When hanger strikes!

Frustration levels have been high this week, and I’m not even getting my periods! Nope, the cause of my annoyance is food, or lack there of it in this case.

After a weekend away (and a lovely one at that) plus a full schedule this week, I’ve not had time to do our weekly food haul. I’ve managed to scrape together only two meals, one of which was beautiful freshly caught local fish (literally straight from the boat!) that I then proceeded to ruin by crumbing with no egg, because we didn’t have any. Note – don’t try this at home kids.

For a person who LOVES food, and for the most part enjoys cooking nutritious meals, this kind of week triggers me big time. I’m not even freakishly organised when it comes to cooking but I do like to have a vague plan or at minimum, options. I’ve been trialing meal plans for the past month (this week being the exception), just for dinners. And although I don’t enjoy the planning part (the thinking hurts my brain), the ease it brings to the week is well worth the effort.

Although only a week, by the weekend I can really feel the toll this type of eating and stress has had on my body and mind. See, now I’m an old girl (hey 40!), I’ve worked out the foods that upset me, the ones that bring on the bloat and just generally make me feel shitty. And you bet I ate allllll those things this week, sticky date pudding, bread, ice cream, and more bread. Even when you get to 40, you’re still learning, and often repeat the same mistakes, only to tell yourself you’ll ‘never do that again’... but you do #whenwillieverlearn.

Sweet potato fries with homemade guac. Is there a better combo?

On a more organised week, I try not to fuss too much over fancifying our meals. Over-complicating can almost be as derailing as an empty pantry right? My aim, simple nutritious meals that pack a flavoursome punch. No calorie counting, no major food restrictions (just limiting those ‘upsetting’ foods I mentioned earlier), plenty of veggies, fruit and fluid (tea and water for me), and I’m one happy gal! With our second brain residing in our gut, it’s no surprise that good food equates to a happier head space.

It me!

If nothing else, this woeful Mother Hubbard tale of bare cupboards is a reminder, because we all need them from time to time, the importance of food for well being. There’s a great little article here on the Headspace website about how a healthy diet is linked to a healthy state of mind. And I love the title of a blog link within this article, Better Meals for Better Feels, pretty much sums it up.

Are you an organised eater? Do you meal plan or do you wing it? And do you notice a difference in your body and state of mind when you haven’t been eating a balanced diet? Tell me, I want to know!

Peace out homies.

xx Kara

Reading: The Husbands Secret, Liane Moriarty. I picked this up from the free community library in town. To be honest, I started it but will have to start again because I’ve fallen off the reading band wagon again.

Watching: The Other Guy on Stan, Matt Okine is a very funny & talented fella. I also watched the first episode of Heart Strings with Dolly Parton on Netflix, corny af but I’m secretly loving it.

Listening to: Lucius

Growing: Not a lot. Getting my hands in the soil this week to get my veggie garden going again. We’ve recently diverted our washing machine water to use on the veggie garden. I don’t use any chemicals for washing so it seems an absolute waste not to be reusing that water.

Crushing on: my indoor plants and all the new growth that’s taking place.