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Healthy Substitution #3: Zucchini Chips.

Okay, I know what you’re thinking: Brussels sprout chips, banana ice cream, and now zucchini chips?! Wasn’t this supposed to be a cooking blog?? Where’s the actual cooking??

And I hear you.

But I realized that in my desire to find more complicated “healthy substitutions,” I was letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Because there were tons of other recipes I wanted to try -- like making chili in my slow cooker -- but since they wouldn’t meet my substitutions quota, I thought, “Nuh-uh. Gotta do those first.”

Which is why I decided to ditch the complicated recipes and continue my quest to find the perfect vegetable chip.

The first step? Shopping.

My zucchinis came from a $3 grab bag at my local farmer’s market. Since I’d never bought zucchini from a grocery store (recall the “Italian squash” fiasco), I wasn’t sure this was a good deal. But the farmer’s market was only two blocks from my apartment, so I decided to call it a win.

(Note: If you’d like to TRY THIS AT HOME, I’d try to get the biggest, most hormone-packed zucchinis out there. Okay, not “hormone-packed,” but definitely biggest. Because the vegetables lose all their water when they’re chip-ified, they shrink immensely.)

The second step? Cooking.

I was determined to answer what I had hours ago deemed “the eternal question”: Which makes the better chip, Brussels sprouts or zucchinis?

Looking at my recipe, zucchini already had a clear handicap: While Brussels sprout chips only took five minutes to make, zucchini chips could take up to two hours. (Again, I believe this is because zucchinis hold more water than Brussels sprouts. Part of the recipe includes pressing down a paper towel like you’re trying to strangle the water out of them.)

However, I still held out hope for the zucchini chips. My main beef with the Brussels sprouts was that they’d been difficult to cook evenly, since the stems were so much thicker than the edges of the leaves. Zucchinis had a more natural potato-like shape.

I saw their promise, and I stuck it out. And two hours later, THIS is what happened:

The final step? Eating.

I took a lesson from my previous failure and checked the chips early and often, so I remove individual ones as soon as they were done. (Because I didn’t have a fancy tool to make sure I chopped all my slices evenly, I knew there would be some variation in cook times.)

The zucchini chips were AMAZING. I really felt like I could substitute a bag of them for a bag of potato chips, and totally have my craving satisfied.

The only problem (besides the two-hour cooking time)? They shrunk in the oven by about 30-40%. Some of my chips turned out to be the size of pennies. (THANKS, organic farmer’s market vegetables.) Which means that if you’re trying to make enough zucchini chips for a group, forget it -- one pan is easily a single serving.

So, who wins? Zucchini chips vs. Brussels sprout chips.

No doubt, if you have the time and the patience, go for the zucchini chips. As cooked vegetables, I’d pick Brussels sprouts over zucchini all day. However, something about dehydration makes zucchini AWESOME.

However, if you’re looking for a more immediate snack, there’s nothing wrong with the Brussels sprout chips. They also taste great and have a satisfying crunch, although they do taste more like Brussels sprouts and less like a legitimate substitution for potato chips.

Also, in case you’re wondering, I haven’t spent my entire month cooking vegetable chips. In fact, my boyfriend and I recently got a jar of honey as a wedding favor, so last night I whipped up THESE honey glazed carrots:

(I’m not sure if they actually look appetizing, but he said they were great!)

Anyway, that’s all for today! On to my week of “mastering basic meals.” What should I make next?

Healthy Substitution #2: Banana Ice Cream.

Long time, no blog!

I have no excuse for my absence, except to say that I did spend 30 minutes of it actually going to a farmer’s market and picking up produce. For the most part, what I do with that produce remains to be seen.

As I was looking for my next “healthy substitution” recipe, I realized something: They all seemed... hard.

I thought it’d be a fun way to kick off my "Food”-themed month, but here I was, having only just recently mastered the art of break-and-bake cookies, now attempting to make a recipe from scratch and substitute in avocados. Logically, I knew it couldn’t be that hard to follow a recipe. But it was still intimidating.

