Chicken & Rice Recipe

I have been looking for a good chicken & rice recipe for a while and tried this one last night that turned out wonderfully!  In the past, most chicken & rice dishes I have made were either too dry or didn't have enough flavor, etc.  This one was easy and delicious.  Since I only cook 3 times/week I need my efforts to cover at least 2 dinners and this main dish will easily feed my family twice.   

2 cups cooked chicken
1 cup rice
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 head of broccoli (chopped) or 1 pkg frozen
2 cans milk
2 TBS lemon juice
1 onion chopped

Mix together and pour into casserole dish.  Cover tightly with foil and bake at 350 for 1 hr.  Uncover after 40 mins and sprinkle with cheese (optional) and bake for remaining 20 mins.  *Altitude: increase baking time to 1hr 20 mins, and uncover at 1hr. 

Fall Fashion - Cute for Kids & Moms!

In preparation for our trip up north this weekend, I had (note, "had" - as if it was a chore!) to go shopping for some fall/winter clothes for the kids.  It's still in the 70's and 80's here so we're not thinking too much about winter coats and sweaters right now.  My shopping quest led me to be very excited about the fall/winter clothes this season! 

I ventured in to Ann Taylor Loft to pick up a birthday gift for my mother.  This was a dangerous choice b/c  I rarely leave ATL without a little something for myself from the sale rack.  While I stayed strong and only bought for my mother, I loved the shirt/sweater combos for this season!  Now, as someone who refuses to pay full price for anything (I broke that rule with the below item from Baby Gap...sigh...) I will have to wait a couple of months before they start marking these items down.  In the meantime, I've scoped out a few items that I look forward to being on sale.  I mean, how cute is this little sweater/shirt ensemble?!?  :)

Now for kids clothes.  As I mentioned a while ago, my favorite kids stores are Gymboree, TJ Maxx, and Baby Gap/Old Navy for play/casual clothes.  I did get my daughter an outfit from Children's Place this year and I do like their boys pants, but have found that the clothes don't wear as well as others.  I really like the fall clothes for kids with the exception of the Children's Place boys selection for casual/play clothes.  Seemed like all options for shirts were graphic t's of various types.  While I like some graphic t's, I certainly don't want an entire 4T wardrobe of them! 

Overall my shopping trip was successful.  I did have one splurge on the below item for my youngest.  He so rarely gets anything new (toys or clothes) because he has so many wonderful hand-me-downs, but he did need a winter coat.  And when I saw this at Baby Gap, I decided it was worth the money. :) 

Happy October!

Happy October!  This is one of my favorite months for a number of reasons.  1.  It's my birthday month.  2.  It's also my mother, grandmother, and neice's birthday month.  3.  The middle of the month signifies that half of the fall semester is over (I have to turn in midterm grades by the end of next week - Yikes!).  4.  It's the month that kicks off the holiday season (in my mind anyway) b/c Thanksgiving follows a month later and then Christmas/New Year.  

This October will be pretty busy.  We have a wedding in Canada this weekend.  The following weekend is my half marathon about which I am super excited!  I am in taper mode right now, which is nice.  I did 12 miles last week, 8.5 yesterday (before church - and still made it on time!), and will do 8-9 this weekend (although I don't know exactly when b/c I'll have to fit it in around wedding stuff).  Training has been wonderful and I have enjoyed it so much.  I love being by myself for 1-2 hrs every few days with my Garmin and mp3 player - it's so relaxing and wonderful! 

Below is a picture of my son's grocery list.  He decided to write one while I was writing our family's grocery list.  It was so cute.  He made sure to take it with him when he accompanied his Dad to the store.  I should have given him the final list b/c Dad forgot several items on the family list (I have to go back to the store later today), but my son remembered everything on his. :) 

Juggling Solo

As I mentioned a few months ago, my husband got a new job that is requiring him to travel more than he used to. Overall it's not bad, but it definitely led me to change some of my management strategies when he is away.

1. Asking for Help: Since we have no family in the area, I have to rely on hired sitters & help from friends while my husband is away. I hired a sitter to help out when my son had a soccer game at the same time my daughter had dance class. The awesome sitter took my girl to dance and brought her home and fixed her lunch while I took the boys to my oldest's soccer game. It worked out great! I also hired her to come for a few hours so I could go to BSF one evening. I am getting so much out of BSF that spending a few dollars to I can keep up my weekly participation is well worth it! My awesome friends have been a huge help assisting with getting one of my kids home from a b-day party when I had to be home with other 2 who needed to nap. Also, I am so luck to have girlfriends with AWESOME taste in clothes! I needed a cocktail dress for a wedding reception and didn't have to to shop for one...one of my friends had a bunch of them for me to try and choose from - soooo wonderful!

2. Closing the kitchen after dinner: This one has made SUCH a difference in the evenings when I'm trying to get all 3 kids (+2 dogs) fed and settled before bedtime. After we eat dinner, everything is immediately cleaned up and the kitchen is CLOSED!!! No snacks, no extra cups of milk (except for the baby who gets some before bed), no "finishing dinner later". Once my older kids decide to get up from the table, THAT-IS-IT! The first night we did this I got some push back and tears, but the benefits have far outweighed the fussing! The kitchen is clean for the day by 7:00.

