What's on My Reading List; The Book of Forgiving

The Book of Forgiving: The Fourfold Path for Healing Ourselves and Our World by Desmond Tutu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Truly beautiful book. The instruction for forgiveness is really illustrated well with fabulously shared stories.

View all my reviews

This quote was a really eye opening to me and changed how I look at things.  Before understanding this I always felt that forgiveness meant letting someone off of the hook.  I like this thought much better . . .

“Forgiveness does not relieve someone of responsibility for what they have done. Forgiveness does not erase accountability. It is not about turning a blind eye or even turning the other cheek. It is not about letting someone off the hook or saying it is okay to do something monstrous. Forgiveness is simply about understanding that every one of us is both inherently good and inherently flawed. Within every hopeless situation and every seemingly hopeless person lies the possibility of transformation.” 

Back to School Cooking; Mac -n Cheese

9 days!
In 9 glorious days the kids go back to school.
Today, I did my back to school Costco run.  The first of a few.
Let the freezer cooking begin . . . .

With school and work and soccer and marching band and ... and.... and.... it's way easier to have awesome homemade dinners ready to go in our freezer.  Today I made mac -n- cheese.  This recipe is also perfect for sports banquets, graduation parties, and tailgating.

Macaroni -n Cheese for The Team
Printable version

Costco in the Kitchen; Chicken Tenderloin Stir Fry

Do items at Costco interest you, but you just don't know what to do with them?  Do you buy them and end up throwing them away or just walk past them and wonder?

From our recent trip to Vegas;
Chinese New Year at Bellagio

I spotted these Asian noodles in the deli section and threw them in the cart.  The first few times I just tossed a little soy sauce on them and threw them in the microwave.  This is still the 10 year old's favorite way to eat them.

Here's a super easy recipe just in time

What Kale? Protein Smoothie

Summer time = Breakfast?  No worries, the kids are not even awake until lunch time.
Back to school time = Breakfast?  Our daughter has the weird "B" lunch in the middle of her fourth hour class and our son has the late lunch, 4 1/2 hours after the bus picks him up in the morning. Whatever it is it must contain some protein or they just won't make it to lunch.

This smoothie tastes so good and with it's beautiful purple hue they won't even know the kale is in there.  It's the perfect way to get them off to school


What Kale? Protein Smoothie
Printable Version

The C Word, Facing Difficult Decisions With Cancer

No one wants to get that call from their physician asking them to come into the office to receive the bad

news.  I am sure, from the other end, they dread making those calls. 

I am not an expert.  I have no medical training or education, but I have had front row experience from the bleacher seats. I hope that you and no one you know receives the dreaded call, but if they do I hope that these 5 tips help.

1)  Find a doctor you trust and like.

Everyone you talk to will know someone.  They will recommend doctors, hospitals, advice.   "This one is the best", "I heard this one is the worst".  Unless they have had the same condition as you, stick with referrals from your physician.  Keep looking until you find someone you like and trust.  My husband really liked his doctor and I know that it has made a difference.

Blueberry Mojito Smoothie

“A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.” 
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

My garden is my pride and joy.  I love being able to relax in the back yard with a different scene almost daily depending on what is in bloom.  Tucked away in the blooms are edible delights that almost look too pretty to eat.  Chives in the spring and fall, strawberries in early summer, blackberries in late summer, and herbs almost year round.

Not big on rum, a server at my old favorite restaurant (so sad that it is gone) talked me into ordering a blueberry mojito.  I have to say, it was fun summer awesomeness in a glass.  It was this morning's inspiration for our morning smoothie.

Blueberry Mojito Smoothie

Printable Version

Sneak in an Avocado

Did you know that an avocado is actually a fruit?  I didn't.  I always thought it was in the veggie group.  Green, slimy, kids won't eat it.  It must be a veggie.  Digging deeper the avocado is a berry.  My kids new better.  "Mom, everything with a seed is a fruit".

