Hi everyone! Welcome to 2025!

How were your holidays? My time off ended up being rather exhausting for a variety of reasons which was hard to sit with, since I was *hoping* it would feel more rejuvenating, especially after an exhausting year in general. That being said, I feel like God is telling me that I need to learn to better rest during my regular days and weeks, and not overly look to any breaks or holidays as my hope for feeling better rested.

I read the book Sacred Rest over the past two weeks and am considering Matthew 11:28-30 to be my verses for the year… “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (emphasis added)

I need to first and foremost go to Jesus for rest… not overly looking to the perfect schedule, holiday break, or outdoor adventure to solve my chronic rest deprivation and nervous system overactivation!

Sources of fatigue / overwhelm I am looking to eliminate or reduce in the coming months: saying yes (to people, plans, responsibilities) when I really mean no (aka not people pleasing), the constant feeling of needing to do things (aka being a slave to tasks — they will never be finished, there is ALWAYS more to do), and stimulation in general (less noise, less phone, more silence, etc.).

Sources of rest / revitalization I am looking to add or increase in the coming months: time outdoors connecting with Alec or friends (NECESSARY for me to feel inspired / rested), staying organized with my organization systems so life doesn’t feel as chaotic and so my thoughts and ideas “have a place” (other than overly occupying space in my head), and continuing to work on my health so that my sleep improves. (It is still bad for normal standards but has significantly improved over the past month which is huge!)

How are you feeling as we head into the new year? Were your holidays restful or do you feel like you need a vacation from your so-called vacation???

Even with the discouragement and tiredness from the past couple of weeks, I still of course managed to enjoy some tasty eats throughout the holidays! Note that my eating might look a bit different than it used to, as I’ve been addressing my health issues. More on that at some point in the coming weeks or months!

Eating, no matter what, in my opinion should be rooted in ENJOYMENT. “When the JOY goes out eating, NUTRITION SUFFERS!” It is when we have a healthy relationship with food as a necessary foundation that we are able to incorporate things like nutrition science and functional nutrition principles in truly healthy and healing ways.

Recapping some Christmas / New Years’ / holiday eats:

One highlight of the time off was our anniversary (right before Christmas on the 22nd) — we went to the Dixboro House, which I mainly wanted to do because I love the ambiance! Good food and good ambiance are important to me when it comes to restaurants. I have only been there for brunch and wasn’t sure if the food would be quite as good as our top couple of usual go-tos for a birthday or anniversary.

For drinks, Alec had a glass of wine and I had the *most delicious* mocktail — basically a lemonade / fresh ginger juice mix  — so good and refreshing! To start, we had an arugula salad w/ tons of pickled onions (sorry, mom! — she hates onions…) and a tangy red wine vinaigrette. The pickled onions were really good. Need to recreate at home. Also salmon each w/ fresh fennel and an orange sauce.

We both agreed that the salmon dish was only okay (I liked it better than Alec but still thought it was lacking). It had potential, but the orange sauce just needed more to it!

Sometimes when I eat at restaurants, I’m like why??? Just a few tweaks and it could be so much better! And this is your one job!!

The best part of the meal by far was the dessert… I kid you not when I say it was probably my favorite dessert I have EVER had!

You really just need to go and get one yourself… any description or picture clearly will not do it any justice. That being said, it was a date cake with the most delicious warm coconut caramel sauce and candied fruit. Yes, maybe sounds kind of boring or like how could it be that good?? Your dessert connoisseur / critic (aka me) says YES it was THAT GOOD!

I didn’t do a lot of Christmas baking this year, but I did make this chocolate peanut butter fudge that I am now obsessed with. I just use regular chocolate chips. So easy and so so good! My yoga teacher has been bringing this to some of our recent pre-holiday classes and I have been obsessed ever since.

For Christmas Eve, I made a Moroccan chicken stew from the Roasted Root cookbook. This was definitely my favorite main that I ate over the holidays! The flavors…

Plenty of warm spices and succulent dried apricots.

