Mexican Chicken Chowder

Since my husband and I spend the majority of our time on the road, being home brings out the chef in me.  I love to cook so I take any chance that I can. The only problem is that because we are in and out so often, I have to use the groceries I buy up before I leave so I don't waste anything. I had a hodgepodge of items in my fridge last night that I used to make Mexican Chicken  Chowder. It's like Corn chowder and tortilla soup all in one. And it was really good!

So here is the recipe that I know that you're dying to get your hands. ;-)


Kate's Mexican Chicken Chowder
2 boneless skinless organic chicken breasts
4 pieces of cooked bacon, chopped
1 small white onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 medium yukon potatoes, finely diced
1 poblano pepper, roasted and diced (peel burnt skin off)
1 red pepper, roasted and diced (peel burnt skin off)
1 15oz can white sweet corn
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cups 1% milk
1/2 cup hot water
2 Tbps olive oil
2 chicken buillion cubes
2 Tbps cooking sherry or dry white wine
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp mexican spice powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
3 tbs unsalted butter

Place 5qt Dutch oven on stove on medium heat with 2 Tbps of olive oil. Coat chicken in Mexican spice powder, dice, and cook in bottom of dutch oven until cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside. Add butter, onions, garlic, and potatoes to Dutch oven and cook until tender, about 5-8 min. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 35 minutes, until soup thickens. Serve with optional shredded cheese and diced avocados.

Makes 6 servings.

Hope you guys enjoy! Great on a cold night or rainy day, which seems to be the weather quite often these days here in Nashville.

Kate's Chicken Pot Pie

I made this the other night and was totally in love with it! I have always been a lover of pot pies, (my grandmother made the best homemade ones), but I have abstained from them due to their high fat content and overall bad reputation for not being "healthy".  This one is far from diet food, but is healthier than the store-bought version, and way tastier. Tweak as you see fit or follow to the T. You won't be disappointed!

*To save on fat and salt, I buy a whole, antibiotic free chicken from the grocery store and roast it myself. Makes for very fresh chicken that you have control over.
2-3 cups chopped up chicken
2 cups chopped carrots
3 medium yukon potatoes, diced
2 cups canned white corn
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2/3 cups 1% milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can homestyle biscuits

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In saucepan, combine carrots, potatoes, and corn and cover with water. Boil for 15 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.

In saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add shallots, cooking until translucent. Stir in flour, salt and pepper. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer, while stirring constantly, over medium heat until thick. Remove from heat.

In large bowl, combine veggies, chicken, can of mushroom soup, and sauce. Stir until coated.

In 9x13 baking dish, pour chicken and veggie mixture, spreading until even in dish.

Remove biscuits from can. Cut each biscuit in half to create 2 thin biscuits. Place over the the top of dish.

Bake for 30-35 minutes (don't let biscuits burn) Or until hot and bubbly. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

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Confessions of a Foodie

I have a sweet tooth. And an intense need for salt. Okay...I pretty much just love all things "food".     

I am a foodie. 

You know. One of these geeks who loves all things food including, but not limited to, strange food, boutique food, ethnic food, and farm to table food. (Most foodies are not into TGI Fridays, Applebees, and other mediocre chains) I love trying new things, cooking and baking, and eating in boutique restaurants in every city. I'm a sucker for Thai and sushi in particular. So many flavors...

(back to what I was saying...)

Being a foodie makes eating healthy one of the most challenging things in my fight against being overweight.  It's the most difficult because I can't say no to so many things...especially if I've never had them before. It's because I simply love food. And I discriminate against none of it. 

(Except okra and hot dogs)

One of the reasons that I love to cook/bake so much is because of the ability I have to create in the kitchen. I love giving life to food that brings people joy when they eat it. I live for that moment.  Plus, I love new flavors, new ideas, and just plain ole' creativity. But they say that losing weight is only 20% working out. The other 80% is in the food we eat. Half the battle against food is at the grocery store. 

