Today was one of those days where I stopped and thought to myself… “Okay – we are in 2014, where in the World did 2013 go?” Honestly, 2013 flew by so quickly, I didn’t realize it till the Holidays were staring me in the face. Regardless… it doesn’t really matter now that it is 2014 and that was the past. One things for sure though… I know 2013 was pretty awesome (even if it went by so quickly) and 2014 will be just as great if not better. #loveyourlife
While driving home the other day I caught glimpse of a beautiful sunset. Sunsets mean a lot to me… it’s something my husband and I look forward to and sometimes when we are not with one another – we look up at the sky as the sun sets and know that we are each staring at the same sun setting – just at different locations. So seeing the sun set the other night brought major comfort to me. That day was a bit of a challenge… The twins and my eldest were handfuls, the stores were busy and packed and traffic had me wanting to pull out my gray hair. If that wasn’t bad enough, I weighed myself that morning and put on 2 pounds which was completely inconceivable considering I didn’t eat anything out of the norm and kept with my routine. I was feeling frumpy, not myself and just lacked inspiration in a whole. Seeing that sunset reminded me that I needed to stop, breath, take in the view and know that everything would be okay. I took the photo above as a reminder of that very moment. Sometimes in life… whether daily or once in a while – we really need to stop and smell the roses, or pull over on the side of the road and watch the sun set. While we don’t enjoy the stressful days or the craziness we call life… it’s the little color and sparkle that makes us appreciate what we have.
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds
The Winter Season is in full swing here in Hawaii. Now, don’t get me wrong – no snow here… but it’s much colder now a days then it normally is, especially with the Winter Vortex going through the States. And, with Flu and cold season lurking (it’s made its way to my house a few times already), a nice hot soup is perfect for healing our souls. Homemade chicken soup is a staple in our family and we have it at least once a month normally and a few times a month during the colder season so it was perfect to make with all the rain and storms we’ve had the last few days.
To make my chicken soup is a family recipe so I’m not going to get into all the details about it. I did not use Chicken Stock or broth to create it and the soup base itself is thanks to the chicken, water, vegetables and herbs. While cooking the chicken (I used thighs this time around instead of breast meat), I added my vegetables, seasoning and let it simmer to perfection. Once the chicken was cooked and the veggies were almost at the tenderness that I like it, I add in the dumplings so it can cook.
So here is where I share a little of my secrets…
I use Pillsbury Croissant Rolls (dough) for my dumplings. I love to use the butter biscuits, but I use what I have on hand and this particular meal I used the croissants (thanks to an awesome sale at Costco – lol). Now – this is super easy so don’t even fret about it. Open up the Pillsbury Croissant rolls, you can either unroll them or leave them rolled up and slice them into small sections (which is what I did). When they are all sliced up, they almost look like a cinnamon roll (each piece does). Now take each piece and drop it into your pot making sure that there is enough room for them to sink into your broth. Cover and simmer for about 8-10 minutes and that’s it. You can tell when the dumplings are done when they rise to the top and when they are no longer doughy. Yummy in your tummy on a chilly evening – perfect for snow days.
I’m sure there are many ways to create dumplings, but being a busy mom – this is easy, fast and hearty for my family of 5. You can even decide to use can chicken soup in the can if you want to make it easier, but we do our soups from scratch in our house. The choices are up to you. You can also use a chicken soup recipe and drop these guys into a crock pot as well – yummers! The tips and recipe to the dumplings (besides what I stated) can also be found on the Pillsbury website along with many more ways to utilize the croissant and butter biscuits.
Last night we had the pleasure of attending a baby party to celebrate a little guy’s one year old birthday. It was fun, festive and the boys absolutely…
Photo courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Ugh… I HATE being sick and hate when anyone in my family is sick too. Yes, HATE is a harsh word… but I’m sure all of us know that it is not something we like to deal with EVER. Since it’s that time of year when Flu and Sickness hit our families like a crazy whirlwind that we don’t like – I figured I would share a post with all of you and My Tips For Keeping The Flu Away.
1.) Keep your distance if someone looks ill. If someone looks like they may be ill – take special precautions and stay away. Sometimes people don’t realize that they are a carrier for bacteria. You don’t have to be impolite or rude, but keep your distance until you know for sure that they are not sick. Follow your gut. If that simply cannot be avoided, be sure to wash your hands after any contact with the person in question. Of course, I don’t want you to feel like you need to alienate the person, but teach your children or keep in mind for yourself that it’s a great habit to have.
