Feeding My Husband & Chasing My Dreams

Labor Day weekend left me ready to DROP. 😂

It was a busy week in my kitchen, and girl… three catering gigs in one weekend. Three days, three completely different setups, and enough behind-the-scenes chaos to remind me exactly why I love what I do—and why I was ready for a nap afterward.

But while all of that was happening, life at home was changing a little too.

I decided that if I'm going to be the one home during the day, I'm going to make sure my husband is fed properly. And honestly, there's something comforting about knowing we're both contributing in different ways.

I'm cooking. He's working.

We're both doing our part.

Learning How to Slow Down

Slowing down hasn't exactly been graceful.

First, I injured my thumb. Then my dog apparently decided my pinky toe needed to participate in the process by jumping into the bed before I was completely out of the way.

Yep. Broken pinky toe.

So I've literally had no choice but to slow everything down.

And maybe that's the sign I needed.

I've spent so long being the person who has to make the money that having a little more free time has actually been an adjustment. I didn't realize how much of my identity was wrapped up in constantly working until I suddenly wasn't working as much.

And, if I'm being honest, I've been a little lazier than I expected. 😂

So I'm taking this new season as an opportunity to build a routine instead of just filling my time.

My goal is to start my days with exercise and meditation, then spend some time working toward the things I'm building.

One call about the food truck.

One piece of content where I'm actually making my own food and showing y'all what I'm doing.

And I'm also saving toward my real estate expenses and license. Having this newfound time means I can finally start making sales calls and actually give that dream the attention it deserves.

I'm learning that slowing down doesn't mean stopping.

Sometimes it means making room to figure out what's next.

This Week's Lunch Menu

Speaking of routines, I made three things for Alex's lunch this week:

- Pork stir-fry with brown rice

- Chicken salad with homemade mayo

- Brussels sprout, bacon, apple & sunflower seed salad

Three lunches, plenty of chopping, and apparently a great way to test how much my injured thumb and pinky toe were willing to cooperate. 😂

Pork Stir-Fry

The pork stir-fry was probably the easiest of the three.

I used:

- 4 thin pork chops, about ¼-inch thick, cut into cubes

- 1 bag frozen stir-fry vegetables

- Brown rice

- 1 tablespoon ground ginger

- 1 tablespoon ground garlic

- ½ cup soy sauce

- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar

- ¼ cup brown sugar substitute

- Fat of choice for cooking

I started the rice first. If you're fancy, make your own rice. If you're like me and sometimes need lunch done quickly, the boil-in-a-bag brown rice takes about 10 minutes and gets the job done.

For the pork, I seared it in bacon grease because, well… it was sitting right next to me. Why waste a perfectly good opportunity?

Once the pork was about halfway cooked, I tossed in the frozen vegetables and let everything cook together for a few minutes.

Then I poured in the sauce and let it simmer until it thickened up and coated everything.

Serve it over brown rice and call it lunch.

Easy.

Chicken Salad With Homemade Mayo

The chicken salad wasn't difficult either.

The difficult part was doing all that chopping with an injured thumb. 😂

I cooked the chicken in the oven at 350°F until the thickest part reached 165°F, which took roughly 30–45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken.

I cooked the bacon in the oven too, which usually takes around 20–30 minutes.

Once everything cooled, I chopped:

- Cooked chicken

- Bacon

- ½ red onion

- Green apple

- Pecans

- ¼ cup pickles

Then came my favorite part: the homemade mayo.

I like making my own because I know exactly what's going into it.

For mine, I used two hard-boiled eggs, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, pickle juice, mustard, a pinch of our homemade celery salt, and about two tablespoons of water. The amount of water depends on how thick you want your mayo.

I blended everything in my bullet blender, although a food processor would probably have made things even easier.

Unfortunately, my food processor was already busy doing the next recipe.

Once the mayo was smooth, I mixed it into the chicken mixture and refrigerated everything until it was nice and cold.

And that's one of the reasons I like making my own condiments. I know what's in it, and I'm making it fresh for my family instead of wondering how long something has been sitting on a shelf.

Brussels Sprout, Bacon, Apple & Sunflower Seed Salad

Now THIS one was worth the chopping.

These were my gorgeous Brussels sprouts from the garden, and I picked them a little early because I wanted to make sure they actually got eaten.

Half went into the freezer for another day, and the other half became this bacon, apple and sunflower seed masterpiece.

I let the food processor do most of the work because after everything else I had chopped that day, there was absolutely no way I was hand-cutting all those Brussels sprouts.

Then I added crumbled bacon, chopped apples and sunflower seeds.

For the dressing, I went with something similar to a honey mustard:

- 1 teaspoon agave

- 2 tablespoons stone-ground mustard

- Lemon juice

- 1 cup olive oil

I whisked it together until it came together, poured it over the salad and mixed everything up.

Absolutely amazing. 👏🤩

And honestly, there's something really satisfying about feeding your family with food you've grown yourself.

Three Catering Gigs, Three Completely Different Days

And then there was the other side of my week.

Three catering gigs.

Three days.

Three completely different experiences.

I was working, cooking, setting up, watching events come together and grabbing whatever behind-the-scenes footage I could between everything else.

I've already shared the highlights over on my social channels, so if you missed them, go check out Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.

Each one reminded me why I keep chasing this culinary dream.

Because even when I'm exhausted, even when my feet hurt, even when my body is basically screaming at me to sit down… I still love creating food and being part of these experiences.

I'm Learning What This Season Is For

I think that's what this season of my life is really about.

I'm learning how to slow down without feeling guilty.

I'm learning that my husband and I can contribute differently and still be building a life together.

I'm learning how to take care of my home while still taking care of my ambitions.

And I'm learning that I don't have to choose between my dreams.

There's the food truck.

There's real estate.

There's catering.

There's this blog.

There's content creation.

And there's whatever else I decide to build along the way.

For a long time, I thought progress meant constantly moving.

Now I'm starting to understand that sometimes progress looks like sitting down, taking a breath, making your husband's lunch, and figuring out your next move.

So that's what I'm doing.

Feeding my husband. Taking care of myself. Building my routine. Making the calls. Chasing the dreams.

And apparently trying not to let my dog break any more body parts in the process. 😂