Now If You Feel You Can't Go On

Spiced Shrimp over Turmeric Rice

I created this dish to use up some of my turmeric that I was afraid was turning into a bottle of old spice.  I used it on the shrimp along with a blend of smoked paprika and cumin.  I figured there was such a thing as Turmeric Rice and of course one click and there they were, a ton of easy recipes, like this one.  I took the liberty of adding chick peas and spinach to the rice and then my spiced rubbed shrimp on top to make it a lunch box meal.  

For work, you want less carbs so you don't get weighed down and lethargic after eating.  But you crave chips and snacky items, so the meal should have excitement for your taste buds, as well as a filler, like these chick peas and rice.   You want to be full enough that you can't talk yourself into thinking you need that bag of Cheezits to complete the meal. 

You see, lunch isn't simply breaking to eat for all of us.  The clock stops and that time you are with yourself is enough to realize just how out of sync with nature work can be.  Some days it's not, but others it's extremely soul crushing to be in these buildings with harsh lighting and shallow music blaring, so far from where you want to be in your mind, so free.  Some days I think I couldn't possibly spend one more day there, in this prison of sorts.  But then I'll grab my little box that I prepared for myself with enough care and consideration that it becomes a little hug from the universe.  It's my mom, saying, it's gonna be okay, honey, you can do this.  It's my real inner self consoling my ego, reminding her this is how life works, I know it's wrong, I know it's boring at times and frustrating at others but stay the observer and find the beauty in this old world, because it's there, everywhere, you just have to shut up and it will show itself.  

I made the rice per the recipe and after it had come to a full boil and before I put the lid on, I put a package of thawed frozen spinach and a can of chick peas in their liquid on top of the rice without stirring in until after it had cooked and set and the spinach stayed bright green and the peas had absorbed all the spicy liquid.  

As a matter of fact, I remember feeling this way at the wee age of 8 or 9 on the school bus thinking I could never get through that one day of class clutching my Flintstones lunch box with goodies inside prepared by my mother.  I remember intently listening to Reach Out blaring from the speakers and highly relating to the opening lyrics and the dark chords, although reassuring.  The Four Tops helped me to see music and food could always be life rafts and that God is everywhere, even in the suffering.