All posts filed under: emotional therapy

Food: Chicken and Garlic Noodles

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Some ingredients are hard to find at the grocery store, so I’ve been improvising – to create meals I’be been craving from evenings out with friends at a local Asian fusion restaurant.  Mind you, these are not my recipes, but ones I find online with the ingredients and ease of prepping ideal.  Because for me – time is valuable – and spending too much time over a hot stove takes away that much time from the eating ritual in my home – with spirits and loaded conversations – fun ones of course – since who wants to be brimmed with anxiety over a meal? For dinner tonight – I will make this chicken and garlic noodle dinner with a few minor adjustments – due to shortage of ingredients or some I don’t care for. INGREDIENTS 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons corn starch or flour 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper 3 tablespoons sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup honey 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce   – I will use Worcestershire  Sauce, since allergic to …

Monday Updates and A Few Lovely Things

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Hello Everyone – hope you had a lovely weekend, or made it lovely in your own creative way during these difficult of times.  I have to say, I tried my best to focus only on the good over the weekend, even while the weather outside was gloomy, and the lockdown in full force, I felt the goodness of Easter by… Watching the heart-warming concert – by Andrea Bocelli   Made Easter Sunday Roast with my mother – which is both funny and sad, because I am forcing her to remember all of her old-world recipes and after the challenge of producing the final meal,  she reminds me she’d forgotten an ingredient or two.  I took several virtual tours of Italy and allowed the experience to take me away  Watched a pretty funny – cheesy rom-com on Netflix which reminded me so much of Four Weddings and  A Funeral  And for sure the winner of happiest moments  was watching  an in-home Easter egg hunt over FaceTime with loved ones currently on lock down in England  It is …

Happy Easter From Our Home To Yours

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I watch my neighbors take turns in entertaining their energetic sons while in their backyard, in between home-schooling breaks. The husband would stand at the top of the stairs, scrolling through his phone while the kids play in the garden below, while on the alternating days, the wife rolls up her sleeves and actually makes the kids help her with gardening.  It’s an interesting watch from where I have set up my home-office. I find myself looking forward to their playtime, and then get sad on days when they are not outside – feeling all sorts of out of proportion. So no matter what is happening in your neighborhood, or lack thereof, spend today in appreciating  the smaller wonders in life – and have faith that soon life will be back to normal. {featured image source here and here}

Food: Cooking Traditional Dinners

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After seeing this video online, and watching it a million times and tearing up every single time, I realized just how thankful I am for deciding to stay with my mother before the shelter in place became the criterion for survival  – for San Francisco since the beginning of March. The beauty of our time together – is that every day she shares with me stories about her childhood, and we discuss recipes for all the wonderful cooking ritual her clan embarked on for each season. I remember them fondly and some she tells me about with her own experiences with her mother – way before I was born. Last night, we made stuffed grape leaves. I wanted to learn the process, since it is one of our traditional dishes or a version of it since so many around the world pride themselves of the dish. It didn’t turn out that well, because after we made it, she told me, we forgot a few key ingredients and steps. 🙂 That’s okay. I was fine with …

Food: Easy Recipes While Sheltering in Place

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As we all know grocery shopping has become the most challenging – where we need to stand in-line, or shop certain hours, take home only 1 or 2 of a product even if feeding a family of 4 or 5 and after spending an excruciating amount of time walking from aisle to aisle, holding our breathes, or wearing a mask and gloves, and avoiding even eye contact with anyone – we come home forgetting something or that what you may need the most isn’t on the shelves  – so you improvise. The next step is finding creative ways to make a meal – after the usual pot full of spaghetti, or lasagna.  Is it just me, or most of us are craving more carbs these days? So, while awake at night – worrying about my aging dog, and working from home or my mother – I find myself thinking even more about our dinners. Not because of me enjoying cooking but for some reason the survival mode we are now in. Weird how our minds …

Weekend Updates and Monday Happy Finds

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I hate the fact I didn’t realize it was Palm Sunday yesterday – a celebration I take very seriously. The only way I discovered that it was, was when I went upstairs to visit with my mother – who was seated on her favorite armchair, hands pressed together, praying while mass was streaming on the television screen. I actually wanted to cry seeing her, with eyes closed, praying the way she does and especially now even more. Have I told you all recently just how much I respect the elderly and their traditions and values and approach to all things life is throwing their/our way? Anyway, after the crying, I came back to my studio downstairs and watched the heavy downpour from my window for about an hour and it was probably the most soothing thing I’ve done from the indoors. Normally I find my comfort with all the walks I embark on throughout the city. Staring out of the window, I realized how beautiful human beings are…really…truly. Something that’s gone unnoticed forever it seems …

Lifestyle: Have you Considered…

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Yes, we are doing this, this morning. Getting a pep talk. You see I was up all night thinking about the various  conversations that I had with different people throughout the day which sadly brought my mood down. I mean you might very well know that right now we can all use more positive thinking than most other times to help get through these difficult of days/weeks/and for sure months. The sucky part was that I wondered while laying in bed, with eyes wide open, hyperventilating – whether those folks that I spoke to were sound asleep, since they were able to offload some of the weight from their shoulders onto someone like me – a solid listener, and provider of the utmost reassurances. So, if you happen to be in my shoes, or their shoes, or on the fence as to which end of the stick you are holding right now, I share with you some wonderful reads I found online which got me to this morning.  By the way, have you considered going …

Monday Thoughts Of Beautiful Things

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Hello…is it just me or does the news make you want to throw up? I think I have reached my limit with too much information and for the sake of my mental health and yours, wish to share some beautiful things to take off the edge. A random question – why is it that birds on a tree just outside your window fly away the second you aim your camera, even while otherwise remaining completely motionless? The Indoors The Outdoors   In The Details {featured image source here, here, here, here}

The Need To Distract The Mind

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Someone asked me the other day if I watched the news, and I said not as much as everyone else perhaps since, I’d like to keep my sanity intact while in isolation.  Mental health is very important right now, and in between all the bad news, we need to take a mental break and allow our minds to wander off to these beautiful places – at the very least for 20 minutes a day. and if all else fails – watch Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on Hulu or NBC in the states Hang in there, be safe, and be mindful

A Few Observations and Updates

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As the shelter in place order was announced in California, I wanted to believe more humans were beginning to take the COVID-19 pandemic seriously, but it seems from the news and photographs all around, there are so many exhibiting otherwise. But what do I know, except that my family and I did our part in following the directive and stayed home – naturally FaceTiming the rest of the clan who live in far away places. Through the doom, I am trying my best to maintain a positive attitude – I mean, don’t get me wrong, by Friday I felt the worst version of myself, and could not snap out of it. I guess I was completely coming to terms with how things are going to be for a while and even afterwards.  This is how I usually am with most traumatic events in my life: Shock, denial, overly analyzing the situation, much brain-storming with family members and friends, and then calming down to rationally handle whatever life had thrown or in this case, is throwing …