Hurry Up...and Wait...

 I've heard about it for years, I've joked about it for years, the mantra of the military is hurry up and wait...But OMG is the hurry up and wait getting to me this time.

We know what the orders are

We know the dates

We can't actually do anything because the actual orders themselves haven't dropped.   I need to get little dude on the CDC wait list, we need to find out if military housing is a viable option or if we need to secure civilian housing, we need to schedule movers and ship hubbys car...so many things to do and none of them can be done yet.  So many different pieces that all rely on each other.  

So I'm doing my best to channel my stress into productive actions.  We know regardless of all the other stuff that we will be selling our house, so I've moved into full scale get this place ready to list mode.  We have gone through our entire bedroom and purged our wardrobes down to what could probably be considered minimalist capsule wardrobes at this point.  I have thrown out/donated pretty much anything that doesn't bring me joy in every room except our master bathroom and office, and now we are preparing to move on to minor painting and landscaping work.  

Today we have a sitter for little dude so I'm hoping we can finish our master bathroom (I don't even want to think about the expired/old makeup I'm about to throw out), office, and hopefully go through the 2 giant totes of hand me downs for little dude that I haven't looked at yet (They all start at size 3T so he isn't ready for them but I honestly have no clue what people have given us) today.  It's an ambitious goal but one I'm willing to work towards.

One of the sailors at Hubby's command tested positive for the plague last week, he was technically exposed but they were both masked and more than 6 feet apart plus hubby is vaccinated so we aren't overly concerned about it being brought into the house, however out of an abundance of caution he will be staying home Monday so I'm hoping he can scoot our china cabinet and bar out from the wall in our dining room and tape around the edges for me so that I can get the trim work in there painted this week.  Things are starting to move into a bit slower season for me at work so I should be able to sneak in a few longer lunches this week to knock out some stuff.  Once we finish purging stuff really all that is left to do is paint the trim in our dining room and living room and put mulch in the flower beds.  I would also like to paint the master bathroom but at the same time I don't necessarily think that it will be a make or break item for selling the house. 

My real drop dead goal is to have my personal to-do list done by May 2 so that our realtor can come the first week of May and hopefully start helping me properly stage the house and take pictures to get things listed or at the very least give us her list of things we have missed.  

Wish me luck!

Starting a New School (Daycare) During a Global Pandemic

 Since a lot of kids are in the process of going back to school right now and I know that looks very different from last year for all of them wether they are going back for in person instruction or virtual learning or some sort of hybrid model due to the current pandemic I thought I would take a moment to talk about our decision to not only send Little Dude back to daycare but to start at a completely new facility in June during what we thought at the the time was the height of the pandemic for our area.  

The daycare that Little Dude attended in Virginia Beach from the time he was 11 weeks old until he was approximently 8 months old (with a brief hiatus when we had to go back to Kentucky to help my mom while she recovered from surgery) was perfectly fine.  I loved the diversity in students and staff and very much liked the way they were set up for infant care.  They allowed me to use cloth diapers and glass bottles and gave great daily reports about how Little Dude had spent his day.  

However there were 2 things I really did not like about this center - first and foremost they had an open floor plan with all ages other than infants separated by half walls at most and with 4 year olds and up in the same area together (the center also offers before and after care so there were 4 year olds in the same space as 7 or 8 year olds).  While not an inherently bad thing it is not a set up I would choose for my child to be in daily; specifically I would walk in sometimes and a child who had learned a new 4 letter word would be using it loudly so that all of the other children were now learning a 4 letter word, while my husband and I certainly drop our share of F bombs I don't want my child to learn those words sooner than necessary.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, the center does not allow parents to provide their childs food, all children must eat the food provided by the center.   While the center serves a perfectly fine USDA menu similar to what I had when I was in school my husband and I don't necessarily agree with these guidelines (more on that later) so for these two reasons we had left Little Dude on the waiting list at a couple of other daycares that we like more than the one he was at in VB in hopes that something would open up before he was too far into solid foods.

Luckily for us a global pandemic happened and Little Dude was home with me starting in mid-March before he was really eating more than vegetables at daycare and I had full control over the food he ate daily.  

Working from home with an infant is not easy, even though he was only really army crawling and not getting into things yet it was tough juggling giving him the attention he needed and getting my work done.  Many nights I would log back on after putting Little Dude to bed or be feeding him dinner in my office while I continued to work because trying to juggle being a full time single mom (remember hubby was deployed until mid June) with being a full time work from home employee was tough.   