Sometimes I win. Sometimes I lose. Sometimes I don't care. 

The reality is that I don't have to stop being in love with food to lose weight. I don't have to be afraid of it. I have to respect it. I have to control it. Sounds stupid, maybe, but it works for me. When I don't limit myself (within reason) with food, I don't crave only the things I can't have.  I don't keep dairy in the house because my body can't handle it. But if I'm at someone's house and it's in the food, I don't freak out. I love ice cream and frozen yogurt and all things that you would find in a Halloween bucket, but when I don't eliminate them from my life, I don't sit and pine over them...dreaming that I could just have them back...and therefore don't notice them in the checkout line at the store. 

Crazy I know.

I don't know what works for you, but realizing this about myself has put me in a very good position of control. I may lose weight at a little slower pace, but losing is losing, and being confident in my own abilities is very rewarding. 

Winning.

I am not the first person to admit that I struggle to get to the gym. My bed is so warm...my body still tired...in other words: I'm lazy. That's really all it boils down to even though we refuse to admit that's what we are actually saying.

What's amazing to me is that once I get to the gym, I'm actually glad I went. I find extra things to do and classes to take. I push myself once I get there. How is it that I can do that, but barely push myself out of bed? There has got to be some sort of switch that gets flipped on for those people who just pop out of bed and rush to the gym without thinking.

I wonder if I even have that switch...

Who knows. But, I do what I can. I battle a very strong sense of lazy to will myself out the front door. Some days I win. Some days I lose. 

I started off this year knowing that I wanted to continue my trek towards better health.  I also had numerous people telling me all the things that I needed to do. Some even challenged me when I ate certain things or chose not to work out. This may work for some, but I told people that even though I wanted to get back on track, I had to wait until I was ready. I couldn't start too early or I would feel like I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. I had to want it for myself, not want it to make everyone else shut up. I would end up fizzling out quickly and with self-loathing. I would tell people when they challenged me, "Today isn't the day. I'm not ready. I will begin as soon as it clicks for me and I want it. Before then, I need to be left alone."

Understand that some people may read this and think that I was just being lazy or non-commital. They may say that my method was completely absurd and that I did ti wrong. That's fine. Maybe that's true. But I do know that one day recently, it just clicked. I couldn't get getting back in shape and healthy out of my mind. I became obsessed with it. And I started. I wanted it. I wanted to win. 

So here's to another day of making it to the gym and making healthy eating choices. Winning. 

Finding Motivation

Since deciding that I wanted to finally "kick the habit" of being just enough overweight to be annoying, I have shed 3 pounds. Ooooo....3. Whole. Pounds. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it's a huge motivation for me to at least be in a downward motion on the scale. One thing that I use to help spur some of that elusive motivation is this little gimmick. The visual representation of weight being lost and gained keeps the OCD me on my toes. I love to put the marbles from one jar to the other like a little kid. And the fact that I keep it in my kitchen (in plain sight btw) is even more motivation than you could imagine. Every time I find myself wandering aimlessly and sort of hungry into the kitchen, it's there to give me the stare-down and remind me why I'm doing what I'm doing. I want to be confident, self-assured, and comfortable in my own skin. I also want to wear a bathing suit both in Vegas and during the summer, be physically prepared to have a child, and when I am confident in myself I love my husband better. (Crazy, I know).

When the idea of losing those pesky pounds seems overwhelming and impossible, finding motivation can be a task of it's own. But it's there. It's that nagging voice when you hit snooze on your 7:00am Saturday morning alarm that says, "I really should go to that spin class and not be lazy." That faint reminder that you shouldn't eat that extra bowl of ice cream. I find mine in both these nifty little jars, and in the face of my husband. I love him deeply and want the best out of life for the both of us. Like I said, when I love myself and am confident in myself, I love him better. I don't hold anything back. That's the life that I want.

