Preparing meals when I don't feel like it

One of the difficulties with depression is that every last chore feels like so much more work than it ever did before. For me, putting on shoes felt like a lot of work. (That's hard to imagine, isn't it?) So, for most of winter, spring and summer, if I didn't need to go somewhere I just wore slippers all day, even outside in the garden, in the yard, or on the deck. It was just simpler.

Now if this is just shoes, can you imagine what cooking feels like? It's been a struggle to make high-quality meals while not feeling myself, and while taking on some added work in the form of classes and seminars to prepare to go back to work and/or start a business. However, I do like to eat.

My solution has been to take the simple route as much as possible. We've had a lot of hot dog dinners. I have been buying bread and buns instead of baking regularly. I'm not scavenging in the garden as much, but buying produce instead. And side dishes for meals are simple but delicious foods.

Some for instances of simple but delicious sides this week. . .

fresh figs from the garden to top cut up fruit

a dressing to top a green salad -- pureed basil, cherry tomatoes, garlic and the tail end of a vinaigrette, using a stick blender in a cup to puree

blueberry coffee cake, where the tiring part was picking the blueberries; otherwise, to make coffee cake, I add less liquid and more sugar to my standard scratch pancake recipe, then top with a cinnamon crumb topping -- no recipe or cookbook to get out.

just plain strawberries, delicious, fresh, but plain. It is so unlike me to not even slice the strawberries.

I have had to be selective in how I use my time and energy. Good food matters, but fancy food does not.

Not every day has been hard. I don't go around with a glum look on my face all of the time. And I do think that I am having more positive days than I had been.

A different take on my Cheap & Cheerful menus. What was on your menu this past week? The summer fresh foods will be yielding to autumn comfort foods soon. Is there any particular summer food that you will miss? Have a great weekend!

The Two-fold Benefit of Not Wasting the Fat

Yesterday, I cooked a couple of pieces of bacon at breakfast. Doing so left me with several tablespoons of flavorful bacon fat. I poured off the fat into a custard cup to use later, and afterward sauteed some onions in the greasy pan. I didn't have immediate use for the sauteed onions, so I scooped them onto the top of a large container of frozen soup. They'll add flavor when I reheat this as supper some evening.  I typically do this when I cook bacon, pour off what I can and then saute onions or celery in the greasy pan, to add to something later, freezing if I need to (great for doing the onions and celery ahead of time, for stuffing).

I do this (make sure I use every bit of the flavorful fat) for two reasons. When you buy bacon (or any meat, for that matter) you are paying for the fat as well as the lean portion. In frugal terms, it makes sense to use the fat as well as the lean (obviously, health issues trump frugality). I don't want to waste something for which I have paid good money.

After pouring off most of the fat, it only takes about
1/2 cup of diced vegetables to de-grease a pan.

In addition, I have to wash that greasy pan. Cooking some vegetables in the greasy pan removes some of the fat from the pan. This means that not only is my washing chore easier, but I use less detergent, hot water and elbow grease. It's a win all around.