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5 thoughts

My favorite type of post to write or read from others…a 5 thoughts post filled with thoughts and little bits of life! They can be a bit scattered and brief and I love that.

Podcast version available here.

1. Food I’m loving

Recently I had a stomach ulcer (or that’s at least our best guess). Thanks, 2020. And it totally tanked my appetite. After a few weeks on meds my appetite is thankfully returning and I’m finding a restored pleasure in food now since it doesn’t leave me in pain afterwards. Here are 2 recipes I’ve been making on repeat.

First, we’ve been making Once Upon a Chef’s Chicken Chili and it is great. A few changes I make:

  • Add a couple chopped up zucchinis in with the poblanos and onions.
  • Leave the jalapeños out because we don’t love spice and I’m trying to give my poor stomach a break.
  • Just before serving we mix in 3/4ths a block of cream cheese.

This was readily accepted by everyone the first time we served it, since then we’ve had it 2 more times and the 3 yo hasn’t touched it. So it goes. And speaking of soup, if you live in Houston, Local Foods has an apple + butternut squash soup that it probably the best thing I’ve eaten this winter.

We’ve also been making Once Upon a Chef’s Pumpkin Pancakes a lot. I whip up the batter and then store the leftover batter in the fridge in a mepal, aka the most beautiful food storage container ever hah. The colors they come in are so great. Anyways. We grease a pan with butter, add in the batter and drop in some mini chocolate chips and banana slices. Then top them with a spoon of cookie butter and maple syrup.

2. Books I’m reading

I’d like to read a bit more this year, mainly fiction. Here are the first 5 books I have for the beginning of this year:

I’ve started with The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and so far I’m really enjoying it. I heard it was How Sweet Eats favorite book and that intrigued me.

The Midnight Library appealed to me because I like any book relating to time travel or if you would’ve gone this path, life would’ve look like x. I think you get an interesting take on life when you can jump forward and back.

Dept. of Speculation is about marital strife and piecing things back together/things falling apart. I found it highly rated Good Reads.

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. I’m going to listen to this one on Audible. I’ve appreciated and found the content Emmanuel Acho has put out over the last 6 months to be helpful for me and where I’m at.

100 Cookies. Okay it’s a cookbook and not a book book, but I’ve never been more happy with a cookbook. Of all food, cookies are my favorite thing to make and eat. I actually don’t always love cooking, but I always enjoy the process of mixing, baking and eating cookies.

Have you read and liked any of these?

3. Religious Fasting After Eating Disorder Recovery

I mentioned this on Instagram, so if you reached out there, no need to reach out again, but I’m writing a post on religious fasting. I would love to get experiences from you if you have chosen to fast or chosen to abstain from fasting since recovering from your disordered eating days. I will email you questions in early February to understand your experience. If you’re interested in participating, comment below letting me know or send me an email at: immaEATthat@gmail.com

4. Routines > Projects

I was listening to the podcast A Slob Comes Clean and she mentioned that routines will have a greater impact than projects when it comes to keeping a home’s content under control. Meaning, loading and starting the dishwasher every night and unloading it every morning will have a greater impact than a random closet organization project. She advocates when overwhelmed with a home’s mess, don’t do a project…just get back to focusing on routines.

Disclaimer: I don’t love that podcast (which is why I didn’t put a link). She is pretty self-deprecating when it comes to her body size…makes me cringe for her sake. And I hate the word “slob”…it’s lacking self compassion, which can motivate change in me way more than negative self talk. Regardless, it is a podcast geared towards those who don’t innately like cleaning/decluttering/organizing and for that reason I appreciate it, because that is me :)

5. God is anti-sin, not anti-happiness

At my anti-anxiety med check in, we were teasing through the reasons I don’t love taking medication – mainly, what if there is something for me to learn in the suffering and I side step it? And my doctor said, “can sanctification only happen when you are suffering?” And my mind was blown. I had never thought about that before. So that’s given me something to ponder. I found this article interesting, especially when it said: God is anti-sin, not anti-happiness.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate you being here :)

16 comments

  1. I love these blog posts too!! That photo of you is so pretty. You look lovely. I need to get into reading more. I read so much as a child, and it’s something that would be so good for me. I will try to look into some of these books and a variety of topics. Thanks for sharing all of this!

