Started Culinary School with No Kitchen: Remodel Updates and Adventures
Oh, my goodness!! Talk about perfect timing! My kitchen got completely knocked out on Monday, 9/12, and school started on Thursday, 9/15! It has been an adventure!! It’s honestly really tough not having a kitchen, especially because we live in our kitchen. My boys and hubby cook as well. So, we have been making small kitchen areas throughout our home. My office holds all the spices, pots, pans, water, ice machine, plates, and tea kettle. My bookshelves have come in handy. My garage holds the cooking gadgets. The air fryer, convection oven, crockpot, and I have 3 hot plates.
Now the hot plates have been so helpful, but they do take a while to cook things. I boiled water, and it took me at least an hour for it to finally get it to boil, lol! I am longing for a messy dirty kitchen and a filled-up sink with dirty dishes to clean! Speaking of dishes, we are blessed to have a sink in our laundry room. That has been my kitchen sink and the top of the dryer has been the dry rack. The contractors have been great with making sure it’s livable for us.
Cooking has been a struggle. We have been going out to eat a bit more and trying to keep it healthy as possible, that is always our goal. Honestly, there aren’t a lot of great healthy restaurants nearby. If we go closer to the beaches, there is, but that’s a drive and not realistic timing-wise. I don’t know about you but it’s kind of like when you’re on vacation and eating out more than usual, near the end, you finally want some home-cooked meals. I am trying the best that I can. Yesterday we were hungry but did NOT want to go out to eat. So, we went to Sprouts. I got some ground beef, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and avocado, and I went to my mother-in-law’s and cooked it up, and it filled us up!!!
One quick breakfast that has been easy to make has been smoothies. I like to eat within an hour of waking to help with my blood sugar balance, and smoothies have been great. My go-to recipe has been:
Chocolate Breakfast Smoothie
Almond milk
Banana (frozen is best)
1 TBS of Coconut butter
1 TBS of Chia seeds
1 TBS of Cocoa powder
A scoop of protein powder
Blend and Enjoy!
I like to chop up pecans and sprinkle them on top, so I still get to chew when eating (so good for digestion!). I also sprinkle whatever berries I have on top (I have been loving blueberries lately). This has been easy to make, and I know I am fueling my body with great food for the day.
Now I don’t know if you know this about me, but I am a lifelong learner when it comes to things that absolutely bring me joy. Nutrition is one of those things. And because of this, I’ve signed up for a new course! I think this will help me with all the food I will be making. I had no idea what all entailed in doing this! Ready……….I joined Foodtography School!! I might be a little crazy to take on so much at once but if I am going to be making a lot of dishes, why not learn how to compose great pictures while I’m at it?! This course is self-paced, and I’ll have it forever. I’ve completed a couple of modules already and have learned A LOT! As I learn and improve in this area I will be sharing some pics in another blog. I will never forget one of my sons commenting “Mom you need to take that pic off your page, it doesn’t look good!!” as I posted a dessert photo on Instagram. Here is that pic of my Zucchini Brownies if you’re interested in taking a look at what I’m talking about lol. My goal is to retake that pic one day with all the tips and tricks I will learn from Foodtography school and nail it.
This is a little snapshot of what is happening during our home remodel. We are getting into the cooking part of culinary school, so I hope you follow my journey through social media and get inspired to cook more at home for (and with!) your family.
