I haven’t really told anyone about this blog. I go into very personal feelings, thoughts and emotions and I didn’t want to compromise that for fear of people I know judging me. My blog hardly has any views, so I can say what I want right? But I’ve been really enjoying the process and seem to be getting good feedback from some readers, so I felt like sharing. I have to say I’m very proud for starting this endeavour, I’m hardly ever proud of myself (yes something I need to work on) but I feel like the effort I’ve put into this has been significant and the output is alright!
Only two people have known about my blog since it’s inception. My husband and one of my closest friends from university. My friend was the reason I was inspired to start all of this. She writes for fun (fiction) and I really admired how much she’s written. Full stories, chapters – I really respected that. We have been writing to each other (as mentioned in my last post) frequently when the coronavirus started and I realised how much I enjoyed writing to her.
When I was having an anxious or difficult day I found comfort in writing out my feelings and her subsequent response. She’s a very kind and caring person and is so supportive of the people she loves. But apart from her and my husband, I hadn’t told anyone else.
My blog is now one month old. I’ve been posting regularly and have pulled together a fair amount of content for a newbie. I finished my 10 day happiness challenge and I wanted to share! So I decided to tell one of my close friends about it. We were talking about people blogging for a living (we are both in the same profession) and she talked about how she wants to start writing recipes. We both share a love of food. During lockdown she told me about a chef who was running an online cooking course and I decided to sign up for it! This happened during the long period I was off work. I was feeling a little lost and a little useless. Those classes gave me something to look forward to and I particularly enjoyed our frantic texts to each other when things were going wrong!
When she started talking about blogging, I had to tell her! I had the same doubts she has: worrying about the commitment, balancing work and not having enough time. I decided to just try it. I expected (expecting!) to fail, but I thought I told her that even if she doesn’t start a website, just write. In the blogging world, you need as much content as possible so you can never start too early. I know she is extremely talented and I wanted to encourage her to try! I am always in awe of her food pictures, cooking skills and knowledge of food!
She was so excited and so encouraging. I do feel a bit embarrassed sometimes about my writing but she gave me such positive feedback. I’ve now told more people and I will tell a few more. Through sharing with her, I found a bit of bravery and self-confidence to share my work. I really didn’t expect so many kind words.
I was telling her about my #FoodieFriday series and trying my hand at writing recipes. She asked if there was a particular reason I decided to write up recipes. I do think that it doesn’t quite fit with my overall blog, but as I said in my first #FoodieFriday post, I want to share tried and tested recipes that taste great but are easy to make.
Why? Because when you are low and your mental health is suffering, you lack energy. When you lack energy, you will look for easier ways to sustain yourself. I used to order out a lot. I used to buy a lot of snacks. I wouldn’t eat healthy.
I didn’t like cooking and it looked too hard. For health reasons, which I will get into later, I had to change this attitude. So I started easy. Baked chicken. Roast potatoes. Baked sweet potato. I looked for things that didn’t need a lot of hands-on work.
I slowly got into the habit. Now I actually really enjoy cooking. I really like my own food! Lockdown has helped me explore different cuisines and try things I wouldn’t before because they were time-consuming. Getting great results with cooking has given me self-confidence to try harder recipes.
I now have a folder full of recipes. There are simple ones and more complicated ones. these are the recipes I know will turn our well and are relatively simple. My husband can also pick up the folder and find something quick and easy if it’s his turn to cook or if I haven’t got time.
I get annoyed when I find complicated recipes. I just think I don’t have time for that. Don’t get me wrong, I do like complicated and longer recipes on the weekend when I have time to make something exquisite.
But during the week or when I’m in a low mood, I need quick fixes. This is why I created this series. Cooking has really helped with my mental health. When I manage to cook, I feel really accomplished and feel like I have things under control (even when I don’t). Especially when I cook vegetables.
Last weekend, we went to a fruit and vegetable farm to pick our own produce. The courgettes (or zucchini to you Americans!) were massive. We were planning to pick 2 or 3, but just got one huge one! I would normally slice these courgettes into rounds but they were still too big and I had to slice them further. I don’t love courgettes but they can be nutritious and easy to make. What’s the rule for making something that doesn’t taste so good, taste great? It’s cheese. You can probably omit the cheese if you want to make this recipe healthier (and use garlic granules instead of minced garlic), but of course, it won’t taste nearly as good!
Because this recipe is so easy, I made my first video!
Garlic Parmesan Courgettes (Zucchini)
INGREDIENTS
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOK TIME: 15 minutes
- 4 small/medium courgettes
- Olive oil
- 40g parmesan cheese (grated)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- Salt and pepper
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius
- While your oven is preheating, slice the courgettes into thinnish rounds (about 4mm thick) and mince your garlic if you haven’t already.
- Mix the garlic and parmesan in a bowl.
- Drizzle the courgettes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix with your hands to make sure the courgettes are coated evenly.
- Spring the parmesan and garlic evenly on top and pop into the oven. Cook for 15 minutes or until the cheese has browned.
Will you give this recipe a try? Does it sounds quick an easy? Let me know in the comments!
I didn’t expect to tear up while reading a Foodie Friday post, but I did.
Great video by the way. It’s short, but it really captures the ease and quickness of the recipe. Sometimes cooking videos are longer than they need to be, or features something unnecessary like the cook’s face. I like faceless cooking videos, but I guess on depends on the viewer. For the impatient cook like myself I want it fast or I’m getting takeout! I might watch longer videos if I’m in a foodie mood. There’s a lot to learn about ingredients, methods, even the history of the dish. Does anyone remember Good Eats with Alton Brown??? I miss his face. His was the face of food knowledge.
Btw, I still haven’t tried last week’s recipe, but I’ve been craving something cold, crunchy, and acidic. I already looked up stores that sell pomegranate molasses and sumac. I just have to eat the rest of my food first. I went from grocery shopping every week to once to twice a month. I stick a lot in the freezer, but salads can’t be frozen, lol.
I’m so glad you liked it! <3
I thought the vide was good for a first attempt! I too prefer the faceless cooking videos, the shorter the better.
There's a big Arabic/Middle Eastern shop called Phoenicia which I think isn't too far from you. They have EVERYTHING! You should check it out.
Unfortunately salads have to be eaten fresh! Let me know if you try it 🙂 I miss you!