Cookin’ and Killin’ It
Don’t worry vegetarian readers, I’m not talking about killin’ an animal for cooking (see title). I’m talking about killin’ my goal to cook more meals at home. Yesterday I mentioned I was planning to get a Whole Foods salad after the gym. Well I got to thinking throughout the day as I was researching which recipes I wanted to use for food prep this weekend. I’ve eaten at home, without takeout, every night this week since Sunday. Why not make it a full week of weeknight meals at home, with no takeout? Why not go all the way and just kill it?
That’s just what I did! After the gym (where I got in a killer personal training session by the way, more on that later!) I went to Stop N Shop and picked up ingredients for the meals I plan to prep that weekend, plus some frozen veggies so I could make Tina‘s Creamy Laughing Cow Cheese Veggies. I already had the Creamy Swiss flavor at home though, so I just used that instead of Chipotle. I still kept the frozen broccoli, but I used frozen baby cabbages instead of edamame/spinach because I have never cooked with frozen baby cabbages and wanted to see how they’d turn out (obviously they wouldn’t turn out as good as the roasted kind). I also cooked up a pot of Goya chickpeas and black beans (with added garlic salt and cumin) on the stovetop. I combined the beans, creamy veggies, and some leftover meatloaf into a bowl for a delicious veggie and protein packed meal. Perfect for post-strength training.
However I certainly felt very stressed out last night. I thought I’d purchased microwaveable bags but realized I hadn’t, so I cooked the frozen veggies in a bowl of water in the microwave. Once I got home (at 7:30PM) I still had to cook the dinner, unpack from the day, repack for the next day, wrap a present, clean the kitchen…eek! I went to sleep last night proud of myself for another night of cooking at home but super mentally and physically exhausted. I began to feel anxiety; when I move out, will every night be like this? Will I be running around like a chicken with my head cut off the second I get my own place? I definitely was suffering from classic all-or-nothing thinking, but upon further evaluation realized last night was a special case. I decided last minute to cook, so I went to the store after the gym – that delayed my getting home right there. I may have food-prepped this past Sunday, but now I know that I need to make even more food next time I do, so that I can just come home and heat it all up. Every night won’t be like last night, and I’m still proud of myself for taking the initiative to practice being on my own even though I still live at home, because I really don’t want to deal with any extra anxiety once I move out. I know I’ll probably already have plenty since I’ll be dealing with a change in my routine!
Now I realize that plenty of you guys deal with these busy evenings of gym and cooking on the regular, but I’m just not used to it. So I’m learning and practicing and am proud that I’m pushing myself when I technically don’t even have to be doing any of this stuff. I’m certainly an overachiever and am glad I had something productive to focus on last night, as opposed to focusing on how guilty I felt for not doing “enough” cardio during my personal training session.
Do you ever get stressed about having dinners ready for the week?
When was the last time you went the extra mile and pushed yourself to achieve a goal?
