Cook when you Don’t feel like writing

Food for the soul

I am an Author of two published books. Unfortunately, I’ve barely written more than a blog or two in the past year. My creative juices are flowing. However, I have just not been able to write much at a time.

The struggle has been hard. Feeling the writing urge comes often. Then it dies the moment I sit down to write at my computer. Instant exhaustion. It’s weird and probably a side effect of being mentally overwhelmed.

Thus I’ve been spending far too much time in front of a tv.

The upside to this is my cooking and baking. haha!

3 of my favorite summer movies are mainly about food. Julie & Julia, The Chef, One Hundred Foot Journey.

I used to watch all the cooking tv and foodie shows. Example: Hell’s Kitchen, Diners, drive in’s and Dives, Baking championship, Chopped, Unwrapped, seasonal baking shows, basically anything on Food Network.

For those of you like me, watching cooking shows was fun, but I watched because I didn’t know how to cook or bake. Through many failed, burnt, and nasty meals, I have toned my skills over the past 6 years.

I’m not great by any means, however, I can now cook with more confidence and I actually enjoy it now.

Lesson: Never give up! Burn the cake, toss out the gross food, fail and get back up to try again. If I can learn to cook, so can you!

PS That goes for plant/green thumb too. I’ve killed many plants, and am now getting the hang of them. woohoo~ So proud of my lil happy plants. 😍🎉💃

Bitter-sweet Blessings of Life

Over the past year especially I’ve felt aimless, lost. Watching a loved one die is a terrible thing in many ways.

In a few ways it’s a blessing.

I’m grateful to God and the many Dr.s and Nurses that helped my Dad live longer. The extra time gave me an opportunity to spend more time with Dad.

My Dad was a type 2 diabetic on a strict diet. I did my best to cook for Dad once in awhile. Thankfully Dad loved his veggies. So, fresh veggies and meat were a common meal.

Writing has taken a break. Cooking and Baking has taken the lead.

In my book “Lily’s Guide to Releasing Antique Spirits” Lily mentions her favorite dessert. Fresh baked brownies.

Let’s begin there. Or not. (haha this is embarrassing)

I haven’t taken any pictures of my Brownie baking. So instead, I will just food dump pictures of what I’ve been making this year.

Huge Shoutout to Sally’s baking addiction blog. She has given me recipe’s that make baking and cooking a wonderful experience. Thank you Sally!! Check her blog out here below. AMAZING~

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/

Now let’s roll camera on the many treats.

(Left)Pulled Pork tacos with a

olive oil mayo avocado sauce on top.

(Right) Chicken tacos, bacon and spinach with olive oil mayo avocado sauce on top.

A breakfast veggie and chicken taco with eggs

More chicken tacos, yes a new favorite of mine!

I made homemade sweet potatoes cheese-it’s.

Homemade Concha’s

These took a few hours to make, quite fun and dipped in hot cocoa. Delicious~

I didn’t know there are concha cookie cutters for the cool pattern on top. So I did them by hand.

Have you tried Starbucks egg bites? Well, thanks to Pinterest I learned to make similar breakfast egg bites.

P.S. Pan fry them or toss them in a oven. Microwave will turn them to rubber.

These egg bites are great for long weeks that you don’t want to cook breakfast for. Toss them in a pan for 2 minutes and eat. Healthy and filling.

Sourdough french toast. However, I did not make the sourdough bread. I have not tried that quite yet.

There’s an amazing home baker in my town that makes fresh sourdough everything so I buy bread from her once in a while.

Her sourdough cookies and scones are incredible. Must try.

Fresh homemade hot dog buns. Delicious, less than 5 ingredients.

Took about 2 hours to make and bake. Not bad for a last minute baking adventure.

Back story, this happened because I wanted hot dogs for dinner but didn’t want to leave my apartment. haha yes indeed, this Author is getting crafty in the kitchen.

Introverts Unite!