Love being a FlyBaby =)

Have you ever been frustrated by the clutter that seem to never disappear and even times seem to grow into an uncontrollable monster??? lol. Well, this past two weeks, that what kinda what I was feeling. I was surrounded by things just left everywhere and the piles just kept growing. I WAS definitely overwhelmed! Didn't help of course the I was sick too so that just makes things 10 times more depressing. lol.

Last week, I decided to check out a website that my prof spoke about in my Spouses' Tools class. The website is www.flylady.com. She recommended it if we needed help to get ourselves into a routine or if we found ourselves frustrated and overwhelmed and needed someone to tell us where to start. lol. Well, as you can imagine, I was in that boat and needed someone to organize me and my thoughts. lol.

Anyway, I joined the group and at first it was a bit overwhelming looking at all the notes, reminders, and suggestions but she was quite reassuring to take things slow. As a newbie, I'm called a FlyBaby. I love that! And so there are Baby Steps that as a "baby" I follow to get me going and get me into a routine. =) The first task is "Shine Your Sink". There's a video that I watched about that and it was funny but so inspiring at that same time. I won't lie and say my home is the perfect clutter free home. It's not and it was inspiring that other women where brave enough to share their journey from chaos to shiny and serene! =)

So I tackled my sink and followed the instructions. And I couldn't believe my eyes... my sink was SHINING!!!!!!! WOW! Even my son exclaimed, "Wow, Mom, I've never seen the sink like this!" lol. We all love how the sink and the counter looks and it just seem so contagious everywhere else. Mind you... I have to take it slow and follow the schedule but I'm definitely loving my kitchen/dining area. =)

Here's some pictures! =)

Creamy Garlic Potato Soup

1 tb. light olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced or thinly sliced (I also added more garlic powder)
4 cups of water
4 tsp. mckay's Chicken seasoning
3 cups potatoes, diced (I adjusted this to 4)
1 cup Tofu sour cream (recipe below)
2 tb. fresh dill, chopped or 2 tsp. dried dill
salt to taste

In large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute until translucent; add garlic to onions and saute an additional 2 to 3 minutes.

Add water and broth or seasoning and bring to boil. Add potatoes and return to boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil gently 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

Working with half of mixture at a time, transfer to food processor or blender. (Note: I didn't blend all the potatoes as I like to chew on something in my soup) Process until pureed. Return to pot. Stir in remaining ingredients. Stir over low heat until heated through. Serve warm. Garnish with fresh dill and/or green onion slices.

Tofu Yogurt or Sour Cream
1 10-ounce soft tofu
2 tbs. canola oil (I used olive oil)
1 tbs. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp salt

Blend together and add to the partial pureed soup.

I added more water as it was too thick. We really liked this recipe.

*recipe taken from More Choices by Cheryl Thomas-Peters & James Peters*

Cooking Adventure...

Encouraged by a friend, I decided to go on a healthy cooking adventure! =D Yay!

Ok, I wasn't really that happy about it yesterday when I had to sit down and come up with a whole month's menu (dinner only since it was the only meal my entire family is together). It was daunting at first. I kept looking at the calendar for the remaining days in March and entire month of April and thought how can I possibly fill the each day with something new and exciting. lol. My friend, Chrystyna, has done this to keep track of her food intake and also budgeting as we all know eating healthy is expensive!!!

So I gathered all my cookbooks and even found some that I didn't know I had or had never opened! lol. It took me a few hours but I filled in a whole month and a half without pulling my hair!!! That took a lot out of me. lol. But now that I had the menu down, it was time to cook. Yikes! I don't think I'm a bad cook but I'm not very adventurous so this was a bit out of my comfort zone.

Today was the 2nd day. Yesterday was "Over Rice" Day like Stir-fry over rice kinda stuff. I made Teriyaki Vegetable Stir-Fry... making homemade teriyaki sauce and the family like it! Yay!!! Then today was Soup Day. I made Creamy Garlic Potato Soup. It took me a while to make it. It just does when I try new things coz I wanna make sure I got it right. It was a simple recipe tho and doesn't really take that long to make... it was just me being picky. lol. Anyway, it turned out really good. My son and husband loved it and so did I!!! =) I served it with salad (which was hardly touched other than myself) and a 7 grain loaf bread. I was a delicious meal! =) Great recipe, Cheryl!!! (author of the recipe book. lol.)

trusting His heart

"But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." ... For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9,10

~God is enough for me... for my problems, my pain, my hurt and my desires. When I am afraid or worried or self-condemning, I will remember WHO sustains me! God is sufficient! So I will lay my burdens, flaws, needs, guilt, anger, frustration, fear, disappointments and desires on His shoulders and trust His heart!!!~

princess

I realized that I'm a princess!!! Yes, you read right... I'm a princess! Not only did I mentally acknowledged it but also I felt like a princess!

If God is our Father and He was the King then that would make you and me princesses and princes! I knew that. But it was only this weekend did I really feel it from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. I felt incredibly loved. I felt special and incredibly precious even with all my flaws. I felt Him loving on me! And boy, it's an incredible feeling to be loved like that!

It's incredibly humbling to experience the connection between the knowing and the feeling of being loved greatly. But what's even more liberating is finally accepting that kind of love from Him. To allow Him to love me. To allow myself to feel His love without attaining "perfection" first so I would deserve that love. To allow Him to see and touch the hurt inside my heart... to acknowledge that it's there and it hurts. That it's ok that He sees it and that I share it with Him. And that it's ok to let go of it... and allow Him to heal it. Oh, I felt so filled... filled to overflowing with His love.

I am His and He is my Father. And I am HIS princess!