In the beginning of May I realized that Little Dude was starting to need more hands on attention than I could provide and still get work done, so I called in reinforcements, my mom came to stay with me for a little over 2 weeks and I was able to bust my butt and get reasonably caught up with my work.  I knew it would still be tough working from home once she left but we had a general idea that hubby would be home soon and I knew once he came home worst case I could make up the time I needed to stay caught up with my job in the evenings after he came home from work.  

Luck was on my side though.  The day my mom left my phone rang and it was Lincoln's daycare, they had a spot available for him if I wanted it.  I didn't have to take it and I could keep my spot on the wait list until another spot opened up but I could start as early as the next Monday if I wanted.   

I talked with the daycare director about the steps they were taking to mitigate COVID-19 risks and decided that the best option for my mental health, Little Dude's development, and our family as a whole was to send him to daycare.  While there was certainly a higher risk having him at daycare than having him at home I was impressed by the steps the school was already taking and decided that it was worth the risk for us.  

Little Dude has now been at daycare for almost 3 months and there hasn't been a single red flag.  They center has not had any cases of COVID among the students, staff, or had any reported related to the immediate households that any students are part of.  I am a little extra concerned right now as school is starting back up since the center is integrated with a K-12 school but they are even taking extra steps to protect students there by limiting interactions between grades, using different entrances for various grade levels and keeping staff assigned by age range (daycare, K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12) and keeping lunches in classrooms.  

Overall I think that it is a tough decision that parents are having to make and that each of us has to make the best decision we can for our families while balancing the risk of exposure against work obligations, technology access, developmental and social needs of the child, and mental health of all involved.  I even have one friend who has enrolled her youngest in a private school so that he can attend in person starting day 1 this year while keeping her daughter home for virtual learning through the public schools simply because the children have different personalities and needs and she felt that was the best option for each kid.  

It's tough being a parent and I want all of you to know that as long as you make the best decision you can with the information available in the moment you aren't doing anything wrong and you are a great mom/dad for your kid.  

 

New Year's Resolutions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Do you make New Year's Resolutions?  I don't necessarily make resolutions but I do try to set goals each new year.  This year my goals all center around the health and wellness of my family.  I have even gotten hubby on board with the goals.  

Physical Health/Fitness goals--

Focus on eating at home

Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables as a family

Introduce Little Dude to nutritious foods and avoid processed crap

Workout at least 3 times per week

Everyone to be a healthy BMI/BF%

Financial Health goals--

Payoff all"bad" debt (credit cards, miscellaneous loans, cars)

Stop buying "stuff" we don't need and get rid of the "Stuff" we already have

Hit a specific $ amount in our savings account

Emotional/Relationship goals--

One date night per month when hubby is home

No cell phones/computers/tv/electronics in bed

No TV on weeknights before Little Dude goes to bed

Read at least 1 book to Little Dude per day

Read 1 story from the Bible as a family at least 2 times per week

Purge excess junk from our house to help encourage a sense of calm/limit clutter

What are your goals for the new year?  How do you plan on accomplishing them?

Writing a birth plan

During my last visit with my doula she encouraged Hubby and I to start working on our birth plan.  She said most people's birth plans are these giant long narratives that doctors may or may not read so she recommended if we take that route that we give the long narrative to our doctor in advance then take a bullet point one page list and/or visual birth plan with us to delivery.
I of course am totally not the long narrative type of girl - So we are starting with bullet points and planning on having a visual birth plan in the delivery room.

What is a visual birth plan was my first question - a visual birth plan is this amazing one page picto-graph with images that represent the different interventions you do and do not want to incorporate in your childbirth experience baring any unexpected complications.   I had never heard of this magic before but I am so excited to incorporate a visual birth plan into our delivery experience.  I am such a visual person and not a narrative person I think this is exactly what I need. 

I'm still researching the different visual birth plan templates to figure out which one offers me more of what I want but I do plan to post my actual plan on here once it is done.  For now these are the different templates I am looking at.

http://www.visualbirthplanbuilder.com/

https://visualbirthplanner.com/

https://www.mamanatural.com/birth-plan-template/

I'm leaning towards the Mama Natural one because I love her book and other resources.

So what about you? Have you ever heard of a visual birth plan? Did you have a birth plan? What kind of birth plan did you utilize? Did your labor and delivery go according to the plan? 

