April Vacation Goals

I'm slightly embarrassed to tell you what I'm having for dinner. Before going to the gym, I housed pita chips and hummus, so I can't really justify more beans and bread. Plus, Mark is at a concert tonight and I'm just not feeling like cooking much. So I got back from the gym and scavenged up this lovely three course meal...

Appetizer
coconut oil popped popcorn with flax oil and sea salt

Main Course - served in one bowl
Kale sauteed in butter, but clearly not for long enough, so it's reallllly chewy
walnuts
sauerkraut

Dessert
Coconut Pudding

After meal snacks because I was still hungry
homemade corn tortillas
black bean chipotle dip
2 prunes
3 coconut candies

It's not quite as lame as I thought it would be, but it's definitely not something I'd recommend. And so it goes.

Remember those February vacation goals? Yeah, we're still working on some of those, including...

1. Making Ketchup
2. Two batches of mayonnaise (one for a friend!)
3. Nut butter
4. Some serious meal planning, because I've been slacking
5. Watch 1 good movie
6. Volunteer at Grub Street, a community of Boston writers
7. Gym at least 5 days
8. Read "Write is a Verb" which should be arriving from Amazon shortly!
9. Figure out our summer plans: St. Maarten or Europe!
10. Thoroughly clean each and every room of the house. Seriously. For real this time.
11. And meet with those book club girlies!

I'd love to try new recipes and cook all week, but I don't think that's going to happen. Maybe one new recipe. Or two. Maybe the maple oat breakfast pie, and...ummmm...I don't know. Too much pressure to choose just one. Any suggestions?!

Another major development in my life is that I've decided to start writing seriously. I'm going to go for it. In a list of things I wanted to do before I turned 40 (because at age 12, when I wrote the list, 40 seemed wayyyy old), right after marry a hot drummer with a 6 pack, was write a book. I've been toying with the idea for about a year. I applied to 9 MFA programs, to get an advanced degree in writing, but after only one acceptance to the University of San Francisco and two waitlists, we decided to decline the San Fran offer and do whatever it would take for me to focus on my writing here in Boston. That way Mark has a good network to find a job that could support both of us, since he'll be graduating with his MBA in May. My novel is a historical fiction work, which means it'll take about 3 times as long as the average fiction novel, but I'm OK with that. I'm hoping to start seriously researching with some of my free time this week. Anyway, I tell you all this, dear readers, because if it seems like I'm neglecting my cooking life a bit, it's because I am. (Thank the Lord for fermented food stashes and raw veggie salads!) Right now I'm teaching, and writing, and thinking, and blogging, and cooking, and exercising, and more, sometimes a few of those tasks fall by the wayside. Doesn't mean I love you any less. I did want to keep you updated though. I hope everyone enjoys the lovely warm weekend!