I’ve been single for two years.
Sure, I’ve gone on dates, and even a blind date.
But it’s been quite a while since my last serious relationship. I kinda like being single! (Not that I want to be single forever, but it’s fun for now.) My roommate is single at the moment, too, and so we were each others’ date for Valentine’s Day—for breakfast, at least.
I made us each a bowl of this: Hot Fudge Oatmeal.
It was a very low-key Valentine’s Day. Emily cleaned around the house, and I did blog work (including dealing with a giant tech-issue headache. Running this blog takes a lot more work than it might seem!) I also tested a few recipe experiments. The best one of the day was peanut butter maple fudge. Yummmmm…
Later, I incorporated the leftover strawberries into my lunch:
Double-Decker Coconut Berry Sandwich
(Really more of a concept than a recipe.)
- Fresh strawberries, sliced
- Soft coconut butter or Homemade Coconut Butter
- Bread of choice
- optional: jam, chocolate chips, etc.
To assemble the sandwich: Spread a layer of coconut butter on one or both slices of the bread (or pita, sandwich thin, etc. Optional: layer on some jam and/or chocolate chips. (You can also opt for a sprinkle of sugar or stevia if you have an extreme sweet tooth and want more of a cake-like sandwich.) Slice the strawberries on top and close up your sandwich. Eat!
For this particular sandwich, I used a Mrs. Bairds whole-grain grillin thin. They’re vegan, and they’re really good! (I’d originally bought the package so I could have a bun for my Amy’s Bistro burger at a party last week.)
That’s my giant salad in the background, with a boring (but delicious) olive-oil vinaigrette. Not the prettiest background choice for a photoshoot, but when I am hungry I don’t want to bother with a photoshoot. I just want to eat! (It’s one of the reasons I rarely post about my savory meals. Who wants to stop and take photos while your dinner gets cold?)
Question of the Day:
Would you rather be single or in a relationship?
Being single is definitely easier, but I don’t want to be single forever… I’ve set such high standards that sometimes I worry I will be! The things you have to work for are the most rewarding, and I guess it depends on the other person in the relationship. I’ve had some really fun, meaningful relationships and one that was not-so-great from the very beginning. (It was a high school fling, though, so maybe it shouldn’t even count!)
My favorite Valentine’s Day was when my boyfriend surprised me.
But this year, my single friends and I had a “girls-only” night, and that was pretty fun too. I made a chocolate truffle pie for the night… the recipe will be in tomorrow’s post!
I think that when you are in a place in your life where you are completely comfortable with being by yourself, you are better able to spot someone to welcome into your life because he or she will just sort of meld in – that’s what happened with me at least.
PS I made a modified version of your one minute mocha cake for my valentine yesturday and he devoured it, you can see a photo of it though mine sort of exploded so I called it a molten lava cake 🙂
It’s adorable!!
I love his quote, too :).
Aww yeah. So yummy!
Katie,
Hold onto your high standards, you will meet the right guy at the right time! I married a nice guy when I was 21, but he wasn’t the right one for me, we divorced 6 years later. No big drama, just not right. Later the same year I met Mr. Right, and we have been married for 23 years! In my Valentine yesterday, he told me, “I am hopelessly in love with you, I cannot imagine spending the rest of my life without you in it! I am head over heels in love with all of you, from your nose to your toes!”- that was how most of it went. I cried! We have 2 terrific kids, one is now in college, one in high school. There have been some challenges, some disagreements along the way, etc., but we have always respected each other, and most of all TALKED with each other. Listen to your intuition. Talk about your futures, your plans, your dreams, and about REALITY. Who will clean the house? Seriously, day to day stuff is so important to discuss! My first hubby and I fought about what he thought was “women’s work” often! It was because of his culture. I tell my kids to not date anybody they would not marry, because there is this quirky thing called “falling in love” that makes you kind of see with tunnel vision sometimes. You have to think with your head, because at some point, a lot of the thinkgs you think are funny about that person might not be anymore. Okay, I am done! I wish you the BEST, and I will be a frequent visitor since I just found your blog, and I am sharing with my friends. I also pinned some things on Pinterest. Hugs!
Aww thanks, Nancy. I love your advice to not date anyone you wouldn’t marry. It’s so true… it happens so often that everyone else can see a guy (or girl) is bad news, but the other person in the relationship is blinded by love!
I agree with you: taking photos when you want to eat is so hard! So many of my pics come out just so-so because I wasn’t patient enough to set things up nicely. It takes strong willpower to be a food photographer when you just want the subject matter in your mouth!
i read this blog everyday! i really love chocolate and make the chocolate cake recipe almost every night hehehe. but i would love to win the CHOCOLATE BARS!