By comparison, there was something comforting about the one-ingredient ice cream that uses bananas as a substitution for, well, everything. How could I possibly mess this up? There was one ingredient.

(Spoiler alert: If you’ve read literally any other food-related post on my blog, you’ve probably guessed that I do, in fact, mess this up.)

The first step? Shopping.

I love bananas. They’ve become my daily “low-fodmap” alternative to apples. I could literally skip this step altogether because I already had bananas resting on a hanger.

One and done. This definitely seemed like the perfect recipe for me.

The second step? Cooking.

...That is, until I remembered I didn’t have the only appliance necessary to make banana ice cream: A blender.

An old roommate had broken my old one, and I felt silly buying a new one just to blend a banana. So, I decided to freeze a couple and “see what happens.”

And this is where I messed up what had to have been the easiest recipe ever. Because... I put my bananas in the freezer with the peels still on. I realized this mistake about 30 seconds later, but was already too lazy to open the freezer. I decided I’d come back in the morning and, again, “see what happens.”

Which is how I ended up with a frozen banana peel could double as an ice pick/murder weapon. “It was Katie, in the kitchen, with the frozen banana."

Removing the peel was not as easy as I’d thought. It took ridiculously more effort to chop up the peel than it would have been to simply open the freezer and remove it the night before. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT HINDSIGHT.

I ended up chopping the banana with the peel still on, and then popping the banana circles out later. Since, in its completely frozen state, “peeling” did not seem to be an option.

Which is when I realized the sad thing about a frozen banana (at least in terms of my blog): It doesn’t photograph any different from a regular banana.

The final step? Eating.

I’d originally wanted to mush up my frozen banana to get it as close to ice cream as possible. But once again, laziness beat out, and I simply ate the frozen banana slices. And you know what? I’m glad I did.

Because while my frozen banana was delicious, it definitely wasn’t a substitute for ice cream.

I get intense cravings for ice cream. And they can only be satisfied by one thing: Chocolate -- with extra chocolate mixed in. Would a blender have magically transformed my banana into something tastier than chocolate? Maybe??? But I’m pretty sure that if I was having a craving, I’d reach for a single scoop of chocolate ice cream long before I reached for a frozen banana..

(Again, I understand that this looks like regular banana. Just trust me: It’s frozen.)

My final verdict? I’ll definitely keep freezing bananas (peels off, of course). But I think it’s time we call it for what it is: A frozen banana, not a bowl of ice cream. In fact, I’d rather have it served Arrested Development-style (covered in chocolate)... mostly because I’d like the extra chocolate.

Anyway, there you have it: My sad attempt at an “easy” healthy substitution.

Am I missing anything? Is there really something magical about the blender??

Brussels sprout chips revisited!

Today, I was supposed to try a new healthy substitution recipe as part of my four “Food”-related goals for September.

However, since my Brussels sprout chips came out less-than-appetizing earlier this week, I wanted to give them another shot. After all, practice makes (a closer approximation to) perfect.

And I’m proud to say this batch was 100% edible!

Last time, I knew I made two big mistakes:

I used too much salt, trying to compensate for the healthy Brussels sprout substitution.

I left them in for too long, blindly following the recipe instead of considering that my oven might cook faster.

So, this time, I measured the proper amount of salt into a teaspoon over the sink, rather than shaking it directly into the mixing bowl. And I set my oven timer for 5 minutes instead of 10.

And THIS is what happened:

Definitely a big improvement from my first attempt (which left little to no green)!

And while two attempts does not a Brussels sprout chip expert make, I do have a couple observations:

I still felt like my chips were too salty, even when using the amount of salt the recipe called for. The Brussels sprout chips might not have been more salty than regular potato chips; however, since their leaves were so thin, the salt just overwhelmed the flavor. It’d be interesting to try them without any salt at all, just to see how they taste.

