blaugra: Happylicious

I haven't written in a while, huh? I even forgot my Typepad password. Oy vey! But my friend Katey told me she just went to a blogging conference in North Dakota and I thought, heeeeeey I haven't blogged in a good long time.

"Today, think about what makes you happy. Don't leave this conference without having that one happy thing in your mind, and focus on it." that's what the speaker said to do at an event I just attended.

I went through a time where little made me happy. Those of us with depression know that well. I won't dwell.

At this event, I thought, hey wait a minute, there is something that has made me consistently happy over the past couple of years:

Cooking dinner.

Some days, cooking dinner is the best part of the day. I love planning meals for the week, looking for new recipes that will make both me and Salty D. happy, and trying new flavors. I like figuring out what to make with leftover ingredients so I don't waste cauliflower or parsley. I'm not a culinary genius or even a foodie, but there's something so satisfying about tackling a new recipe.

Many days, all afternoon on the job, I look forward to getting home and cooking. If I have something going on after work, I'm slightly bummed about missing my time with dinner. Occasionally, I have turned down weeknight events so I don't miss preparing a freshly-cooked supper.

I credit some of this to Weight Watchers, and I still use their recipe database to plan meals and try new things. Weight Watchers pretty much requires that you plan ahead for healthy eating. I'm no longer satisfied with pantry pasta, a jar of sauce and frozen meatballs. Wait- I admit, once in a while that's pretty darn good comfort food.

One of my favorite things to do with dinner is to time the plating of the meal so it's done at exactly the time Jeopardy! starts. Salty D. and I love to watch Jeopardy! Like an old married couple. We yell at the contestants and shout out the answers. While we're eating.

On nights like tonight, I'm bummed because I have a Zumba class. Zumba doesn't finish until 7:00, then I have to go home and make dinner. It's ready to be heated up, but, still, I have grown to love my routine.

It simply makes me happy.