Motivation

I have lots of grand ideas and things I want to do but somehow 24 hours just aren’t enough in my day.   I think a lot of that probably has to do with lack of motivation to do some of the things I HAVE to do before I start on my wants that leads to procrastination and loss of free time.  For example, I have been at work for almost 3 hours, I have a ton I should be doing but have accomplished exactly 1 thing, which should probably have taken about an hour and am now writing a blog post to email myself that I will upload from my phone about how I’m not doing what I should be doing…funny how that works huh?   

SOOOoooo I am going to make a concentrated effort to work on my time management skills and start plotting out rewards throughout the day for keeping on task.  I have started doing this at home and have been doing a pretty good job at accomplishing household tasks, now just to convert that to the office. 

What are some ways you motivate yourself to stay on task?  What are your favorite self rewards?

Quick and delicious greek salad

This is a great dinner, or easy to pack for lunch at work, cook the chicken in advance and pack the chicken and dressing separately from other salad ingredients.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast

Cucumber (diced)

Cherry Tomatoes (halved)

Kalmalata Olives (sliced)

Feta Cheese (crumbled)

Red Onion (diced)

Romain Lettuce (chopped)

Dressing:

1/4c Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Fresh or dried oregano

1 Tbsp Fresh or dried basil

1 tsp Salt 

1 tsp Pepper

1/2 Tbsp Garlic powder

1/4c White vinegar

2 Tbsp Lemon juice
1/4 C crumbled feta cheese (the smaller the crumbles the better) (optional)

Cube chicken and toss in oregano and basil, cook on hot pan with oil until cooked through.

Assemble Salad (per serving):

1 C lettuce

1/4 C cucumber

5 cherry tomatoes

1 Tbsp Olives

1/2 Tbsp red Onion

2 Tbps Feta Cheese

2 Tbsp dressing

1/4 C Chicken

For added yumminess serve with whole wheat naann bread, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt then toast/grill on hot pan for added deliciousness.  

Baby-Making Update

This infertility thing really sucks....no really, it just plain sucks.   I had an ultra sound done in December to take a closer look at my uterus and they "thought" they saw something, so a couple of weeks ago I went back for a more detailed ultrasound (called a Saline Infused Sonogram for those of you who know the terminology) and determined that I have a uterine polyp.   This isn't my first rodeo, about 4 years ago (yes while hubby was deployed) I was having some issues and they discovered a polyp that was causing them, so I'm not at all surprised that this time around we are taking the same treatment route--surgical removal.  
Say an extra special prayer for me on Feb 26, one week from today.  I am really not a fan of anesthesia or painkillers but given my family history of uterine cancer (not a high risk at my age but present all the same) I would be going through the surgery even if we weren't wanting to have a mini-me soon.  Hopefully this polyp is the cause of our problems and after the surgery we will be able to move forward with having a baby to spoil. :)

More Recipe Craziness

So I've noticed that my blogstats claim a lot of people are reading my recipe posts...so while I am by no means a gourmet chef/cook I am going to do my best to post one recipe per week on Wednesdays. I usually try not to schedule posts out too far in advance (I will occasionally go on a blogging binge and schedule a few posts out at a time to keep from posting 5 or 6 times in a day) but in order to do my best to keep the recipe posts going I am going to schedule them out as I write them for the next available Wednesday.    I will also do my best to make sure that as many of them as possible are Advocare 24-day challenge Friendly for those of you out there who need ideas.  

Bon Appetite!  

Chicken Piccata

I was surprised how easy this was to make.  The idea of pounding the chicken breast out so thin was a little intimidating at first but once I got started it was really fun!  We haven't eaten them yet but I'll post an update about taste once we do :)

Serves: Makes: 4-6 servings, depending on size of chicken breasts

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• 2 extra-large eggs (preferably organic or local)
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1½ cups panko or whole wheat bread crumbs
• Good olive oil
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• ⅔ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
• 1 cup dry white wine (choose one that you'd drink)
• Sliced lemon, for serving
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
  Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to ¼-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.
3. Mix the flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the eggs and 1 tablespoon of water together. Pour out the bread crumbs onto a third plate.
4. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.
5. Coat the bottom of a large saute pan with a thin layer of olive oil (about 2 tablespoons) and heat over medium to medium-low heat. Add two of the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan. Wipe out the pan and add more olive oil to coat the bottom. Saute the remaining two chicken breasts for 2 minutes on each side. Place on the sheet pan with the others.
6. Bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce. (Check for doneness by making sure there is no more pink inside the chicken breast.)
7. For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2-3 minutes. Off the heat, add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine.
8. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.
   Freezer Directions:
   Freeze the uncooked, breaded chicken breasts and fully cooked sauce, separately. When you're ready to eat it, thaw in the fridge over night and saute and bake chicken as directed, starting with step #5. Warm the sauce on low heat.

