Hello Again + Life Lately

Sharing a quick post about what I’ve been up to this spring and summer before I start sharing new recipe content again!

Hi everyone! My goodness, has it ever been awhile! It was never my intention to disappear from this space for nearly five months (!), and I am endlessly grateful that you have continued to visit my blog and follow my social media during my absence. I owe it to everyone to share what I’ve been up to before I get back into posting new recipes consistently.

For the first few months of 2022, my heart just wasn’t in blogging. While I love blogging and want to ultimately make Up Beet Kitchen my full-time job, I was down on myself at the slow (by my expectations) growth of my site and frustrated at the fact that I was not in a financial position to make the necessary investments in a site redesign, full frame DSLR camera, and better photography props. In short, I was deep in a comparison trap, looking at blogs that have been in the game for over a decade and wanting to be in their league.

So, I took a step back and shifted my focus to other things (going back to school to take a science course, working as a personal chef, and going back to work full-time so that I can afford to invest more heavily in Up Beet Kitchen). Recently, I have felt a shift and an urge to return to blogging in full-force (or, at the very least, as much as my current work schedule will allow).

So, with that being said, I am excited to announce that Up Beet Kitchen is officially back in “business,” with a return to recipe content this Monday, August 1st! I promise to never let you down again, and if I ever do need to take any kind of break, I will be sure to let you know. My goal is to be able to share three new recipes a week, but time will tell… working full-time and developing recipes on the weekend is something that I haven’t done in a couple of years!

This is also the perfect time to ask you what types of recipes you would like to see on the blog! I’ve written down several dozen ideas in my notebook for the rest of August and early September, but I’m open to anything. I will try to share a variety of plant-based and omnivore recipes to please everyone. I promise it will all be made with love, nourishing, and full of flavour!

Life Lately

There were lots of great things that happened in March, April, May, June, and July. A few not so great things, and things that I regret, but overall, life has been sweet. And hey, here’s the thing. We should never regret. If it’s good, it’s great. If it’s bad, it’s experience.

Here are a few highlights:

I ran my first race since 2019 at the Ottawa Race Weekend in May! I had planned to run the marathon, but I switched to the 10 km with 6 weeks left of training. I just wanted to work on my speed over a shorter distance before working up to a fall marathon (which I’m training for now). It went pretty well! My only goal was to run under 44 minutes, and I ended up clocking in at 42 minutes and 28 seconds. Not my personal best by a long shot, but it was so fun to be back out amongst runners. The energy is unbeatable!

My brother and sister-in-law had a baby girl in June, so I am a first-time auntie and my parents are first-time grandparents. It has been so sweet to watch everyone in their new roles as parents and grandparents. I have baby fever!

I’ve been making a point of going out and taking in the sunsets this summer. This was a particularly beautiful sunset over Westboro a couple of weeks ago.

Spent the day in Montreal a couple of Saturdays ago with a couple of good friends. We rented bikes and explored some neighbourhoods, went to some cafes, and ended the day with a walk up Mont Royal.

The best breakfast my friend Victoria and I made together: Banana oat pancakes! I topped mine with almond butter, maple syrup, and berries.

Too many amazing dinners to count in the last little while! My parents have been spoiling me while I have been busy with work and life stuff. I returned the favour last Friday with homemade pizza! I made one with pesto, corn, and jalapeno, and a barbecue chicken one as well. ‘Twas delicious!

I’ll sign off for now! I can’t wait to get back into a groove come Monday! I’ll also start sharing some marathon training updates and how I’m fuelling my training if that interests any of you (those posts will probably be on Tuesdays or Thursdays).

Thanks again for being here and reading. It means a lot!