A Veggie Extravaganza

I have always loved the process of cutting up fruit and vegetables. I find it very therapeutic and I  love all the pretty colors. I received a delivery from  5G Farms on Tuesday & decided it was perfect time for a good vegetable rich soup. I promise you that my kids ate every kind of veggie that was in this because it all tasted so good! This is my first semi step-by-step recipe post like this, but cooking is very much a loose science for me as long as you follow some basic helpful rules. On the other hand, when you're baking, that is an exact science! Without further ado, we shall get started!

Step 1 in cooking is knowing that FLAVOR is important during the entire process. I started with 1/2 a large onion, 2 tbsp of minced garlic (I use the kind in water, not in oil) and 1/2 stick of butter. Saute

that goodness and everyone in your house will be like "OMG! What are you making?!"- They're called aromatics for a reason. 

Next I chopped veggies. Baby red potatoes were just peeled a bit to remove some of the skin. I like the skin, but they needed a little pruning. And yes, those are yellow & purple carrots. Also pictured:

Snap peas that I cut in half later. Rainbow Swiss chard! These are gorgeous and for this recipe, I just cut the stems and chopped them up. I saved the leaves for something else. I love to eat asparagus but I rarely make it right. I bypassed my usual failure by using it in my soup instead. Bonus tip: trim the ends of your asparagus & place them in water like you would flowers until you're ready to cook them. They stay fresh that way!

Look how pretty those carrots are! You should throw these in when you'e sauteing your onions to get them softening from the beginning. Carrots take the longest to cook. Added the Swiss chard to saute as well here. I would say I used approximately 1 to 1.5 cups of each vegetable - this is for my family of 4 and leaves leftovers. And these leftovers taste even better than the first dinner!

Potatoes don't take long. I added them along with the peas & asparagus once I had the broth going.
My go to is about 4-5 cups of liquid. I LOVE to use Bullion cubes (1 per each cup of water & a bonus one for flavor) or even go straight for broth if I have it. I prefer to use bone broth which has the most goodness in it when I buy broth from the store. I was out of both of those things, so I used water and LOTS of seasoning. I measure seasoning with my heart.

I forgot to mention, I added salt & pepper during the saute stage as well, so I had salted butter plus the seasonings to build the flavor through out the process. Honestly, you can use whatever you want, just be sure to taste test the broth before you let everything simmer so you know if you need more flavor at that stage. Also, I like to throw turmeric into every soup I make because of it's anti-inflammatory properties.

Now, we have quite a few cans of chicken (thanks to Costco & Sams memberships) so I decided to throw a couple of cans in towards the end. This is great if you don't have fresh chicken or you need to use up some of the pantry goods. You can leave it out entirely if you don't eat meat.

 Total cook time is approximately 40 minutes. I sauteed the onions, garlic, carrots & Swiss chard for about 10 minutes. I added the liquid & seasonings to start the broth and added the rest of my veggies at that point. I let it cook on medium low heat for about 30 minutes and I added the chicken about 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.

Here is the final product in my bowl! It was so good that the kids ate everything I asked them to eat & even commented that the veggies didn't taste like veggies and my older son asked if we could have the vegetables cooked like this every time. I call that a success.

Getting Rid of the Fear

I have a lot of self doubt. I assume most people question themselves from time to time. I have tried a few times to start little businesses over the years. I have even sold little girl's dresses when I don't have daughters. I asked my neighbor a few houses down if her little girl could model them in exchange for some dresses - because I was willing to do whatever it took to make it a success.

BUT. A REALLY BIG, GIANT BUT. When it comes to something I am really capable of - SELF DOUBT rears its ugly head.

I've been in the fitness industry since 2005. I have attended hundreds of hours of trainings. I have taught 1000s of classes. I have studied a lot of cool, dorky science-y things about the body, how it works, how we use energy (burn calories), how we eat & how our body uses it as fuel.

HOWEVER:

I have never really leveraged my experience to grow my own platform like I have wanted. Part of that is simply because I am more of a dreamer, a visionary. I have great ideas & places I want to take them, but a hard time creating a vehicle to get to the place where they come into fruition. A larger part of the reason is Fear. Taking something that's personal to you and offering it to others, asking them to invest or pay a fee for it - you risk feeling rejected on a personal level. We say: "Here's this heart project, this thing I have poured myself into. Do you think it's valuable to you?" And it's not going to be valuable to everyone. It's not going to resonate with every person you show it to. But the sharing, the showing, the asking, it's the risk. The risk of rejection. Of people not taking you seriously. Of feeling like whatever you have offered - if it's rejected, its a personal rejection.

