I woke up this morning after staying up a bit late and ended up having myself a pack of the “instant” udon noodles. Shrimp flavor. These noodles are so nice and easy. It takes like 2 minutes to cook. I usually do my own instructions though. I add the powder to the water once it boils, add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes. I add an egg once it’s boiling. Top with green onions and furikake. I pack the beef version of these for my stepdaughter’s lunch sometimes.
MIL decided that today is cooking day. She’ll often do a TON of cooking on Sundays. Meal prepping is always a good idea anyhow. So today I was a sous chef. Radishes needed their ends and tips cut off for beef soup. Radishes are a great substitute for potatoes. They taste similar and have a good consistency. Brussel sprouts had their bottoms cut off and then cut in half, two separate bags for side dishes to meals throughout the week.
Sweet peppers/Bell peppers of three colors. Sliced and diced. Sliced for a stir fry later in the week. The diced frozen for whatever use we’ll have at a later point. The steak was cubed for beef and broccoli later in the week. Stepdaughter asked us to wait to make it once she’s back from her mother’s. We also have some beef cubed for beef stew. Ground beef was browned and seasoned for taco meat! I didn’t get pictures, but breakfast sausage and hamburgers were also made at one point.
Then some broccoli was prepared as well and bagged up for use later. It definitely makes things easier for later in the week when we don’t have as much motivation to get things done.
When I still lived on my own with roommates, I would always cook on the weekends and prepare things to eat throughout the week. Even now, it’s nice to put aside extra things and freeze them for times when you just feel too low or tired to cook. It’s a great way to avoid always eating take-out when you feel like saying fuck-it-all.
I think I’ve said in the past, anything worth doing is worth doing half-arsed? It needs to get done, even if you don’t want to. Like self-care. Too tired to take a bath? Baby wipes and dry shampoo. Use mouthwash even if you can’t brush your teeth. Don’t want to prepare a meal? Eat the components of a sandwich. Or in this case, maybe prepare a meal on a good day that will be easier to just pop in the oven and bake when you’ve got no motivation.
Using leftovers is great for this too. We’ve made turkey pot pie using Thanksgiving leftovers and that is sitting in the freezer ready for use. Or soup that didn’t get eaten. We’ll pour the last few quarts into a freezer-safe container and freeze to reheat another day. You don’t have to eat trash just because you’re depressed. Love yourself and prepare for the days you can’t do as much~!
Thanks for stopping in today, guys. See you tomorrow~!
Atelier Whootique 