I made a recipe from my Spring 2014 special interest Better Homes and Gardens: Top-Rated Recipes.
The recipe: Tortellini-Vegetable Bake. Apparently it’s pinned a lot on pinterest. You should probably check.
I was drawn to this recipe because of the variety of vegetables. I made several changes but stayed true to the cheesy sauce part. I won’t be making this recipe again. I do intend to use it for inspiration.
Mmmm. Food.
I might be addicted to special interest magazines.
Owning pretty magazines is one of my favorite pleasures. I am conflicted about buying them. It feels indulgent when I should be striving for parsimony (GRE word). Money is stressful. Spending money on magazines when I could be throwing that $5.99 onto my mortgage, into my retirement fund, or on top of my half-pint emergency fund makes me feel like a profligate. Feeling like a profligate adds to my stress. “I have got to get my spending under control!”
I would like to say that I spend money on things that are worth something to me. Things I find valuable. I believe I often do. I also believe I spend foolishly. Who needs nearly 50 colors of nail polish? Nobody.
(Sidenote: I’ve used three different colors so far this year: one on my toes, two on my fingers. This is another 2016 success, though it’s not an official 2016 thing.)
Spending resources on things that make me happy is not foolish. The magazines make me happy and they remind me of my grandmother who always had several subscriptions at once.
I’ve come to a compromise. I will allow myself to buy roughly two magazines a month. That comes out to 24 magazines in a year. That is far more magazines than I have ever purchased.
If I’m going to continue to buy magazines, I must begin using my magazines. Not all my magazines are food magazines, but the majority of them are. One of my 2016 things (no. 5) is to use a recipe from one of my magazines each week. With that kind of goal I’ll probably get a recipe in at least every other month. I feel good about that.
Tonight’s recipe I picked for last week. I got to it long before the end of February.
Win.
If I don’t manage to make a single other recipe from my magazines I’ll still consider it a successful 2016 thing.
The best part of tonight’s dinner is that I get to comb through my magazines for something delicious to make next week. Best 2016 thing ever.
PS I have all the components I need to hook up my N64 to my ancient television. The ancient television was donated by the parents. It’s only hook up is for a coaxial cable. For reals. I might spend the next eight weekends of my life Zelda-ing.
PPS Today I was even more pathetic than I usually am. My two-item to do list was blank. I felt great about it.