These past days have been somewhat stressful at work, and while I try to not think about it after I clock out, sometimes it's complicated.

I work as the IT Manager at an accounting corporation, and we're rapidly approaching end of year operations, and what's scarier... tax season is almost one month away! The problem is that the system is not behaving well.
I could go on explaining how it is slow, those unnecessary Windows processes I monitor and close, tips on how to optimise the system... but come on, you don't want to read that, we are here because of the food!

Something I haven't mentioned in previous posts is that besides eating, I also enjoy a lot preparing food. There is some magic on it which I just can't describe with words, but it relaxes me.
Maybe it's that feeling of creating something, just as I wish, and the expectation of how is it going to look and taste once I finish. I don't know, I just enjoy it.
I also love cooking for people, I genuinely put a great effort into it, but even when I cook for just myself, I find it fulfilling.

So in these moments of stress and hunger, I decided to prepare lunch while I was waiting for some processes to finish in my laptop, so I took my utensils and ingredients.

Today's meal:

First of all, I have to admit it wasn't something hard or laborious; after all, I was tired from work.
I prepared spaghetti with Alfredo sauce, mushrooms and shredded chicken.

Preparation:

I usually don't give out my recipes, but this one is way too easy it would be ridiculous not to share.

One of the two steps that take the most time is the shredded chicken, which is also an easy step. You just have to cover the chicken with water, (I used breast because it's the part I like the most, and the one with most meat, although not everyone like it stating it's dry; you can use thighs instead), and season it as you wish. In my case, I just put some salt, a little olive oil, and put an onion in the water while cooking it. Boil the water, and once it's completely cooked, just shred it; you can use your fingers, two forks (my method), or apparently, you can also use a mixer at the lowest level.
I did this step 2 days ago, so I already had my shredded chicken ready and standing by.

Next, it's moment to prepare the pasta! Here the tricky part is to know how much to use. I let my hand go loose and ended making pasta for at least 3 days 😕.
To make pasta, you just need to boil some water, add salt and again, a few olive oil (sometimes I use garlic oil, it gives it a different but excellent flavour) and wait for the pasta to be soft.
Once ready, I put it aside to drain and continue to prepare the rest of the sauce.

Using the same pot, I first put the mushrooms to sautée them until they look fried-brownish. I added the chicken to the mushrooms, and not long after I pour the Alfredo sauce.
This time I don't have the full recipe for the sauce, I cheated a little and bought it ready to use. I used Walmart's brand, "Great Value", and honestly, it's not bad at all. On the contrary, it was flavourful, thick, and creamy.
All I had to do by now was stir so that anything got overcooked or stuck at the bottom of the pot.



When ready, the last step is to put the pasta with the sauce and mix some more so that all pasta gets soaked. 
Bam… ready to serve, and it all took me no more than an hour. My lunch for 3 days was ready!


Something as easy as this can help me be calm again. And since I do like cooking I might be sharing experiences and recipes like this in the future, probably some other more elaborate.

I'm enjoying writing these series, but it would also be awesome to read you.
What do you think? Do you enjoy cooking too? And, what do you like to prepare to de-stress?
Feel free to leave your comments.


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