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

God's Hugs

I recently (3 days ago) returned from a trip to New England and I guess you could say that this was one of those things that was on my "bucket list". My whole life, be it growing up in sunny California or most recently living in the big state of Texas, I have daydreamed about those Courier and Ives magazines with the covered bridges and the small town warmth that appeared to jump from the pages. For me, this was that trip. I departed with two other girlfriends, one an artist and the other a nature girl, along with myself the "foodie" (more blogs later on that). The trip was a whirlwind 4 states in 4 days, but we did it. All five senses came alive on this trip. The air was crisp with the hint of pine and a rustic dampness from the piles of leaves that covered the earth wherever we traveled. The people were kind and appeared to be hard workers from days gone by - you did not see them on cell phones making business calls but rather slowly discussing the days events and how the weather was changing with the people around them.

It was quiet out in the mountains. Occasionally a gust of wind would stir up and produce just enough vigor to make a pile of leaves do a little jig right before our eyes. We were blessed to have near perfect days (no rain) and as we drove from one quaint little town to another, I found myself daydreaming that I, too, could someday drop it all and retire to a place like this. We traveled to pumpkin patches and apple orchards, drank hot apple cider and munched on sweet, sugary apple cider donuts. I tried cheese in Vermont and maple syrup products that would make your head spin with thoughts of easy, laid back morning's sipping coffee and devouring a huge butter ladened stack of pancakes - things that I can do now, but always seem so much more relaxing when being done on vacation.

We saw wild geese, healthy cows, chickens, ducks, sheep and horses (for my Facebook friends, these are the real ones, not the ones on "Farmville"). We saw covered bridges and red barns. We ate sandwiches at picnic tables and watched the townspeople doing their daily routines. We walked down country roads with canopies of gold, orange, red and rust-colored trees. A strong moment for me was when my artist friend said (as we were driving down a road with trees and mountains on either side). It's like we are being hugged by God! That really made me think. Am I so caught up on the next blog, PTA meeting, e-mail, TV program, etc., that perhaps I'm taking for granted my hugs from God? Every moment of everyday I get them, yet, for some reason, I had to be taken out of my element to really grasp that. Today I am back to my routine. I will feed my family instead of chickens, I will grocery shop instead of pick apples, I will catch-up on Facebook instead of sit in the Rockwellian town square. But, I WILL take a moment in all of this and receive those abundant hugs - I'm jus' sayin!