It was really hard to know when the chips were done. The outside edges of the Brussels sprouts cooked way faster than the inner stems. Which means that if you wanted a truly crispy chip, you might have to char the edges. I did what the recipe said -- check on the chips every minute or two and take out the ones that look done -- but I still got some un-crispy chips into the mix. (And they still tasted good, but mostly because they tasted like regular Brussels sprouts.)

So, there you have it: Proof that I can cook something without a co-chef!

Overall, I’m not sure if Brussels sprouts are the best vegetable to use for a mock-potato chip (even though they were still tasty). But it definitely made me excited to try my hand at cooking more types of vegetable chips in the future!

They were cheap, healthy, and incredibly easy to make (once I got the hang of it).

What’s your favorite kind of vegetable chip?

#WaffleWednesday: Cookies!

Can you waffle cookie dough? The short answer: Maybe someone can, but that someone is not me.

Earlier this month, I said I was a bad cook. And this week, I’m really delivering on that promise.

Although... I’m not sure if squishing break-and-bake cookie dough into a waffle iron really qualifies as “cooking.” It sounds like a semi-dangerous idea that an unattended child would have. Nevertheless, it was something I saw on several waffle iron lists (even Martha Stewart endorses it!), so I thought I’d give it a shot.

The first step? Shopping.

This was the easy part: Buy a package of break-and-bake cookies. That was IT. No wonder I’d picked this recipe for #WaffleWednesday!

The second step? Cooking.

This, as usual, was where things went awry. I thought I recalled a Buzzfeed video where they just flattened the break-and-bake pieces into a circle... and voila, perfect waffle cookies!

So, that’s what I tried to do, using only about half of my dough in case things went wrong (because nothing’s worse than ending the night with ZERO edible cookies).

I left them in the waffle iron for one minute, and THIS is what happened:

Definitely not the glorious waffle cookie I’d been seeking. Where did I go wrong?

Maybe I spread the dough too thin. I only wanted to use half my dough, but perhaps then I should have only filled half the waffle iron?

Maybe I was too lax with dough placement. I spread out my dough on top of the waffle iron, but perhaps I should have squished the dough to fill the bottom the way that waffle batter would?

The only thing I knew for sure was that I wasn’t about to eat the monster I’d created.

Except... I wondered if I could salvage certain parts for an ice cream topping. My boyfriend agreed that could work, but I was worried about one section that seemed undercooked.

So we decided to turn the waffle maker back on, but only for 30 seconds... and THIS is what we were left with:

100% charred.

The final step? Eating.

Hopefully, I don’t have to tell you that my waffle cookie didn’t go anywhere but the trash.

If I could go back, I wouldn’t have turned the waffle iron back on. I would have saved whatever crumbs I could for ice cream topping, and discarded the undercooked parts.

The problem is that when you turn the waffle iron on, it heats up slowly. So when something’s already inside it, it’s hard to know how much you’re cooking that thing. And the waffle iron also cools down slowly, so if what you’re cooking is hard to remove (like the cookies were), there’s a good chance you’ll be cooking it far longer than you want to.

After everything was said and done, I was left chipping away at the rock-hard cookie remnants like a sculptor, trying to imagine the beautiful waffle iron under the charred mess.

The only saving grace was that I’d saved half my dough to make cookies the old-fashioned way: In the oven. And sure these took 10 times as long to cook (10 times meaning... 10 whole minutes), but they also turned out delicious.

So, would I attempt to make waffle cookies again? Maybe, if only because I’d like to learn what I did wrong. But I certainly wouldn’t go into the experience expecting to come out with something I could actually eat.

Ultimately, this felt more like a science experiment than a recipe. Rest in peace, waffle cookies. I barely knew ye.

What would you like to see me waffle next week?

Healthy Subsitution #1: Brussels Sprout Chips.

Before I begin, let me preface: This is not a recipe. At best, this is an exercise in what not to do if this is your first time making Brussels sprout chips.

First of all, shoutout to Gina for suggesting this recipe from my list of healthy substitution ideas. Even though they didn’t come out perfectly, I’m already eager to try them again.