2.) Sanitize your shopping cart. When grocery shopping – take the time to sanitize the handles of your cart as well as the area where you place your child and your handbag. Most grocery stores now have sanitizing wipes near the entrance of their stores so you can utilize these to clean your cart. While you may think germs are not prominent on a shopping cart, those carts hold some of the most terrible bacteria since these stores see thousands of customers a day.
Photo Courtesy of Ambro at http://www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net
3.) Be sure to have Sanitizing Gel, liquid or wipes on you if at all possible. Most of these types of things will kill up to 98% of surface germs. Bath and Body Works as well as your local CVS, Walgreens, etc. offers a variety of these options at such reasonable prices. It is not a waste to invest a little in these items because it can truly help in the long run.
4.) Take your daily vitamins. I know a lot of people that say they do not take vitamins because they do not like the way it tastes or they do not want to swallow large pills. Now a days – they have gummy vitamins or vitamins in drink form. These are essential in keeping your immune system running strong to keep those germs at bay. Over the years – I have found that if I do not take my daily vitamins I feel sluggish and tend to get sick much more and faster then if I had been taking them. If you simply cannot handle vitamins, try to get in at least a cup of Vitamin C (gold ol’ OJ) at least once a day – it will help to a certain extent.
5.) Stay home and recover if you are not well. Last but not least… this rule is especially important for parents or those that are working. I know that we all need to work for our money and kids need to go to school – but if you or your child is sick, call out and stay home. There have been so many occasions that my eldest had come home from school sick, then the whole family gets sick – only to find out that he caught it from a classmate that came to school very sick. I understand daycare is expensive and sometimes it’s not feasible, but think about those that you or your child will and can affect and how the same germ you or your child passed on, can come right back to you.
I’m not a doctor and most of what I discussed in this post is common sense – but since it is flu season and since I haven’t done a “Mommy Survival Guide” in months, I figured this would be the best time to do so. Remember… while we can’t avoid getting sick sometimes, we can surely do our best to make sure it is not as bad as it could be. As a mother, I know how difficult this time of year is. Most mommies and daddies are running on reserves, tired and beat – but together, we can all help to make it a bit easier on one another.
Last year I posted a video on this subject which you can find here: http://youtu.be/pOlZooba6pg (it’s on my old channel). Check it out because I go through all the goodies in my Mommy Sick Bag and have more details as to how to keep the flu away or some simple tips to follow.
Last month or the month before I had the awesome opportunity to join my fellow POPSUGAR Select Beauties in a fun campaign. As a thank you for completing…
I have really been enjoying my Thirsty Thursday Segments with all of you. Check out what I talk about this week… online shopping at Sephora and updates to my Weight loss and goals. 😉
November was an awesome month filled with all kinds of fun and the Thanksgiving Holiday. I absolutely love November because the Winter Holidays are my favorite and Thanksgiving…
Happy Wednesday Loves… Hope you are all having an awesome day. This is just a personal update to let you all know what has been going on lately since I haven’t been updating the blog the last few days. This week has been crazy so far, even if it’s on Wednesday. I can’t believe how fast the week went by, even with the Veteran’s Day Holiday… I still feel like I haven’t had the time to accomplish my laundry list of “Honey Do’s”. This past weekend was a blast though. My hubby took the kids and I to the Carnival. I’m gonna work on editing that video (a brief clip of one of the acts) and uploading to my YouTube Channel soon.
Isaiah, Luke & My Hubby watching the Circus Show
Hmmm…. Speaking of YouTube… some of you may have noticed that I have been “following” you on Google plus with a new account or subscribing to you from a different channel. It’s because I started a new one up. You can subscribe and check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/honeykahoohanohano. It is a breathe of fresh air to be able to have a YouTube channel that actually is named with a URL I want to use, but at the same time, I am starting all over again – so no subscribers, no views, no nothing. It’s a challenge, but it is definitely time for me to start making the transition. So – please please if you have been a subscriber of mine in the past, I would really appreciate you following my new journey.
Okay – so that is basically what I have been up to. It seems that “updating” and getting things in order have been the norm around here the last couple of weeks, especially after my transition to my self hosted blog from using Weebly for so long. But the changes have to happen and I’m just going to embrace them the best I can. I do sometimes feel like I have that “blond moment” and sometimes it may even be all over my face. lol
I’ll be back to posting more so you will be seeing much more of me. More fashion posts are coming as well – so stay tuned and I have some new reviews in the pipeline too. Wishing you all a wonderful week.
