Triumphant

Flexibility is key when starting on a new challenge. Each week I select a quote to attempt to inspire my fifth graders to greatness and I call it "Monday Motivation." Today's quote is:
   
      "Perseverance, secret of all triumphs."
                                  -Victor Hugo

I love the simplicity and simultaneous depth of this quote. Often in our aspirations we set our sights high and when we falter it is a long drop from the greatness we'd hoped to achieve. However, flexibility allows for missteps when accompanied by perseverance. That drive to continue forward through rough patches is the only thing between you and your (realistic) triumphs. Obviously one can aspire for things beyond their control(I will never be the best player in the NBA no matter how much I dream).

My resolution journey continues forward and this time I am putting my happiness first and my resolutions second. They are after all under my command so they will gladly be flexible or I'll be rid of them. For example, originally I set out to cook a new meal every Tuesday. Too limiting. What happens if I have plans? Exactly. Instead of feeling like a failure I quickly realized that a more realistic triumph would be to cook something new and exciting once per week. This provides 21 meals I can choose from for my Piéce de Résistance each week.

Here is the delicious Bow Tie Sausage Pasta I created tonight:


















It was extremely hearty and delicious. A real quick meal to make, but completely fulfilling and can feed a large number of people for fairly cheap!

Other resolutions. Don't worry I didn't forget; I'm not going to do ONLY food posts. I have joined a gym and I went and worked out tonight for an hour. I also ran a couple miles Sunday evening. Half-marathon here I come.

Reading is also going really well, as was to be expected. I have started reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. If you have a chance to go see the film please do; the little girl who stars in the film is magical to watch and phenomenal as an actress. *Warning: Highly depressing film

Lastly, I tried out Sunday schools yesterday and my church and it went swimmingly. I met two other girls doing the same thing and we became fast friends. They are so incredibly nice and I am excited about getting to know them and all the other delightful people I met much better. I was very fortunate that my church has just begun an after college Sunday school so I am among my brethren and not the whatever number wheel to all the couples classes.

All in all, I have had a delightful first of the year and I am really excited to see what adventures this year has in store for me. I promise to persevere through them all so I can dance around in celebration of my triumphs. May you reach your triumphs and persevere through any hardships!

Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup

(Eat well, laugh often, love abundantly)

Broccoli, Chicken & Cheese Casserole

Please tell me why I have not been cooking myself delicious meals all the time? I have no idea why I have gone so long since I cooked something new for myself, but I can tell you that all that is going to change. Today was my first Tuesday to cook a yummy new recipe and boy did I start with a bang. I wish y'all were here to smell the incredible odor wafting through my kitchen and living room. You are missing out.


This recipe is super simple and would be a crowd pleaser for many. Basic ingredients make it a perfect dish to serve to any finicky kids and you are sneaking broccoli into the mix. The gooey cheese wraps itself around the chicken and broccoli to create a meal that warms your stomach. Golden brown bread crumbs add the perfect texture and flavor to tie the dish together.

The recipe I found put the entire dish over rice, but I think it is filling enough without the rice. I would pair it with a nice cut of meat as a side item to really stretch the servings or serve it up as the main dish. This recipe feed 4 adults easily.







Ingredients:
-3 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I used skinless)
-2 cups cooked, chopped broccoli
-2 cans Cream of Chicken soup
-1/2 cup sour cream
-2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I chose mild, but sharp would add a nice kick of flavor or you could use a variety of cheeses)
-1 1/2 cup bread crumbs
-1/2 stick butter, melted
-pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Add Cream of Chicken, sour cream, 1 1/2 cup cheese, chicken and broccoli in large mixing bowl. Stir and then place in baking dish.
2. Layer the remaining 1 cup of cheese over the top.    
3. Combine melted butter and bread crumbs. Layer this    
mixture over the cheese.
4. Bake at 375* for 30-35 minutes.

Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup

(Eat well, laugh often, love abundantly) 

Fresh Beginnings

I am filled with the hope that a new year brings.

This year I am taking steps to improve myself from the inside out and I am starting slow to increase the victories and keep my motivation strong. So many times I am tempted to improve every single area of my life and by February I am overwhelmed and discouraged. Instead of maintaining the insanity I have designed for myself I end up letting some things go and this makes me feel like failure. Before summer has a chance to arrive, I've usually beaten myself up about all the things I didn't do and am left depleted of all motivation. Not this year! This year I am going to set attainable goals that have flexibility.

Goal 1: I am training for my first half-marathon. I trained this Fall for the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, but icy conditions caused the race to be cancelled and so I must continue this journey into Spring. I have found a wonderful training program which focuses on overall conditioning and includes cross training, weights, stretching, etc along with running. I am excited about this because last time I trained it was only running and I got burnt out. My knees are very excited that this program has some low impact training involved as well. I also have signed up for 2 races to keep my training fun. I am running the half on April 26th.

Goal 2: Relationships. Anyone that knows me knows how little I truly share about myself that is personal. I have a really hard time being vulnerable or opening up to people. I want great relationships and in order to attain that, I am going to have to put in the effort on my side. This goal is one that I am leaving wide open so that I keep with it. My goal is to simply make efforts to be honest with people about my feelings (yeah I have those sometimes lol), refrain from joking when a good conversation is occurring, and making new friendships. The last part of this goal leads into the next one.