The first step? Shopping.

I have my normal grocery shopping routine down to a science: Swoop through the produce to grab bananas and grapes, hustle toward the dairy section to stock up on yogurt, bee-line for the cereal and K-cup aisle, and make a final sprint for whatever randos I need (peanut butter, sausages, ice cream...). I can do it all in less than five minutes.

But now I had to buy all the ingredients for this week’s healthy substitution meals in one trip.

I had to search for things like “condensed cheddar soup” and “evaporated milk.” And I completely gave up on looking for zucchini because I didn’t realize it went by the grocery store alias of “Italian squash.”

I’d been grocery shopping before with people who buy food that humans are actually supposed to eat -- like fresh vegetables instead of processed crap -- and I was amazed by just how long it took them to pick everything out. But while my grocery store trip was longer (and more frustrating) than normal, I still think all the food I picked up was worth it.

And even better, while I was worried all these ingredients would severely spike my grocery store bill, my weekly yogurt and cereal were definitely the priciest items of the bunch.

So, if you’re avoiding real food because you’re worried it might be too expensive, give it a shot at least once. You might be surprised.

The second step? Cooking.

I used a recipe from The Inspired RD, which I chose because there was little to mess up. But, of course, I like to go above and beyond.

The recipe calls for 10 Brussels sprouts. However, I feel like I can confidently say that only amounted to 1 serving. So, if you’re looking to make snacks for a group, you might want to double it. (Alternatively, you could get better at peeling leaves than me -- my leftover “centers” might have wasted some good chip material.)

Then, I tossed the leaves with oil and salt. This is where I made my first mistake: I worried that since the chips would be made of healthy Brussels spouts instead of less healthy potatoes that I would need to compensate the flavor by adding more salt.

(Maybe I didn’t realize how much sodium is in one speck of salt. Or maybe I’m going truly blind and couldn’t see the steady stream I was pouring into the bowl. But after I ate my Brussels sprout chips, I tried a Kettle potato chip for comparison and it tasted like unsalted cardboard.)

Finally, I stuck my chips in the oven for ten minutes, and they came out looking like this:

Which... was less than ideal. Your Brussels sprout chips should only have a bit of browning on the ends, if any.

I assume there must be some sort of bond that a person forms with their oven over time. You begin to understand how quickly it cooks things, and can adjust recipe times accordingly. My oven and I do not have this bond. My oven is the alpha. And I can only pray that it spares my food.

So, if you don’t have that much cooking experience, I would suggest cutting the time in half and checking your Brussels sprout chips at five minutes.

Of course, there are likely a ton of other factors at play, like how low your cooking sheet sits in your oven or how big your Brussels sprout sections are. But nothing bad will come from opening the oven once or twice.

The final step? Eating.

As mentioned above, my Brussels sprout chips were burnt and over-salted. I wouldn’t have fed them to another living creature, but decided to try them myself for the sake of my blog post (and because I’m a horrible monster who will eat anything that’s placed in front of them).

And you know what? They still weren’t entirely repulsive. There was definitely enough promise make me want to try the recipe again.

Overall, the biggest lesson that I learned from this cooking adventure is that “less is more.”

If you don’t know what you’re doing, the trick is not to throw in more of what you already like. Instead, stick to the recipe. Remember that you can always add extra salt later. And once your dish is cooking, check in on it early and often. Because the food blogger who wrote your recipe from doesn’t know about your weirdo oven that only starts when you kick it just right.

But I definitely recommend this healthy substitution, and hope that you try it! And check back tomorrow for the second installment of #WaffleWednesday!

What’s your favorite vegetable chip?

What qualifies as a “healthy substitution”?

Alright, guys. I’m about to get real for a second...

Next week, I’ll be making three recipes with healthy substitutions as part of my “Food”-related goals for September. And yesterday, I posted some recipe inspiration.

In most cases, a “healthy substitution” is just a vegetable substituting for some less healthy ingredient, like butter or oil. (You can find a giant list here.) But when deciding what the healthier option is for you, it’s important to pay attention to your body.

