August... I'm coming for you

I kind of accidentally took a summer break from the blog. Oops. But now that I sweat every time someone opens the door, I've sent in L's new school year forms, and I'm getting about 40 "start the school year off right" spam emails a day... It must be August. I also hadn't backed up my iphone since Mother's Day. 956 pictures and videos later, time to get back on track.

Speaking of summer, if you live around Houston or are visiting soon, go to the Museum of Fine Arts and see the Soto Penetrable. It's amazing for all ages and it leaves early in September. That's just one thing I was doing while I was not blogging. 

Sometimes your child asks to take of their shoes in public places and you don't realize until you see pictures that you must have said yes. Entering the penetrable.

  If you're following along on instagram you know that things have not slowed down much. The pace that requires a photo or two per day was right up my alley. Here's a quick catch up:

• I am still only doing refined sugar one day a week. I love it. Best decision I ever made after the month long cut out. The weight has stayed off and I feel SO much better.
  
• I just finished another 30 day green smoothie challenge (one green smoothie a day) and after three months, I am fully converted. Smoothies are just a part of my day now. I don't even have to think about it.
  
• We have a one year old! Officially. After mama and dada, his third word was his sister's name. Landon sounds more like man-men when he says it, but it's a hard name for a baby and I was VERY excited. It's his new favorite word.
   
• The new one year old has spent the entire summer teething. He is the proud owner of 10 teeth. I am the proud owner of large black under eye circles. His top molars are STILL COMING IN. Help me lawd. 

 And... that's about it food and kids wise. 

Now that I'm at a healthy place with my sugar, and my breakfast smoothies are going strong, it's time to work on a few things for August. The first thing is LUNCH. My possible problem meal. When I'm at work I usually have the chance to get away and get something real food & healthy. When I'm home I'll graze on whatever I'm cutting up for the kids (which is good food) but then pull out something with lots of cheese or that I can make quickly and shovel it in while I zone out for a minimum amount of alone time. Turns out I like naps more than my 3 year old. 

MY GOAL: Prepare a lunch for myself that I would be comfortable serving to a guest. Prep it, plate it and (what might be the hardest) sit down at the kitchen table and enjoy it. No phone, no tv, just me and my food. And maybe a magazine... maybe. OH, and a ten minute timer to make sure I am chewing and enjoying. I started this today and it was honestly wonderful. Looking forward to lunch this month.

My second goal for August is kind of simple, but really hard for me to do every day. When I was breast feeding drinking enough water was a no brainer. My anxiety about a drop in supply caused me to constantly be drinking water. Since then I just cannot get enough water a day and I know how much better I will feel if I'm hitting those big water intake numbers. 

MY GOAL: Every day in August I'm aiming for a minimum of 80oz of water a day. There are a few reasons this is going to be tough. One of them is peeking her head around my office door right now. During nap time. The other one is actually sleeping. Not that I'm picking favorites (today). Another reason is bathroom breaks are hard to come by when you are at home with two kids, or having to find a bathroom in public with two kids. More water = more bathroom breaks. My last obstacle is my memory. I always start the day with great water drinking intentions. I try to have a glass of lemon water first thing before my smoothie. And then.... life happens. And at lunch I see a half full glass of lemon water sitting on the counter. 

So here's to August! We've got lots planned. There is a cool front coming!! TO HOUSTON?!?!  In August. I KNOW. We're taking our first family of four flight (more to come on that one) and school is back. Hey there August... I'm coming for you. 

RT

Can You Boil Water??

Great! Good job. That means you are well armed for winter cooking. A lot of cooking intimidation comes from not knowing how easy it really is to make something delicious and healthy. My favorite things to eat in the wintertime are made in pots on the stove. Basically, you are boiling water and just throwing things in the pot. Today I'm going to talk about HEALTHY comfort food. Food that makes you feel warm and full, but is great for you and the whole family will love it. One of my personal favorites: Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Soup. 

My cooking adventures began with a last minute decision to try out the new Trader Joe's. I have heard ALL about Trader Joe's from my friends on both coasts, but I forgot that the new Houston location had opened until my Aunt was talking about it on Saturday. I will definitely go back, but I feel that it is a store that is best taken advantage of with a game plan. I had no idea what I was walking into. BUT I have good first impressions. They really do have amazing prices, especially on their organic produce and their flash frozen fish. Cons: I like having a butcher and a seafood monger. Call me old fashioned, I like to interact with people at the store. The staff was super friendly, and the people shopping there were as well, despite the fact that it was SO crowded and everyone was kind of stalled by people just coming in to visit and not shop. I digress... 