High in fiber (10g), vitamin C, vitamin B 6, and more potassium than a banana sneak these heart healthy fruits into your morning smoothies.

We enjoy this recipe so much we have it every week.

Choose Your Attitude

Life is 5% what happens to you and 95% how you react to it, or so they say.  You can choose your attitude is another way of saying the same thing.  I am generally a super optimistic girl, but what happens when the 5% isn't really 5%?  What happens when the 5% thing is so big that you can't see past it?  There are always exceptions after all.

Randy Pausch has this to say about those exceptions,  “Another way to be prepared is to think
~Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture    

negatively. Yes, I'm a great optimist. but, when trying to make a decision, I often think of the worst case scenario. I call it 'the eaten by wolves factor.' If I do something, what's the most terrible thing that could happen? Would I be eaten by wolves? One thing that makes it possible to be an optimist, is if you have a contingency plan for when all hell breaks loose. There are a lot of things I don't worry about, because I have a plan in place if they do.”  

What is your contingency plan?
When are they appropriate?

Indoor Dinner Beach Party

"One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter." ~Henry David Thoreau

This has been a long - no - the longest - coldest winter I can remember.  Looking forward to spring break and ready for the weather to turn we decided to bring our beach party inside for our family dinner night.

The menu:
Turkey burgers 2 ways
Baked Beans
Potato Chips
Kale Chips

For a beach party you can't forget the décor: beach decorations, paper plates, beach boys music, and of course, a beach ball.  We made up fun beach ball games around the dinner table. Here are several variations of our silly games.

Skin In The Game

At a networking breakfast yesterday, someone mentioned leaving the skin on kiwi when you make

smoothies.  It just didn't sound right to me, but then someone added "my kid eats kiwi with the skin on like an apple".  OK, but kids eat worms too.  I still wasn't 100% sold, but I tried it this morning anyway - you couldn't tell they were in there.  Believe me, if anything was funky our 10 year old would have called us out.

Thanks for the great tip. 

I did some research this morning, there's actually a California Kiwifruit Organization.  I found out that by leaving the skin on the fiber value is tripled and more of the vitamin C is retained.  Hey, I just like that it's a shortcut in the morning.

According to Wikipedia to have "skin in the game" is to have incurred monetary risk by being
invested in achieving a goal.  In my smoothie recipe having skin in the game is to retain more of the vitamins and add fiber.

Any Day Can Be Mardi Gras

Our family Wednesday night theme dinner last week was Mardi Gras.  We were late.  Mardi Gras this year was celebrated 8 days earlier, Fat Tuesday.  But, who cares?  Why can't any day can be Mardi Gras?

James R. Creecy in his book Scenes in the South, and Other Miscellaneous Pieces describes New
Orleans Mardi Gras in 1835:

Shrove Tuesday is a day to be remembered by strangers in New Orleans, for that is the day for fun, frolic, and comic masquerading. All of the mischief of the city is alive and wide awake in active operation.

Fun and frolic is certainly one way to get your kids engaged in enjoying a family dinner together. 

Wednesday Night is Family Dinner Party Night

Parents, you know how hard it is to get the entire family seated in the same room, at the same time, to enjoy a "real" meal together.  The 9 year old boy just wants to play xbox.  15 year old girls just want to text.  Frankly, you're too tired to get it all done, so you give up before you even begin.

Last week I invented  the family themed dinner party.  It was Mexican night.  We had fish tacos (we made a cheese quesadilla for the 9 year old), beans and rice, homemade guacamole, fancy frozen drinks and we found a Spanish mix on Pandora.  It worked.  30 minutes of togetherness.

The next week,

It's Friday, Be Happy

It's Friday, be happy for no reason today, just because you can.  Channel your inner child and smile and giggle and laugh for no reason.  Enjoy your day!

