Recipe: Chicken Quesidillas

Switching the tone after my last post and back to sharing another recipe. Is that how parenting works? --- one minute consoling a child, the next minute - getting dinner on the table, the next minute - reading stories, the next minute...

I let you know I am a huge fan of easy and cost-effective recipes that are family-friendly. Here is another great one!

I am keen to choose a base ingredient that is prepped in advance, can be used in multiple recipes and suits the freezer-to-stove top or freezer-to-oven style of cooking. I am also keen to batch up a single recipe so that I can then easily rotate through meals during the month. Not only is this more cost effective but it is significantly more effective on the clean up.... saving time and money sounds good to me; how about you?!

Shredded chicken offers just that! I throw chicken breasts in a crockpot overnight with a small amount of chicken stock... shred in the morning and divide out for a variety of different recipes. Today, let's talk about delicious chicken quesadillas!

Family-friendly chicken quesadilla

Ingredients:
- Shredded chicken
- Sour cream
- Grated cheese
- Tortillas shells
- Cumin

Method:
1. Mix shredded chicken with sour cream, dash of cumin (as needed for your taste) and small amount of grated cheese
2. Fold tortilla in half to give you "the line"
3. Spread approx 3 tbs of chicken mixture on half of the tortilla; top chicken mixture on tortilla with grate cheese
4. Fold tortilla over and wrap tightly with saran wrap. For good measure, I then groups and store all wrapped quesadillas in a Tupperware container.

Re-heat/Cook:
1. Unwrap portions; thaw/heat for 30 seconds; turn; heat for 30 seconds in microwave
2. Pan fry in a non-stick skillet

We serve with Spanish rice or a taco salad.

The cost breakdown on this (based on current Canadian dollars) - 20 quesadillas:
Chicken: $10
Tortilla Shells: $10
Grated Cheese: $5
Sourcream: $3.50
Cumin: $3.50

Keep in mind, you'll have sour cream and cumin for plenty of other recipes based on this grocery list (you may even have chicken left over as well!), $1.60/serving.

Until next time... have a wonderful day! xo

When Empowerment Comes from Unexpected Places

I recently talked about an empowering situation that occurred at the most unexpected place, a funeral (read here). I am embracing these emotions as we deal with another sudden death.

I like to think I am strong and relatively stress free; I can handle a lot but death, it breaks me. It shatters me. I can go in one direction and hold to an extreme end of being stoic and exhaust myself OR, let the guard down and be completely vulnerable. The latter is my preferred path and I am so grateful to be allowed to express this completely transparent honesty. I say "allowed" as this has not necessarily always been the case. I was at work and a blubbering me. Blubbering mess does not adequately describe my emotions... but, I didn't run and hide --- although, I was very much tempted to do so. By embracing this aspect of me and being that vulnerable, I was able to grieve and cope...

This blog is another extension of vulnerability for me. Although not many many read or follow, it's a platform for me to find my voice and express myself with more transparency than I have done before. More significantly, it provides a platform for me to not solely express myself through these mediums, but -- in person. In real life?!?  How about that?! ---

Until next time... have a wonderful day! xo

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Learn more about me in this "Small You Tuber Tag". 

Breathe, Mommas. Just, breathe.

I recently tweeted, "I aspire for that 'someone' to be my children." --- in reference to this quote:

This is one of my life mantras. I am a very centred person. Someone who has a strong faith; strong values and lives with integrity and morality. I am grounded by looking and feeling the "good" in the world...

When your day starts with your 3 year old giving you a HUGE hug and saying, "I love you VERYYYYY much." you can - and should - take a moment to step back and proudly acknowledge to yourself, "I am doing something right." Do you, though? Or --- do you let those moments pass you by?

I encourage you to pause. To breathe. To take in that moment. Stop all that you are doing and just.... breathe. Allow yourself to smile and feel your heart warm. Let that moment empower you. Hang onto that moment if even just for a few seconds.... I assure you, you'll be back to picking up spilled milk before you know it. "It" is just spilled milk. "That" moment... "That" hug was more that "just" a moment. That was a list of compliments you should be proud of:

• You're doing awesome!
• I am proud of you!
• I really do care for you more than anything!
• I thank you.

Now, aren't those moments worth appreciating?! Your child is appreciating you. Hold onto that and acknowledge that.

"That someone".... That someone is definitely you. ((((Hugs)))

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How does your child inspire you?

"Education begins the moment we see children as innately wise and capable beings. Only then can we play along in their world."

How does your child inspire you? Their innocence? Their drive and determination? Perseverance? Integrity? Passion?... I encourage you to take a moment and relate your child's behaviours to personality attributes. Here's an example:

• Our 3 year old snuck into the kitchen at 3am, moved one of the dining room chairs so that he could reach the top shelf, took a bag of mini-marshmellows and a bottle of multivitamins in a child-proof container, and went back in his room...

Sure, there are many things "wrong" with this behaviour and his actions were certainly less than desirable but, through this we can recognize:

• determination
• witt
• intelligence
• strength - physical and mental
•  ....

