What's Good This Week

Man oh man, what a week in the world. Things just seem so heavy right now I hardly know what to say.

Let's start with Texas. Holy hell, my friends, I am all bunched up about the situation in Texas right now. 

Here's the thing. Criminalizing abortion doesn't stop people from having abortions. It stops people from having SAFE, legal abortions. All this insane law will do is put women's lives at risk and keep people trapped in poverty for generations. 

It is bonkers to restrict abortion to a period of time when most women don't even know they're pregnant yet, and it's some real Handmaid's Tale-esque stuff having private citizens win money for ratting people out. I am in a rage, and as usual when I don't know what else to do I am throwing money and people who can help.

I'm going to be donating all of the ad revenue from this Sunday to Fund Texas Choice, an organization that helps fund travel expenses for people who are forced to travel out of state for an abortion.

Then we have Ida, Afghanistan, covid, and more covid. Can we not get a break already? 

This week in my hometown there were anti-vaxx, anti-mask protests in front of hospitals of all places. These ding-dongs were blocking ambulances from reaching the hospitals, forcing cancer patients with compromised immune systems to walk a long distance through a crowd of unmasked protesters to get to their treatments. And when it is largely unvaccinated people taking up hospital beds, it's especially infuriating to see the anti-vaxx crowd disrupting services at a hospital of all places. 

Then I went on Facebook for the first time in months only to see an old high school acquaintance of mine using vaccine hesitancy as a recruitment opportunity for the MLM she's involved with. Are you kidding me?! 

And now we're hearing about the mu variant? Good grief, people. Smarten up. Get your freaking vaccine. Show your humanity. FFS. 

Anyways, it's been a week. 

This week a reader reached to me to let me know that a restaurant in her hometown had stolen a photo from my site to use for their Doordash photo. Thanks for the sharp eyes! 

I sent that business an invoice for $1500 for the rights of my photo, so we'll see how that goes. So far no response!

This kind of thing happens all the time and it's such a disservice to hardworking content creators, especially when you could a) hire a photographer to take photos for your business, or b) buy stock photos for a reasonable price.  

Don't steal mine! 

I've managed to get out for a few runs this week without my calve spasming, which has been nice. I was advised to go back to some of the shorter, easier runs in the C25K program and hang out there for a while, so that's what I've done and it's gone well. 

I've also added some calve exercises into the mix, which, together with the hip and butt exercises I've already been doing, means it takes me like 30 minutes to get ready for a run. I guess this is the cost of trying to stay fit!

It's made me think a lot about the privilege of physical fitness this week. I have time to spend on these exercises and running program because my kids go to state-funded daycare, which frees up my lunch hours to train if I want to. 

I have a job that's fairly flexible about start times and we do a hybrid model with a combination of working from home and working in the office. So I have the flexibility to go for runs when I want to, which would be a lot different if I was doing shift work.

And I have a body that is able to pick up exercise fairly easily, albeit with some injury-prevention thrown into the mix. If I do get injured, I can afford to see a physiotherapist or someone else who can help me. 

So it's not just about dedication to being fit, it's the privilege of being able to spend time on fitness in the first place. And I have that privilege. 

ON HEY NUTRITION LADY THIS WEEK

First up this week I updated an ancient post from the archives that's on trend now: Herbed Ricotta Toast. I first posted this back in 2014 and now ricotta toast is trending hard thanks to TikTok, so I guess I was ahead of my time.

Next, an updated list of 22 Vegetarian and Vegan Sandwiches for some lunch packing inspiration!

And lastly, since apple season is here, these luscious little Whole Wheat Ricotta Muffins with Cinnamon Roasted Apples. These babies are super tender, freezer friendly, and are exactly what your breakfast or lunchbox needs this week. 

WHAT’S TRENDING ON HNL

Yeah, yeah, we all know that Mung Bean and Coconut Curry and How to Cook Mung Beans are in the top spots. Yes, still! So let’s look at what else is trending.

1. Black Bean and Quinoa Freezer Burritos. Yep, again. 

2. 10-Minute Vegetable Ramen Noodles. So good. 

3. Turmeric Latte Mix. Always and forever. 

4. Chia Fresca. Gotta stay hydrated!

5. Cinnamon Roasted Apples. Oh hey there!

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Karina left the following comment and 5-star review on my Mung Bean and Coconut Curry recipe:

I love this curry, I cook it nearly on a weekly basis. It is easy, quick and very very tasty. Thank you very much.

Thank YOU, Karina. It's one of my favourites as well.

THIS WEEK’S MENU

HERE’S WHAT’S ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

Monday: I'm taking the kids out into the archipelagos to watch their dad finish his big race, so we will probably pick up something on the way home or have some leftovers. 

Tuesday: Big salad!

Wednesday: I'm cooking dinner for a couple of girlfriends. Thinking about Baked Halloumi with Vegetable Ratatouille and some nice crusty bread. 

Thursday: I have a work event where food will be served.

Friday: Snack dinner! Keeping things simple. 

Saturday: Getting a babysitter and going out for dinner for the first time in forever. 

Sunday: Pizza night. Again.