Goal 3: Faith. I have a good faith and attend church regularly, but I miss the community that is so crucial to growth in faith. I make excuses of why I don't go to Sunday School, but they are all nothing more than an excuse. I am going to plug into my church in a meaningful way. This Sunday I am going to attend a couple different groups and see which group I fit into best and make a commitment to attend regularly. I firmly believe that surrounding myself with people growing in their faith will cause mine to grow.

Goal 4: Culture. I enjoy reading and cooking a lot, but I tend to let those fall by the wayside when I get busy. However, I have designed my half-marathon training schedule and have a couple days where I have time to set aside for those hobbies that make me happy. I am going to cook something new every Tuesday. It can be as simple as a new way to cook eggs or an entire meal. Since I am single, I often don't cook a whole meal b/c it's only me to eat it, but I deserve to eat well wether I have a family or not. Thursdays are going to be reserved for reading. I am starting off small and only challenging myself to an hour every Thursday.

These goals may seem like a lot, but in reality I am only building on things I already am doing. And the beauty of adding a little extra work in the forefront is that the rewards I reap will be exponential. Here's to goals/resolutions that build us up and make us feel good about ourselves. I am looking forward to a year of becoming an even better me instead of trying to change myself to fit someone else's mold.

"We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be."
           -May Sarton

Back to Books

Ok I got a little carried away there with the cooking posts. Let's be honest, I didn't achieve anything breathtaking in my musings on porkchops and cupcakes; but, I now feel confident enough to cook for other people. Since I've found my wings in the kitchen I think I'll let that aspect of my life simmer(see what I did there?!?) and focus on the thing I love most: READING! I know, the potential excitement is killing you prematurely.

There are few books that I absolutely detest(Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, I'm calling you out).  Most genres are rather enjoyable and I find myself easily lost in pages detailing; adventure, sorrow, love, mystery, hope, etc. I love reading anything from a graphic novel(Walking Dead) to an autobiography.

As much as I enjoy books, there are only a few in my lifetime that have taken my breath away enough to be counted among my absolute favorites. City of Thieves by David Benioff, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, The Dragonlance Legends Trilogy by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, and Night by Elie Wiesel are a few of the ones that changed how I looked at the world and altered me in the process. The newest addition to this elite list is a book I read last week: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.

Enchanting is the best one word summarization I can submit. For the first time in my life I was counting the remaining pages and feeling disappointment at their dwindling number. Morgenstern writes in such a beautiful and engaging manner that you find yourself reading certain passages again and again. Within moments she endears each character to you so much that you feel the void of their absence from the page. However, the void is quickly filled with another delightful personality.

Magic really does exist in the world within Le Cirque des Reves and after completing the journey with Celia and Marco you realize that magic exists in our world as well. Chemistry between the two young competitors is palpable bringing to the surface the romantic in everyone. Morgenstern writes with an ebb and flow style that has you on the edge of your seat at moments and serenely sipping on the storyline the next. Any thought of putting the book down and reading it in segments is rendered null and void after a few pages.

If you read anything this year; let it be this book.

Just A Little Baking

Last week I made some goodies. No dialogue just want to share the pretty pictures :)

Aluminum Chef

Hello again! If you've ready any of my cooking posts before you're aware that simplicity is a winning factor in helping me choose recipes to make. The one I made tonight is my own concoction created from minimal time and limited ingredients. 

Ingredients:

-Boneless chicken breasts (as many as you are serving)

-Mexican rice

-Black beans

-Milk

-Flour

-Seasonings (your choice)

I had a spare chicken breast from a previous meal I had made and wanted to have a well-rounded dinner as opposed to a sad single person dinner where I heat the chicken and dip it in some sort of ketchup or BBQ sauce. Instead I decided to cook some Mexican rice, adding in a half can of black beans to add some depth of flavor. 

Next I dipped my chicken into a bowl of milk and coated it with a combination of flour and multiple seasonings. Remember when you were a child and would get a "suicide" drink from the drink fountain?!? Well you should. For those of you who didn't have a good childhood this drink meant adding just a touch of each soda to your cup. I went old school with my seasonings and sprinkled a bit each seasoning I had and mixed it into my flour. If you aren't as ballsy as me, you can add a dash of salt and pepper. I then fried my chicken in vegetable oil on medium until it was golden brown and no more pink remained inside. 

Lastly, place the chicken over your rice and beans combination and you are set for a great dinner. The chicken was extremely juicy and the various spices added to the already flavorful rice layered with beans. It was a tasty treat that required absolutely no skills in the kitchen; it had my name all over it!

Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup

(Eat well, laugh often, love abundantly)

Aluminum Chef

Okay seriously y'all, this was one of the most delectable, melt-in-your mouth, amazing meals I have had recently. AND, it totally came in a box. This is they type of meal where it is so yummy that your taste buds force you to comment out loud about they joy they are experiencing. After each bite I had to express to the universe the deliciousness that was occurring.

Usually during my one new meal a week challenge I attempt to make something from scratch; however, I saw this sitting in the middle of Walmart and bought it on a whim. I can only imagine how delightful a chicken pot pie made by your grandmother might be, but I'm pretty sure this would give Granny a run for her money.

The magical creators of said Chicken Pot Pie in a Box are Velveeta. They provide everything except for the chicken. Instructions are blissfully easy to follow and the whole meal only takes 35-40 minutes to make in total. (Half of that is just letting it bake in the oven) I'm urging you to seek your local grocer and give this meal a try, you will be glad you did.

Throw in a great beer and this is definitely a dinner of champions.

The final product :)

Mangez bien, riez souvent, aimez beaucoup

(Eat well, laugh often, love abundantly)