Living with Intention

I tried to tune into my intuition for quite some time. Then it stopped working for me so well. I needed something else, but not a program or a policy. Rather, I needed a habit, or a series of habits: something to help me stay grounded and focus on what matters, but nothing too restrictive. What I stumbled into was living with intention.

My life is very harried and busy right now. It's hard to even get to the basics sometimes. In a perfect world, I could tune in to what I wanted for dinner each night, run to the grocery store, pick up ingredients, and come home and leisurely cook. But I'm married. I work ten hours days. I commute. That just isn't going to happen. So I meal prep. That ensures that we have food, like it intuitively or not.

Deciding what I want to do for exercise each day is a lovely idea, but races require training. That's why I use training plans. Sure, I can take rest days, or go slower or faster on days I feel like it, but the plans keep me on track overall.

I'd love to say I want to read my Bible and pray every day, but the truth is, I'm a sinner and I don't always want to. I do daily devotions as a habit because I know it's good for me.

Some people in the intuitive living sphere criticize calorie and macro counting because it's based on the system, not the self. I get it. With running, though, it can help to track these things, at least loosely. Endurance requires intentional effort towards nutrition.

I have a FitBit watch. It does buzz when I haven't gotten in my 250 steps for the hour. Do I always obey it? No. It does help me stay more active, and therefore have less bodily pain.

I could ask all day long what I need and want, but right now, I don't have the brain space for that. So I have intentions: intentions for meals, intentions for exercise, intuitions for habits. I even have lists of intentions for how I plan to show love to my husband. Intentions are my plans for making the best of this life I have. Maybe this is not best way, but for now, it's the best way I have.

Keeping Up with Meal Prep

Meal prep can get boring, like really boring, especially if you don't like eating the same stuff over and over again. This steers many people away from the practice. I like my habits and routines (having the meals prepped), but I am still one of those people that likes new things. To that end, I have tried to incorporate novelty into meal prep. Here are a few ways I do this:

1. I utilize the freezer. When I make a big batch of beans, or soup, or some other meal that keeps for my work lunches, I often freeze half. The next week, I make another meal and freeze half of that one. The third week, I thaw and eat the first prep, and the fourth week, I thaw and eat the second one again. This at least alternates my meals, rather than leaving me with weeks of the same old, same old.

2. I have a meal prep template and fit things in. I eat overnight oatmeal most mornings for breakfast, but I change up the toppings to keep life interesting. I make granola for my husband's breakfasts (and my snacks) every week, but have taken to making a different recipe every week. It takes a little extra planning, but it's worth it for variety. We almost always do Taco Tuesday, but regular tacos are boring to me. Enter The Taco Tuesday Cookbook, and we got a different taco recipe for every week of the year! 

3. I keep a variety of sauces on hand. We keep several mustards, ranch, salsa, sriracha, and other condiments handy. A little dressing can go a long way in changing up a meal prep to make it more interesting.

4. I make some single-serving recipes. I've been into mug cakes this year. Again, it's a little extra work, but provides variety to my otherwise mostly the same snacks. Having a new dessert to dig into at the end of the night makes me feel more satisfied, especially if I was not excited about food the rest of the day.

5. I cook from scratch on the weekends. We try to take a break from meal prep on the weekend and eat as many meals as we can fresh. Fresh versus reheated food can taste quite different, so this increases our appreciation for both versions of a food. Cooking fresh on the weekend can also yield leftovers that transfer into meal prep. (I have taken to making our tacos this way. We eat them fresh on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and then reheated on Taco Tuesday.)

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I don't think meal prep has to work for everybody, but I think it can work for anybody who wants to do it. I hope that sharing these tips about how we keep things interesting are helpful to anyway who wants to try meal prep.

Defining Simple Cooking

My dear momma commented that I should define simple cooking. Yes, it's a resource in our tool box, but what does it mean? Good question. Simple cooking can mean several things.

1) Simple cooking can mean one pot, or one dish. This really isn't our style, though it would simplify things. I might look into one pot dinners more when I actually cook on the day we eat it. (Right now, I meal prep most of our food in a single day.) For now, if you like the idea of simplifying dinner dishes, I recommend Budget Byte's list of 50 plus one pot meals.

2) Simple cooking can mean minimal meal prep. This usually involves use of pre-prepared items and/or cans. This is really not our style either, as we do like to cook from scratch. I have found myself buying a few more pre-cut items, though, like the bags of frozen peppers and onions, or frozen chopped butternut squash. 

3) Simple cooking can mean minimal meal cook time. Again, in this season of life, I don't really know what that looks like. I just meal prep everything and then we reheat it when the time comes.

