Maple Pecan Baked Apples + Some Self-Reflection

Happy Sunday, lovely humans. 

It is a dreary day as I report to you from my couch, in my pajamas, with a hot cup of coffee in my hand, and a thick blanket over my lap. The kind of day where you don’t do anything except light candles, play with your pets, and watch Halloween inspired movies. You know?

Except that I have this buzzing energy: I want to leave the house! To do what, I’m not so sure. But sometimes on the bleakest of days, I feel renewed. I feel creative, and curious, and ready to explore. Does anyone else ever get like that?

No? Just me? Alright then. Moving on. 

Today’s recipe is crazy simple. Basically I have a lifetime supply of apples, and I wasn’t sure what else to do with them beyond my classic crumble or pie endeavours. So I decided to go super easy and just stuff the apples with pecans and maple syrup. That’s it. For real. You don’t even need to actually read any further.Because sometimes, that’s all I want: no real work, nothing that I can eat in a single sitting (I’m looking at you Apple Crisp). 

Apples are so naturally sweet and delicious, and very filling, so why mess with that, you know? Also, stuffed apples just look pretty, and that’s half the reason to cook anything, isn’t it?

Right now, I’m all about simplifying. I don’t know if it’s because it’s finally starting to feel like we’ve transitioned into fall, and the change of seasons has me feeling more self-reflective, but right now, I want curation. I want things in my life that reflect who I am, things that bring me happiness and things that give me purpose. 

For a long time, I’ve spent all of my time planning my life for a dream job, and all my energy was going into that. And then I fell into a job that I absolutely love, where I get to cook and be creative, and work with amazing people. I have just really loved leaning into this creative energy. Whether that’s cooking or food styling or photography or creative writing, I love all the ways in which I get to be creative everyday. Say creative one more time, Tisha.  I definitely want that to be something I continue to bring into my everyday life.  But now, a lot of my spare time that was spent being busy in preparation (or in panic) for a career of sorts, is suddenly more available. 

So with all this time, I have to ask myself: what do I want from life? 

How do I want to use that time?

Things I Want To See More of in My Life

• Journaling + Self-Reflection. I have always been someone who journals, who keeps a diary. It’s always been a tool to help me set goals, reflect on my life and express myself. I feel like over the last year, it’s something that I haven’t made time for, and something I’d love to get back to. 
• Curation. My wardrobe, my apartment, my time. I want to streamline my life.
• More involvement in the LGBTQ+ community. I feel like I’ve been saying this for the last 500 years, but it still continues to be true. So if you have tips, please let me know.  
• Creative writing outside of the blog. Like NaNoWriMo. For most of my young adult life I thought I was going to be writer. I took creative writing classes, I wrote poetry, short stories and half completed novels.  I majored in English. That was my life before my eating disorder and anxiety really took over when I was 20 (something I talk about a lot on the blog), and suddenly nutrition and a healthy relationship with my food became my biggest priority (and thank god it did). 
• More “Mind” stuff on this blog and in my personal life. The ‘Nourished’ part gets covered here quite a bit, but it’s the mind stuff that I still very much want to bring to light. Mindfulness, anxiety, creativity, self-care–these are all still very important topics to me.  There’s so much more to healthy living beyond your physical body and your size. And although I love (love, love) nutrition, I also believe we have to nurture and tend to our mental health just as much, if not more. 

What are things you’d like to see more of in your life? How are you making time for yourself? And what does self-care look like for you? I would love to say that for me self-care is all about massages and pedicures (and don’t get me wrong, there’s room in my life for both of these things), but I really think it’s about carving time for self-reflection. I think we need to constantly be asking ourselves if we feel aligned with our lives, with our goals and our values. But these are just my thoughts.

Let me know yours in the comments! 

Have a wonderful week all,