March means it's time for me to take care of me, for just a little while. February use to be my month to recharge but now that month is too busy. I need a month where I carve out time to find myself again through reading, dreaming, sleeping, business planning, listening to podcasts, spending time with my family and treating my body right. Being a family portrait photographer means that from October through December is basically survival mode. Being on the Professional Photographers of America Board of Director means that January is dedicated to ImagingUSA and although it is a fantastic experience that I cherish, it is exhausting! So it has taken until March this year to finally settle down and do some personal maintenance.
This year I tried something new, just for me, to feed my body and soul. I subscribed to Daily Harvest food subscription and have been enjoying healthy breakfasts and lunches that warm my soul. Why did I choose Daily Harvest? 1- I like to cook for my family and I am good at cooking dinner. I don't need a dinner replacement, I need healthy lunch and breakfasts. 2- I want healthy food I don't have to think about preparing and won't add more dishes for me to wash. 3- I want whole food nutrients. As I approach the mid 40's I need to give myself food that has healing benefits 4- I want it all to be easy.
Besides the super yummy food, the best self care has been the mental break from having to worry about what to eat for breakfast and lunch. I would like to use my brain to dream bigger dreams than just my next meal. I also want to use my time for more valuable things than food prep and dishes. I have freed up a huge amount of both time and energy with these easy meals and I am more present for the important things like my family, friends and business. The brain uses so much energy making decisions everyday that it's nice to free up some mental power to give to my teenagers instead of worrying about if I have fresh veggies in the fridge or other silly details. Daily Harvest really is a gift of self care.
Here's how it works for me- my Daily Harvest shipment arrives on my front porch on Thursdays and the food is frozen and packed with dry ice. (Bonus, the family had a blast with the dry ice. Now they have plans to make homemade root beer next week.) I picked the 12 cup plan and I have until the Monday before to change my weekly order online. This is important because I have learned what I love and want more of and what is just ok. Also, they seem to be releasing new recipes and I like to switch things so I don't get bored. Most people might know Daily Harvest for the smoothies but I actually didn't even order one. Since my middle kid works at an expensive juice and smoothie shop, I already have a resident chef for smoothies. To be honest, cold smoothies were not what I was looking for, I wanted hot food to warm me in this never ending snowy winter. However, I think I will try a smoothie when the weather warms up. I have loved the breakfasts and the harvest bowls more then I could have ever expected. I feel like I am eating at a fancy restaurant because the flavors are bold. The breakfasts generally have 2x's as many calories as the harvest bowls, but I think that's how breakfast should be. I also notice the oat and chia bowls keep me full for a long time so I end up eating lunch later than before. Daily Harvest packs a ton of flavor into these cups, which I love! The soups are good and very flavorful but just above average for me. I am a soup snob because I make amazing soup! I would say soups are my cooking specialty. If I disappeared tomorrow my husband would probably miss my soups the most. I found the Daily Harvest soups good, but I don't want something I can do myself and do better. I only had one cup that I didn't like at all. I shouldn't have ordered it because I don't like mushrooms (most of the time) and this cup was mostly shiitake mushrooms and (surprise) it tasted like mushrooms. Not sure what I was thinking when I ordered it?!?! I already traded it out for a broccoli rice and dill harvest bowl, with no mushrooms.
My plan is to keep this going until the end of May when my oldest graduates from high school and my schedule makes a big change again. My priority is to spend as much time engaged with my Watkins 5 as possible, because in 6 months we won't all be living here together. The dreams both personally and professionally are big right now and I am glad I am giving myself some self care so I can savory the important people in my life and business.
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