Ginger-Coconut Chicken "Noodle" Bowl
Made this Ginger-Coconut Chicken "Noodle" Bowl last night from the Whole30 Cookbook. It was healthy... but I suppose I brought outrageous expectations after the Asian Beef Zucchini Soup from last year. My husband is also not a fan of sweet potatoes in the healthy forms. He prefers them covered in candied nuts on Thanksgiving. Can't blame him, can't disagree. This recipe calls for the sweet potatoes to be roasted separately, alongside onion wedges and tossed in coconut oil, salt, and pepper. They aren't added to the dish until it's time to assemble. I will probably be making just the sweet potatoes and onions as a side for future dishes because that in itself was unique and delicious.
Miraculously found a ground turkey recipe that didn't give me the ick: this Crispy Spicy Turkey with Lemon Garlic Cauliflower Rice. The ick might be semi-permanent, though, because when I was a college sophomore and didn't know how to do anything, I under-cooked a turkey burger, and yeah, enough said. This Whole30 Cookbook recipe basically overcooks the turkey, which I have zero arguments against. It didn't photograph beautifully because there were also supposed to be some herbs, but I did not want to go to Publix just for herbs, so we did without.
+ On my nightstand
It's a non-fiction batch, which is out of the ordinary, but here's what I've been reading:
Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield - Forcing Karen to read The War of Art so that she can then read Turning Pro so that we can then talk about it for hours. Gobbled it in one sitting. A quote: "Krishna said we have the right to our labor, but not to the fruits of our labor. He meant that the piano it its own reward, as is the canvas, the barre, the movieola." We've been talking a ton about content development in the ChatGPT era, and how the act of thinking through writing is simply - yes - its own reward.
The Writing Life by Annie Dillard - I quit a library book three pages in and defaulted back to the digital stockpile on my Kindle, within which this book was buried. There are segments and insights that have been wonderful, but it won't take the place of Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. Another Dillard classic that's loaded and waiting for me is Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, which is highly revered by my bookstagram friends. A quote: "One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book; give it, give it all, give it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned it not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes."
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene - I'm not a history buff and this is packed with (international) historical references and mythology and literary callbacks that feel way over my head, so I am taking it slow to make sure I'm getting all I can from this renowned book. I only know four laws of power right now :) A quote: "Years later, a Japanese visitor tried to apologize to Mao for this country's invasion of China. Mao interrupted, 'Should I not thank you instead?' Without a worthy opponent, he explained, a man or group cannot grow stronger."
+ On my mind
The showstopping company rendition of Can't Help Falling in Love that I heard being run at last night's All Shook Up rehearsal. It lit me up and made me remember what a treasure it is to have talented friends, and to see amazing art. And to do amazing art.
