Journal – July 4, 2023

Hi there!

I want to share with you my love of food and cooking, my goals for this blog, and my inevitable frustrations from migraines interfering with life. As positive as I feel about this project, I want to be honest about the difficulties I have to work through, like so many others with migraines. It is undeniably challenging, but I’m undeniably determined, and that has won out.

I am just so happy to be able to FINALLY be able to do this! A year ago it would’ve been impossible for me to write a blog, share my cooking and brush up on photography. That’s a lot of activity for me! And I haven’t done photography in years! It’s all very exciting and fun, so I have to keep reminding myself to rest enough.

I decided years ago the only way I can move forward is to fully accept my limitations and stay focused on the things I can still do. It remains a work in progress, I will always want to do more. This past week I have postponed my plans a few times, instead of working I had to rest with an ice pack. I’m nearing the end of my Botox cycle, which always brings an increase in muscle tension and migraines. It’s easier knowing it’s only temporary and I’ll be feeling better soon. I just keep telling myself it is ok to take breaks.

There are so many recipes I want to add! Some of the ones I am working on are: toasted naan and hummus, bite-sized peanut butter cookies, freezer (heat-and-eat) omelets, baked potatoes, honey cornbread muffins, quick and easy peach-raspberry pastry, and Tuscan chicken and pasta made with leftover chicken. There are dozens more on my list and I’m sorting them to create some variety, to better suit my readers.

I feel so grateful to have enough control over my migraines to create this! I appreciate every person who takes the time to view my work and, hopefully, try some of my recipes. The feedback I’ve received so far has helped me to rearrange the order of upcoming recipes, to fulfill requests for certain types of food (like freezer meals, salty snacks and super fast meals, to name a few.) There will be so many improvements coming; I want to make my blog more accessible for different ability levels and add metric/weight measurements for anyone outside the US. I’m working diligently to accomplish everything, without causing more migraines of course.

Thank you for taking the time to visit, I hope that I can make cooking more approachable, enjoyable and delicious! And maybe even inspire a little hope for those deep in the clutches of migraine pain.