4) Simple cooking can mean easy cooking techniques. This IS our style. Enter sheet pan meals, use of the Instant Pot, and casseroles. When I am making multiple things at one, the recipes need to be simple, i.e. only a few steps, so that I can multi-task. Sometimes we go no-prep, think raw veggies, like carrots and celery, eaten whole. Other things really require no recipe, like boiled beans, chicken poached in water and a few spiced, scrambled eggs, and baked (or microwaved, or Instant Pot-ted) potatoes. Yes, there are lots of fancy ways to cook. Right now, I practice few of them. I save special techniques practice for Sally's Baking Challenge, and that's about it.

5) Simple cooking can mean limited ingredients. This IS also our style. Shop the shelf. Raid the pantry. Throw it in a pot and go. I try to always have a few items in the cupboards for this purpose. Are throw-together meals our every day? No, but when leftovers run short, or we unexpectedly stay home for a meal, or we have spur of the moment company, I need something to make, and it's got to be quick!

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As I said in my previous post, we don't cook simply all of the time. We like challenge recipes, when we want to feel challenged. We are just as guilty as the next person of buying things for only one recipe (hello hoisin sauce in the fridge and furikake seasoning in the pantry). We try to keep things simple overall, because hello, in this life, we need to eat, and we want some time for other things. Simple cooking fits the bill, that is simple cooking according to other definitions.

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Readers, do you cook simply, or with more flair? What does simple cooking mean to you? What are some of your best go-to simple meals? Please share in the comments!

Simple Cooking

We mostly cook from scratch at our house. We usually eat meals twice (and pretty much all of our food is "leftover," because I prep it in advance). We like more complex cooking, but when time is tight and stress is high, we fall back on basics and just go simple. Simple cooking is definitely a skill in our tool box. Here are some reasons why it works for us:

1) Simple cooking saves money. We keep can shop for sales on the things we eat regularly and stock up, knowing we will use them.

2) Simple cooking reduces waste. The less we have in the house, the more we use up what we have. Fewer things get pushed to the back of the cupboard, fridge or freezer (though they still do!). 

3) Simple cooking reduces decision fatigue. We pick a staple and go. We don't have to go searching for ways to use up random ingredients we bought for special recipes.

4) Simple cooking gives me more time to focus on a few "fun" items, like baking challenges, food holidays, making gifts for others, etc.

5) Simple cooking makes the special more special. Our taste buds recognize when things are more complex. We enjoy splurge purchases. Going out to eat is a treat.

Every meal could be gourmet (depending on resources), but it's not at our house. We often choose simple cooking. It's best for our and our priorities, right now, and overall. Maybe it's a skill to add to your toolbox, too. Consider our reasons and see if it is worth a try.

What Do I Want More?

There are a lot of things in life that I want. Those things take resources: time, money, relationship investment, etc. Conversely, there are a lot of things that I don't want to do, but that lead to something I do want. In both scenarios, I have to ask, "What do I want more?"

When it comes to limited resources, I have to prioritize. There is enough time...for everything that is priority. I can do anything, but not everything. So sometimes I have to choose if I want to go for that run, or sleep. Sometimes I have to choose if I want to make a fancy dinner, or just eat simply so I can do something else. I have to decide if I want down time, or people time. With the time I have, what do I want most?

Money does not grow on trees, I mean the paper does, but the money doesn't. I can't just reach out and pick it. This is why we budget. We try to direct our money, first toward what we need (housing, food, utilities, etc.), and then toward what we want. We even have budget categories for our own wants, one for each of us individually, a vacation fun, and a date night fund. When times are scarce, those categories get less (or no) money, but when we can, we contribute. Even then, we have to decided what we want to do more with the money, because it is not endless.

There are lots of lovely people in the world, but not time to be close to them all. I also have a spouse. When it comes down to limited time and energy, what do I want more? A close marriage? Close friends? A lot of friends? Sometimes with people, the answer is not clear cut. Still, I have to ask, "What do I want more?"

Some things in life take work, too. I don't often want to clean the house, but I want the house to be tidy. I don't want to cook a ton of food on Friday for meal prep, but I want to eat during the week. I don't want to get up early to fuel before I run, but I'll feel better if I do. For that matter, I don't always want to work hard in training for my races, but I benefit if I do. In those hard moments, I have to ask myself what I really want more.

Asking, "What do I want more?" pertains to faith, too. Following God is rarely easy. Do I want my will, or his will? In my marriage, do I want my way, or God's way? When it comes to my work, do I want to do what I think, or what the Spirit tells me? Do I want disobedience or obedience more? Maybe a better question is, "What does God want more?"

