Saturday, May 11, 2013

Happy Mothering Day!

For those of us without children of our own, Happy Mothering Day and Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers out there.

I am "Honey" and "Ma" to many family and friends and would not trade those relationships for the world. We are each uniquely and wonderfully made and God chose some of us bear children, some to foster children, some to adopt children and then many, like me, to mentor and love others as they are my own.. In my case, he choose me to Mother, care and nuture nieces, nephews, friends, friends-children, our 4-legged kids and more. I am so blessed!

I ran across this and don't even recall who wrote it but wanted to share and hope it inspires you and helps you through this Mother's Day and remember we all need a little Mothering!

Acknowledge, celebrate and embrace the Mother in you!
So who do you mother? What two and four-legged beings do you care about and nurture? Who do you share your compassion, guidance, wisdom and unconditional love with? What are you birthing in the way of creativity, philanthropy, conscious commerce, etc.? If you scan your heart's memory it is quite possible that you will recall and recognize a special few who are very near and dear to your heart, or you may see a sea of faces of people you have deeply touched. You can also claim motherhood for an idea, product, movement and contribution to humanity. As women who embody the divine feminine, we have the capacity to conceive, nourish and deliver so much value to and for others in our lifetime.

Share the Mother in you more
If you cannot think of many or any at all that you have "mothered" it may mean that you have been holding back sharing the fullness of you. Give yourself the time now to reflect upon this. Have you withheld your love, participation and engagement from friends, family and community? Usually we do this when we are holding on to old resentments and fears. Have you not had much to give because you’re feeling too depleted or deprived? Does getting close to someone feel scary and so you have lived in the illusion that isolation and distance will protect you from the inevitable hurt you anticipate? As you heal what needs healing, these historic shackles that have constricted full access to your ability to give and receive love can finally be released. In this new found space, there is daily opportunity to open your heart wider and share more of who you are. There is infinite love inside of you and it is your birthright to feel it, appreciate it and share it. Once you do, the love will multiply and come back to you ten-fold. And even when it is a "seemingly" one way give, that feeling of loving with no holds barred can fill your cup to the brim.

Share the glee and gratitude with those who have mothered you
I believe that no matter what our chronological age, all of us need mothering from time to time. We just trade places in holding a safe and sacred space for this for one another. It can come in so many forms... from a stranger that crosses your path at the perfect time with the perfect message, to a soul sister that just knows what you need exactly when you need it.

At the end of the day, much of the juice and purpose of life is really just about loving and being loved. So who has loved you with all her heart and soul? Was it a teacher, coach, mentor, friend, sister, auntie, friend's mom, nanny, grandmother? Think about writing, calling, visiting them to let them know how much you love and appreciate their love and presence in your life. If she has passed, tune in and connect with the memory and spirit of her. I bet you may very well more palpably feel her with you still.

Mother the mother within you
On airplanes, during the safety instructions we hear: "Put on your mask before assisting your child'. For all of us this highlights the importance to take attentive and good care of ourselves. The world needs us! We deserve to feel good, live long, and to continue to be a loving and maternal conduit for love, light, and intelligence on this planet. When you feel lost or troubled, the quickest way to mother yourself is to tune in to that all-knowing and pure channel of maternal love within you. If you are not being kind to yourself, hear and see in your minds-eye what you would tell a child or someone you love. That's the mama wisdom within you that you can always trust, who will not abandon, and who has got your back... always and forever. Embrace and treasure her.

Make Mother's Day a sacred one
What suits your fancy? Is it a quiet day of peaceful solitude? Connection with "mother nature;" pleasure pampering; exploring new places; time spent with fabulous people (including the little ones you participate in loving and caring for); adopt a pet?  Whatever calls to you... make it a marvelous mothering day for YOU!

I have had moments in my own life when Mother's Day was not a fun day for me. It was painful actually. But I have evolved into choosing to view, receive and experience it in the ways I have just shared. This transformed a day that once felt empty into one which highlights the abundance of love and blessings in my life. God made each of us with unique and special qualities and he is using you to help Mother someone today!

I invite you to try it for yourself this Mother's Day... and I'd love to know how it goes! In the meantime, embrace and dance with what is and what can be and experience the joy that surrounds and awaits you. Happy Mothering and Mother's Day!
 
