Nesting

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

Something is seriously wrong with me.

I went back to work and I’m now trying to merge my stay at home mom lifestyle and expectations with my new part-time, working mom time commitments. Wednesdays are my “day off” and feel like my Sunday, like my day to catch up and to exercise and see friends and make appointments and to run errands and to supposedly cook like a wild woman!

Yesterday, I had to leave the house early and was gone and in and out all day and night. I had no time to cook and this bothered me. I like to have food readily available for my family when they come home. They’re all busy too, and providing food feels like I’m providing comfort and energy so that everyone survives. So dramatic, I know. But seriously. They can cook on their own and make their own food, but I still want to do it and feel like I’m doing my job. I want to take care of them this way and show them my love this way. I love that they enjoy my cooking and I feel connected to them through food. So when I literally couldn’t fit in the cooking time any time during the day yesterday, I felt like a failure. Not really, but really I’m feeling dramatic today, so let’s just go with an F- in the food department.

So today I made up for it because I had time. I also had pounds of chicken and beef and veggies that I had planned to use yesterday, so I got busy. I had leftovers to repurpose and new recipes to try and a dish that Juliana asked me to make, plus 2 dishes I wanted to recreate from the Indonesian restaurant we visited this past weekend. I had big dreams to fill today and I made 6 different things, plus washed all the dishes and put them away. All in a day and now I feel happy with my full fridge.

In case you’re curious about what I made, I made a spicy Indonesian beef rendang, Indonesian sayur lodeh, gluten free/light/baked coconut chicken, some sort of mediterranean chicken and cauliflower in a tomato and onion sauce, chicken marsala, and Julie’s spaghetti pizza bake recipe. Oh, and Thai jasmine rice to soak up all the sauces.

So no one should go hungry for the rest of the week. Phew. I feel so much better now with food in the nest, ready to feed my flock.

How do you nest?

nAMaste BeLoveRs

8Feb2014

Warm Soup

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

I love to make soup and enjoy it all week, especially when the weather is wet and cold. Last week I made an Italian Minestrone with Quinoa and the week before that was an Egyptian Lentil Soup.

Tonight Christian asked if we could make Dutch Pea Soup like we used to eat in Holland. I gathered the ingredients and then we worked together in the kitchen to prepare a warm family meal.

This hit the spot and brought back great memories.

Life is Good!

26Jun2012

Day 29: How did you Enjoy Your Family Today?

Posted in Uncategorized by adrianahartley

I’m not busy.

Ya, right. I’m so busy that my head is spinning. I just ate dinner at 10:30 pm – does that say anything? I haven’t checked voicemail and haven’t really read email and just returned a text or two. But that’s not really important.

I could go through the checklist again, but that’s kinda boring and not the point either. Plus – we are all busy – even the 2 year old and the 84 year old. We’re all busy with whatever we’re doing today otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it. So what?

But what I really want to share and think about is how did you enjoy your family today? Did you slow down and if so, how? What did it look like? What did you do together?

You see – my friend suddenly lost her husband at the age of 48 this week and she has asked us to stop and enjoy our family, in honor of her husband. She doesn’t want us to send flowers, but rather an email telling her what we did together. She wants all of us amazing families to spend some time appreciating one another and slowing down to enjoy the ride. I love that! And she is my new mentor because I always have mentors in my life. And sure she is struggling with the biggest challenge of her life, but she’s reaching out to us and asking us to slow down and share our journey with her. Can you believe that?

So I did.

I am.

Here I am.

I called my sister on the way to pick up the boys from camp. I am going to miss our daily chats. The little one made my day with her cheerful voice.

I stopped for ice cream with the boys on the way home from camp at Dairy Belle – CJ’s favorite place since he was little. I had one too because ice cream is good for you.

And at 5 pm tonight, while I was finally washing the dishes from dinner last night, J called from April’s to see if S & J could come over to play. Since I didn’t have to leave for 45 minutes, I said sure, of course, come on over. Once they got here and the kitchen was almost done, they asked if they could make snow cones. (REALLY??) And I said sure, of course. We can make snow cones and clean up in 30 minutes, right? So I was a few minutes late – so what? Check out their faces and smiles!

On my way home from my meeting, I made a call to a friend who shared AMAZING and heartfelt news. I’m so glad I called even though I’m “busy”.

I also called my mama to thank her for the spaghetti sauce that we shared last night and that I was glad she was with me in spirit. And when I finished putting the kids to bed and sorting more baskets, I finally ate dinner: Left overs from my mama – the best comfort food on the planet!! Thanks, Mama.

And thank you for the challenge to enjoy what we have and what we’re doing right now. I’m thinking of you (my mentor) and wishing you peace and grace.