs and have no suitcase to unpack the next day. How do you prepare for travel? What tips do you do before you leave or immediately upon returning?
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About MeI'm Sarah; a wife, traveler, foodie, and adventurer. Archives
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