Christmas morning I had prepped in advance a simple frittata w/ broccoli + bell pepper + onion, along with fresh citrus fruit and orange blueberry muffins. The past couple of years I would try to make some sort of pancake or waffle for Christmas morning, but I feel like just making something in advance to warm up worked so much better! We went on a walk when we woke up and then relaxed and enjoyed our breakfast.

For Christmas dessert, we had my new favorite gingerbread cake w/ chocolate drizzle (simply microwave high-quality chocolate chips w/ coconut oil) and coconut milk ice cream. And more fudge!

I felt like my eating was a bit random over the holidays, so for several days instead of a typical lunch I would have more of a snack plate. I was really loving these and found them super satisfying!!

My basic “formula” was some sort of veggie, some sort of fruit, a protein and fat, and a sweet treat!

Snack plate example 2 // Usually I would end up going back for more nuts/dates or more fudge! 🙂

Recent dinner post-Christmas of pistachio chicken, sautéed green beans, and roasted potatoes with tons of Italian seasoning. I ate this one night when Alec was out to dinner with a friend. Usually when I eat dinner by myself I like to do something like watch a show or peruse one of my cookbooks!

I have no problem eating green beans, but feel like they are the most overrated vegetable out there! BUT, sometimes you gotta switch it up, hence the green beans.

Leftover pistachio chicken on a refreshing winter salad of chopped romaine, chopped cucumber, sliced orange, more pistachio, and an orange ginger dressing. I’ve been loving the crunch of romaine lettuce lately!

NYE we had plans together at home and then Alec ended up spending most of the day in the ER… (Long story, and he is completely fine!) But, as is typical, the ER can take f.o.r.e.v.e.r., and so I ended up eating our planned meal at home by myself and then Alec returned later that evening. Sometimes life happens, messes with your plans, and you just need to accept and adjust and enjoy what is! (Often easier said than done! 🙂 )

I made a lemon paprika chicken thighs w/ fresh rosemary, simple baked potato, steamed broccoli, and side salad. And the most amazing chocolate pudding that I didn’t get a picture of because I was too busy devouring it!

Note: chicken thighs are highly underrated. Plus, the darker meat and fat is so so good for you (I recommend buying organic).

New Years’ Day I wanted to experiment with making waffles. I absolutely loved this breakfast!! Alec had a waffle maker from before we were married and I think I have only used it once (maybe never?). Will definitely be making these on the regular…

I didn’t make the cinnamon crumble topping in the linked recipe and instead topped with the tastiest blueberry chia compote and (obviously) plenty of peanut butter — breakfast is not complete without copious amounts of peanut butter!

YUM. Clearly winning in the food department when I’m eating this!

More chia compote continues to be enjoyed on my creamy nut/seed/coconut breakfast bowls… absolutely obsessed! I’ve also been swirling in some full-fat coconut milk right before eating for some extra creamy goodness. 🙂

Usually I only need our dinners to last us two nights, but last week with our various plans I needed (wanted) a dinner that was going to last three nights to help with not having to cook / put something together on a busy night. Enter a big pot of white bean and kale soup! We ate this 3 nights and I still have leftovers to freeze. I use this recipe as a loose base, modifying and customizing as it’s a very flexible recipe!

Eaten alongside some apple quick bread (minus the icing), and our usual side salads. Lately I’ve been using this apple cider vinaigrette recipe which I’m finding I absolutely love!

And, tons of dates! I grabbed this entire bag when Alec and I headed out on a hike / walk last Saturday morning, because I wasn’t sure if we’d be back when I typically eat lunch. When my hunger strikes, it STRIKES! These are my favorite dates (from Costco) that I eat / use all. the. time.

The other main thing I’ve been snacking on every day (that also uses dates) are my new peanut butter cacao bars that I came up with… I’ll have to post a recipe soon!

Have a wonderful rest of your week! I’m looking forward to finishing out this work week and then a weekend without any structured plans, other than some time to rest / connect with Alec, and space to continue chipping away on our various catch-up to-dos and projects. What is on tap for the rest of your week??

(Coloring –> my other new favorite activity-of-choice when my mind needs a break and even reading feels too stimulating!)

Wishing you a great rest of your day!