God Bless You!

 

Thursday, January 31, 2013

January Goal Met!

As January ends and February begins, I am happy to report I met my January Lifestyle plan goal and have lost 15 pounds and kept it off for the month. For those of you that follow my blog, you know that I have been cooking fresh, low calorie, low sugar meals for us and following my lifestyle plan.

January is a very busy, stressful month for me at work. Not only do I have to keep up with my daily workload, but I also have year-end posting, reconcilations, payroll taxes for 4th qtr, year-end, W-2's and 1099's to get out. So knowing all of this, with lots of extra hours worked, and the high stress, I am so super excited that I lost and kept off 15 pounds in January!

Also, as we end January I ask that you pray for Terry and I. The Lord is opening up opportunities for us at this time and we ask you to pray for us as we follow that He will provide and the transition will be easy.

Now off to set my February Lifestyle Plan Goals and go get on the treadmill.

Blessings!


Friday, January 18, 2013

In the Beginning...

Well, I meant to blog and update you the 15th of the month on my progress but that just didn't happen so I'm 3 days late. It's January 18, 2013 and here is a little update on my progress so far this year:

"In the Beginning"

After another mentally exhausting week at work, I am happy to report 18 days after getting back on my Lifestyle Plan on Jan. 1, 2013, that I have lost 12 pounds. Other than being more stressed than normal from my ever-growing workload, I feel good. As I told you the first of the year, I am preparing and eating fresh meats, vegetables and fruits, cutting out as much processed food as possible, cutting out sugars, watching portion sizes, walking on the treadmill and get back into my Wii boxing and Wii Zumba fitness (I love playing while exercising). I am not taking diet pills, just a multi-vitamin, B12 and drinking lots of water, water, and more water. I keep reminding myself that God made me in his image and I am uniquely and wonderfully made.; I am realistic and have set realistic goals. My goal is feel better in my own skin and maintain my weight loss so I don't have to start back here again in the future.

I know many of you set goals and started something new or have gone back to a specific program, plan or exercise routine that works for you this new year and I wish you all luck in whatever you are doing. Praying whatever plan or program you are doing works and you are achieving your goals as well!

If you are a reader, you know the first chapter of the book sets the stage and introduces many of the characters of the book, well Genesis is "The Beginning" and sets the timeline and gives you historical data in this great book called the Bible. Today, I am reading day 18 in Genesis of my Kindle version of "Reading God's Story: One-Year Chronological Bible" just as I set the goal the first of the year to read thru this devotional one day at a time. It's a real page turner and hard to put down.

It has not been easy, especially with my stress level at work, but I have to say I am pleased with my results so far and pray I can continue to achieve my goals and feel better doing it.

I will update you again the first of February with my January results.

Saying a little prayer for you now; good night my friend.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

6+ meals prepped in just an hour

I just prepped 6 Crock Pot Meals and (3) 1.5 pd bags of ground turkey to be used for another 3 meals, all in just an hour. I love planning our meals, shopping from a list and prepping our meals in advance. We work hard and after work we just don't want to have to think about what's for dinner tonight and start prepping and cooking when we get home from work. I grocery shop Friday or Saturday and then Sunday afternoon prep my meals for the next week, and in this case, we are covered for two weeks. I've been asked to share so here goes...

My tricks of the trade are as follows:
Print my recipes
Make my shopping list from the recipes always checking the pantry, fridge and freezer first
I buy in bulk when I can, large amounts of meats, veggies, etc.
I start my prep by pulling out of the vegetables, herb, spices, broth, sauces, etc.
I cut all my onions, garlic, etc. first
I write the name of the recipe and date the gallon size freezer zip lock bag along with how to cook it (crock pot, oven or skillet, temp, how long to cook etc.)
I work with one meat a time.
I then add the vegetables, spices, liquids and be sure the air is out of the bag, zip and sit in the fridge.
I then go the next meat.
This week I also purchased a bulk package of 5 lbs of Ground Turkey Breast and split it into 3 - 1.5 pds per freezer bag so I have meat for 3 meals for either tacos, spaghetti, chili or meatloaf. All I have to do is move the bag the day before from freezer to fridge and can cook that night.
Once all the bags are done I decide what we will have this week (today I made enough for 2 weeks). I left the bags of what we will be eating this week in the fridge and moved the other bags to the freezer, ready for next week.

