Soul Food When You’re Stuck Indoors

This is the time of year when the weather just starts getting…well, old. Gray seems grayer and soot seems sootier.

January 29th is about the date when it’s crucial to recount all the things we’re thankful for:  Downton Abbey, a warm fire, the beauty of a fresh coat of snow, and the fact that it can’t last forever.

We “do” winter here in Minnesota, but this month I’ve been stuck inside healing from some minor knee surgery instead of cross-country skiing, so this weekend I’m focusing on resources that have delighted or inspired me that can be done indoors. I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments!

First, if you resonated with the posts titled, When God Doesn’t Make Sense, and When Jesus Doesn’t Show up and Something Dies, you may want to check out these fabulous podcasts that were hugely helpful to me:

• Waiting Room by Steven and Holly Furtick
• When God? by Andy Stanley
• When God Doesn’t Make Sense by Craig Groeschel

I’ve also been trying something new – reading a food memoir for the first time. The author is a delightful story-teller, Ruth Reichl. In Tender at the Bone: Growing up at the Table, Reichel says she discovered that “food could be a way of making sense of the world . . . if you watched people as they ate, you could find out who they were.” It’s funny and fascinating, full of quirky characters (like her mother dubbed “the Mold Queen”) and interesting backdrops from New York to a Greek island, Paris to Montreal.

Next, my favorite quote on prayer this week is from Sarah Bessey (ironically from a post moaning her lack of creative energy):

I love to pray, or at least, I think it’s prayer: it’s more like holding space for God in my mind and in my heart, an invitation and a clearing away, a shifting over in the booth and the “hello, this spot is for you, go ahead and sit down if you like” in my soul and always somehow the spot is taken and filled and we eat and we are together even without words often.

All of us are creative in some way because God made us to create. We create environments, or new work initiatives, or dinner parties, or stories. We have new ideas.

Not all of you may find this to be your jam, but I’ve been having fun on cold Saturday afternoons creating some Valentine’s Day bunting.

(Yes, that’s The Great Escape I’m watching while I sew 🙂 ) A CLASSIC! If you haven’t watched it, do so – another good winter indoor option!

I didn’t follow this exactly, but here’s an easy tutorial if you’re interested.

Lastly, a couple of recipes I tried that I found on Pinterest this week.

Yummy Heathy recipe for Egg Muffins. (50 calories a piece). The great thing is you can put them in the fridge and reheat one for breakfast each day! I sprinkled a teaspoon of shredded cheddar on top of each which would add a couple calories 🙂

And because you were so good, a yummy, not-so-healthy easy Valentine’s Day dessert I tried this week.

It’s called Chocolate Lasagna 🙂

That’s all I’ve got for now. What about you?