Category: Random

On Cooking Without Recipes

Lauren2 Comments

Last week, I was listening to the Bon Appétit podcast — the one and only podcast I listen to, lest I should become one of those people who begins every sentence with “I was listening to this podcast and…” — and they got to talking about cooking without a recipe.  Though I know there are plenty of people who have the skills/confidence to cook without directions, every time I come in contact with these people, my head kind of explodes.  I always always always cook with a recipe, whether it’s the first or the 100th time I’ve made a dish.

For some reason, it wasn’t until I listened to this podcast that I realized I’m probably a far better cook than I give myself credit for and I probably have enough experience that I don’t need to abide by the rules of the recipe, down to the exact teaspoon.  So Monday night, I quickly glanced over the recipe we’d picked for Taco Tuesday (something we don’t always celebrate, but we should always celebrate), and decided that was the only time I needed to look at that recipe.  I know how to make guacamole.  I know how to sauté veggies.  I know how to season by taste and hell yeah, I know how to assemble a taco.

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Outcome: TACO SUCCESS!

I’m so over corn tortillas, but that aside, these turned out so good!  I think Joey’s immediate response after the first bite was “UMMM YUM!” and it takes a lot to get that kind of comment from him — not that he’s hard to please, but quite the opposite and thinks everything is good, so it goes without saying — so I was really really excited.  This isn’t to say I’m going to start guessing how to roast large cuts of meat or attempt to bake cakes without knowing the specifics, but I think this dinner was a huge confidence booster and extra encouragement to trust myself in the kitchen more.  I got this 🙂

Thoughts from the Treadmill

Lauren2 Comments

You know when you were all psyched to go home after work and run outside because it was beautiful all day, but then you get home and it’s ominously cloudy and SUPER windy so you drag yourself to the gym instead and are convinced it’s going to be the worst thing ever but then Gaga is all “hello hello baby you called, I can’t hear a thing” and it gives you life?

Well that happened to me last night and after I was done imagining myself as Beyoncé in that music video, I had some deep thoughts.  Like that sometimes, when I’m listening to a song that has a good beat, it makes me miss dancing so much I could cry.  Or how many things I wish I could go back and do with the maturity and self-confidence I have now.

It’s taken 26 years, but I’m slowly realizing it’s okay to do things I’m not perfect at and this most recent yoga stint has been HUGE in helping me come to that conclusion.  I’d been going to all these free Core Power classes, doing the same moves, in the same order and feeling like a pretty little ballerina who’d mastered the moves and could do them with my eyes closed and no one there to even queue the next move.

This new studio?  It’s all new, each class is different and I’m not perfect at it.  And I’m realizing it’s okay to not have perfect balance during my Half Moon or know exactly what move is coming next.  It means being present and listening, instead of letting my body move on auto pilot while my mind is elsewhere.  And it means pushing myself to try moves that are outside my comfort zone and being okay with not knowing if I can actually do them until I try.

A huge issue for me back when I did dance was not wanting to try things I didn’t think I’d be good at.  I had a teacher who constantly berated me to “go back and actually try this time” and while it felt so harsh at the time (and didn’t motivate me so much as it made me shut down), I understand now that she probably saw that perfectionism was holding me back.  I’d like to think that if I could go back and do it all again, I’d be okay with pushing myself, falling, failing, and maybe being better for it.

Can you relate in some way?  If not, thanks for reading anyway.  I probably would’ve checked out after that first run-on sentence 🙂