I am trying to stay positive as we are still all hunkered down due to coronavirus. I’m still terrified and I still hate this and I still see no end in sight. But I have to remember all that I have to be immensely grateful for. I have a house to live in and that I love being in. I have a husband who I love deeply and who loves me. Sure, there may be some bickering and bitchiness right now due to too much togetherness but I think we both can acknowledge that. And I have a dog. And that dog is loving having us home so much.
So I am finding my sense of purpose in food and in cooking. For now, we are still allowed to go to the grocery store and I am taking full advantage of that with all of the necessary precautions, of course. Another thing to be grateful for is that I have a job and that job is actually as busy as ever. So that means that cooking an elaborate meal during the week is challenging. But I still want it to feel nice and fancy. Enter Trader Joes. In the photo above you’ll see the simple ingredients that I used to make a fancy Monday night dinner after working for almost 12 hours – frozen shrimp, spinach & chive pasta, pesto, parsley, butter, garlic, and salt and pepper. The result was magical.
It took about 20 minutes to put this together and it felt good. Oh, and if you are wondering about the ingredient that I didn’t list that is shown in the photo, that is Fire Cider. My herbalist friend said a shot a day (equal to a tablespoon) is one of the best ways to keep immune defenses up during this crisis. So a shot every night after our fancy dinners has been worked into the routine. Why not?
