National Relaxation Day and Sweet Potato Muffins

Today is National Relaxation Day! So it seems like the perfect time to talk about….well, relaxation. Relaxing is not something I’m great at.

I’ve got a Type A personality, so of course, I always want to be in control of everything. This is counterproductive when you’re trying to let everything go. I make a conscious effort to set my stress and any issues I’m facing aside so that I can chill out because relaxing really is important for both the mind and body. I can definitely tell, though, if I haven’t been relaxing enough. My headaches become more severe. My back is much more achy. My memory becomes cloudier, and I have trouble remembering where I parked the car. I’m learning to pay more attention to these signs so I can learn to live more stress free and be generally more relaxed.

Here are some of my favorite ways to relax:

1. Take a hot bath (bonus relaxation: Add Epsom salts and/or essential oils)
2. Read an interesting book
3. Go for a walk (with or without music)
4. Watch a funny TV show or movie
5. Exercise (My favorites include dance, strength training and yoga)
6. Write (Whether it’s a blog, journal, diary or just on a scrap of paper)
7. Stretch
8. Play with your pets (Volunteer at an animal shelter or visit a friend if you don’t have pets of your own)
9. Practice mindful deep breathing
10. Take up a new hobby

It’s #10 I’ve been focusing on a lot more recently. My new hobby is cooking, as I’ve mentioned before, and I’m really enjoying finding new recipes and trying them out. Thank goodness for the power of Pinterest. My “recipes to try” board is growing quite quickly, but I sometimes get in the habit of making favorite foods over and over again. Not that there’s anything wrong with revisiting old favorites. I know I like them, and I know what I’m doing when I cook them. But I also know that I can’t really grow my cooking muscles if I don’t explore new recipes. With that in mind, I took on a few new ones this weekend with great success (if I do say so myself)! I made taco hand pies for lunch this week (which we’ll get to in another blog post), and I made sweet potato muffins for snacks.

pre-baked sweet potato muffins

Recently, I’ve been on a sweet potato kick. More specifically, mashed sweet potatoes. If I had known how easy they were to make and how delicious they are homemade, I would have been making them ages ago. Alas. I know now and they’re basically all I want to eat. I had some leftover in my fridge when I stumbled upon this recipe for sweet potato muffins.

Baked sweet potato muffins

They sounded delicious, but I wanted to see if I could make them a little healthier. I researched ingredient substitutions and discovered that you can sub agave for sugar (⅔ agave to 1 cup sugar) and applesauce for vegetable oil (I did about ¾ cup applesauce for ¾ cup oil). This was the first time I had ever attempted to modify a recipe, and I have to say I’m very pleased with the results. My muffins came out delicious, moist and flavorful.

I apologize for my crappy food pictures. Unfortunately food photography is not a skill I have mastered. This muffin was delicious though.

Sweet Potato Muffins (modified from Good + Simple blog)

Ingredients
3 cups of mashed sweet potato*
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
⅔ cup agave syrup
¾ cup applesauce**
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
½ cup ground flaxseed meal
Pecans (optional) (I added nuts to mine)

Instructions

1. To prep the sweet potatoes (this can be done a day or so ahead if you want to break up the muffin-making process): Pierce the potatoes with a fork and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 45 minutes, or until the inside is soft when poked with a fork. Remove and let cool. When the potatoes are cool, peel off the skin and mash the sweet potato filling with a fork or masher until any big lumps are gone. Measure out 3 cups worth of filling. Or you can make mashed sweet potatoes ahead of time (see below).
2. To make the muffins: In a large bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the agave syrup, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and then add the sweet potato (and pecans).
3. Pour into muffin tins/cups. Sprinkle flaxseed on top of the muffins. Bake at 325 for approximately 30 minutes. (It took about 40 minutes for mine to bake through. I tested with a toothpick to see when it came out clean).

*I used leftover mashed potatoes I made with this recipe – I subbed brown sugar and cinnamon for salt and pepper

**I didn’t measure this exactly – I used 2 individual serving cups of unsweetened applesauce

On pain, loss and grieving

I’m not one who is unfamiliar with pain. I’ve been through my share of family dramas, terrible breakups, jobs I didn’t get and loved ones I lost.

