Lately

Woahhhh woah woah. It’s a life update!

It has been a minute since I’ve written one of these, and man. Lots of thoughts! Like nearly 2000 words worth of thoughts.

I hope you guys are doing well and staying safe. We’ve been at home a lot, but we have ventured out to have some socially-distant visits with family.

That said, life has been pretty good recently, and I wanted to give you guys an update based on some of the things we’ve been doing/loving/etc.

Some of the links included below are affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase using one of those links, Fooduzzi will get a small commission. I only recommend products I know and love and use and think you guys will love, but if you’d rather not use an affiliate link, you can just Google the thing I’m talking about! Easy peasy.

Alrighty…let’s dive into this update!

reading: Guys. I’ve been reading like a crazy person. I recently resurrected my first generation iPad mini to use as an ereader, and it has been fantastic.

I’ve also been pretty addicted to Goodreads recently (honestly my favorite “social media” platform at the moment), so feel free to add me/follow me!

Some of my reading highlights over the past few months are:

• The Martian by Andy Weir – I clapped at the end of this because it was so good. SUCH a good story, and even though it’s a little sciencey (and, therefore, a bit over my head), it was incredible. Such a great book.
• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – Honestly not my typical genre, but man. This book was non-putdownable. I. Loved. It. So good, and came recommended by Booktuber, Ariel Bissett.
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – Yep. Finally read this one and loved it. I just found Celeste’s writing style so…addictive. I couldn’t get enough. And she obv. gets bonus points from being from Pittsburgh.
• Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – I tried to read this years ago and couldn’t get into it. Finally got back to it and when I finished it, I just sat on the couch with my head in my hands and yelled. Such a crazy good story.

I’m currently reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, and I’m loving it. It’s on the longer side, but I’m already planning my next reading endeavor! Now taking your recs.

eating: We’ve honestly been just eating a ton of burrito bowls. Just like…so many burrito bowls. Sometimes with quinoa. Sometimes with jasmine rice. But always so satisfying.

I like to top it with this salad (plus avocado). It’s my favorite summer dish. Nothing tastes like summer quite like this!

I also recently made Cookie + Kate’s hummus and woah. It’s so creamy. She uses a trick where she boils the chickpeas with baking soda, and it just blends up into a silky-smooth hummus. It’s lemony, and I actually used half the tahini she calls for (more on that below), and I’m loving it.

Speaking of tahini, I’ve recently become obsessed with its bitter-nutty flavor. I never really loved it on its own (I do love it in recipes though!), but now? I can’t get enough. I eat it with apples and dates!

I also recently made this Roasted Aloo Gobi from Priya from the Bon Appetit Test Kitchen, and it’s one of the best meals I’ve ever had. Obviously made some adaptations (ground cumin for the cumin seeds and sweet potatoes for the russets), but omg. I’m making it again this week, and I CAN’T WAIT.

Also pancakes. Blueberry’d with maple syrup and peanut butter between each pancake. Yes.

Other than that, I had my first watermelon of the season over the weekend, and it made my heart soar. Can’t wait for cherries. And strawberries.

baking: I figured this deserved a whole section of its own because I, like 80% of the internet, have been making sourdough.

Or…I guess I was making sourdough.

It’s a process. And while it’s super fun to bring your sourdough loaves from the oven…I’m not sure it’s worth it. It requires a lot of flour, a lot of time, and a lot of planning, and I just don’t think I have the mental capacity to do that all the time unfortunately.

It tastes great, but I think moving forward, I’m going to stick to yeasted bread. I really love the recipes from The Everyday Artisan Bread Book (which, full-disclosure, I was sent a copy of. But I’ve baked from it a ton and really do love it!)

I was also craving cookies the other day (although, really, when am I not?), and I made these! Really simple and good.

feeling: I feel like this is one of..the most important questions right now. “How are you feeling?”

Some days, I feel great. Other days, I feel really down and bummed.

While I’m getting a little stir-crazy and actually yearning to run to the grocery store “for just one thing,” I know that everyone else is too. I think my biggest concern right now honestly is that I’m going to lose the progress I’ve made within myself.

In my “year in review” post last year and a few years ago, I talked about how I felt like I had actually (finally) started to live. I felt like I was thriving. Living my best life, you know?

I’m afraid to lose that progress. That, when this is all over, I’ll be back at Square 1.