I can't have it all. What do I want more? What more is right in this season might not be right in the next. I need wisdom. I need God's wisdom. Ultimately, I want His more for my life, and that requires continually asking for and seeking it.

What We Meal Prep (aka The Master List)

I previously posted an example of a meal prep week for us. I also posted why we meal prep. I have not yet posted a list exploring more of how we carry out meal prep, however. This is that post.

As explained in my "Why We Meal Prep" post, my husband and I work away from home for long hours during the week. This means that we pretty much prep all of our weekdays meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and some snacks. That leaves the weekends free to cook, eat leftovers, or go out. So without further ado, here is our list of things we prep every week, as well as ideas of what we make for meals that are not "standard" (aka the main meal, or dinner).

Breakfast:

Granola

Instant pot hard-boiled eggs

Overnight oatmeal

My lunches:

Instant Pot shredded chicken

Salads or steamed vegetables

(We make sandwiches for my husband.)

Main meal:

Tacos for Tuesday

Other meals that reheat well: pasta salad, soup, stew, stir-fry with sauce (which helps rice soften when microwaved)

Snacks:

Baked oatmeal

Bananas (Peeled and frozen)

Carrot sticks (Unless we have purchased baby carrots as a splurge-whole carrots are cheaper)

Iced Tea

Other things we prep:

Cookie dough (formed into balls and frozen)

Hot chocolate mix (cinnamon, cocoa powder, ground flax seed, and powdered milk for my version-I make this by the cup)

Sauces

Spice blends (cheaper to make than to buy, for the most part)

Vitamins (Yes, I am an old lady and have a pill organizer with spots for each day, morning and evening)

Staple items we buy each week that require no prep:

Apples

Dried fruit

Granola bars

Peanuts

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Our weekday meals are not glamorous or fancy, but they are nourishing, mostly whole food, and fit within our values and budget. We still like and enjoy fun food, and more elaborate cooking when we can, but for now, meal prep gets us by for the bulk of life.

Why We Meal Prep

I have written about meal prep a few times, but never really about why we meal prep. This is that post. In short, we meal prep because it fits with our lifestyle and values. For a more thorough explanation, read on.

Lifestyle

We meal prep because it fits with our lifestyle. I like to run, but that requires fuel. Admittedly, I am not the best at choosing good foods to eat post run. Meal prep ensures that I have a breakfast with carbs and protein ready to go, ensuring that I eat, and that I give my body the nutrients it needs to recover.

Currently, I work four, ten hour days which, with commuting, means I am gone eleven or more hours a day. Meal prep ensures that we have food not only during the day, but also when we get home and want to eat dinner. This is especially because one of us (ahem, me), gets hangry!

My husband and I attend small group at church one evening a week. We could grab dinner on the way, but that would make us even later than we already are. It could also get expensive. Enter meal prep! We already have food ready to go!

With work and all of our other activities, weekday time is scarce. Eliminating cooking from the lineup frees up time. With that time, we take care of our priorities, and hopefully have a few minutes to catch up/spend time together/rest. These things are worth more than freshly prepared meals.

Values

We meal prep because it fits our values. We are live on a pretty tight budget so that we can pursue goals that we have as a couple. Meal prep helps us manage our budget in several ways. Meal prep helps us plan ahead for grocery shopping, rather than splurging on what we want when we go to the grocery store hungry in the moment. Meal prep means we have food ready to eat in our house, meaning we can eat out because we want to, not because we are desperate to fill our hungry bellies. Planning to eat out means we can also appropriately budget for it.

Meal prep helps us live a minimalist lifestyle. This probably matters more to me than to my husband. I get overwhelmed easily, and meal prep reduces choices I have to make on a daily basis. Breakfast? Pre-made and in the fridge for work days. Lunch? Already ready to go. Dinner? Plans for that, too! Do we meal prep every day? No, but on work days, it really helps reduce decision fatigue.

Planning and prepping can also reduce food waste. I personally try to prep meals around what we already have in our house, or what I am going to buy for the week ahead. I can then prep all of each ingredient and distribute as needed. I can put half the veggies in one dish, and half in the other. If there are leftovers, I can throw them in a salad. I can take the leftovers from the can of fruit and throw them into my overnight oatmeal for breakfasts. Since I prep on Fridays for the week ahead, I can repurpose cooking remnants into a leftovers lunch or dinner meal over the weekend. And then I can start the week fresh with new meals. Though I value meal prep, I also value variety, which makes me look forward to each new week of meals.

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People meal prep for many reasons. These are ours. If you meal prep, what is your motivation? Please feel free to share in the comments section.

