Two weeks into 2023–how are we feeling? I think I’m hitting a stride and finally starting to tap into that new year excitement, the thrill of starting something etc. We have a quiet weekend on deck. Just going for a nice dinner at my parent’s house tonight, might make a lasagna at some point, might bake a nice breakfast treat for Sunday morning, laundry, cleaning etc. A classic, chill Winter weekend! I really savour this sleepy-ish time of year. Also apparently the sun is finally coming out today, which is honestly a thrilling prospect hahaha.

I hope that you’re keeping well! Here’s some reads, nice things, and questions from the past week.

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. You Don’t Know How Bad the Pizza Box Is
2. In 2023, I Will Learn to Chew My Food
3. On Soup Internet, Everything Is Cozy and Nothing Hurts
4. The Daily Habits of Happiness Experts
5. The irresistible voyeurism of “day in my life” videos

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. Absolutely loved The Menu. I laughed so much. It also put me on edge just a teeny bit! If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you’ve probably dealt with at least one or two similar patrons.
2. Listening to Imperfect Paradise from the LAist Podcast
3. The Kitchn tested 8 different methods for crispy Brussels sprouts
4. Exploring this directory of words that don’t translate
5. Gorgeous, gorgeous botanical Legos

5 Questions:

1. What is the best thing from culinary school that has stuck with you?
   Clean as you go! Saving it all for the end after you’ve ate and just want to chill for a minute is not ideal! This and heating your pan for a solid minute or two before adding oil–pretty much guarantees limited sticking and the food just seems to cook a lot nicer. When I see a TikTok or Reel with onions and oil going into a cold pan at the same time… I cringe a bit lol.
2. Where do you do your grocery shopping lately?
   A lot of Canadian folks have asked me this recently within the context of inflation and the recurring headlines about Loblaws’ and Empire’s record profits. Melissa Silber posts about this on her TikTok, which I recommend checking out. For a lot of reasons I avoid Loblaws and Empire-owned stores when I can, preferring local independent grocers, Costco, or Food Basics. Mostly, I can’t wait for local produce to get going again and for the farmer’s markets to return.
3. Were you always a morning person? Habits/tips to help you wake up at 5am?
   I have always been a morning person. I’m incapable of sleeping past 7 and that honestly feels late to me haha. My advice is to try waking up 15 minutes earlier than you normally do and devote those 15 minutes to something that makes you feel good–like a reward! It could be stretching, meditating, making a nice coffee/tea etc. See how you do with that first. If that extra time is adding anything to your life and you’re enjoying it, maybe you can consider waking up another 15 minutes earlier from there? In my experience, starting slow puts less pressure and helps to form consistency.
4. How do you navigate diet culture in plant-based eating?
   I did a terrible job of this when I first started blogging and was heavily influenced by diet culture if I can be honest, believing some foods to be “bad” or not ideal because they were refined or had cane sugar/some other ingredient. Currently I think it’s a privilege to be able to eat every day and if it’s plant-based, I will eat it. Of course I have personal preferences with ingredients and cooking styles just due to my personal taste, but nothing is considered “unhealthy” from my view anymore. I don’t judge anyone’s food choices, and I eat for pleasure and satiation first.
5. Has the rise of Beyond/Impossible Burgers actually made it harder to eat out?
   I really love this question! To be clear, out of all the “tech meat” options, I do enjoy Impossible from time to time. There’s a local spot that does tacos with it that I love, and sometimes the burgers just really hit for me. But it honestly does feel like so many local restaurants have a tech meat burger as their plant-based option and I’m definitely not always in the mood for that. I used to joke with my partner about always ordering a salad and fries at a restaurant because of the lack of vegan menu choices. I still do that now if the place is leaning on tech meat for plant-based menu items (and I enjoy it–french fries are a top 5 food for me).