Now, saying all of that, if you cook in the crockpot, note to self always be sure it is plugged in and turned on before leaving the house. I forgot to plug in and had to throw out a delicious meal I had planned last week.  BTW, I use 4 chicken breasts or boneless pork chops in my recipes so we have 2 meals out of it, all of the recipes can be made with 6 breasts or boneless pork chops. These are all low calorie and low sodium meals.

We will be having:

Rotel Chicken (for crock pot)
4 Chicken Breasts
2 cans Original Rotel Tomatoes
4 Garlic Cloves
1 onion, finely chopped
Fresh Cilantro (chopped)
1/2 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Cavender's Greek Seasoning
-Season chicken breasts with Cavenders, place in bottom of ziplock and add rest of ingredients. Cook in Crock Pot on Low for 6-8 hrs. Move back from freezer to fridge the day before. It can be cooked even if not totally thawed.

Savory Chicken (for crock pot)
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Onion, finely chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
3-4 Bay Leaves (remove after cooking)
1/2 cup Worchestershire Sauce
1 1/2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth.
Cavenders Greek Seasoning
-Season chicken breasts with Cavenders, place in the bottom of ziplock and add rest of ingredients. Cook in Crock Pot on Low for 6-8 hrs. Move back from freezer to fridge the day before. It can be cooked even if not totally thawed.

Sweet Potato Chicken (for crock-pot)
4 Chicken Breasts
2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 Onion, chopped
1 TBSP Ginger
1 TBSP Cloves
1 TBSP Nutmeg
1 cup Low Sodium Chicken Breasts
1 can Cream of Chicken (optional)
Cavender's Greek Seasoning
-Season chicken breasts with Cavenders, place in the bottom of ziplock and add rest of ingredients. Cook in Crock Pot on Low for 6-8 hrs. Move back from freezer to fridge the day before. It can be cooked even if not totally thawed. I will serve this with steamed green beans or a salad.

Teriyaki Chicken (for crock-pot)
4 Chicken Breasts
1 bag small, peeled, Carrots
1 Onion, cut in large chunks
2 cans Pineapple Chunks (add juice too), or 1 large pineapple cored and cut in chunks and add juice
4 Garlic Cloves
1 cup Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Cavender's Greek Seasoning
-Season chicken breasts with Cavenders, place in the bottom of ziplock and add rest of ingredients. Cook in Crock Pot on Low for 6-8 hrs. Move back from freezer to fridge the day before. It can be cooked even if not totally thawed. Please note you can add fresh broccoli when you place in the crockpot.

Beef Roast (for crock-pot) (I made 2 of these, one for this week, one for a wk in the future)
Pot Roast, London Broil, etc
1 bag small, peeled Carrots
1 Onion, finely chopped
4-5 Garlic Cloves
1 cup Worchestershire Sauce
1 pkg dried Onion Soup Mix
Cavenders Greek Seasoning
Fresh Rosemary (just a few sprigs)
1 cup water
-Season roast with Cavenders, place in the bottom of ziplock and add rest of ingredients. Cook in Crock Pot on Low for 6-8 hrs. Move back from freezer to fridge the day before. It can be cooked even if not totally thawed. Please note you can add potatoes, an hour before done cooking or from the start).

Turkey Spaghetti (for skillet)
1.5-2 pds Ground Turkey Breast
1 Onion, chopped
4-5 Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 cup Dried Basil or Chopped Fresh Basil
1 can Tomato Sauce (or 2 fresh pureed tomatoes)
2 Jars Berloni Organic Tomato Basil Spaghetti Sauce
1 pkg Angel Hair Pasta (reg, whole wheat, etc)
-Brown meat. While meat is browning, saute onion and garlic, drain any grease (should be little to none), add sauted onion, garlic, Cavender's, stir. Add 2 jars of sauce, add can of Tomato Sauce. Simmer on low for 30+ minutes, stirring occasionally to keep from burning. Boil pasta according to box directions, drain and serve with fresh parmesean.

Bon Appetit!










Saturday, January 5, 2013

The Bible & Pomegranate Chicken Breasts

Finally made it to Saturday! This has been a very long week and thankful I am getting better from "the crud" that is going around.