What POSITIVE personality attributes do you see in such actions? I challenge you to think about your child's perhaps less than desirable behaviour or action and be inspired but what their actions highlight about their personality....something to think about. Comment below with your stories. 

In reflecting on our child's behaviour and actions in that moment describes above, we can also take a moment to appreciate, the kid has moves.... for a laugh, watch this clip of his dance moves --- he calls it the "step and jiggle". Have a great day!

Holiday Traditions: Easter

Our children get excited. Really, really excited for any holiday. Our oldest who typically presents with a more shy and conservative demeanor suddenly bounces off of the walls which usually ends in an epic meltdown. He stops sleeping and just get "sooooooooo excited." Whether it's a quiet day with the family or an exciting adventure, it tends to yield too much excitement for him. Perhaps this is a trickle effect for him from having a birthday over Christmas and that has set some tone for subsequent holidays. I don't know.  Our youngest can "handle the pressure" but our oldest, absolutely cannot contain his excitement.now that I have officially over-used the word "excitement", I can honestly say that he has a distinctive personality that continually allows you to look at things from new perspective and grow your patience.

We struggle to maintain the excitement and passion for celebrations with a calm and peaceful vibe; can you relate?  This year for Easter we planned a family breakfast. The whole focus for the festivities became about this special breakfast. And--- it worked. We still had the "traditional" - commercialized? - egg hunt but the focus on the family breakfast without any mention of the egg hunt, yielded a successful day. A really successful day. A new tradition has been formed where we focus on the details of the holiday meal. This seems to provide the excitement for our son while keeping that excitement contained and ensuring the focus of the holiday is that of family versus commercialism. He had the details covered - pancakes shaped as bunnies, the remaining pancakes served in a Easter basket, special spring napkins... he set the table with pride, escorted everyone to the table... the day followed with an Easter Egg Hunt, a family walk to a local farm, and ended with a family movie night.

You can tell from this, we are not religious but we have begun reading "Our Daily Bread." We grapple on a daily basis to find peace and surround ourselves with a central focus that is bigger than ourselves... Our six year old absolutely gravitates to this book and its messages. I highly recommend checking it out. Discovery House introduces the book well, "If you’re looking for ways to help your children or grandchildren learn and grow spiritually without being too preachy, too boring, or too demanding, look no further. Bestselling children’s author Crystal Bowman and her daughter, Teri McKinley, present short and engaging devotions, easy-to-remember Bible verses, and exciting facts that encourage children to spend time with God and apply the truths of His Word to their everyday lives. This illustrated, kid-friendly version of the well-loved Our Daily Bread devotional is perfect for children ages 6–10."

Now, in complete contraction to what I have just said, here are the kids enjoying their egg hunt... From our family to yours, Happy Easter!

Meet My Dinosaurs - and My Brother

We have two boys. Two boys who are completely opposite in absolutely every way you could possibility imagine: sleeping habits, eating habits, one is very much introverted and the other --- well, he is best described as a "cartoon character". We mean the latter as a term of endearment, we promise. Neither child can greet you without making you smile but for completely opposing reasons. The oldest is an old soul who melts your heart and the youngest will have you curled in a ball of laughter grinning ear-to-ear. Being around a child that makes you laugh like that, melts your heart in a new way. We are blessed. We probably sound like any proud parents but, seriously, take a moment to pause and reflect on your child or children's personality and those little pieces that make them unique - and, you are sure to find some peace and something new to smile about.

Through this, our boys - the brothers - are best, best friends. We think you can see this through their play. They can go hours works collaboratively - complimentary - on special projects. And, here is a quick shot of that. In this video our oldest introduces you, proudly, to his younger brother. Enjoy!

Why We Joined You Tube

After months (nearly 10 of them) of our 5 year old continuously expressing interest in making his own videos and posting them to You Tube, in December 2015 we opted in. In doing so, we stumbled onto some remarkable benefits -  most significantly - supporting our child's speech development. In watching the video you may hear him repeat a phrase when he realizes he is being very quiet and/or not enunciating his words (aka opening his mouths when he speaks). Creating the videos allows him to listen back and see if he thinks others are understanding him. The support through him seeing comments and "thumbs up" reminds him of the importance of clarity and annunciation. 

Watch/LISTEN here for his first video... even just for a few seconds:

And, watch/LISTEN here just a few weeks later:

His confidence and speech development astounds us!  Do you notice a difference?

Creating the videos has also become something for us to do as a family with both children having tremendous fun creating and watching! When life gets so chaotic, it can be difficult to find time to pause and connect as a unit. Making a video has become just that. Whether it is capturing a moment to share with family and friends or for us to be able to look back on years down the road - the public community and support of the "You Tube community" enables some accountability and excitably in this new endeavor.

Thanks for checking out our blog and taking the time to read about the first chapter of our You Tube story. Please subscribe to our channel and see how the story unfolds!

*** 6 MONTH UPDATE: Here is a video in May that he did entirely on his own. The progress continues:

Best regards,

Kids' Fun - a channel connecting and celebrating family as our children lay the foundation. xo