A chicken tikka masala recipe & 10 random motherhood items I've loved.
(plus, a simple meditation hack that you can do ANYWHERE. Welcome to your 15th Sunday R.E.S.E.T.
Mmmmm, Sunday mornings. Forever one of my favorite times of week.
The world just feels a bit more patient, a little less rushed, & a touch more at ease.
And today, I have a little R.E.S.E.T. to keep you company while you sip your morning coffee!
A peek at this week’s Sunday R.E.S.E.T.:
🧘♀️RECENTER: One of favorite simple ways to snap out of anxious moments & come back to my body (takes about 1 minute total…)
🥘EATING: The time-efficient chicken tikka masala I’ve made twice in the past week
✨SHOPPING: Honestly, I haven’t ordered hardly anything since we last spoke… *smugly pats self on the back in fit of minimalistic glory* 💁♀️ So, instead of recapping a shopping purchase, I will do a round-up of 10 tried & true favorite purchases I’ve loved in motherhood.
👩🏫 EDUCATING: I’m so happy— the semester has been off to a great start for my students. If you're unfamiliar, I teach part-time at the university level. In this section, I'd love to hear YOUR stories about a teacher or instructor who made a meaningful impact on you. What was it about them? What was their teaching style? What characteristics make a great educator for you?
🙏TRUSTING: This one is short ‘n’ sweet pep talk. For you. And for me.
This week was quite potent for me! Some high highs & some low lows.
It felt like each day of this week had a very distinct emotion— some very wonderful & some quite difficult.
And that’s life, right?
Some weeks are incredible, some weeks are tough, and some weeks are a hodgepodge of everything in-between.
I don’t know about you, but it can be easy for me to get swept up in these ever-shifting emotions— which can lead to beautiful moments of joy, but also moments of rumination & overthinking amidst the harder weeks.
To combat this tendency, I’ve found it so helpful to implement few grounding rituals to effectively slow down & tether myself to reality.
To return to the here. To the now.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE WAYS TO RECENTER:
Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed, scattered, or unfocused, I can turn to this simple exercise to come back into my body & the present moment. You essentially run through the various bodily senses & engage yourself with your immediate surroundings. While I have never been able to find the exact source of how this practice originated, it is a great tool I learned in grad school and I wanted to share it today—
What are 5 things I can see right now? (Truly LOOK at your surroundings & name a few objects you see. What is their color? Their texture? Truly notice.)
What are 4 things I can feel right now? (TOUCH your surroundings. Feel the yarn of your sweater, a soft breeze on your skin, the firmness of the chair you sit on, etc. How does it feel? Be present with what you can tangibly touch.)
What are 3 things I can hear right now? (LISTEN to your surroundings— both obvious & subtle. The playlist at the coffee shop, the whir of the heater, the wind howling outside, muted conversations in the distance, etc.)
What are 2 things I can smell right now? (SNIFF your surroundings. Lol— that sounds a lot less romantic, doesn’t it? But, truly, hear me out. Take a moment to note any scents that surround you. I am always surprised at what I notice in this step!)
What is 1 thing I can taste right now? (PAY ATTENTION to any tastes— perhaps you are having a meal or drink and you note specific flavors, salty air, or maybe it’s just noting the feel of your mouth and breath in that moment.)
This technique is very simple, can be done anywhere, and only takes about a minute— yet it always anchors me to the present moment.
Running through this list takes me from living solely in my thoughts to truly BEING in my body. And, ahhh, what a gift that is.
Pssst: was this helpful? Below is another one of my go-to techniques for grounding & emotional processing. (This one is somehow even more impactful & efficient)
This week, I cooked dinner for a little girls’ night. It was a Monday, I was a bit short on time, but still wanted to create something delicious, cozy, & flavorful.
Insert: chicken tikka masala. Forever of my favorite comfort meals!
While I've made this from scratch before, I wanted to streamline it a bit and ended up using a paste instead of all the classic seasonings individually. Muuuuch more simple, but still turned out delicious!
Here’s how I made it—
THE CHICKEN:
Take some uncooked chicken breast, cut into chunks (about 2-3 cups worth total?) and place in a bowl.
Then, add 1/3 cup of full-fat plain yogurt and 2 tablespoons of masala curry paste (if your grocer doesn’t have the specific masala curry paste, you could sub with a red curry paste. It wouldn’t be a true tikka masala and would have more of a Thai influence, but could be an adequate substitution!).
Mix thoroughly to coat the chicken in the yogurt & curry paste mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
THE SAUCE:
Heat 3 tablespoons of organic butter in the pan of your choice (I used medium heat).
Chop up half an onion (I used yellow) and add it to the butter.
Finely chop 4 cloves of garlic and add them to the butter & onions.
Sauté the butter, onion, and garlic until fragrant and somewhat cooked through.
Next, take the chicken from the fridge, remove from the yogurt/curry marinade, and add the chicken to the pan with the butter. Cook the chicken in the buttery mixture for about 5 minutes, stirring somewhat frequently to ensure all sides of the chicken are cooked.
Then, add about 1 cup of organic tomato sauce, 2 more tablespoons of red curry paste, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. I also threw in a dash of smoked paprika on a whim? That is totally optional. Stir occasionally, allowing the the chicken to cook through.
After about 5 minutes of stirring that mixture, add in half of a can of full-fat coconut milk (and maybe a few extra tablespoons of butter if you’re feeling naughty….). Stir again, cook for a few more minutes until well-mixed, and the sauce thickens a bit. And, boom, you’re ready!
Serve over basmati rice, top with cilantro (an absolute must in my opinion), and maybe some naan bread if you’re lucky. Yum yum! Easy, delicious, and flavorful.
Bonus: my 18-month-old LOVED the leftovers.
At the beginning of this post, I mentioned my recent lack of purchases so I don’t have much to recap in this section.
But, fear not dear reader, I had another idea. I often receive inquiries about my preferred baby products, so I thought I’d share some of my MVPs in this week's shopping section in case you are in the market for a kiddo in your life!