This week we ended a year (or a chapter in this book of life as I like to call it )and began a new year (a new chapter). I started the new year off with a new devotional/bible study that I am reading from home and really enjoying it.

I grew up in church, Sunday school, children's church, youth group, college group, church camps and even went to private christian school. I gave my life to the Lord at a young age. I have read the bible from cover to cover many times over and every opportunity I have to re-read the bible, it seems that I learn something new or I'm reminded of a bible story that I had forgotten. You are never too old or too young to read the bible and experience God's word in today's world. If you are still looking for a new devotional or bible study as you start this new year, I highly recommend "Reading God's Story: One Year Chronological Plan" and reading Ivy May's Daily Blog along with it (refer to my previous blog post for links). I just finished reading Day 5 and again find myself thinking about things from a different perspective; God is opening my eyes through His word.

It's Saturday, Terry now is getting "the crud" and I  just got him settled and medicated, Now I've moved on to prepping dinner for this evening. This is a new recipe that I have never made before, found on www.skinnyms.com, and thought I would share with you. It has an interesting list of fresh ingredients, low calorie and sounds absolutely delicious. I will let you know how it tastes in 4-6 hrs.

Slow Cooker Pomegranate Chicken Breasts
Slow Cooker Pomegranate Chicken Breasts
Yields: 4 | Serving size: 1 breasts | Calories: 279 | Previous Points: 6 | Points Plus: 7 | Total Fat: 10 g | Saturated Fats: 2 g | Trans Fats: 0 g | Cholesterol: 73 mg | Sodium: 225 mg | Carbohydrates: 19 g | Dietary fiber: 1 g | Sugars: 17 g | Protein: 26 g
Ingredients
  • 4 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless (1.5 – 2 lbs)
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • Kosher or sea salt to taste
  • 1 teaspoon coriander
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice, (no sugar added)
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Directions
In a small mixing bowl combine all the herbs and spices.
Whisk together in a large mixing bowl the herbs, spices and the extra virgin olive oil. Rinse chicken, pat dry with a paper towel. Coat chicken with the herb and oil mixture, place in the slow-cooker. Note: this method of rubbing olive oil on the chicken before adding to the slow-cooker helps to seal in the moisture.
 
Whisk together in a medium mixing bowl Dijon mustard, honey, minced garlic, pomegranate juice and balsamic vinegar...pour over chicken.
 
Turn slow cooker to low and cook 4 - 6 hours on low. After chicken is done remove from the slow cooker, place on a serving platter and drizzle with liquid. This extra moist chicken pairs nicely with a small side of pasta. If using the Set 'n Forget Slow Cooker, program the temperature to 165 degrees or follow manufacturer's instructions. Slow Cooker size 5-7 quarts.
 
Bon Appetit!
 
"While we do not look at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal".
2 Corinthians 4:18
 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Bible Study via Kindle

I encourage each of you to join me in "Reading God's Story: One-Year Chronological Plan/YouVersion". The ladies of Covington are meeting on Tuesday evenings at Covington Assembly of God for this bible study and I am going to follow along from home on my kindle. Check it out!

Here is the information:

The new Iva May Blog (www.ivamay.com
) will correspond with this reading plan this year. If you can't join us on Tuesday nights, this would be a great way for you to participate. Her old blog, www.ivamay.blogspot.com
corresponds with our green chronological bible reading. https://www.youversion.com/reading-plans/reading-gods-story?day=1

Monday, December 31, 2012

Blackeyed Peas, Cabbage, Turnip Greens & Glazed Pork Loin Chops

Southern traditions run deep in our family and as we ring in 2013 we will be celebrating the day enjoying many of our New Years Day traditions. I have blackeyed peas soaking and all the other delicious foods for the day prepped, marinated and ready to cook.

My Mother always told me these are the reasons why she prepared these foods on New Years Day:

Blackeyed Peas are for GOOD LUCK. 
Cabbage and Turnip Greens are for WEALTH.
Glazed Pork Loin Chops (in lieu of Ham, Hog Jowl, or Fatback) for GOOD HEALTH.

I pray many blessings for you and your family in the New Year!  

Bon Appetit & Happy New Year!