A Pay It Forward Kind of Weekend

Happy Monday!

We have rain, lots of rain! It's been a wonderful weekend; busy, social, and lots to share. First off though my America Cooks with Chefs episode has been posted, so for those of you who wanted to see it, here it is. 

Dave had drill this weekend so Mason and I were left to fend for ourselves. I worked on Friday and on Saturday showing property and I'm keeping my finger crossed that an offer I wrote that was not accepted will come back to life. I have a ton of business in my pipeline right now and it's amazing that my phone keeps ringing with more referrals and inquiries. I'm loving it! On Saturday I showed a couple of homes and one in particular is on my normal walking route, I was excited to see inside as I just knew I would fall in love. Nope! This house was totally weird, it had lots of wasted space, unusually shaped rooms, smallish bedrooms (for as big as the house is, they could have allocated space much more efficiently), an updated kitchen that again, was shaped in such a way that I can't imagine moving around very easily while trying to work in it and to top all of that off, it has white plush carpet all throughout! What?! It's funny how we plug in what we think something will be just from walking by it on a regular basis. In any case, I'm glad I got to see it and I hope whoever buys it finds it to be exactly what they are looking for.

Later, Mason and I went to a "Pay It Forward" potluck and met many of the people I interact with on Facebook with. This is a group that practices all kinds of random acts of kindness just because. We have a Facebook group and we share when someone does something or witnesses something kind for someone else. It's fun to belong to this group, but the fact of the matter is, most of us practice these kinds of loving acts every day just because it's who we are. 

On that note, on Sunday I opened my kitchen to two friends who have expressed on numerous occasions that they want to know how to meal plan and cook for their families. I set the date and informed them that I would share with them how I map out my week to feed my family without the stress of having nothing in the fridge or having to shop every day on a meal by meal basis. My goal was to do it for under $100 and to provide them with at least 7 dinner ideas and food that would be leftover to make lunches, too. I was able to do it easily. Basically my plan is a max pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts that I cook on Sunday in my Crockpot seasoned with Spike. I make a big green salad so it's ready to eat, and for this plan, I also added in a pot of chili. I compiled a list of things that can be made using chicken and chili and then created a shopping list to make a number of those dishes. Of course, all of our pantries are different so you may be able to make any number of dishes based on what you have in your house. My shopping was done at WalMart and I got more than what was on my list for $79.63. I doubled up on the ground beef and I was able to get all the ingredients for another whole meal that wasn't part of the chicken and chili plan. The basic premise is to have a main dish made so when you get home from work, assembling a meal is simple. For example, 1 chicken breast diced served over a bed of greens (with cucumber, tomato & onion) with a table spoon of chopped peanuts served with some homemade Asian dressing (I made up a bunch and sent each woman home with the recipe and a jar of the dressing - not included in my budget) - Chinese Chicken Salad for dinner! It's easy because the chicken is already cooked & seasoned and the salad is made, too. Same thing with the chili - a flour tortilla with a little grated cheese and chili heated in the microwave, add some greens, tomatoes and onions and you have an easy, delicious wrap for dinner. If you just do a little prep on Sunday, you will have easy meals for the whole week. And if you get tired of chili and chicken, put it in the freezer and it will be just as good when you need to pull it out in a pinch! From the feedback I got, it wasn't just the idea or planning that was helpful, the fact that these two ladies could actually make the food with me, see how to dice the chicken, learn that chili can be made in less than 30 minutes (some think that chili is hours or even days to make - only in high profile cooking competitions is that possibly true!), or how easy the other dishes come together when you put the main pieces in place was what really empowered them to know they can do this in their own kitchens at home. 

On February 18th Mason will be Guest "Cheffing" at High Hand Cafe in Loomis, CA. We went to see the kitchen and meet Chef Chris to talk about what he had in mind for Mason to do and they completely agreed that Mason would work the wood fired pizza oven. Mason is totally excited and is practicing throwing dough. Of course, when you practice throwing dough, you end up eating pizza!

Dave got home in time for dinner on Sunday and Mason tossed some pizza dough and he and Dave made their idea of the "Best Pizza Ever!" Watching them craft their individual pizzas I decided that I would rename our kitchen the "Family Room," what do you think? 

So that was my weekend, blessed beyond measure and so grateful for all that I have - that includes you! Big smiles and happy Monday.