This Week in My Garden, Kitchen & Home — January 11th to 17th, 2026
This Week in My Garden, Kitchen & Home — January 11th to 17th, 2026
A cozy weekly recap from my garden beds, kitchen projects, and homemaking.
- Planted: I was able to up-pot the plants that I couldn't seem to get tended to regularly in the garage. I felt as though a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I take stewardship of my plants personally, so I was feeling a little sad each time I looked at them when I walked into the garage.
- Germination/Growth: I planted garlic on December 26th. With the ups and downs of the weather, I knew it was bound to sprout soon. I noticed a few sprouts pushing through the soil and straw mulch on Monday
- Harvest: Lots of celery from the GreenStalks near the house. I tend to keep my celery small and slender by planting it close together.
- Challenges: Another frost rolled in overnight from Sunday to Monday morning. It had rained for days leading up to the frost. I believe this helped insulate the plants from demise, but I was crestfallen to see the limp plants on Monday morning.
- Favorite moment: My favorite moment in the garden this week was realizing that I was planting the very first seeds of 2026. Sitting there at my hydroponic system, dropping those tiny seeds into place, it suddenly felt significant in a quiet way. A new garden year had begun, gently and intentionally. I captured it on video, and I can’t wait to share that moment with you soon.
- Cooked/Baked: I have been making sourdough discard cheese pizzas on repeat for a few weeks. I use homemade pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, lemon basil, and lettuce leaf basil harvested from my hydroponic garden. Also, one night on a whim, two great minds and their respective cravings decided to make a batch of late-night brownies. A little baking spice blend added to the batter gave a subtle warmth to each bite.
- Preserved: Two of my existing hydroponic gardens have been giving me a steady supply of catnip, kapoor tulsi basil, blue spice basil, and Thai basil. I harvested and freeze-dried these herbs. Then I jarred them up and put them in my makeshift apothecary area.
- Pantry wins: The freeze-dried onions and mushrooms I have in my pantry just keep giving me a small push to complete a meal a little faster. I am grateful to past Nadja for taking care of current Nadja with these preservation projects.
- Tool or tip of the week: I have a pair of small needle-nose pliers from the Dollar Tree craft section. I think they are for jewelry making. I have found them useful for removing those sealing lids from food items that are in squeeze bottles, such as ketchup and yellow mustard.
Recipe: Cozy Chickpea Curry (Work-Lunch Edition)
This week’s work lunches came together in a way that felt grounding and surprisingly emotional. I didn’t set out to follow a strict recipe — I just used what I had, trusted my pantry, and adjusted as I went. What I ended up with was a creamy, tomato-rich chickpea curry that hit a need I didn’t quite know how to name until it showed up in the pot.
Here’s what went into it:
- Home-canned chickpeas (the real MVP)
- Onion
- Garlic
- Fresh ginger
- Diced tomatoes
- Tomato sauce
- Tomato paste
- Coconut milk
- Olive oil
- Jamaican curry powder (Blue Mountain Country)
- Garam masala
- Ground coriander
- Salt (to taste)
- A pinch of MSG (optional, but it really rounded things out)
- Lemon juice, with lime juice saved for individual servings
- Kashmiri chili powder, added gently for warmth and color
I also used the very last of my fall-harvested dwarf tomatoes — picked green, ripened slowly on the counter, and finally folded into this curry. That part felt especially meaningful.
This isn’t a spicy curry. It’s a comfort curry. Tomato-forward, softly spiced, creamy without being heavy, and exactly the kind of thing I’ll be happy to open at work for the next few days.
- Rituals: I have enjoyed the room and linen sprays I created. I keep them on my nightstand so I can spray the room and my pillow before drifting off to sleep.
- Self-care: I have been crocheting on my 2024 temperature blanket a lot this past week. Currently, I am in August 2024. It has been an activity I have been reaching for during my off days and for winding down after completing my second shift work days.
This week reminded me that life doesn’t have to be loud to be meaningful.
Rest, small routines, and learning to listen sooner—to my body, my home, and my nervous system—felt like real progress.
- Garden: I plan to get seeds started for tomatoes, peppers, hibiscus, lemongrass, and eucalyptus in the next week or so.
- Kitchen: I would like to complete some canning projects. I have some gaps in my pantry staples, such as beans, but I would like to prioritize canning potatoes since I have not done that before.
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