It's Never Quite The Same...

Man, it's been a while.  This semester has kept me the busiest that I have ever been.  I'm constantly rushing from classes, to my internship, to see friends.  Basically, I haven't slowed down since September 1st.  With all this rushing, my cooking has definitely suffered.  Lately all I've wanted are fast, but satisfying AND healthy meals.  It can be difficult, I know.  I called my mom the other day and asked for meal suggestions.  Despite working 10-5 most days of the week, she almost always finds a way to still cook up delicious meals.  She suggested this chicken recipe from one of the many cookbooks she collects.  The recipe was:
-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
-1/3 cup grainy french mustard
-1 teaspoon garlic (I added more due to my love of all things garlic)
-3 tablespoons maple syrup
-3/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

The prep just required mixing all the sauce ingredients together, and pouring it over the chicken thighs in a pyrex dish.  Cook for 50 minutes and you're left with this (please pardon the not so professional photos):

The chicken was good but somehow it's better when my mom makes it, despite the fact that we followed the exact same recipe.

To accompany the chicken I found this recipe for whole roasted carrots from The Front Burner, another one of my favorite blogs.

They were so so so good.  Almost tasted like sweet potato fries- soft on the inside but still firm enough on the outside and just the right amount of salt.  I'm definitely going to make these again.  

And no good meal would be complete without quinoa.

Seasoned with a dash of soy sauce, sesame oil, and red wine vinegar.


And the final product:

And enough for leftovers tomorrow night when I have my 12 hour day!


With how hectic things have been lately, I've been finding refuge in my yoga practice.  I've loved yoga for a while, but now that my life is so insane I'm beginning to treasure those 90 minutes of inner-quiet.  For an hour and a half, I can stop rushing and just focus on being.  There are no expectations- just gratitude for the moment.  It's a concept that I hope to apply to all aspects of life, especially during hectic times like these.