The H Report: Vol. 9
All of the things filling my heart, head, hands, and home lately.
This week’s report is all about my favorite kitchen items, what I’m most proud of myself for lately, the official kick off of The Craft Chronicles, and a re-cap of week two of batch prepping meals for the week.
- ❤︎ -
With all of the food prep and cooking I’ve been doing the past few weeks, I thought I’d share three of my favorite kitchen items that have been making this journey so much better.
Silicone freezer trays: I have definitely gotten my money’s worth with these in the last two weeks. I’ve used them to freeze soups, chilis, oatmeal, broth, mashed potatoes, and literally anything else that can be poured or smushed and frozen. I have the 1 cup version, but there are tons of shapes and sizes available to fit your freezer and/or your needs.
Glass meal prep containers: I got these with the intention to portion out meals for myself since I am the only one in the house that’s gluten-free. Once they got to the house, though, I wasn’t actually sure I’d use them. I was also worried that they would take up too much space in our already crowded refrigerator. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about and love having complete meals ready to just grab and go. So far I’ve used them for chicken with a side of mashed potatoes and chicken cacciatore with gluten-free pasta. I’m excited to continue putting them to use and getting creative with how I meal prep for myself.
Ziptop Bag holders: I originally got these bag holders to prep freezer dump meals and then ended up absolutely hating those. The bag holders, however, are the absolute best and I use them several times a week. They are especially helpful when splitting up ground beef and chicken into smaller servings for our family, since I tend to buy the value packs and stock up when things are on sale. They are also great when portioning out big batches of broth since it’s near impossible to hold the bag open and pour liquid in without making an absolute mess.
*These are Amazon affiliate links.
- 𓁹 -
Something I’m super proud of myself for lately:
Sitting down every single night for the month of May to journal and draw a tarot card. Even though I had several really bad brain days that would have typically made me hibernate in bed instead of writing it out.
The card tally:
The card I drew the most of: The Star
Suit I drew the most of: Cups
Total number of Major Arcanas drawn: 8 (!!)
My biggest takeaway(s):
The idea of letting go of my anchors, i.e. — the things holding me down and keeping me stuck, particularly as they relate to fear, shame, guilt, and anxiety — and instead, trusting my own heart more and more.
The need to take stock of which elements of my life make me feel grounded and at home. And then prioritizing those things in my day to day life. This is especially important as I’ve been having more and more episodes of dysregulation (emotional, behavioral, and cognitive) paired with a heaping spoonful of negative self-talk.
- ✌︎︎ -
It’s officially June and I’ve decided that I am 100% doing The Craft Chronicles.
Since making things with my hands is one of the most surefire ways for me to feel grounded and at home AND I love learning and mastering new things AND I really really love finding creative ways to use what I have, it was truly a no-brainer. I chose sewing as the theme for this month and I’m SUPER excited to break out the sewing machine and pretend like I know what I’m doing. 😂
Some projects I want to tackle this month:
A doll or stuffy: This frog or toad doll from Anne Wood is a front runner as is the Mushroom Family by Lucy Ward that was in Issue 105 of Simply Sewing Magazine (you can view it for free on Libby!)
An article of clothing: I’ve been hoarding free patterns for a really long time but have been too scared to use The Good Fabric™ to make things in case it’s terrible. With all of the new FREE fabric I picked up from someone in my community, that excuse goes out the window. I’ve already got the color block set from Matchy Matchy Sewing Club printed out so I may start there. I also want to make some pants, so we’ll see how ambitious I want to be this month.
A thrift store find upcycle: I am obsessed with the thrift store remakes and would love to get more into repurposing thrift finds and/or learning how to make thrift finds fit better for both myself and the kiddos. This may be a little more ambitious than I’m ready for, but we’ll see!
Purse / Pouch / Belt Bag: No sewing list would be complete without a pouch or bag of some kind. This is definitely one of my favorite things to sew and I bought lots of fabrics for this sole purpose at the Salvation Army fabric sale a while back. Here are three of my favorite belt bag patterns in case you’re looking to make some of these yourelf.
Scrappy something or other: I have so many fabric scraps and small cuts of fabric that I want to put to good use, so I need to think of some quick and easy projects to work on. This cute bow tutorial from LittleHavenBows will probably be on the list, as will this adorable strawberry coin purse tutorial from Suzie Quilts.
- 𖠿 -
I am officially closing out week two of my batch food prep era and I have to say, it’s freaking amazing. Mealtime has been so much less stressful for me (and the rest of the family as a result), and the dinnertime rush is basically non-existent at this point because there’s always something in the fridge (or freezer) to eat.
And since there’s always stuff in the freezer, I only needed to add one to two extra meals for the week. I made a double batch of chicken cacciatore and portioned out several servings for me since I’m the only one that’s gluten-free in the house. I also made a giant batch of banana bread slow cooker steel cut oats. Turns out oatmeal can be frozen too, so I left a few servings in the fridge to enjoy for now and froze the rest.
Future Emily will be so proud.
And in case you missed it from last week, here’s the In The Fridge planner that I laminated and stuck to the fridge to help keep track of what we have. Because I’m one 1,000% an out of sight, out of a mind gal.
And there you have it. All of the things that have been filling my heart (❤︎), head (𓁹), hands (✌︎︎), and home (𖠿) lately.
Hope your week is filled with things that make YOU feel grounded and at home.
X+O,
Emily