Because a lot of the foods used in these recipes -- like avocado, chickpeas, and cauliflower -- might upset a sensitive stomach.

Why? Because they contain these annoying little things called “fodmaps.”

Fodmaps are short-chained carbohydrates that can be poorly absorbed in the lower intestine. In other words... actually, I have no other words to explain them, because I still don’t fully understand what they are.

But I decided to learn about them because...

I have a sensitive stomach, which is basically a more ladylike way of saying “IBS.”

I know this because I went to my doctor, tried to hedge my hypochondriac tendencies by saying “I know it’s not IBS, but--,” and described my symptoms. The doctor shrugged and said, “Sounds like IBS to me.”

I used to think of IBS as something that plagued old, fat men. But I assure you, I am not an old, fat man. Exhibit A. Here I am meeting Jason Segel (also not an old, fat man), as a young, regular-sized woman:

(I’m sure Jason would love to know that his image has been used on a blog post repeatedly referencing “IBS.” Hopefully, weirder things have happened.)

Why is all this important? Because if you also have a sensitive stomach, you should know there are solutions.

I was surprised to learn that I would never be able to guess which foods were high in fodmaps. For instance, apples are bad, but oranges are good. Asparagus is bad, but green beans are a-okay.

I used to unknowingly consume a high-fodmap diet filled with apples, hummus, yogurt, cereal, and various soy products. I thought these were healthy foods -- and they are -- but they just weren’t right for my body. But even though I knew I’d feel better if I eliminated everything, I just couldn’t do it.

So, I started slow: I switched apples for bananas and meat for soy products (sorry, vegetarians), but kept indulgences that were really important to me, like yogurt and ice cream. And surprisingly, I felt significantly better.

What does this mean for your “healthy substitution” recipes?

In some cases, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Because a lot of the ingredients you’d be substituting for -- like milk and butter -- are also high in fodmaps.

But, as always, every person’s body is different.

There’s a chance that some foods bother you more than others. The trick is to try adding or removing a few foods from your diet at a time. It’s a long process with a lot of variables, but my experience has taught me that even the tiniest efforts are often rewarded.

And once you figure out which ones are really bothering you, you’ll know whether the avocado brownies are actually the better choice for you.

Happy cooking and happy eating!

Healthy Food Substitution Ideas.

Next week, I’ll be making three recipes with healthy substitutions, as part of my “Food”-related goals for September. So, I decided to do some research.

First, however, I want to specify that my overall aim for this month is to become comfortable cooking -- not to lose weight.

I have nothing against anyone trying to lose weight -- in fact, sometimes it’s absolutely necessary for a person’s health -- but it’s not something I have the expertise to comment on in my blog.

Instead, I want to focus on the fun and creative aspects of these recipes. (Plus, if they turn out bad, I can blame it on the healthy ingredients: “It’s not my fault! It’s the avocado!”)

On to the recipes!

Meals.

Banana Pancakes

Black Bean Burger

Cauliflower Buffalo Wing Pizza

Cauliflower Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Greek Yogurt Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Spaghetti Squash Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Sides/Snacks.

Apple Chips

Brussels Sprout Chips

Cauliflower Hash

Kale Chips

Spaghetti Squash Fritters

Zucchini Chips

Desserts.

Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies

Avocado Chocolate Mousse

Banana Ice Cream

Black Bean Brownies

Cauliflower Chocolate Cake

Greek Yogurt Frosting

Sweet Potato Brownies

Do any of these look good to you? What would you like to see me make?

#WaffleWednesday: Grilled Cheese!

I decided to start my adventure into waffling by proving to myself that I could make one of life’s simplest pleasures -- a grilled cheese -- so I never had to order one for takeout ever again.

The first step? Shopping.

My friend (and co-chef) LB and I took this very seriously. We bought bread you had to slice, cheese you had to grate, and one big, fat tomato.

