The Sunday Post
Suuuper Moist Turkey Burgers {with Spinach and Feta}, Pineapple and Coconut Overnight Oats, Almond Honey Bun Coffee Cake, Flatbread
Bread saved my mental health one year.
I think I already told you about how a friend and I joined a Culinary Arts program to help alleviate some serious work stress we were experiencing a few years ago. We would leave work on Fridays and drive 3 hours to attend classes for the weekend. And just for kicks we threw in an Artisan Bread Making program as well. We attended these classes on and off for almost 2 years.
We were all in! It was so exhausting. Stupid expensive. But So. Much. Fun.
I could’t wait till Friday and this crazy little adventure had inserted so much joy in my life.
Because we were in so many different classes, we often didn’t know the names of our fellow students. On the drive home we would share interactions we had with our classmates but would have to use descriptions like, You know, that lady with the cart who always steals bags of flour and ingredients at the end of class? and Today I swapped recipes with the girl who works a few tables behind me, you know who I mean, her breads are perfect PERFECT every dang time?!
There was a guy who worked in one of my bread classes as the assistant to the chef. He was there every week and his job was to have the supplies ready for Chef so he could come in right at class time and start. He had to complete these hours in order to receive his certificate. We didn’t have many interactions with him at first, except the odd word or two while washing dishes at the end of the night. He was very quiet and unassuming. Moved very slowly and worked on his own. White chef’s hat always askew. At first glance I would’ve said he was a serious introvert. Not social.
At the end of every class he would take some dough and bake up a flatbread for himself. And again, never said a word about it, just did his own thing. Something he would nibble on while the kitchen clean up happened. Except one night he offered my friend and I a piece. It was a warm sourdough flatbread with some melty butter, spices and fresh cheese. And it was so freaking goooood.
And so we chatted a bit for the first time. We shared that we worked in education (which was why we were late for Friday class every week) and he shared that he had just been in his little nephews classroom, talking about his job.
Turns out, the almost invisible assistant was a Nuclear Physicist. He had completed almost every Continuing Ed Culinary course that the college had on offer. Just for fun. He was leaving shortly to sail with a group somewhere across South America for an extended period of time. AND he had also climbed to the Mt. Everest Base Camp.
After I picked my chin up off the floor, and many times since, I’ve thought about the awesome things you can learn when you break bread with somebody. And also, what a life lesson for this gal about not judging a book by its cover.
His name was Ibrahim and his face lit up as he was telling us these stories. And by golly, we had just made our first class friend. We continued to chat with Ibrahim for the remainder of that course and then we never saw him again.
I’m just sharing this very long winded post to tell you that I’ve been loving flatbreads this week and each time I make one I think of that time in my life. And perhaps when I’m mindlessly flipping it in the skillet and then joyfully biting in that first warm piece, it’s still providing me with that little mental health boost that I needed so long ago.
Life is good.
Have a great week friends.
Renee xo
Oh my gosh give me a warm turkey burger patty atop a fresh salad any day!! These patties are so great for meal prep and have a whopping 30 grams of protein per serving! Not to mention they’re made with spinach and feta and LOADED with flavour. These have been an awesome way to help me reach my protein goals each day. Don’t skimp on the lemon dill sauce on top either!
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