On a New Year

[sparkfrost]

A lot has happened since my last post (checks, shudders) four and a half months ago. But this post is not for a life update! It is for a discussion of what I'd like to work on in 2015. Not a resolution (it's a trap!) but goals and aspirations. So!

1. Write more consistently. I think part of what has made me back away from updating so often is that I now do it for a living. It's hard to spend all day blogging on various topics and come home to do the same. But I miss writing on LJ, and I'm always a little sad that I don't write here more often, so in 2015 I'll be trying to write more consistently.

2. Get back on track, health-wise. Between house-hunting, moving, unpacking, and stress at work, I've gained back about half the weight that I managed to lose two years ago. It's not terrible, I still fit into my jeans, but I want to do better. Like, actually use that gym membership that I pay for, and take my energetic dog on nice long walks. This also means cooking rather than ordering. It's hard to get home after a long day and be motivated to cook, but I enjoy the results, so...

3. Improve my Spanish. I've forgotten a lot of what I once knew, way back when I was almost fluent. I have, and enjoy using, Duolingo, but I've been slacking for a while. So I'd like to practice more often, and improve/expand my vocabulary. This is a slow goal, but it'd be nice to feel a bit better about my comprehension by this time next year.

4. Keep crafting. I have fun when I do it, the trick is to find a project that fascinates me and will prove *useful* to me. Like, the magnetic makeup board was completed in a weekend, but the scarf I'm knitting has been a WIP for over a year. So - find projects that I like and will use, and do them.

I don't want to overwhelm myself, so that's it for goals. We'll see how I do. But hey, I wrote a post for the first time in four months, so that's going well already!

Comments

[snarkasaurus]

An idea for that cooking that I used whilst in college with TLE and work being such a massive time suck: cook on the weekends and use the shit out of a slow cooker. You can do the "mise en place" for meals and get them packaged up so that cooking is quick and easy, e.g., stir fry, skillet meals, and so on; set up casseroles and store them in your freezer or fridge, depending on when in the week you're going to cook them; cook full meals and freeze them for quick reheating during the week. All of that can be done on the weekends when you theoretically have more time. Slow cookers are also beautimous ways to get that cooking done while you're not even home. There's tons of healthy recipes ranging from chili to stews and a ton of other things that are delicious AND will often last for more than one meal.

[sparkfrost]

I do like using the slow cooker, which helps me make meals for a few days. The problem with the massive weekend cooking is that I feel so burnt out from the week that all I want to do on Saturday/Sunday is veg. Eventually I'd like to try it out, but for now it just feels overwhelming.

But! If you have slow cooker recipe sites you like (I LOVE crockpot365) please let me know - always looking for more fun recipes.

[snarkasaurus]

Another option to a Massive Cooking Venture is to do things like cook off a bunch of chicken breasts or something, to reduce the prep time. Doesn't really take a whole extra amount of time in addition to your normal weekend cooking. Then, at least, you've got bits done to take some time off.

As for recipes, let me do some digging for you!