We stared at the tomatoes for a solid three minutes, embarrassed to admit we had no idea how to pick a good one. (If you’re in the same boat, check out this absurdly long explanation. Of course, you could always skip the tomato, but not if you want to be SUPER CLASSY... you know, with your waffler maker-made grilled cheese...)

Our bread/cheese combo for the night -- a show-stopping sharp cheddar on sourdough -- did not disappoint.

The second step? Cooking.

Now, while I’d made waffles in my waffle maker several times, the truth is... my boyfriend had actually made those waffles. I had never been in charge of the waffle maker. I was that bad at cooking.

Needless to say, I was glad to have my co-chef.

The recipe called for buttering the outer layers of the bread. Which seriously made me cringe. (While I’m sure every dish I order at a restaurant is slathered in a layer of butter, I can trick myself into believing it’s not there if I can’t see it.) But I didn’t want to risk damaging by beloved waffle maker. So I left my co-chef handle the butter.

The actual waffling was SUPER EASY.

Because the sandwiches were much thicker than batter, we couldn’t completely close the waffle maker -- which meant we couldn’t flip it over. And because our bread was weirdly shaped, we could only do half a sandwich at a time.

But neither of these turned out to be very big problems. And every 2-3 minutes, we’d get an awesomely-toasted half-grilled cheese sandwich. (You can pretty much eyeball when it’s done by checking to see if the cheese has melted.)

The final step? Eating.

LB and I were extremely proud of our sandwiches. My boyfriend also gave a 5-star review, saying, “Yeah, I mean... they’re fine.” Were they better than traditional homemade grilled cheeses? Sadly, I do not have the data to draw that conclusion.

However, I will say that one perk of waffling your grilled cheese is that waffler makers are extremely easy to clean (at least in my experience). They come with built-in grease (ew), so you don’t wash them with soap or water. Instead, all the batter (or in this case, cheese) residue eventually hardens, making it easy to scrape off with a dry paper towel. Way to go, waffle maker scientists!

So, would I do it again?

The waffled grilled cheese was very fun to make with a friend. And the waffle-marks were pretty cool, so I would definitely try them again as a party food. In the future, though, if I wanted one for myself, I might try my hand at the traditional method (or at least buy pre-sliced bread and cheese).

Also, the waffled grilled cheese was in no way healthy. There’s a chance I could have made it healthier, if I kept experimenting with the recipe.

However, it served its purpose as a great gateway recipe for me to feel more comfortable using the waffle maker for more complicated recipes -- like omelettes or hash browns.

What should I waffle next week?

September: My 1-Month “Food” Challenge!

August was all about having a more “legit” home. But September is about feeling more “legit” in the kitchen.

And thank goodness! Last month, I struggled to make time for my apartment redecoration projects and everything else in my life. But you always have to eat (I’m eating right now)! Hopefully, then, I won’t fall as behind this month.

I’ll start by asking, “Why did I just Seamless a grilled cheese?”

Which is technically a cleaner way of phrasing what I actually did: Order a grilled cheese, walk over to the restaurant to pick it up, and bring it back to my apartment. Which is arguably more effort than it took the chef to make the darn thing in the first place. When I placed my order, the waitress asked “and what else?” AS SHE SHOULD HAVE, because a to-go order of just grilled cheese is a sad order indeed.

I tried to tell myself it wasn’t so bad: Maybe I was just one of those healthy people who didn’t like to keep bread and cheese around, so I had to go out for my ~*~occasional indulgence.~*~ Which is sort of true. But what was more true was this: I’m terrified of cooking.

No one has ever confused me for a good cook.

Not my parents, who store extra Halloween candy in our oven. Not my friends, who watched me survive on a diet of mostly cereal. And certainly not my boyfriend, who’s more than happy to keep me on permanent clean-up duty.

So maybe I’ve set fire to a toaster. Or burned break-and-bake cookies beyond recognition. Or google recipes for “cooking with kids” because I know they’ll be easier. What can I say? I’m just your typical restaurant-loving, kitchen-phobic millennial.

