The Move

Hey everyone!

I've been through a few long days lately. I barely had the energy to write, but things had started piling up in my head, so I felt it was time to get it out of my system.

The main thing is that last week was the big move. It wasn't a simple process — lots of trips back and forth, packing, more trips, more packing (in case I haven't mentioned packing enough already). Plenty of early mornings (I already wake up early normally, but this was even earlier), and endless things to take care of. But that's just part of it. I'm not complaining, because for me this is a positive change — I just still need to get used to it.

The whole weekend was spent arranging our existing belongings: unpacking boxes, and an endless number of store runs. I might have overdone the shopping a bit, because I like having every tool and item on hand. Even so, there are still a few things left to get — but I know it'll sort itself out with time.

I mentioned before that I wanted to introduce a more systematic approach to eating after the move. Honestly, though, it might take a bit more time before I actually start building that system, since most of my energy right now is going into adjusting to this new situation.

Of course, I still have to eat, so that had to be figured out somehow. While we were still getting kitchen equipment and tools sorted, the fridge was empty, so ordering food was unavoidable. Since my wife and I live in Budapest, there was plenty of opportunity for that. I'll be honest — our very first meal in the new apartment was a bit of a guilty pleasure, since we ordered from McDonald's. In our defense, we went with chicken nuggets. Not exactly a proud moment, but not a tragedy either. My life philosophy isn't "ugh, fast food is evil" — it's that it's fine in moderation, very occasionally. The key is balance. If 95% of your diet is solidly healthy, and the remaining 5% covers 2-3 days a month with some less-than-ideal food, I think that's perfectly fine. I'm no expert, maybe I'm wrong, but that's how I see it for now.

So the first meal was a small guilty indulgence. After that we still had to order for a few more days, since there was no time for either shopping or cooking. So on the following days I had Kiev-style chicken breast with sweet potato, and then — if I remember correctly — the same thing again the next day.

After that we naturally went shopping at a nearby hypermarket and picked up a good amount of healthy groceries — or at least some of them, since you can't get everything at once, and trying to would've been pointless anyway. That was more than enough shopping for one weekend, honestly.

The first home-cooked meal in the new apartment was store-bought, pre-marinated chicken — one in a herb-garlic marinade, the other bacon-wrapped, also seasoned and grilled. I made potatoes on the side using a technique I developed myself (I'll make a video about it someday) — the goal being soft on the inside, crispy on the outside, without deep-frying. The chicken took a while to cook through since it was fairly thick, so the whole process dragged on. I'm honestly not a big fan of buying chicken breasts like that from the store — I prefer preparing it myself, controlling the seasoning and the thickness. This one turned out a bit too thick, though I could have adjusted it afterward. Oh well.

The next day I tried cooking again. I thought a lot about what to make, and then a bunch of Asian recipes showed up on social media and YouTube. I took that as a sign — this had to be the first genuinely healthy meal after all the not-so-great fast food and takeout.

The Asian dish was extremely simple — maybe a little too simple. Looking back, or really, even while eating it, I kept thinking it could have used a few more ingredients. Oh well, next time. The recipe was this: I cooked the rice until sticky, let it cool, then mixed it with egg and lightly fried it — that was the side. Then in a large pan I sliced up chicken and fried it. I added garlic, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. I mixed everything together, let it simmer, and finished it off with a bit of ghee, which made it slightly creamier. The chicken soaked up the sauce nicely. In the end it turned out pretty tasty — though as I mentioned, halfway through eating it I realized it could've used some vegetables, maybe onion or something crunchy and green. Next time.

As I mentioned, I don't have much energy right now to build out the database I planned. For now, I'm just happy if I survive the day-to-day and manage to figure out what to eat. What I've landed on is mixing up my preferred cuisines throughout the week, so I don't get tired of any single one. This week, for example, was Asian (done), then maybe Mediterranean, then Italian (which is basically the same category), then something Hungarian-style, just in a healthier version. I'll probably need to log this idea into the system eventually, as part of my eating rhythm.

So that's roughly what's been going on with me lately. Well, what can I say — I'm definitely not bored.

Have a beautiful day!

Vona