Just in this past year, I’ve experienced a great deal of pain. I called 2015 both the best and worst year of my life. 2016 has gone better and smoother (for the most part) so far, but it’s not without its trials and tribulations. I left a job I loved to take a job I thought I “should” have (because of the security of salary and benefits vs. freelancing). Turned out that was a huge mistake. I was let go from that “secure” job because they position I was hired for didn’t actually exist, and they didn’t have enough work for me to do. After a month of unemployment I fortunately found a great job that I’m very well suited for at a company that takes great care of its employees. Plus, I get to Pinterest professionally, so it’s a win in my book.

I also lost love. It turned out that the person I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with might not be the right fit after all. We loved each other with everything we had, but we also had some differences of opinion that we insurmountable. And so we parted ways. It hurt like nothing else, but I also knew (we both did) that it was what we needed to do then.

I know how to handle my pain. I know how grieve, and I know what I need to do to find strength within myself to pick myself up off the floor and carry on with my life. How long that takes is variable, but I get there eventually.

What I am not great with is handling other people’s pain. More specifically, I’m not great at understanding other people’s processes for dealing with pain and grief. When their process doesn’t resemble mine, I want to make them try my way. I want them to talk it out with me and cry or scream or do whatever I would do. But not everyone is like me. And I’m learning to respect that.

That brings me to this week. Someone I care about lost someone they cared about very deeply. I won’t go into the details because that’s not my story to tell, but suffice it to say the past couple of days have resulted in a lot of pain and memories and attempts to understand. I also cared about this person and it pains me to say goodbye. And of course, I want to spring into action to “fix” the problem and take care of everyone. But that’s not what’s needed, and it wouldn’t be welcomed. My brain gets that, but my heart….not so much.

That in and of itself is painful. Feeling helpless when you know someone is hurting but there’s nothing you can do is a terrible feeling. But knowing that like me, each person knows how the handle grief and pain and knows how to bring themselves through the other side provides some comfort. All I can do is send love and light every time I think of my friend and their loved one. 

Pain is an inevitable part of life. It helps make the great times sweeter. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck. It sucks a great deal. The good news is that it’s not permanent. Nothing is. Maybe knowing that makes it all a little easier.

Love is Love

This past Sunday was the Pride Parade in Chicago. Though I’m straight, I’ve spent my whole surrounded by wonderfully diverse people.

I spent a good part of my childhood, from junior high through college, in the world of theatre. There are no small personalities in this world, and I was always surrounded by people of all races and sexual orientations. I was so lucky to be part of such an open, warm and welcoming community where people are truly free to be themselves and express themselves however they needed to. What’s more, I was raised in a home where we were taught that different is great and just because people aren’t like us, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be celebrated.

All of this wonderful openness has instilled in me a deep sense of understanding and tolerance. I celebrate and cheer for everyone. Because of this, I have never been able to comprehend how people could be filled with so much hatred and contempt and arrogance. I simply do not understand how people think they’re better than someone else just because they look different or like different things. Because guess what? We’re all human people, and to quote one of my favorite musicals, everyone’s heart does exactly the same. (A Man of No Importance, it’s great – check it out).

Lately, the world is leaving a little more than heartbroken. It feels like every morning I wake to some new unspeakable tragedy from shootings all around my city (and on the highways, which, hello, scary news) to Orlando and that senseless act raging violence. To say that humanity is suffering would be an understatement to the max.

That’s why I love Pride. No one has to hide in a closet. Everyone comes out, lines the streets and lets their freak flag fly sky high. Love to wear 6-inch high heels and all the sequins? Rock on. Feel most yourself with perfectly applied makeup and killer wig? You do you. Wanna dance and shout and sing and cheer in the street? Have at it! Not only does Pride celebrate the LGBTQ community but it gives everyone involved a chance to celebrate each other, love, peace, happiness and community. There is such a sense of, well, pride, that you can’t help but feeling anything but elation and big, gooey, heartwarming love.

        

In the midst of so much craziness, it’s so amazing to see so many (literally millions) come together and just have the best time ever. For me, I love seeing celebrations of love. And the Pride parade let’s me spend time with people I love. Sometimes there’s nothing more fun than putting on as many colors (and patterns) as possible, getting outside and rocking out with great friends.

So there you have it. Another amazing Pride has come and gone. Personally, I’m continuing to ride the high of love and happiness. Happy Pride!