Well, I should be writing a Monday post for body reflection, but my cute little graphics are on my computer and it is dead. Actually the battery needs to be replaced. But that means everything I have is not accessible. And I won’t be home until the 23rd to get it fixed. This is life, ups and downs. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that make us stressed or anxious, even angry, but rather than dwelling on what goes wrong, pivot and do things differently. So, I chose to do things differently! Today, and the rest of the week while traveling, I will post about other things and we can still have lively conversations here in Skool. What do you want to talk about? Comment below and I’ll write a post about it.

There are so many chemicals called food in our lives here in the US. So, I suggest that we cook more often, with real ingredients, and no short cuts (except maybe an instant pot). We have lots of convenient ways to cook in our world compared to building a fire and cooking over it in a cast iron pot (although that is a skill that is lost today). Even many foods are convenient at the grocery: chopped, diced, frozen. So, prep and process is no longer as time consuming and even cooking can be quick. Share your favorite quick recipe below and I'll share one here: Italian Chicken and Rice Use slow cooker or instant pot Ingredients: 1-2 lbs organic or free range chicken (we use boneless skinless thighs) 32 oz of organic Italian dressing 1-2 cups of wild or black rice Instructions: Cook rice until done (sometimes we use left over rice) Put chicken pieces and dressing into the slow cooker or instant pot and cook until chicken is done (we like it falling apart) You can serve the chicken over the rice and serve with a salad Sometimes we add the rice to the chicken and dressing in the instant pot for a quick one pot meal - cook for chicken to be done on pressure. This does make the rice very mushy, but is more like a casserole than anything. Bon Appetite!

I have NEVER been a fan of water, but this past week I’ve been getting up and fixing a quart of water and drinking THE WHOLE THING before going to work. THIS morning, I got up and was actually thirsty for WATER! WINNING!