Swiss Chicken

 

Cooking Breakdown

Taste scale 7/10

Recipe linked below

Note: Use thighs instead of chicken leg quarters like me :)

Prompt Responses

1. So far my occupation is still going well. However, this week, after making my meal prep dish, I came to find out I used an ingredient that wasn’t very practical for daily meals . I made a chicken dish but instead of using regular chicken thighs I used chicken leg quarters. As such, I didn’t realize I had to pull apart the leg and the thigh, and then cut away any residual bone around the thigh area. After cooking the quarters I just had giant pieces of chicken that I had to separate before I could take a piece to school. In the future, I know how to better prepare the chicken and to separate the portions before cooking.

2. I have definitely experienced a flow state almost every time I engage in activities such as work (cleaning) and leisure (reading). For instance when I am cleaning my house (e.g vacuuming, dusting, folding laundry, cleaning the bathroom), I lose track of time, have a balance between skill and challenge (i.e. I can complete tasks without thinking), I know what I have to accomplish (i.e. have a clear goal), and am completely absorbed with what I am doing. These characteristics of flow are also met when reading for fun. I should note that is not the case with academic reading in which, depending on the content, there can be less of a balance between my current knowledge of a topic (skill), and the content provided (challenge) (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2022). 

3. I believe in my occupation of meal preparation I definitely have moments of flow, but they aren’t as common. I don’t know if it will ever be possible for me to have consistent flow experiences in meal prepping. This is because I am constantly trying new recipes, and will sometimes pick meals that are beyond my skill level. I think it will take me repeating some of the recipes I have already cooked, and being more conscientious about the skill level required for the recipes I pick to be able to engage in flow more consistently. Right now I would say that when cooking, I am engaging in mindfulness as I have to be more consciously aware of what I am doing, due to my inexperience.

References 

https://lilluna.com/creamy-swiss-chicken-bake/

Tse, D.C.K., Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2022). Flow experiences across adulthood: Preliminary findings on the continuity hypothesis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 23, 2517-2540. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-022-00514-5