Happy Thursday. Is it just me, or is this week going extra fast? I’ve had a lot of writing projects on my plate along with a corporate wellness event Tuesday and clinic day at the hospital, so I feel like I’ve been doing the mental flip-flop and just trying to keep my head above water.

Lately, I’ve also been navigating some personal and family stuff, so the distraction has actually been helpful. I also tend to do a lot of cleaning and cooking when I’m stressed, so you’d better believe there’s been a lot of that going on. Sometimes, though, you still want the internet to figure out your dinner for you, so here’s an article I wrote for the Daily Dot on alternatives to takeout that make healthy, delicious meals easy to fit into your life, no matter how hectic or ridiculous.

Last Sunday I actually hosted a little Galentines lunch, and it was really fun and therapeutic to throw my energy into planning and preparing the menu. Here’s a little peek at what we ate:

It was the perfect afternoon of good company and conversation. As for the food. The spread I made was similar to my Lady Project menu, but for the appetizers, I made a red lentil roasted beet hummus. I’ve got a recipe coming your way tomorrow.

PS—anyone hear about that whole “wood pulp in cheese” business? I talked to writers for Glamour and NewBeauty about it this week. Happy fun times. Mmm…cellulose. It’s actually not acutely harmful and will basically just pass through you, but why have that in your cheese if you can buy cheese without it, you know? And this is the part where I resolve to take my own advice and grate my own damn cheese…

Do you find cooking therapeutic? How do you deal with stress? 

This post has been part of another Running with Spoons Thinking Out Loud link party, where randomness is the name of the game. Thanks to Amanda for hosting.