The Difference Between Won't and Can't; Raising Kids Today

“The scholars who research happiness suggest that more money stops making people happier at a family income of around seventy-five thousand dollars a year. After that, what economists call “diminishing marginal returns” sets in. If your family makes seventy-five thousand and your neighbor makes a hundred thousand, that extra twenty-five thousand a year means that your neighbor can drive a nicer car and go out to eat slightly more often. But it doesn’t make your neighbor happier than you, or better equipped to do the thousands of small and large things that make for being a good parent.”  ~    Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

 

 

I find that as a leader I am more often wanting growth and development for people more than they want it themself. 

Day 3 - Losing 6 Pounds in 2 Weeks

“We are never so much disposed to quarrel with others as when we are dissatisfied with ourselves.”  ~ William Hazlitt

We are always our toughest critics.  When starting any weightloss endeavor you must have a goal and a timeline that are reasonable and you must cut yourself some slack in the middle.  Day 3 has not been my best day, but I am not going to sweat it.  I was thrown off of my game by a snow day - the 7th snow day this season - and I had a fun day with the kids and got to try out a new recipe.  Not the best day for moving me towards my goal, but still a fantastic day.

Here are my measurements using the 4 Keys to Successful Weight Management

Day 3

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

You won't believe this is only 300 Calories 

"Sitting down for dinner not only helps you learn, but also teaches you how to listen - which I feel is the most important skill to have. I remember as a kid going around the table listening to everyone's day. It was hard to have the manners not to interrupt back then."

Michael Symon

Craving a home cooked meal, but too pooped to slave in the kitchen I created this super easy, amazingly delicious dish.  Whip up a couple of quick sides and people will think you were cooking all day.

Tuscan Lemon Chicken

Printable version

8 chicken thighs, bone in and skin removed
1 box low sodium chicken broth (4 cups)
1 lemon, sliced
1 33 oz. jar whole artichoke hearts in water, water drained
1/4 c. chopped italian parsley
 2 Tbs. olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Purple Power - Antioxidant Smoothie

Smoothies are an excellent way for hiding veggies from 9 year old boys who won't eat them any
other way.  The trick is keeping your smoothie recipe from turning sludgie yucky brown and looking like swamp water.  Here's a recipe that stays purple (ish) keeping the mass amounts of spinach in it your secret.

Clear Communication?

Parents, leaders, spouses, friends, coworkers; any relationship is made stronger or weaker by how clearly we communicate.  Our word choice, tone, punctuation, and even the timing of our message can affect how it is perceived.

We all know that there are words that we just simply shouldn't use.  Their meaning is just, well, mean.  "Don't call your sister stupid". "Don't say I hate you".  Suck.  This sucks, that sucks, you suck.  I was just at a classroom Christmas party and suck seems to be the current 4th grade favorite for boys and girls.

Then, there's the way we say things.  Tone, inflection, and body language all express

Don't Hate Me Because I am Type A

"Hey Type A girl, it's just the driveway.  You don't need to get all of the snow off." 

What?  But, I am shoveling the driveway and my work is a reflection of me and did you see the neighbors driveway?  How about wanting to set a good example for our son who is making money shoveling snow?  Do we want to set the bar so low that we can't look our neighbors in the eye this spring because our son saw mommy do a crappy job on the driveway and he felt that was how it should look when he was out working for real money?  Hey, he owes us a ton of dough for hacking our xbox live account and buying all of those games.  He needs to be the best snow shoveler in town or

Stumped on a Gift? Give the Gift of Your Time.

The hubby and I enjoyed a feel good movie on date night this week, Delivery Man with Vince Vaughn.  Man, he is tall!  If you were wondering, just like me, is he really that big or is everyone else puny?  Vince Vaughn is 6'5".  As you can tell, it was lady's choice.  Even though it averaged about 2 stars in the ratings, to all the men out there who might not want to go to this movie, you will leave the theater feeling good.  Take your wife, girlfriend, significant other...the night will end good for you ;).

There is a part of the movie that really got me thinking this holiday season.