24 Day Challenge Check In

So today was day 11 of my 24 day challenge.   This is my third challenge since March 2015 when Hubby and I signed up as distributors for the discount.   Last year I lost a total of 18 pounds and dropped a full pants size + (12's were tight on me in January 2015, now 10's are loose and I can wear 8's but I'm not comfortable in them yet.)

Today I weighed myself and I have lost another 3 pounds, 1 inch on my waist (which means the 8's probably actually fit me now, 3/4 inch on my hips, and 1/2 inch on each of my thighs.   

I cannot express how much I love the Advocare products and how glad I am that hubby and I have found a program that works for both of us.   The food lines up with my normal eating habits, (with the exception of cutting some of my sugary-food-vices) and has really taught hubby the importance of a balanced diet and helped expose him to a better idea of what healthy food really is verse "healthy" frozen dinners and ranch dressing.   He is now truly 60+ pounds lighter than he was at this time last year and for the first time in our relationship he has lost the weight at a safe rate and continued to loose without massive rebounds.   I am so proud of him and so excited to see where we end up.  If you had told me 4 years ago he would be at this point and I would be ok with him continuing to lose weight without looking like someone who is terminally ill I would have laughed...I am amazed by the difference losing weight the right way has had in his appearance.   

We have started going to hot yoga, (we had 1 month unlimited groupons) and when the month is over we are going to start working with weights.  Hubby is also training for a marathon (it will probably be in the fall) and we are going to do the same 5k we did last year in May so I'm going to start using the elliptical more regularly until the weather gets a little nicer then I will start C25K again running to the park down the street.  My goal will be to beat last years time of 38 minutes (wish me luck!)

That's all for now.  I hope you are enjoying the fun 24-day challenge friendly recipes!!!

Tuscan White Bean Soup

This soup is delicious!  Make sure you let the beans soak long enough and cook long enough if using dried beans (just knowledge from a history of making bean soup) but it is absolutely delicious.  The beans are tender and the cashews let a nutty/meaty note to the flavor that makes you not miss the pork traditionally found in bean soups in the southern/Midwestern US like the ones I had growing up.   

Ingredients

• Drizzle of olive oil (I used the oil from the sun dried tomatoes!)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1½ tsp dried sage
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3½ cups vegetable broth
• 3 cups white beans, such as Cannellini or Great northern
• 1 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I prefer the ones packed in oil)
• ½ cup raw cashews
• ½ cup water
• 5 cups shredded kale
• Salt & Pepper
• Optional: Roasted red pepper flakes
  
  
• Directions

1. Soak cashews in water for 6-8 hours (or in hot water for 1-2 hours). Drain, rinse and set aside until ready to make the soup.
2. If using dried beans soak beans in water according to package instructions.
3. Drizzle a little olive oil (or the oil from your sun dried tomatoes) in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and sauté until translucent. Add the basil, sage, salt, broth, beans, and tomatoes. Simmer, covered, for about 10-15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine the soaked cashews and water in a blender and blend until smooth.
5. Add the cashew cream and kale to the soup and mix to combine. Cover and turn the heat off. Let sit for about five minutes. Soup is ready to serve once the kale has started to wilt.
6. To serve, spoon the soup into individual bowls and sprinkle with extra salt and pepper, as well as red pepper flakes, fresh basil and/or fresh sage, if using, to taste.
   
   

Chicken burritos

I love Mexican food...I especially love Mexican food that I can grab and run with when I don't have much time.  These burritos totally fit the bill.  I did learn the hard way if heating from frozen forget the oven and go straight to the microwave the first time I reheated them from frozen I already had the oven going so I threw my burrito in there and 30 minutes later the middle was still froze despite the suggestion from the recipe card...so yea...but since making them I have already had 3 and hubby has had 2 and we both love them!  

