.roast chicken with potatoes and olives.

Where I come from, the meal is the result of reflection and study, menus are prepared in advance, timed to perfection. It is said, without the culinary arts the crudeness of reality would be unbearable.

Kate & Leopold

I wish that was how I approached meals, but it's really not. It's more like, oh, no, it's 4:30 and we usually eat at 5:30; what are we going to eat?

Which is why I love this recipe. I seriously take the chicken out of the freezer, thaw it while I'm peeling the potatoes, it takes that little forethought. From start to finish, the whole thing takes me less than an hour! It's one of those recipes that is delicious when you follow it, and delicious when you adapt it. I've used baby spinach instead of kale, even adding carrots to the potatoes when we were running low on other vegetables. I serve it by itself in bowls. Uncomplicated, satisfying, and easy: yum!

Click the read more below for the recipe

.family sunday.

This week has been a hard week, a week of grief and heartbreak, a week of sickness, and I'm grateful just to be through it.

B - This week has brought no rest and lots of tears. Thank you for being there for me.

J - You earned enough chore money to buy a Transformer you've been wanting. I'm proud of you for saving up, and for working so hard!

W - Every day this week you have said thank you for making you dinner, unprompted and very sweetly. That makes all the difference in the world to me!

A - You talk nonstop, little girl, but my favorite thing is hearing you sing. "Let it Go" is your favorite song right now.

 

.tea for two.

It's been almost a year since Mia and I had our first tea party.

Summertime in North Carolina isn't exactly the best weather for tea, but now that it is finally below seventy degrees, we are enjoying more tea. Actually, Mia has become a bit obsessed. Having her own special teacup adds to it a bit. This girl can drink her share of tea; we definitely have to fill the whole pot.

I love this time with my girl. This sit and talk time. This no phones or iPads or distractions time. This sweet time.

Daughter of Eve from the far land of Spare Oom where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe, how would it be if you came and had tea with me?

C.S. Lewis

I would rather have nothing but tea.

Jane Austen

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.

Catherine Douzel

I expect I shall feel better after tea.

P.G. Wodehouse

 

.resolutions.

 

.This Year.

A bad habit I'm going to break:

My social media and technology addiction. It's just wasting precious time.

A new skill I'd like to learn:

Stippling. I'd love to really work on my quilting...more precise and professional looking.

What I'm going to do for others:

Be honest about my struggles. My honesty allows others to be honest.

A place I'd like to visit:

Living in NC has provided access to the entire Eastern Seaboard - Colonial Williamsburg is at the top of the list!

A book I'd like to read:

I would like to read more by Elizabeth Elliot this year.

A new food I'd like to try:

I want to learn to make traditional Mediterranean food. From scratch. We'll see how it goes.

I'm going to do better at:

Blogging. I haven't been writing lately, and I need to. Keeping my words bottled up inside isn't helping me, or anyone else.

.2016.