  2. I’ve been meaning to comment since your “life update”! This has the potential to be the longest comment in the history of man. I think we’re twins!! I was reading that post and just nodding along to everything, I was even late for work since I couldn’t stop reading it!!

    First of all – I have found parenting roles and deciding who does what, and accepting that the majority of parenting and the “mental load” is going to fall to me SO. DIFFICULT. It’s not how I imagined parenting to be, and I fought it for a long time. It’s caused so much conflict between myself and my husband, it’s unbelievable. I actually find much of social media and “mother websites” supremely unhelpful in this regard. They seem to always stress that the mental parenting load should be SHARED equally, but that’s just not realistic for my family. I’ll finally get to a good place where I’m feeling okay with that, then I’ll read some article that whines about it not being fair and I’m back to feeling like some grave injustice has been done to me because I’m organizing her daycare schedule or picking out a bday party gift (or something along those lines). I don’t have a solution other than acceptance and focusing on noticing the amazing things my partner does do an contribute to our family other than parenting stuff….

    I have to say that my only child is almost 5 now, and the last year has been so. much. easier and more fun. “survive until 5”  is so true!! I actually enjoy mothering now, whereas before I really did not. 

    Other similarities – also on an SSRI, also MUST work outside the home to be happy (being a SAHM drive me insane. Which then in turn drives me insane because financially we could do it and it would make life so much easier, but I just mentally can not do it)!!! Ugh.

    Well keep writing and sharing, I love your blog so much!!

    • OMGSH about your second paragraph. YES. That is me!! Thanks for sharing all of this, Andrea. You are right! We have so many similarities!!!

    • I also identify strongly with all you said Andrea! Need these kind of conversations in my life more often. Like you said, so much of social media or even podcasts on motherhood set me up for being frustrated and “feeling like some grave injustice has been done to me.” Working on figuring out what is realistic and what is healthy and what is best for our unique family and it’s not an easy process.

  3. I LOVE Once Upon a Chef! I have made tons of her recipes at this point and everything has come out awesome. :-)
    Now I need to try that Chili!

  4. As a working health care professional and mom of 4 (aged 20 months to 8 years), I love your blog so much. You are so relatable to me! Thank you!

  5. Commenting based on the podcast but I SO RELATE to your Revelation Wellness comment. I received their emails about the sugar fast and “clean hearting” which were so incredibly triggering!! The wording around clean eating and framing food as addiction and eating habits hindering your relationship with God are almost more harmful for Christians because it is like diet culture with spiritual abuse. I feel like that sounds super harsh but also the reality. I loved hearing your expanded thoughts via the podcast and will definitely continue to listen that way. Appreciate your work!

    • Hey Elise! Woohoo! Thanks for the feedback on the podcast!

      And, yes. The RW sugar fast is so problematic! As I look into the content more and more it gets more and more cringeworthy, especially because I assume someone who signs up for RW is more likely to have disordered eating / an ED from the get-go.

  6. I choose not to fast from food (either skipping meals or cutting off specific foods or food groups) ever, including for religious purposes. Occasionally I have joined my pastor in fasting and prayer, but I only ever choose to fast from something non food related.

  7. Love that your blogposts are now on a podcast now. Love driving and being able to listen. 
    If you’re still looking for people’s opinions/thoughts on religious fasting & eating disorder recovery, I’d love to reach out!

  8. I listened to this post on the podcast and loved it! I’ve been following along with you for years and always felt a kindredness but when you mentioned About Time on the podcast, it was confirmed. About Time is my #1 favorite movie of all time. It’s on Netflix (for anyone else reading who has yet to watch it!) but just in case of emergency I own two DVD copies- ha! The soundrack is also nice mellow background music when I need my heart warmed. I wanted to share a book rec based on your enjoyment of time travel type books- Oona Out of Order. I just finished it and I think you’d enjoy it! Midnight Library is on my list too.

  9. You look so happy and radiant lately! I love your content. I have a 14 mo old and am due with my second in June. You give me hope that I’ll be ok, haha. 

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