#1: Chicken pot pie
I love seasonal recipes, but most of all I love winter foods: soups, stews, and savoury pies. I discovered chicken pot pie a few years ago and it’s gotten me so excited about savoury pies! I love that, even though I do need a few pots and pans for this dish, it’s also relatively straight forward. I use premade crust, which makes it even easier to prepare on a week night, and I can get the clean up done while the pie is in the oven. Last but not least, it’s always been a hit with our toddler (parents will know that this is not a given!). The base recipe I use is from “Rants from my crazy kitchen”, with a couple of changes (premade crust, boiled chicken breasts, and a slightly thicker cream). This food is comforting, it’s hearty, and it might just save your life.
#2: Daytime meditation
I used to love meditating in the morning. When I worked full-time, this used to be how I started my day: Dog walk, breakfast, and meditation. At some point, my mornings started getting more rushed and busier (kids, am I right??) and so meditation ended up becoming a thing I did right before going to sleep, but it never really sat right with me. So, these days, I’ve been trying out a routine of having meditation be how I start my work day or what I do when I take a break, and it makes me so much happier this way.
#3: Structured learning
I love learning new things. Since I’ve redirected my career from engineering into design, I’ve felt like I constantly have things to learn, discover, and read. It’s been extremely overwhelming, and so this year I’m making a point of setting specific themes or topics for my learning journey. I pick and choose from a list of resources and articles that I’ve set aside, and it makes me less likely to hop between resources, books, and articles.
Right now, I’m focusing on accessibility (primarily because of my book club, where we’re reading “Accessibility for everyone” by Laura Kalbag), and I’m starting to explore other themes for the next couple of months. Stay tuned!
#4: Adidas yoga studio leggings
I’m probably one of the very, very few people who tends to wear jeans during the day when working from home instead of leggings, soft pants or PJs (I just love the divide between “work life” and “home life”, sorry not sorry). This said, I’m still a sucker for a really good pair of yoga pants; with my regular home yoga practice, I was overdue for a new pair of yoga leggings and I went for the Adidas Yoga Studio 7/8 Leggings. I was not disappointed: they’re comfortable, they’re beautiful and the fabric feels super soft and breathable.
#5: Meal planning
I’m not great at meal prep, but my life is just so much better when we meal plan. I don’t really have an extensive system for it, and it’s usually only a loose plan, but meal planning is definitely worth the 30 min a week spent thinking about what we’ll be eating next week.
#6: Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream
It’s winter and my hands need some hardcore moisturising. I’m genuinely not a fan of creams that will leave your hands a bit sticky but my cuticles and skin are just terrible this time of the year, and even though Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream doesn’t smell great y’all… it does save my day.