I cannot believe how many beautiful single women visit this blog. Not to mention our beautiful, single hostess.
Ahem.
That said, as seemingly the only guy on here, I like being in a relationship, but I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day…but that’s mainly b/c I don’t think there needs to be an excuse to be romantic or sexy or playful or what-have-you just one day a year. I don’t confine that stuff to special occasions or phony holidays.
=o]
Keith, keep up that attitude (and more friendly, flattering words) and you’ll find more than one of these “beautiful, single women” will end up emailing you! 😉
Come to me, my pretty. Mwhah-hahahaaa.
Er…or something more suave.
Fingers crossed, Crystal.
Mmmm…that sandwich looks absolutley delicious. I will definitely be re-creating that in my own kitchen! 🙂 Divine! <3 I love being in a relationship, but it can definitely be challenging and hard! I've only ever had one boyfriend in my whole life, who I met at 24 (so I spent lots of time as a happy and content single lady!) and who I'm still with at (nearly!) 27 – love is definitely a learning curve, but incredbily beautiful, rewarding, and amazing. 🙂 I love being with Tom – he is my best friend! 🙂 So glad you had a lovely day, and thank you again for this gorgeous sweet-tooth treat – I'm so looking forward to eating this! 😀 xyx
The strawberry sandwich looks delicious! Definitely going to try the coconut butter! And I would love to try a Sweet Riot chocolate bar! =)
Easier? Ha! Relationships do require some work—but being single is *definitely* more difficult AND more expensive! You have to clean, fix, etc. everything in your home/apartment yourself (and pay for it all yourself! Splitting the rent for a 1-bedroom apartment sounds HEAVENLY!). Cooking for one is way more expensive and you can’t split the cooking and other similar chores (although, personally, I don’t consider cooking a chore). Always having to be the one to take off work to wait for repairmen, installation appointments…doing all of the pet walks/care…and so on and so forth.
Trust me, I could go on and on…
Sorry—but it always drives me crazy when people say “Oh, I envy being single.” Guess what?!?!? You can CHOOSE to get out of your relationship and be single. You can’t just choose to be in a relationship and—poof—a boyfriend/girlfriend appears.
So, yes, relationships take work. But so does being single—and you don’t even have anyone to share the burden (of cost, chores and life).
Hello! I’ve been reading this blog for months, and I just realized that I have never commented on it! Anyway, I am currently single, but I’m also 19 so I’m not in a rush 🙂 And this was the first Valentines Day in a while that I didn’t have a sweetheart! No worries though because right now I’m in New Orleans celebrating Mardi Gras 😀
And I gotta say that your recipes are amazingly flipping FANTASTIC!
Aww thank you!!! 🙂
I like both! I was single for three years and loved it but also felt lonely at times, of course. I’m in a relationship now and wouldn’t trade it for anything. Both are important to figure out what you want and who you are. I think!
I have been looking for recipes to use the coconut butter that I received, I am finding so many good ones on your blog!
Wow, that looks pretty tasty! I am sure you will soon have people knocking at your door with cooking skills like that! As for the question of the day, I have been married for almost 12 years and would not change it for the world!
I am engaged to my fiance of 6 years. we are getting married this September. I hope to NEVER be single again. The last time I was single was a short time right after graduating high school when my ex and I split up after a 2 year relationship, and I dated someone online for a month before meeting my fiance in college. I haven’t truly been single since before I was 16… I don’t know how to be single.
From the time I hit grade 6 I always “had” to be in a relationship; which looking back, especially with multiple younger sisters who are now around that age, seems so gosh awful. Obviously in grade school they were nothing serious but I was a serial monogamous dater. When one ended I just slipped right into another one with no time to deal with the aftermath! I loved being a “we” and never a “me”… up until a long and serious relationship ended with someone I very much adored. So I was out of school, in the real world, for the first time actually mourning the end of a great relationship and before I knew it a year had passed and I absolutely LOVED being single. It was great! I was actually really dreading getting close enough for a relationship to bloom because I was enjoying living my life and putting myself first, chasing what I wanted to do in life.
Nooowwww, I’m married to my best friend of 8 years and I wouldn’t change a thing. I think it’s all about the mindset. If you love yourself and your life as a “me” it will be just as great as an “us”, you transition with your mindset no matter what the circumstance. Hence “you can’t run away from your problems, they only follow you”. If you’re an unhappy single you’ll be an unhappy couple!
I’m really appreciative for that long stretch of singledom.
I definitely enjoy my single Valentine’s Day, though I choose to celebrate the holiday as love for everyone around me, not just a single individual, no matter what. This sandwich looks delicious, like a more exciting version of PB & J, I’m in! 🙂