What's your secret?

How do you do it? There must be a trick. I look at these moms with multiple children and wonder how they keep them all clean and fed. The house they live in always seems immaculate. What shocks me is how organized they are. I will often find myself daydreaming about what my house would look like if I, too, was that organized. I guess it's all in the way you look at it.

I was recently asked "Kristina, how do you find the time to do all of the cooking that you do?" I responded with "It's what I do. It's who I am." If I'm not in my kitchen cooking, then I'm either on vacation or I'm sick in bed. Sure, the house could be free of those pesky dust bunnies. And those piles of the kids' completed school projects and that mountain of art supplies seems to grow every day to heights that even the skilled Mt. Everest climber would not want to attempt. But then, isn't that a part of "who I am"? I would love to live on an organized schedule - and for the most part we do - but here's a little secret: I sometimes go weeks and weeks without meal planning. Life gets so hectic at times that dinner will be made up in those mere seconds between helping with homework and audible stomachgrowls. Which leads me to my tip of the day. If you don't already do this, then I would suggest that the next time you take a moment to sit down and breathe, take out a pen and write down 7 "go to meals". These are those meals that you always keep ingredients for in your pantry and freezer/fridge. Be it soup, pasta or roast chicken. Make sure you're stocked with these ingredients so that the next time you come rushing through the door from work to find the dog chewing on a chunk of new carpet, the kids screaming and the pile of laundry so tall that it's hiding the washing machine, you can use your "go to list" to pull off a dinner that looks like you are a "polished and organized chef". It will leave all the others asking "How does she do it?" I'm jus' sayin'!

Coconut Ginger Chicken Noodle Soup

Sauté in a pot the following:
3 carrots (peeled & Diced)
1 onion (minced)
2 Tsp. Minced ginger

Then add the following:
2 32 oz boxes of good chicken broth
1 5.6 oz can of coconut milk
2 Cups shredded cooked chicken
salt & pepper to taste

Bring to a boil-cover and simmer 15 min.
Then add 1 cup of your favorite pasta.
Cook 12 minutes or until pasta is al dente.
This is a quick and creamy alternative to that chicken soup we all hold dear to our soul