Truthfully, when I examine that for like 1.3 seconds,I know that's a lie. That's fear. That is self doubt. It's not a personal rejection. If someone tries to sell me something, or show me a program or give me a recommendation, and I don't think it's for me, it doesn't mean I don't like them or see value in THEM. I love it when people are like "Hey you wanna try this lipstick? You like these shirts I made? You want to order this shampoo I love?" Because sometimes my answer is YES. I am like HECK YEAH I want that delicious smelling moisturizer.

So, I want to share myself. Health & Wellness. Fitness. Nutrition. Things I am knowledgeable about. Things I am passionate about. Things that I can make a living from sharing. A product that's beneficial. A program that helps. An accountability that gets you to your goals. Don't worry. I have other things to write about too. Like those Tequila with every meal recipes. Hold on for the next one because I promise I am not ONLY about fitness and nutrition.

Losing Yourself, Finding Yourself & Redefining Motherhood

The Grammy's were a hot minute ago, I know. I've been ruminating on this post for a while and I finally decided it was time to sit down and write it. 

I missed some of the Grammy's. But, what I did NOT miss was Adele winning awards for Song of The Year, Artist of The Year and finally Album of The Year. Like, WHOA. Those are some big honors. She is very talented; and super cool, from what I have seen and heard about her. As she excitedly spoke her thank yous, she said something that really caught my attention. Here it follows in quotes:

"As you can see it took an army to make me strong and willing again enough to do it. But thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Five years ago, when I was last here, I also was pregnant, and I didn’t know. And I was awarded that shortly after — I found out shortly after, which was the biggest blessing of my life. And in my pregnancy and through becoming a mother I lost a lot of myself. And I’ve struggled, and I still do struggle being a mom. It’s really hard. But tonight winning this kind of feels full-circle, and like a bit of me has come back to myself."

Adele, Grammy award winning artist & extremely talented singer, said how hard it was to get back out there and make music again. Because she lost herself in motherhood. But, you and I can easily see how her purpose is to make music and how her talent would seem to be wasted, for lack of a better term. And, we can agree how CRAZY it would have been for her to not get back out there and make more beautiful music, right?

I know it's easy to lose yourself in the role of being a mom. You had things you did before the baby came along. And some of those things aren't even a blip on our radar after the baby arrives and motherhood hits us full force. I took time off from fitness stuff when I got married and then we got pregnant right away, so it ended up being a 5 year gap before I was ready to get back into the gym and take on clients and teach and do MY thing. I worked outside the home a bit during those 5 years, and I HATED office jobs. I am not a 8-5, sit at a desk kind of gal. I thrive in the less structured world of fitness, and I have a LOT of crazy to burn off while teaching multiple classes a week.

Some women have full careers inside an office. I am NOT knocking them. They are actually who I am talking about. You went to college, you made a career path choice, and sometimes becoming mom means staying at home with your kids. Sometimes it means giving up that corner office or that promotion. Sometimes it means working and being mommy full time. 

Putting on your mom hat makes it hard to wear your "Jodie" hat. (And, I assume you get that your hat would have your own name on it!) I liked to paint and play the bass guitar, once upon a time. And, no, not at the same time, in case you snarkily wondered. We sold that guitar in a garage sale when I was pregnant with Cade and I regret it. I would love to learn to play acoustic guitar now. And, I may very well do that eventually. 

It's important to take a step back and remember that you are someone's mom, yes, but you are also an individual with talents and a purpose. For now, that purpose may be to raise wonderful human beings (preferably ones that groom themselves well and listen to music WITH headphones when they're in public). Your purpose can evolve as time passes. You may find yourself returning to the studio and recording the album of the year again. 

Your family needs you. They need you to take care of yourself. Do things that bring you joy. Make time for you. A mommy friend of mine told me this:

"About a year after I had the baby and I was on the right medications, the fog lifted. And I remember thinking 'it's okay to take care of myself'. Taking care of myself mentally and physically makes me a better mom. I think it was on a birthday weekend, just my husband and I, when he looked at me and said 'I miss this'. That's when I knew deep down I had to make the time for us and me."

So, you may lose yourself in motherhood. That's OK. You will find yourself again. You may come out a bit different. Hey, my body changed with two pregnancies, and I bet yours did too. You may find your priorities have changed a little. You may find that you have MORE compassion, less judgement and more love. But, overall, redefine what motherhood means and make it your own. Stay home with your babies. Work a full time job outside the home. Work from home and take your kids to the daycare anyway. Start your own business and be your own boss. Make motherhood work for you. And, remember, you're "Mom" but you're also a totally kick butt woman who can do just about anything she wants in addition to being someone's mom.