THIS WEEK’S ROSE AND THORN

Happy Friday! I know this is a long weekend for some of you so I hope you’re able to relax and enjoy the extra day off. Will is on a bachelor party this weekend so I’m planning to catch up with a few girlfriends and get in a workout or two. I hope you all have a good one!

This week’s rose was spending Valentine’s Day with my mom. After a cooking fiasco earlier in the week (see this week’s thorn below), she volunteered to walk me through Trader Joe’s and share her go-to items. Since I’m easily overwhelmed in both the grocery store and the kitchen, it was so helpful to learn which products she picks up every week, which ones she stocks in the freezer just in case, etc. I’m so excited about having a better stocked fridge and freezer as I dip my toe into the world of meal prep!

This week’s thorn was my attempt to cook myself dinner on Tuesday night. I swear to God I followed the instructions listed on the back of the container, but the quinoa I was trying to make managed to be both completely undercooked and crunchy on top and absolutely burnt to a crisp at the bottom of the pan. I stirred it around but I guess not enough? I was planning to roast veggies to eat with said quinoa, but apparently sweet potatoes get mushy and wet when they’re starting to go bad, which I didn’t realize until I’d roasted them with everything else and… they were still mushy and wet and definitely bad. I felt so defeated scraping charred quinoa into the trash can — like, “oh right, this is why I never do this!”. Clearly I have a long way to go in developing any confidence in the kitchen… but in the mean time microwavable quinoa and rice are going to be my BFFs. 🙂