Oof. That’s heavy. But it’s kinda how I’m feeling at the moment. Most of the time, this introverted gal of yours is perfectly content sitting under a blanket on the couch with her cat. But right now, I’m just a wee bit meh.

Also feeling very thankful that my family and friends have been safe. Wishing you the same!

thinking: About possibly moving!

We just need more space. Mark and I both work from home full-time, and we just need some extra office/workout/living space.

Especially when you have a floof who just takes up way more space than she should.

But…I’m curious: do you have any cleaning product recommendations to use when you’re moving out of a place? I want that security deposit back. lol.

drinking: LOTS of coffee. So much!

I recently got some of the Ethiopia Sidama Natural single origin beans from one of my favorite local roasters, La Prima. It’s full of natural berry flavor, and I’m into it.

The flavor comes from the bean, which is kinda infused with berry flavor thanks to the natural process (aka. letting the berry “rot” off and infuse the bean in the sun, rather than washing it off). Ethiopian beans are also generally berry-forward in flavor!

It’s certainly not an everyday coffee (the flavors are a little too intense for that), but wow. It’s special. And so good I drink it black!

I also got some coffee from another Pittsburgh-based coffee company, Press House. They have so many different varieties, and we’ve had so much fun tasting our way through their roasts! So far we’ve tried:

• Blueberry Muffin – Again, bringin’ that berry flavor. It’s not as intense in berry flavor as the La Prima, but it’s still a delightful roast.
• Race Day – It’s a light roast and full of citrusy flavor. Fun fact: light roasts naturally have more caffeine than darker roasts!
• Finca El Mango Black Honey – A single origin from Costa Rica! I feel like it tastes like currants or craisins. We really like this one in the french press!

I’m already excited to put in my next order from Press House! And I just love their branding. Is this not the most beautiful coffee bag you’ve ever seen?

watching: So much YouTube. I have a YouTube problem. There are just so many awesome people doing awesome things right now.

I’m just loving the Bon Appetit content. They are just killing it at the moment. I’m so impressed with how they’re coping with being at home and away from the test kitchen, and they are just always so entertaining. Love.

I also really like the content from Kallie from But First, Coffee. A lot of her recent videos have been parenting-oriented, which isn’t super relevant for me. But I do love her money-saving and house-organization videos!

Last one I’ll mention is Sadia from Pick Up Limes. I just adore her. She’s so positive and full of awesome vegan and minimalism content! I actually used her hair-cutting tutorial a few weeks ago. It’s not perfect, but I’m happy to have a fresh cut!

I’ve been rewatching a few things too. Parks & Rec is easily one of the best positive shows out there, so when I’m feeling really bleh about everything, I love flipping that on.

Gilmore Girls has been another one on repeat recently. It just gives me all the warm and fuzzy feels. I love.

Mark and I watched the Community table-read on YouTube a few weeks ago, and it was incredible. So we decided to rewatch the series and it has been a delight. The show really goes downhill once a certain character leaves, but it is gold for the first few seasons. GOLD.

talking: Heyyyy did you see I was on a podcast?! It’s true!

Well, technically, I’m on a podcast every week. I help run The Food Blogger Pro Podcast for work. But I was recently interviewed on The Slaw (a Pittsburgh podcast!), and it was so much fun.

I talked about eating vegan in Pittsburgh, my love of floofs, and my favorite bridge in the city. It was a blast! Here’s the direct link if you wanna listen!

working out: I actually bought an at-home workout program (HOME. Reload) from one of my favorite YouTubers, Natacha Océane! I just love her YouTube workouts, so I figured the program would help keep me active.

It hasn’t disappointed! I’m on week 9 of 10, and I’m already planning on starting over when I’m done. I’m loving it, and each workout is so unique and different. I’m not tired of it one bit.

You do need a resistance band, and I am using some free weights that we already had, but man. I am feeling so strong. It’s so much fun.

I haven’t been able to run because I have some IT band issues that I can’t seem to get over. Definitely a bummer, but at least the program is keeping me busy!

loving: The sun, my floofgirl, the marble contact paper I used to give my desk a spruce, wine, my morning oatmeal, the idea of starting to journal, coffee, relaxing on the couch at night watching Mark play video games, relaxing on the couch in the mornings while reading, the Libby app to help me borrow books from my library, shorts, comfy t-shirts, and you.

Thanks for reading, friend. Let’s chat in the comments. How are you doing? What are you up to? What are you reading? I’d love to connect!