Friday, June 5, 2009

Friday Eats at Potter Place

Mr. P has been gone one week and I have to say it has been rather interesting living by myself. I was hanging out with one of my best friends from college last night and he pointed out that this is the first time I have really lived alone. During college I had roommates and lived within a five minute walk from all of my friends. I did have my own apartment the first year after college, which was also the year Mr. P and I were engaged and planning the wedding, but my apartment was across the street from Mr. P's apartment he shared with two friends, and all our good friends lived within a couple of blocks. Mr. P and I moved away from the campus area when we got married to the other side of town. Now I live by myself and not in walking distance to anyone, which is a very different experience. It's hard to feel very alone when you are shouting distance to most of your friends.

So far I am kind of enjoying living alone. I have strange new living alone habits. I stay up really late, which is something Mr. P and I almost never do. Then I get up really early. I love the late night hours of dark stillness with beams of street light floating into the apartment. And I also love the early morning hours which are just as quite yet with a completely different energy. I like eating whatever I want for dinner and not worrying about if it has enough protien or calories for Mr. P. I like listening to country music on the radio as much as I want. Mr. P had a limit to how much he would listen to without whining at me.

Don't get me wrong, I miss Mr. P. And I know that week 8 or 9 may feel quite different than weeks 1 and 2. But it's good to know I am doing pretty okay by myself. I wasn't too worried about until right before he left and everyone was so worried about me. People kept saying things like, "what are you going to do all by yourself all summer?" "oh my gosh, that's so horrible for you", or "you can't even talk to him on the phone! oh I just couldn't do that". People also kept pointing out how lonely I would get. I am an extremely social person. But I have been staying busy and using this time to spend with friends I don't see enough. I am also spending time with people I've always wanted to get to know more or be better friends with. I think this summer could bring a lot of great memories and friendships. I hope Mr. P can say the same.

So now that I have rambled on and on....it's time for Friday Eats:

Friday: Japanese Chicken Curry, brown rice and Swiss chard

Saturday: BBQ at friends from church, I'm bringing Pesto Potato Salad from The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger

Sunday: Fried rice with broccoli

Mon: Five-Minute Salad of Goat Cheese, Herbs and White Beans from The Food You Crave

Tuesday: Spiced Pork Chops (my own recipe) with Spinach and Chickpea Salad with Cumin Dressing from The Food You Crave

Wednesday: I am making all the kids in Youth Group one of my favorite childhood dinners, Taco Casserole from A Taste of Oregon Cookbook and salad

Thursday: Quick Pork Tacos (using left over pork from Tuesday night) and salad with cumin dressing

*I just got the Ellie Krieger Cookbook and these are the first recipes I'm trying out of it. You can check her out here: http://www.elliekrieger.com/

Happy Weekend Cooking!

Mrs. P

2 comments:

  1. Can you write Mr.P letters? I just made a lot of envelopes last night, so if you need funky stationary, let me know. Seriously, I've got envelopes with grafitti, Batman, peaches...(maybe the peaches aren't a good idea, who knows what they're feeding him & we don't want him to despair of being without your culinary skills.) :)

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  2. It sounds like you're doing a great job of enjoying your alone time and there's nothing wrong with that! I'm extremely impressed that you're still cooking. Any time my hubby is out of town I can't seem to find the energy to cook for just me -- kudos to you!! Your menu sounds so good you have my tummy growling :-)

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