A Changing Of Tides

I feel as though the last few weeks have forced major life reflection on me.  I find myself wondering, wandering, and dreaming more. Blame it on a trip to New York, a trip to DC, an exceptional time living life with my husband, or the snap-decision move back to our home in Franklin.  It could have been any or all, but I find myself ready for what's next.

I am a restless spirit.  I know there's so much to this life and I never want to waste time or miss out on opportunities. I want to consume all the life has to offer.  I am a creative; an artist; a dreamer.  Though this restlessness drives my desire for a full life, it also leaves me frustrated that I might be missing out or not fulfilling my destiny.  I waiver between contentedness and anxiousness often.  And anxious is where I find myself today.

I feel a change in the tides coming my way, and because I'm no psychic, I am irritated that I can't see exactly what's waiting in the shift. Or did the shift already happen and I just missed it?

I have a hard time believing that being back in a town that I don't really want to be in around people I can't seem to mesh with is where my future has taken me.  I would rather be running full-speed towards dreams of New York and spending a vast majority of time gazing at the walls of MoMA only to be inspired beyond my wildest dreams.  I dream of progression...creativity...opportunities...

((sigh))

Who knows what's next. There's no life map to my chagrin, but would I really be happier with my life laid out before me? Maybe I would be disappointed.

In all of this reflection, I know this to be true: I will seek to be the best I can wherever I am.  I will always have dreams of where I'll live, what kind of career will take off, and where that life will lead.  But I can relax a little knowing that the pursuit of all these things will never cease and my life will be exactly the way it was designed.

Enough is Enough

We recently performed a show for an audience that could have cared less that we were there. Granted it was for a Christian sports league end-of-the-year event, they were beyond the normal excited and rowdy. Both kids and adults alike spent the show talking to each other, running around, texting on their phones, and actually yelling things at us while we performed. What’s unfortunate for this audience was that we had been with them several years earlier and remembered it being the same way. People were distracted and rude throughout the whole hour, making us just want to throw in the towel and walk off the stage in defeat. However, we aren’t those kind of performers, and we finished our hour off with tons of energy and positivity. We weren’t going to let one show get us down. 

Once I entered the lobby to head to our merchandise table, it only got worse. The comments from parents both directly and indirectly went like this:

“Oh you guys were great...the kids just loved you”

“You should come in for our pre-school”

“No Audrey...you don’t need anymore junk to play with” 

“I am not buying you cheap crap” 

“So, how many people have you suckered into buying some of this junk?” 

I’m not exaggerating. We get this stuff all the time. Parents opening their mouths, oftentimes out of ignorance and with good intentions, taking all of the wind out of our sails. It makes us feel insignificant and like we’re trying to steal from them. 

Let me make something very clear: When you, as parents, talk on your phone, text, and generally have complete lack of care during an event, your kids will follow suit. You show them that when they are in a church setting, hearing about Jesus, that it is no more important than your Twitter and Facebook account. You are an example and your kids will follow your lead. 

When you come up to us after a show and call our resources “cheap crap” and wonder how many people have been “suckered into buying some of this junk”, to be completely blunt, you’re being a jerk. Think about the words that you’re saying and if you would want someone to say that about anything that you have or sell. You’re not being funny and it’s a huge slap in the face to us who are trying to serve you and your family by making things available that are both inexpensive and clean. If you don’t want to buy anything, be an adult and say “no” to your child. We don’t mind if you aren’t interested. Just keep your comments to yourself.

I am fully aware that there will be people who will read this and think they are different. That their church is different. Trust me...it’s pretty much the same experience all the way across the board. Churches, in my opinion, are some of the most disrespectful and frustrating places to perform, and they are called to be more. Maybe you’ll just be mad at me. Go ahead and be mad. I’m being honest and letting you know that it’s rare to be treated well in church settings. And I’m tired of being the dumping ground for ignorance. 

It’s time to grow up people. It’s time to be the church instead of no different from the world around you.