I’ll be having surgery to repair a disc in my lower back this week. It’s been hurting since late August so I’m excited that I’ll hopefully have some relief!
I’ll be out of commission for a bit, and frankly, I haven’t been in the kitchen much lately anyway as this back issue has been very limiting.
Since it’s been difficult to be in the kitchen lately, I thought i’d do a different kind of post highlighting things I’m loving right now. Things that are making pandemic life easier, or just bringing me joy right now. Hopefully they bring you joy as well! In no particular order, here are my February Faves!
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Souper Cubes are everywhere right now! They were recently on Shark Tank, they’re featured at Williams & Sonoma and Sur La Table, and you may have seen them on my IG stories this month!
They’re giant silicone ice cube trays (with lids!) that allow you to freeze soups and broths into portioned cubes. I’ve used mine for vegetable and chicken broth so far and am excited to try a soup in them soon.
The lid makes them stackable which is great for limited freezer space, and then once frozen, i just transfer them into a stasher or ziplock bag.
When a recipe calls for 1 cup broth, I’m ready with my frozen cube and don’t have to open up a can or carton. Plus the flavor of homemade vegetable or chicken broth is far superior to what comes in a can! Available here from Amazon, prices vary.
Pre-pandemic, I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad commute! At least an hour each way, stop-and-go, but mostly stopped. I grew to love many podcasts, but my favorite was The Lazy Genius. She drops a new episode every Monday and it was the highlight to my Mondays!
Pandemic life drastically reduced my drive time but I still make sure to find the time to listen to Kendra weekly! She recently wrote a book and it’s super good! Find her podcast wherever you get your favorite podcasts, she’s active on Instagram, and find her book here!
. COVID-19 Vaccines!
My parents are in their late 60s and recently got their first dose of the Covid vaccine! I have friends and family in the medical field and they’re fully vaccinated. Most made it through with flying colors. Some had a day where they felt hungover and pregnant at the same after dose #2, but so much better than the alternative of getting Covid.
How lucky we are to have such an effective vaccine, with such limited side effects, becoming available with hopes of a post-pandemic life on the horizon. While my husband and I don’t anticipate the vaccine being available to us until later this summer, at least there’s something on the horizon which makes the sacrifices we are making worth it!
Homemade Cajun Food
Last Tuesday was Fat Tuesday – did you celebrate?!? We had red beans and rice and it was awesome!!! We used the Damn Delicious recipe and it turned out great!
Growing up, my mom had a fun group of mom friends and some of them were from the south. They exposed us here in Colorado to some amazing cajun food and southern traditions. So we always have black eyed peas in the form of Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day for good luck and had Red Beans and Rice on Fat Tuesday!
Both dishes are so comforting, use standard ingredients and are relatively easy to make. They also make delicious leftovers. So, this is a reminder (to myself and others!) to eat cajun food not just on holidays!
My favorite new (to me) Instagram account is @sharonsaysso. She’s the government teacher we never had in school and has been so incredibly helpful in understanding and interpreting what the heck is happening in our political landscape! She’s unbiased and encourages people to find facts and research.
She also intersperses her content with whales and other fun animals! As a former teacher, she’s skilled at asking great questions from people on all sides of an issue and exposes you to the full picture. The value of her content is in her Instagram Stories, as she has dots (not dashes), and they’re fascinating. She also does workshops to dive deeper into subjects and at only $10 per session, are a steal!
So if you’re looking for an unbiased way to look at politics right now, highly recommend following Sharon!
Bonus: Local Donut Shops
We have a wonderful local donut shop we’ve been visiting during Covid, and I just want to encourage you to find your own local donut shop. Donuts are great for breakfast or dessert, come in a variety of flavors and generally make everyone’s day better. Local businesses are still struggling, especially those in the food service industry, so find your own local donut shop and pick up some donuts this weekend! If you’re local to Centennial, CO, we enjoy The Donut!
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Thanks for reading! See you in March!
– Betsy
