bowl of love.

Back in December, a little wrench was thrown in our day-to-day when Gabe switched to working nights on base....6pm to 6am. Although he works the same number of hours as before, the time he's home feels about 5 hours shorter...and the time I'm alone seems 10 hours longer.

Thankfully this schedule-change is only to cover understaffing through February. But if you or your significant other has worked the night shift, you know what I'm sayin'. It will mess with you.

I'll fully admit that in December I didn't greet this change with a smile. But this month (and year) I'm trying a little harder to control my emotions, and actively make the best out of situations. So, I'll say this...there are a few perks to the nightshift life: You can wear pajamas anytime. You can also eat Eggo waffles anytime. Because every time is bedtime or breakfast for someone in your household...and people are preeeetty understanding of this.

Not exactly win-win...but I'll take it.

Anyway, what I can control in this weird new schedule is food...putting some extra time and love into the one meal Gabe and I get to share every day. Maybe this type of love is lost in translation, since Gabe keeps telling me to stop spending hours in the kitchen and worrying about the dishes. But if nothing else, this schedule change will be great culinary challenge.

Today I made homemade soup for the first time. It wasn't fantastic since I was flying sans an official recipe and a few needed ingredients. But it was edible. To cover up the less-than-perfect taste, I made crouton hearts. Because when in doubt, just make it cute, right?

This was off the cuff, so I'm sure there are more sophisticated recipes out there. But if you want to whip up something cute on a short timeline with minimal ingredients...here you go!

Go spread the carb-love. ;)

Sidenote: Since I'm not an advanced cook and tend to make things without recipes, I always get nervous when I post recipes. You know, the "What if it worked for me, but not everyone else?" or "What if I typed/wrote down something incorrectly?" type of worries. So, after I made these I searched the web for a more exact heart crouton recipe to ensure that my recipe made sense or wasn't a fluke. Yay! Turns out crouton hearts look cute on salads, too!