Step one in my Chicken, Rice and Vegetable Soup starts the night before. I picked up a big, fat organic boiler to... well to boil. Here is some very important advice if you ever cook with a whole chicken or turkey or any sort of fowl... there is usually a package stuffed inside with the neck and  some organs (liver almost always, heart sometimes). Listen up: TAKE THIS OUT BEFORE YOU COOK THE CHICKEN. 

Ma Trader Joe's Chicken.. Great price for an organic chicken that is this big.

Reach up in that chicken and pull out that packet o' neck and such.

 I took my chicken and rinsed it under some water. Chicken skin really weirds me out for some reason. Just wanted to throw that in there. Then put your chicken in a tall pot and cover it with water. 

Chicken funeral

I figure you know what boiling water looks like. I brought the water to boil and then kept it on somewhat of a low rolling boil, mostly covered, for about 45 minutes. Then I turned off the stove, closed the lid on the top and let the pot come to room temp. THEN I put the whole pot in the refrigerator and didn't look at it again until this morning. This is a weird step, but it helps make this soup much more healthy. You could easily buy a package of chicken breasts and some boxed chicken broth and make a really great soup, but nothing tastes like the broth that comes from boiling a whole chicken. You just have to take an extra step. The next day when you remove your pot from the fridge, a nice layer of fat will have floated to the top and solidified. Get out a skimming spoon and remove it. Toss it out. You won't miss it. Get ready.... this is my Oprah Wagon of Fat moment.

Solid Fat

Once you see this, you won't want to eat it. Especially once you see it in person.

So after I skimmed the fat I removed the chicken and put it on a plate (to be molested at a later date.) When you do this your broth drops down to an alarming level, but don't sweat it. You are about to add TONS of things to the pot, and you won't know if you need add water until you are done adding everything back in. I put the pot with the broth on the stove and turned the heat on medium. Then I got to chopping.

About 3 cups of celery and 3 cups of carrots.

Three zucchini

One VERY large yellow onion. If you have small or medium onions use two.

The carrots went in first, then the celery. I added a couple of teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon for some added flavor and then added in the onion (cut into large chunks) and a cup and a half to two cups of brown and wild rice. I had some leftover so I just dumped the rest in.

Great find courtesy of Mama RT.

While all of that was cooking on a nice low boil with the top of the pot partially covered to keep all of that delicious broth from cooking off, I started my least favorite task.... chicken mutilation. Chicken skin is just.... gross. Unless it's fried, then it's completely fine. Even better than fine. But we are being healthy here, so it has to go. I didn't shred the chicken, because I like getting a good bite of chicken in my soup. I just took it all off of the bone and made sure it was in manageable pieces. I got elbow deep in chicken goo, but I made it through. 

Some chicken goo got on my iphone lens so we've got fuzzy chicken pieces.

Veggies and rice living a happy life.

 I had the veggies and rice on the same low boil for about 30 - 40 minutes and then added the chicken back in and let it boil 10 more minutes. Then I took out a scoop and made sure the veggies were tender and the rice was cooked (they were and it was) then covered the pot and turned the heat off. I don't salt my chicken soup while it cooks just because sometimes I don't want the extra salt and I don't miss it. With something like this people can always salt their bowls to their taste. Easy.  

It was a big hit with Landon, who loved the carrots most of all, but ate all of the veggies and the rice. Right now she is only eating chicken when it's part of Brown Bag Deli chicken salad. I take what I can get. Here is a finished bowl... the one I had for dinner tonight:

MmmmmMMMmmmMMmmmm

Here is the great part: it's filling, it's warm, it tastes amazing and it's just chicken, fresh veggies, brown and wild rice, and a couple of scoops of bouillon. You can add whatever veggies you want. Sometimes I love to take out the zucchini and throw in some broccoli for a little crunch. It's also very easy. If you boil the chicken the night before (so you can scoop off the yucky wagon of fat) all you do the day of is chop, add, molest a chicken, and heat for 45 ish minutes. Really you are just boiling water and taking things in and out. YOU can do this. I know you. It is so possible. 

-RT

Coming Up.....

I'm doing the long awaited Roasted Chicken Thighs tonight and then blogging about them after. It's a double posting kind of day! The weather is absolutely amazing in Houston. It's so much more fun to spend the days with Landy outside instead of rotating around the house to try to keep things fresh so you won't melt outdoors in the heat and humidity. It might be a double park day! 

Nothing like some good old fashioned rock moving on a nice day!

Speaking of thighs, slip on your mini skirt and spend a little time outdoors. Lunch hour, afternoon, after dinner... You'll be sexy, I promise. 

It's Monday: Take it slow and we'll be with you later tonight to tell you if the sexy chicken thighs lived up to all of the hype! For now, I LIVE for Fall and Spring in Texas. Get out and enjoy it if you can!

- RT