3. Taking care of my needs: While he is gone I make exercise a priority for me. This probably seems counterintuitive since it just adds to the busyness of my day, but exercise is critical for my mental health. I have to be disciplined to get the workouts in, whether it's getting up at 5AM, or braving the afternoon heat at 3:30 to get in a run before picking up the kids from school. It's so worth it - I'm a better mom when I have exercised! Likewise, I have to remember to eat...this also may sound ridiculous, but when you have 5 other beings dependent on you, often your hunger gets overlooked in order to get everyone else taken care of. It's detrimental mostly b/c when I get hungry, I get cranky - and a cranky, impatient mom is not good for the family. So, while I don't usually eat meals when my husband is gone, I keep plenty of snacks (mostly unhealthy!) around in case I need to eat but don't have time to sit down. :)

4. Early Bedtime: When I'm home alone with the kids, I'm on my feet from sun-up until all 3 are in bed. Work is often a welcome relief (even though I teach for 2-3 hrs a day) b/c I have some time to sit down when working in my office. Therefore, I go to bed early. That way, when my husband gets home, we're all well rested and ready to have fun as a family.

These are just a few things that work for me when I'm juggling solo. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Updates and Plans

Since I haven't posted much about things I have blogged about in the past, I figured I'd give a little update on where I am on these things.

Cutting back at work:  I cut back to 4 days a week starting in Sept and it was a GREAT decision.  Having that extra day with my kids and to keep our household running smoothly was much needed!

Hospitality:  My goal of having people over at least 3 times per month manifested a little differently over the past 4-6 weeks.  We had company in July and Sept for a while and additionally, I was working on coordinating a dinner honoring the teachers, board, & staff of the Christian school who shares the buidling with our church.  Honestly, planning for that took up pretty much all my extra time.  The dinner was this past Saturday and went well.  It is so wonderful to honor others for no other reason but to say, "thanks for what you do".  I am glad to have been part of planning for the dinner.

Organization:  This is going pretty well right now.  My next project to tackle will be figuring out how to organize my kids' clothes.  How to better locate hand-me-downs, etc. 

Half Marathon Training:  This is going well.  My race is less than a month away and I ran a 10-11 miler this weekend.  I say that b/c I'm not sure of the actual distance b/c I had to finish the last few miles on our treadmill so my husband could get my son to his soccer match on time.  So, I ran the first 8.5 outside and the remainder inside.  This week was a struggle b/c I was recovering from a cold...I think I left part of my lung somewhere along the route!

BSF:  I am starting my first BSF class tonight!  Can't Wait!  Attached is the link for any of you who might want to start attending a class in your area. 
http://www.bsfinternational.org/

Other:  We had family pictures taked yesterday for our Christmas card.  Our photographer sent us a couple of proofs (below is one).  Can't wait to see the rest!  Looking forward to the rest of 2010 -we have a wedding to go to, birthdays to celebrate, and holidays and visits to look forward to. 

Mommy Metabolism

I had an interesting experience this week that brought metabolism to my mind today.  After returning from my weekend trip, I got on the scale for my weekly weigh-in and realized that the last 3 weeks of eating bad had caught up with me on the order of 3-4 pounds.  While this isn't much, it's enough that I noticed those pounds on my run.  In general, I have no problem sharing my weight - I just don't think it's a big deal - I even use my own ht/wt stats when I teach classes.  If you're healthy, there is no reason to fear or be ashamed of that number - I think that fear and embarassment contributes to the weight obsession of women today.  Anyway, I am about 5'4" and weighed in this week at 112.  Ideally, I like to sit between 108-109 when I'm training for a race.  Anyway, I got on the bandwagon and stuck to fruits veggies/lean proteins and 48 hrs later was down to 108.....I was shocked when I got back on the scale this morning and was already back down...now, I'm not saying this to brag but b/c this is a SUCH a far cry from last year at this time when I was postpartum...

Now, with my last pregnancy I gained approximately 35-40 pounds.  I was a little heavier when I found out I was preggo b/c it was after Christmas.  By the time I went in for delivery, I was tipping the scale at 148 pounds, which is pretty big for my small Asian frame.  For most of my pregnancies, I always seem to gain 30-40 - lucky me (not!)!  Anyway, I remember being postpartum last Sept with 25+ pounds to lose, struggling to lose every ounce, and not losing ANYTHING for the first 3 months!  In addition, any extra calories showed up on the scale almost immediately (and I was also exercising 5-6 times a week - hard)!  Those postpartum pounds are the absolute WORST!!!  By Christmas I was about 120, but I had to wrk my tail off for every single ounce!  It finally all came off by the end of Feb/early March. 

Why am I writing this???  Because I am amazed at the difference in my metabolism a year after having a baby compared to what it was right after.  A year ago, 3-4 pounds would have taken me 6 weeks to lose (at least!!!).  It's no wonder postpartum pounds are the toughest - everything in your body wants to hold onto them - your metabolism is SO much slower!  If there are any of you out there who are post partum and struggling - I hope this gives you hope.  Hang in there and things will return to normal...however, you may want to give yourself a full year.  

Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

This weekend I spent an amazing 2 days crewing for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Santa Barbara.  It was my priveledge to support those walking who know victims of the disease or who themselves have suffered the disease.  It was an awesome, wonderful experience and I met some of the strongest and bravest women.  I was a guest speaker at the opening ceremonies and enjoyed that group more than any other I have spoken to - what an honor to be able to address that crowd!  In second picture you can see Noelle (on my left) whose hand I am holding but is not raised.  This is because she had a double mastectomy 1 week prior to the event and despite being covered in stitches and in pain, walked all 39.3 miles!!! Amazing!

The next 2 days I worked with a team to provide water, gatorade, bandaids, porta potties, encouragement, and support to all the close to 3000 walkers who walked a full marathon the first day and a 1/2 marathon the second.  My mom and I were on the same team with a group of 5 other awesome people.  It was wonderful to be able to share that with my mom. 

 My sister was the coordinator of the entire event, and I have no idea how she pulled it off - I am SOOO impressed at what she can do!  My Dad was busy in the medical tent treating dehydration, blisters, strains, and sprains.  What an awesome experience for my family.  I'd really like to get a team together to walk it next year.  Here is a picture from the closing ceremony.  What a weekend!  What a blessing!