My Afflation

At the beginning of the month, I determined that I was going to start blogging daily again. I had just finished a few of Darren's podcasts  and was feeling energized about completing a 31 Day Blogging project. I even picked out a new theme  and was ready to install it when I got derailed. derailed by  waqasmallick  on  DeviantArt A little bit of travel, nearly 1000 photos to sort through and edit (just from that trip, that I am still working on so that I can eventually do the write-up), learning Photoshop and Lightroom all over again Plex server issues, and then just some days where I wasn't feeling creative or motivated in the least. At the end of the work day, the last thing I wanted to do was get on another computer. Most of the month falls into that last category. So, for all the other working single mothers who also happen to be bloggers, how the heck do you do it? I know some of you have blogged about it, but it doesn't seem sustainable, at lea

I do not like aging. I don't like the aches AND pains and changes in metabolism and weight gain and now, I think my eyes are changing. Again.

Talk about being behind on writing... This was dinner - It was supposed to be the Chicken Hash  from the Whole30 Cookbook. It looked NOTHING like the picture in the book. I was worried that the taste would be off as well (more than with my substitutions). The photo has sweet potato noodles, not the type of shredded hash I got that would have been better turned into sweet potato hash browns. Now there's an idea . Sweet Potato Chicken Hash: 1lb chicken thighs, diced; 1/4 cup pecans, chopped; 1 large sweet potato, grated; 1 pink lady apple, diced; 1/4 cup apple cider; 1 -2 cups spinach; 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms; salt and pepper to taste I think it probably had a lot to do with not having the right tool for the job. I found my cheese grater, but it wasn't a box grater with variable grating sizes, it was a handheld fine grater . Very fine. The cookbook suggested using a spiralizer, but the one I have was not up to the task. It gave me funky 1/2-inch noodles that kept t

I might have stocked up on chicken parts last week (or maybe two weeks ago ), and the items on that menu plan made lots of leftovers, plus a trip to NOLA, and I haven't had to go grocery shopping in a while. After taking stock of what meat was still in the freezer, this trip will mainly be veggies and side dishes. Sunday : Pineapple Ceviche - inspired by the yellowfin tuna cones at SoBou . So good! I still need to write up that trip. Maybe I will while noshing on ceviche. Yellowfin Tuna Cones Monday : Jerk Chicken and Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Caribbean Jerk Chicken and Stuffed Sweet Potato Tuesday : Chicken Cacciatore (Whole30) Wednesday : Pecan Crusted Chicken (no breadcrumbs) Thursday : Casablanca Chutney Chicken Casablanca Chutney Chicken Friday : Early birthday trip, I better not have to cook dinner. Saturday : Still celebrating. I'll probably post all my delicious eats on Foodspotting .

Allrighty then. Here we go. After watching this: and this: I've decided to refocus certain things in my life, starting with paying attention to my creative outlets. Especially my blog. It's my main creative outlet and I need to core dump more often. Are y'all ready for that? Of course, I don't expect any of you new readers to be, but there are some of you who have been with me since the beginning. Ideally, I'll get back to more me, less fluff. Last night I spent hours moving things over to Squarespace and playing around with templates and customizing things and well, in the end it looked like crap. Largely due to my inconsistent photography and boring content and just ... well, I was horrified. And then I thought "I could just close this down and start over", but I have had this blog for over a decade. It's just going to have to keep growing and changing with me. So maybe I am not truly ready to move out of my comfort zone, but I am ready to ch