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 (about 1 lb) chicken breasts, diced or shredded (I used the breast from a chicken I boiled to make stock)
• 1 packet store-bought mild taco seasoning (or homemade taco seasoning)
• ⅔ cups water
• ¾ cup cooked black beans (or half of 15 ounce can of black beans, drained)
• ¾ cup frozen corn
• ¾ cup cooked brown rice
• ½-1 cup mild salsa (adjust to taste)
• 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese (I love cheese but I didn’t use nearly this much, I used about 1 TBSP per burrito and it was just enough)
• 8 8-inch whole wheat tortillas
  Instructions

1. Add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil to large skillet. Preheat over medium to medium high heat.
2. Sauté chicken until cooked through (no longer pink), about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add water, taco seasoning, black beans, corn, brown rice, and salsa. Turn heat down to low and let mixture simmer for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Assemble burritos. Add a generous ⅓ cup meat mixture and 3 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese to each tortilla. Pull in each end of tortilla and roll up tightly.
5. Warming options:
   1. Wrap tortilla in foil and heat through in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes. (From frozen, 20-25 minutes)
   2. Wrap tortilla in a moist paper towel and warm in the microwave in 30 second increments until heated through.
6. Serve with your favorite Mexican toppings
   Freezer Meal Instructions:
   To Freeze:
   Complete recipe through Step 4. Wrap each individual burrito in foil and place in gallon-sized ziptop bag. Place in freezer.
   To Prepare:
   Thaw burrito(s) in the refrigerator overnight (preferred method) and then warm through according to Step 5a directions. Another thaw option is to remove foil, wrap burrito in moist paper towel, and microwave in 30 second increments until heated through (about 2 minutes depending on microwave). Open up the burrito halfway through reheating, to allow the inside ingredients to get warmed.

Life happens

True to form I started a great blog project then got busy and forgot.  I have recipes from over the weekend to post but it was recruitment weekend for the Phi Mu chapter I help advise and I completely forgot to update the blog.

The good news: I stuck with cleanse friendly food 98% despite running around like a crazy person (I had fried chicken, but didn't eat the skin and 1 bite of a mini cupcake) 

More good news: the ladies did a great job and next weekend will be pinning 37 new Phi's.  Super exciting!!! 

So as a learning experience - all 24 recipes will be uploaded, I just might miss a day or two here and there. Especially on the weekends. 

This is my shocked face. 🙃☺️

Green Soup

I'm not saying this is a bad dish...but it isn't a yummy as I had hoped.   Don't make this soup unless you really like split peas and greens, you will be disappointed.   Once I added extra lemon juice it tasted much better.  I think the addition of some red pepper flakes during cooking would also go far to brighten the taste and though optional I think it should be served with Greek yogurt or sour cream to give it some tanginess.   

Ingredients
 1 onion, chopped
 4 cloves garlic, chopped
 3 carrots, cut into chunks
 1 sweet potato, cut into chunks
 1/2 cup split peas, rinsed and drained
 6 cups water
 8 ounces mushrooms, halved
 2 pounds chopped greens—any combination 
 2 teaspoons oregano
 1 teaspoon celery salt (optional)
 1 teaspoon thyme
 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh or frozen basil (or about 2 tablespoons dried*) 
 1 tablespoon cashew butter (optional, but good)
 1 tablespoon lemon juice
 salt to taste
 –Optional Garnishes:
 Lemon slices
 Plain soy or Greek yogurt
Instructions
1. Place the first 6 ingredients into a large pressure cooker, seal, and bring to high pressure. Reduce heat to maintain high pressure for 8 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pressure to come down naturally while you prepare the remaining ingredients. (For stove-top cooking, simmer until split peas are tender, about 30 to 45 minutes.  I used the stove top method)
2. When the pressure is down, use a hand blender to puree the soup. Or, blend in batches in a regular blender—be careful because this is hot and splatters easily. Add the next 6 ingredients (*and the dried basil, if you’re using it) and cook for about 30-45 minutes, until greens are completely tender. Add additional water if necessary to prevent soup from becoming too dry.
3. Add the remaining ingredients and use your blender again to puree the greens and mushrooms until fairly smooth. Check seasoning and add salt as needed, and thin with a little water if you find it too thick. Serve with additional lemon or try it with a spoonful of yogurt stirred in.
Servings: 4 officially, I think more like 6-8 because who wants 2+ full cups of this for a meal?

