In this month's What's Going On article, I have a tale of caution for you, 2 easy peasy recipes to warm you up on a cold day, and some reading recommendations.
First, a warning! This year I learned that New Year’s resolutions and words are nothing to take lightly. I typically don’t participate in the practice of setting goals or choosing a word as a theme for the year. However, when the calendar turned over, my heart was a bit unsettled, and I thought, “What would it hurt? Pick a word! Try something new, Stephanie”.
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"What’s in store for 2024?”
I even made a bracelet to proudly wear my word. And then, after one day, it broke. The beads scattered all over the floor. It must have been a sign, the universe taunting me for being curious and brave. Turns out that broken bracelet was a sign of things to come because January came in hot, real hot, for me.
Guess I am about to find out what exactly IS in store for 2024.
I have found there are 2 types of households: those who eat leftovers and those who don’t. This theory is proven in my own home every week. I am a rabid consumer of leftovers, and my family deeply despises them. So, over the years, I have gotten pretty good at repurposing leftovers. And that is what led to the yummiest and easiest beef stew I have ever made.
Easy Peasy Beef Stew
-1 Leftover Roast (doesn’t matter how much, doesn’t matter what kind)
-1 Can Condensed Vegetable Soup
-1 Can Condensed French Onion Soup
-1 Can diced tomatoes & 1 Can Tomato Sauce
-Any vegetables you like … I used Yukon Potatoes, Onion, Celery, Carrots, and a can of green beans.Saute the celery, carrots, and onion (if you use them) and dump everything else in with a soup can of water and any seasonings you prefer - I tend to use Mrs. Dash and Italian Seasoning. Simmer. You’re welcome.
Secondly, does anyone love Starbucks’ Egg Cups? If yes, I got you. These are just as good, and they help boost your protein if you’re counting! (p.s. I swapped in Colby Jack cheese, and they were delicious!)
find the original recipe here https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/bacon-gruyere-egg-bites.html
Winter and Summer are my reading seasons and I’ve been voraciously consuming stories. I’ve just finished “Britt-Marie Was Here” by my favorite author, Fredrik Backman. Backman has the ability to make the reader fall deeply in love with his very complex and utterly human characters. The Britt-Marie quote below makes my middle aged heart swoon. Highly recommend.
“…her mirror image belongs to someone else, someone whose face has been touched by many winters.” Fredrik Backman
In addition, I’ve been listening to “Spare” and “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing”. Both books, recorded by the author, have been a bit of a cultural phenomenon and as someone incredibly interested in memoirs, I had to see what all the fuss is about.
What I've just finished reading!
I’ve recently been thinking about whether every story is a good story. Yes, there is an art to storytelling, but there is also the very important aspect of plot twists and conflicts (things that none of us like to personally experience but are thrilled to read about, ironically).
We love the stories of dukes and duchesses and actors, but estranged royalty? famous actors with addiction problems? These are the tales we are inexplicably drawn to. We love to feel bad for them; we love to root for them. But what if you’re the character in conflict? How will you respond to plot twists? Will YOU root for you?
In this episode of the Mel Robbins Podcast, she explored what holds us back from doing the thing we long to do. She says we are the ones who hold ourselves back. Further, she doesn’t suggest it is a mind-over-matter/discipline issue. The person who holds us back is the insecure version of ourselves.
I know what she means. When I hear that I am transported to the conversation I had with my high school English teacher (I wrote about her here) who told me I would never be a writer. Every time, and I mean every single time, I put my fingers on a keyboard, it is 16-year-old Stephanie who whispers in my ear like a tramatized Jimmeny Cricket, making the case that I could never possibly be a good writer. The insecurities that overcame me in the classroom in 1989 are the ones I battle with when adult me wants to write something.
What about you? Have you ever recognized old thoughts, outdated beliefs, or worse, untruths about your possibility holding you back? What if what has held us down was the conflict we overcame in this chapter?
Would it be a good story?
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