So how am I going to become a more “legit” maker of foods?

Since I scrambled to finish my August goals, I’ve created a better schedule for September. I hope you follow along!

Use an unused device. I hereby proclaim all Wednesdays in the month of September to be “#WaffleWednesday!” I’ll make four meals from the waffle maker I thought was such a smart buy... but have only made limited use of. I’ll ask the question, “Can you waffle it?”

Find healthy indulgences. The second week of September will be all about finding recipes with healthy substitutions. I’ll try three of them. Cauliflower mashed potatoes? Black bean brownies? They’re worth a shot.

Master basic meals. The third week of September will be all about learning to cook basic meals. Three, to be exact. I’m leaving the definition of “basic” open -- except to specify that they must involve one piece of cooking equipment besides a microwave.

Try a restaurant cleanse. And during the last week of September, I’ll undergo the ultimate twenty-something food challenge: I’ll attempt to go one week without restaurants. And takeout. And Starbucks… AND FROYO?!

I also want to do fewer “tips” and “tutorials” than I did last month. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that I’m never going to be the blogger who has perfectly-lit pictures and a confidence about how things should be done. So, I should stop trying to be that blogger -- pronto! If you stay with me, expect to see more honest, essay-styled pieces like this one.

Is there something else you’d like to see me try in September? Send me a message or an e-mail!

My 1-month “Home” Challenge: A Review.

I started off August by asking myself, “Why does my apartment look like an overgrown dorm room?”

In reality, this wasn’t a totally fair question. I’d just moved in with my boyfriend, who had a very nice (and most importantly, air-conditioned) apartment. In some ways, it was dorm-esque: The white, unpaintable “renter” walls. The generic Ikea Malm furniture. But unless we wanted to totally refurnish the space (and royally piss off our landlord), there wasn’t much we could do about those things.

How, then, could I make my apartment more “legit”? More “grown up”?

As the month went on, I realized I had a very specific idea of what a “grown up” home looked like: Something that could be on Pinterest.

…Even though my obviously “grown up” parents never had a home like that could be on Pinterest. And even though I find too-perfect spaces to be stuffy and uncomfortable. But what did that matter? The internet had clearly spoken on which interior designs looked “good” and which, like an ugly child, shouldn’t even bother to be photographed.

The overarching goal of my yearlong project is to feel more “legit” in my everyday life: I want to feel happy with I have, rather than constantly worrying about when (or if) I’ll get the life I want. I don’t want to wake up and realize I spent my entire twenties feeling like I wasn't good enough.

But by making “Pinterest” my barometer for apartment success, I was setting myself up for failure.

Why? Several reasons: (1) I don’t have the money for that kind of furniture and decorations. (2) I don’t have the time to find that kind of furniture and decorations. And the most eye-opening revelation: (3) I just don’t have the eye for that kind of furniture and decorations.

I used to think that I could have a gorgeous apartment if I only had the money. But now I know that I could have a gorgeous apartment if I only had the money -- and used that money to hire an interior decorator.

There’s a reason my dream isn’t to become an interior decorator -- it’s just not my bliss. And it’s not like I’m a shockingly worse decorator than my friends. In fact, the only people I know who are super good at decorating happen to be horrible people. (Coincidence? You be the judge.)

While calling myself an “average decorator” might sound negative, it’s actually quite liberating.

Now, at the end of August, I can feel happy with the apartment I have, because the apartment I wanted… isn’t something I wanted as bad as I thought I did. (Because even if I had the money for an interior decorator, I’d rather spend it on something else. Like a trip to Europe -- or better, Disneyland!)

Of course, this doesn’t mean that I want my apartment to look like a garbage can. I just think that I used to have a hard time distinguishing between what it meant to “give up” and what it meant to “let go.”

And if you have the same problem, I can tell you one thing: Letting go can be hard, but it’s totally worth it.

Thanks for following! And always reach out to me if you have any questions/comments.

xoxo, Katie

August in Review: