Yeah I’ve got em. You know, the feeling that inspiration and motivation are as far away as Fourth of July. Laying in bed seems to be the only source of joy, and cracking open the laptop to pen my most profound thoughts is inconsistent with my perpetual desire to remain absent. Every ache and pain – whether in my bones or in my brain, serve as an excuse to remain still.

The holidays really messed with my momentum this year. I pas de bouree-ed my way right thru them with copious amounts of work hours under my belt. I saw my friends off as I stayed back and tweeted my laments. The holiday race had commenced and everyone was sprinting towards the finish line as I lay paralyzed at the start. Catching up seemed pointless.

Don’t let the last two paragraphs lead you to believe that I’m severely depressed – it’s only a feeling that I’m sure many of you can relate to during the chilly months.

The one thing that I’ve felt somewhat inspired to do is cook. So rather than just sit and tell you how poo poo January makes me feel, I’m going to share a few of my recipes that might help you battle the dreaded wintertime blues. I’ve separated my recipes into two categories – do with them what you will. No judgements here.

RECIPES FOR PEOPLE WHO NEED TO EAT THEIR FEELINGS

Camping is ok. But camping is exponentially better A) in the summertime and B) with s’mores. I decided to ditch the fire (and the tent, and the bugs, and the sleeping bag for that matter) and whip up some goodies inspired by my favorite summertime treat. You guessed it: s’mores.

At its root, it’s just a graham cracker sandwich using marshmallow fluff, then drizzled with melted chocolate. But oh, it did not end there. I got a little creative with candy canes, sprinkles, and peanut butter – you know, the typical kitchen razzle-n-dazzle.  (If it was socially acceptable I would’ve covered them in glitter too.)  And being that I had sooooooooooooooooo much spare time, I came up with catchy names for each s’more iteration.

#1 – Everything But The Campfire: Classic S’more

#2 – Snow-Covered Campground: Classic S’more with Coconut Sprinkles

#3 – Not-So-Thin-Mint: Classic S’more with Candy Cane Sprinkles

#4 – Pitchin’ The Tent: S’more with Peanut Butter Candy Spread, Jelly Filling, Chocolate Drizzle, and Salt Sprinkling

Channeling my anger for subzero temperatures, I went on a tad of a rampage and continued to drench various foods in my cabinets with chocolate. The tasty results are as follows:

#1 – Pimp Sticks: Chocolate Covered Peppermint Sticks with Graham Cracker Crumble

#2 – Fiesta S’more: Chocolate Covered Tortilla Chip with Candy Cane Confetti

#3 – Gimme A F.U.P.A.: Peanut Butter Pretzel Sandwich Drenched in Chocolate and Rainbow Sprinkles

RECIPES FOR PEOPLE LOOKING FOR THEIR BEACH BODS

Once I gobbled up all the sweet treats I made, a sudden rush of eaters remorse spread over my stomach. I knew it was time to quite thinking it was still the holiday season, and out came my trusty juicer.

None of my juices were anything extraordinary, just your typical fruit slash veggie mashup.  Gulping down an entire mason jar of my daily fruits and vegetables gives me mucho satisfaction, but I can’t help feeling bad throwing away all that lovely pulp. I’ve always just tossed it, but wanted to get a little creative this time around. Here’s what I did:

#1 – Mixed a fruit based pulp into a smoothie. This way I was still getting all the yummy nutrients from the pulp, but in delicious smoothie form. I blended the pulp with frozen berries, almond milk, honey, and orange juice for a filling treat.

#2 – I made carrot bread from carrot pulp. Granted, it’s not gluten free, and I’m sure I could’ve used g-free flour to make it, but I was proud to just use up the pulp. I added in raisins for extra chewyness.  Click HERE for the recipe I used.  (Sadly my photo isn’t as appetizing as the one in the link.)

#3 – Using a veggie based pulp, I made scrumptious turkey meatballs! These were by far the best creation out of all my experiments. I basically mixed in about 1 1/2 cups pulp with 2 pounds lean turkey meat, one egg, 1/2 sautéed onion, 2 cloves garlic, 5 large crackers, 2 tablespoons ketchup, 2 tablespoons mustard, and salt and pepper. Form into balls and bake at 350 for 30 mins. Boom!! Balls!!

I guess I was more productive during my slump than I thought. Some slump, hey?

Here’s to channeling the blues.

xx

A