Low-Heat Meal Prep

It's hot! We hit 118 several days last week, and the heat has not let up much this week. People in our geographical area have experienced power outages, and the city sent out an e-mail asking users to conserve energy between 3 and 8 pm by using less appliances that take a lot of power (as dishwashers, ovens, etc.). Meal prep is part of our current way of life, but given the heat and the city's request, I needed to do things a little differently. That led to this low-heat meal prep.

What is low heat? Well, since we keep our house at 80 degrees already, that meant meals that created as little heat as necessary to make. The oven was definitely off limits, and I wanted to use the stove as little as possible. Additionally, I wanted meals that could be eaten cold, or reheated with little extra energy output. 

Here is what I came up with:

Breakfast:

Carrot cake overnight oats (No cook/raw)

Stove-top granola (Not pictured)

Lunches:

Mexican chicken and vegetable bowls (Chicken cooked in the Instant Pot; eaten cold)

Sandwiches (Not pictured)

Dinners:

Ricotta/asparagus pasta salad with ham (Stovetop; eaten cold)

Spicy black bean and caramelized onion tacos (Stovetop; eaten cold)

Snacks:

Apples (Not pictured)

Bananas (Preferably frozen; not pictured)

Baked oatmeal (based on this recipe by Budget Bytes; eaten cold)

*I cooked this in the microwave for 14 minutes verses 45 minutes in the oven based on GE's microwave recipe conversion ratio.

Carrot sticks (Not pictured)

Cheese sticks (Not pictured)

Peanuts (Not pictured)

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Could I have reduced or eliminated stove-top cooking for this prep? Sure! I could have made raw meals, or solely used the Instant Pot, but this worked. I made the no-cook recipes at night, and spent a few mornings with the stove and voila, done!

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Readers, what are your favorite low-heat/no cook recipes? What do you eat to help survive the summer heat? Please share in the comments section.

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*For more inspiration, see Work Week Lunch's "Cold Lunch Ideas" blog post or no-reheat meal preps.

On Our Plates

Lots of seriousness lately on the blog, so to lighten it up, here's a post about some of our recent eats. Why do I post these? Quite simply, I get inspired by the "What I Eat" posts of others, and my hope is to share some good recipes to 1) commend their sources, and 2) possibly infuse new ideas into the lives of the dinners of my reader. So without further ado, enjoy, and eat up!

*Caveat: These are the good recipes. We don't eat well all the time. We have plenty of flops and fails and "I wouldn't do this again meals."

Breakfast:

Healthier biscuits and gravy (101 Cooking For Two)

Scallion potato pancakes (Fit Foodie Finds)

Apple cinnamon baked oatmeal (Running on Real Food)

*This was technically part of my nighttime snack bowl, but it's breakfast food nonetheless.

Lunch:

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)

Dinner:

Easy Caprese Brie pasta (Delish Knowledge)

Instant Pot chicken fajita rice (365 Days of Crockpot)

Spicy tuna sushi bowl (Neighbor Food Blog)

Desserts:

The best chocolate chip cookies recipe (Pinch of Yum)

On repeat with all different kinds of baking chips....

And that's a wrap!

Any favorite new recipes of yours, friends? Please share in the comments section!

Chipotle Hummus Pasta with Spinach and Mushrooms

Lots of people eat black-eyed peas at New Year's for good luck. That's isn't me, but since we had black eyed peas and all of the other ingredients on hand, I decided to make this spicy chipotle hummus this first week of January. I ate the hummus with veggies and chips (and some cheese!) a few days for lunch.

But then I wanted something different. So I invented this chipotle hummus pasta with spinach and mushrooms based on a recipe I'd see from Budget Bytes.

Creamy, yet spicy sauce, wilted spinach, and umami flavor from the mushrooms? Yes, please! This is really a "use up leftovers" meal, too, so any other type of wilting greens (chard, cabbage, etc.) and vegetables could be used. I personally think a cabbage and mixed vegetable version could be good with the chipotle hummus flavor. (Other flavors of hummus could also be used). Ingredients here could be increased as needed, but the proportions seem to work well.

Ingredients:

1/2 c pasta of choice (I used elbow macaroni)
2 c mushrooms, sliced
3 c baby spinach
1/2 c hummus of choice (I used chipotle black-eyed pea hummus.)
Reserved pasta water

Directions:

1. Bring 2 c. water to a boil in a large sauce pan.
2. Once water boils, add pasta and cook as directed, adding mushrooms for the last five minutes.
3. Once the pasta and mushrooms have cooked, drain the pasta, reserving the pasta water.
4. Return the pasta and mushrooms to the pot. Add the spinach and a little pasta water and stir over medium heat until the spinach wilts.
5. Once the spinach has wilted, stir in the hummus and additional pasta water until a nice cream sauce forms.

Dish up and enjoy piping hot!