Mommy Cooks: Week of January 9

I’m going to preface this new series of recipe sharing posts with two big caveats. One is that despite my extreme obsession with Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Top Chef All Stars, The Next Food Network Star, Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, etc, I am not a very proficient cook. I try. Some days harder than others. I have pushed myself to try new recipes and learn new techniques. My goal is to try one new recipe a week but holidays, busy schedules do get in the way and sometimes I resort to things like frozen chicken pot pies (gotta love Mrs. Budd) and take out.

My second caveat is that I might not always cook the healthiest of meals. I have three very difficult mouths to feed. My husband doesn’t eat cheese and is not the biggest veggie eater. My oldest son is six. Do I need to say more than that? My youngest son has very severe food allergies and generally does not eat what we are eating. If I post or link to a recipe here, it means it was easy, tasty and generally enjoyed by my guys. (The baby is still slowly getting introduced to solids.) I try to keep everything we eat in moderation but if a special/healthful/low caloric diet is what you’re searching for. This is not the place to find it.

This week we have a very special Fifth birthday to celebrate so we’ll be having a rare dinner out during the week.

Monday – Chorizo and Eggs ( This is so basic. I’m also embarrassed to share but so yummy and a crowd-pleaser. Grab a pound of chorizo and cook it in a sauce pan for around 5 minutes or until done. I try to buy turkey chorizo but any kind will do. If you have a lot of grease, use a paper towel to soak up. Once the chorizo is cooked through, add eggs. Mix until the eggs are cooked through. Meanwhile, heat flour tortillas in the microwave or on the stovetop. You can get fancy and add cheese, mushrooms, or onions but we like them plain. Throw the chorizo and eggs in to the warm tortillas. Roll and enjoy)

Tuesday – Slow Cooker Thai Beef (I’ve made this a few times. The hubs loves it. Leaves plenty of leftovers for the next day. I like it with bread but my husband prefers the rice.

Wednesday – Leftovers

Thursday – Birthday Meal

Friday – Thai Pork and Noodle Soup (You’ve got to make this. A few extra steps but this soup is really, really good. We had trouble finding the wonton wrappers. You can substitute rice noodles from the Asian aisle or regular old egg noodles.  I'm subbing ground pork with ground turkey. We’ll see how it works.)

For more meal inspiration, check out Pinterest. You can follow me under my alter ego, Christine Flynn.

Mommy Writes: A New Series

As long as I’ve been writing, I’ve been searching online for answers to how moms, like me, found time to write. Honestly, I was looking for the answer before I had it in my head that I wanted to write. I just knew that I spent my days cleaning the house, cooking dinner, educating my children, and still falling to bed exhausted at night. How was I going to fit in time to write, plot, edit, build a platform, submit, query, etc.?

More than two years later and I still don’t have all the answers. Some days are more productive than others. Some days I go to sleep guilty that I haven’t written enough, I’ve let too many things on my to do list hang, or we ordered out again because I wasn’t organized enough to have dinner on the table in time. Balance is a difficult goal to have but one worthy enough for most moms to reach for. Just Google home organization and you’ll be buried under links for home management notebooks, cleaning schedules, once-a-month cooking, etc. Balance means juggling the most important things in my life, my children, my husband, my home, and my dreams. It also means knowing which balls to drop when my son is sick again or the baby had a rough night or my husband wants to spend quality time together or I’m burned out and need Jersey Shore more than I need anything else.

In my pledge to blog more often, I’ve decided to share some of the things that have worked for me in my attempt at balancing mommy with writer. I’ll be sharing recipes for quick meals, the steps I’m taking to clean house, and spend quality, intentional time with my family.

Photo of 40+251 Done-ish courtesy of bark.

A Year in Retrospect: Wrung Dry But Hopeful

It’s an obvious post to write, an end of year retrospective. I’ve done a lot, seen a lot, and experienced a lot this year. Then again, hasn’t everyone? I spent the first three months of the year pregnant, uncomfortable, and sick. The flu knocked me off of my feet for weeks and then love hit me like a ton of bricks. The birth of my daughter went as smoothly as these things go. I found myself falling in love with this cupcake and am continually amazed how these little creatures change our lives.

The next few months after her birth found me struggling and often failing at balancing the care of my newborn, my two older boys, writing, and home management. I always seem to drop one of my responsibilities while focusing on another. Of course, my children(and not the laundry, my WIPs, or blogging) have been at the highest on my priority list. Still I’ve followed through with my auction win and a partial submission for critique.

My oldest son started first grade…an actual numbered grade (!!!!) and my youngest boy started pre-k. It was a difficult step to make. My son has severe food allergies and it’s never an easy move for me to let him out of my sight or reach. Speaking of him…we’ve survived his first endoscopy (unfortunately, not his last), a 24-hour ph impedance study, and the diagnosis of a gastrointestinal disorder (eosiphinilic esophagitis).

Illnesses haven’t kept away. We’ve had sinus infections, tummy bugs, asthma flare ups, and recently one nasty case of Fifth’s in one very tired, itchy, achy Mommy. 

This is to say…It’s been a year. But I’m ever hopeful. A new year awaits. I’m ready to get organized, ready to get these WIPs written, edited, submitted. I have a new plan, ready to be tested, and every reason to believe that this year will be the year of balance. Goals will be reached and chaos will not reign.

It starts here.

In the next month, I’ll be getting my stuff together and blogging about the steps I’m taking to get my writing, my mothering, and my life under control.

Wish me luck. 2012 here I come.

Fireworks courtesy of malfet_

How Long Left

I opened my spreadsheet for tracking progress on the rewrite of this WIP and it reminded me of another Excel worksheet. In the Foreign Service, you're always planning your next move. Your next destination is always on the horizon. A worksheet to monitor your timeline has been passed around. Almost all of my friends use it and I have no idea where it originated. It tracks exactly how many minutes, hours, days, years (How Long Left) you have to go at your current position. Depending on how wonderful or not-so-wonderful your current home is usually what determines when you start counting down.

It's my opinion but...it's an awful way to live. Always working towards the next place, never enjoying today to the fullest because you always know you'll be moving on. It's hard to invest yourself in a place when it's role in your life is fleeting.

And yes, this is a writer's blog so, of course, it all comes back to writing. I'm counting down on my WIP. My excel worksheet shows me that I have completed 85% of this rewrite, 15% or 10,286 words left to go. According to my current speed, I'll be done in a matter of days. That's only one way of looking at it though. My Hero has to convince the girl he's going to marry that he's the one for her. He still has to convince his mother that he's making the right decision. What about my heroine? She's worried that marrying her first love might hurt him in the long run, especially if his mother continues to disapprove. There's also the baby she's about to have, a custody agreement to be settled on, and a sober mom to help keep, well, sober. Numbers. Pie charts. They are most assuredly not why I got into writing.

So yes, there's a role all of this number-tracking has in our writing. But on this eighth day of NaNo, it's my wish to you to remember the real goal. Get the story down. Keep moving. Don't stop. Keep your eyes on the prize but don't forget that beyond the 50,000 words, your goal is to have told a story, a complete story by the end of November. (Unless you're only doing this to wrack up the words. In that case, rock on with your bad self!)

P.S. In case you were wondering, I haven't opened up the How Long Left spreadsheet since we left Mexico the first time. As all of our friends wait on their assignments, I'm happy with the knowledge that we are guaranteed (or as guaranteed things can be in this life) another year before bidding. Until I must, I'll only be counting the days to our Disney vacation and Christmas.