Notes From Survival Mode + A Meal Plan To Nourish
Did you know that hearing someone else's story may help you find containment for your own story? By containment, I mean a safe space for holding the bigness and chaos of life.
This week has been a lot. The excitement and go-get-'em attitude around the anticipation of virtual school evaporated after the first day. The reality of sitting in front of a computer for 7 hours (or monitoring children while they sit in front of a computer for 7 hours) created a heavy sadness that took up all the space in our house and our hearts. It crept into free-time resulting in shortened tempers and harsh reactions. It spilled over into meal-time zapping motivation to prepare food and gather around the table. I think we sat down as a family only once this week. Most evenings, we grazed through the supper hour. Every Brinkman for themselves. Survival mode.
Survival mode demands a level of energy that can only be sustained for so long. With a depletion of resources comes “Checking-out” mode. Checking-out {for me} looks like distractions (Netflix, shopping, disconnected eating, monitoring my bank account, monitoring my body shape, and on and on), demanding (asking everyone else to change), defensiveness (Saying and thinking: I’m having a more difficult time than you). Stuck.
Stuck. Stuck. Stuck.
And then, something wakes me up (a friend, a poem, a verse, a therapist, a something bigger than myself). I see the cycle at play. I remember to pause and breathe. Space is made for this tried-and-true phrase to surfaces in my conscious thought: “Ah, so this is how it is.” An acknowledgment of suffering and lack of control is the invitation to move from resistance to self-compassion. The ability to bear witness to the pain without becoming the pain.
This newsletter is coming to you later than I planned because of real life. At the beginning of the week I was challenged and went into survival mode. At the end of the week I was busy checking-out. Last night my daughter said, “something isn’t right with you.” My husband said, “something isn’t right with you.” And, I woke up. Ah, so this is what it is to resist virtual school and a pandemic and making dinner meals. Ah, so this is how it is...real life today for Liz Brinkman.
Here’s where the containment comes in. This is MY version of the very old story of being human. I’m telling it to you today: I’m met with a challenging situation. I get busy with surviving. I check-out. I wake up. I accept. Rinse. Repeat.
Is YOUR story in here? I want to hear it. Do need help finding your “Ah, so this is how it is“ with your relationship to food or your body?
Meal Plan: A container for the (sometimes overwhelming) responsibility of feeding yourself and your loved ones.
Alternate titles:
*Easy meals for times when you want to check-out
*Survival mode eating
Frozen meals, Takeout, or Delivery. Plan for it and stop here. Seriously. Don't be a martyr to the home-cooked meal if it will create unnecessary pain and suffering.
One-Pot Red Beans and Rice. This recipe is quick, easy, ready in less than an hour and only uses one pot. I'm planning to serve apple sauce and coleslaw on the side.
Blender Pancakes. All the ingredients go into a blender to produce fluffy pancakes in minutes. Oats and bananas are at the heart of this recipe. To be honest, it's not about the pancake for me. From scratch or pre-made frozen, I'll take them all. It's the toppings I love. If I have the choice, I top mine with a thin layer of butter, maple syrup and an egg over easy. Others may like nut butter, jam, whipped cream, chocolate chips, fruit, and/or Nutella.
French Bread Pizza. Friday night is pizza night at our house. We cycle between delivery, take-an-bake, frozen, and homemade. My favorite version of make-it-ourselves uses french bread as the base. This recipe for French bread pizza is one of the fastest, easiest ways to get homemade pizza on the table.
Pre-made Mashed Potatoes. I love mashed potatoes. And while it isn't too much work to make them from scratch, sometimes it is. I look for store-made versions in my grocery store deli department. Pre-made mashed potatoes are great for Shepherd's Pie and Mashed Potato Soup.
Quesadillas. The classic cheese version is my family's go-to. Add a side of salsa and you've got a complete meal. As for any sandwich, the filling options are endless. Check out this compilation of 20 Killer Quesadilla recipes.
One-Pot Pasta. Here's an incredibly flavorful and easy recipe called Italian Wonderpot. A note from the author: The pasta cooks in a mixture of broth, herbs, and aromatics, like onion and garlic, which really ramp up the flavor. The starch from the pasta helps create a thick sauce right in the pot. It’s magic!
What gets you fed when the very last thing you want to do is step foot in the kitchen? Reach out. I’d love to hear your ideas.
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