Pumpkin Chili

This is a recipe I make all the time.  For that reason it is very fluid and every time it turns out slightly different but it is also delicious and hubby and I LOVE it.

1 can diced tomatoes

1 lb ground meat

1 large can pumpkin purée 

1/2 onion chopped

1 can rotel (or another can of tomatoes depending on your preferred spice level)

1Tbsp cinnamon

1-2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp nutmeg 

Salt & Pepper to taste (I omit) 

Brown meat & sauté onion with meat.  Drain fat and add all other ingredients.  Simmer until heated through or cook in crock pot on low 6-10 hours. This is a recipe that really gets better with the more time the flavores have to meld together.  

The pumpkin gives this recipe a great smoothness that makes it super yummy and makes it so that you don't need cheese or sour cream! 

Here is a picture of my bowl of chili from lunch yesterday!  

Honey Lime Chicken

Last night (and again tonight) for dinner hubby and I had this delicious Honey Lime Chicken.   I gave it an Asian flare by serving it in bowls with stir-fried vegetables (cooked with soy sauce, sesame oil and a splash of rice vinegar).   It was delicious.   This is a recipe I will be keeping in our freezer meal rotation and making again in the future.   It has a comfort food feel and would be great on a cold night with rice and vegetables, so it would be great in summer since it is so light that would be great with a summer salad as a side.

Ingredients:

4 Chicken Breasts (I cut mine into bite sized cubes)

1 1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 Tbsp Oil (I used sesame)

1 20-oz can pineapple tidbits (reserve the juice)

1/4 C honey

3 Tbsp lime juice (about 1lime)

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp cornstarch

Instructions:

Cut the chicken into strips or bite sized pieces and sprinkle with garlic salt.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high and add chicken.

Cook chicken until golden brown

Drain the pineapple, keeping the juice.

Add ¼ cup of the pineapple juice to the skillet.

Cover and simmer 6-8 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pan.

Add honey, lime juice, soy sauce, cornstarch and remaining pineapple juice.

Bring to a boil stirring constantly.

Cook and stir until thick and clear, about one minute.

Add chicken and pineapple tidbits last and heat through.

To freeze: cook as directed, cool then freeze and reheat on stove in sauté pan after thawing.

Serving Suggestions:

Rice

Chow Mein noodles

Lime Wedges

Stir Fry vegetables

Summer salad

Chicken Chili Verde

Today for lunch hubby and I will be having this delicious Chicken Chili Verde and salads.  Last night I pulled two single-serving frozen packages (oh yes, I froze single servings, that is key!) from the deep freeze and we each made salads to up the veggie quotient.   Unfortunately I can't remember when I got this, (well pretty much all of the recipes I'm blogging about this month) recipe from, but since I made a few changes to make it Cleanse-Friendly (the original recipe included whole-fat dairy cream) I don't feel guilty about not linking to the original    So here it is:   

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion-diced

4 cloves garlic-minced

2 whole bone-in, skinless chicken breast halves

1 lb. dry white beans (great northern)

6 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 Tbsp ground cumin

½ Tbsp oregano

½ tsp cayenne powder

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles

salt and pepper to taste

 Serve With:

Shredded cheese (I omit for challenge)

1 bunch fresh cilantro

Diced avocado

Salsa

Sour cream (I omit for challenge)

Lime wedges

Sliced jalapeno

Frozen corn niblets

Diced tomatoes

      Instructions 

• In a large pot cover beans with cool water (at least 2 inches). Refrigerate overnight then rinse the beans.
• Saute onion and garlic in large pot with olive oil until softened.
• Add the chicken breasts, beans, 6 cups of fresh water, herbs & spices to the pot. Bring to boil over high heat, reduce to medium and simmer one hour.
• Remove the chicken breasts, allowing soup to boil and remove chicken from bone.  Shred the meat and discard bones returning meat to pot.
• Add green chiles to the pot. Adjust seasoning to taste.
• Simmer until thickened (about 30 min) then mash some beans to help thicken.
• Serve each bowl of chili topped with shredded cheese and fresh cilantro leaves.

Prepare then freeze in portions.  Reheat on stove or microwave after thawing.

Edited to add picture of lunch today! 

Lets get organized!!!

A Bowl Full of Lemons is hosting their 2016 Home Organization 101 Series starting tomorrow and I'm going to join in the fun.
I participated a few years ago when I still lived in our apartment in Georgia and it was great, lord knows our house can use some organizational help!  

So who is with me???