Chicken chili soup

 It's fall in Ontario and it's beautiful. 
The summer heat has eased off and you can slow down on the whole shaving your legs and getting a pedicure thing.

And it's also soup season.  I made this wonderful, hearty chili chicken soup today that I gleaned from a recipe and made my own:

6 cups low sodium chicken stock
1.5 cups (corn, kale, spinach, potatoes - your choice)
3 fifteen oz cans white beans
2 medium chopped onions
2 tbs olive oil
1.5 lbs chicken
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground cumin

1.5 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
.5 tsp pepper

Place chicken broth, onions and beans in a large pot and bring to a boil
Reduce and simmer.  Meanwhile, chop chicken into bite size pieces.
Heat large pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil.
Add onions and saute until tender.
Stir in chicken and saute until cooked through.
Add 1.5 cups (corn, kale, spinach, potatoes or a mixture of ), plus garlic, cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes
- stir until combined
Add mixture to stock pot, return to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Add more water or stock, if needed.

The recipe calls for more salt and pepper so season to taste.  Enjoy!




To dream a dream

I just sat down, it's 9:15 pm.  Worked a 7 hour day, rushed to an appointment that is on Thursday, not today.  I stopped on the way home to grab rice and made dinner - sausages with yellow peppers and onions, rice, homemade cheese sauce and broccoli.  I took my oldest to Brownies, did some power shopping and bought two bras, a sweater, tights, princess shoes and organic lollipops.  Once home I handed off the kids for a bath and bedtime while I folded laundry, checked homework, tidied up and did some dishes...still left...lunches for tomorrow.  To make myself feel a little better I started thinking of how nice it would be to have a few days off, without kids (but geeze I'd miss them) and what I'd do with my time.  I think three days would be ideal and at least one of the days here at the house supervising someone else clean it..lol.  The other two days and nights I would spend at a remote place in the countryside in a place near the water with a soaker tub and a fireplace.  I'd read books, soak in the tub, watch TV for at least three hours a day, do yoga by the water and go for nature walks.  Hmmm, maybe a week would be nicer and I'd have the family come for the last three days.  What would you do to relax if you had more than an hour or two to yourself?

Super Mom



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 My husband has been sick for two weeks.  He has been told to stay off his feet and needs a lot of rest.  Enter Super Mom.  My role in the home on a regular basis -  is "doing my best mom".  I get home from work and make sure everyone is fed, homework is done, lunches are emptied and re-made, counters are wiped, dishes are done, garbage is put where garbage goes, after work/school commitments are met, groceries are got and so on.  But when my other half is sick, I have no breaks.  I have all my responsibilities plus my spouses such as taking out the recycling, giving baths, doing laundry and providing all the necessities of bedtime.  And instead of feeling resentful or tired - well ok, I'm a little bit of both - but I carry through.  Why?  Because I'm Super Mom and I know what it's like to power through fatigue and a need for a break.  I get up in the morning at 6:30 am so that I may shower and get dressed prior to getting up my children and ensuring that they are fed, brushed and dressed and if I have time I may have a bite to eat before I head out the door.  I take the kiddo's to school, drive to work, park, walk 7 mins to the coffee shop, grab myself a coffee and walk another 5 minutes to my work.  Once I'm there I finally sit down, open my coffee and relax.  Yes, I'm at work and I'm relaxing - or sitting if you will.  I work an 8 hour day and it starts all over again and for the last two weeks it includes all the little things my husband usually does...make dinner, give baths, put the girls to bed, make sure teeth are brushed, take out the recycling and so on.  But I won't wait for praise or thanks, because, like all of us, I'm Super Mom.  Impervious to fatigue and temper tantrums, carrying my cape humbly I carry on.