Odacava

Well, Sorry I missed the last couple days. It’s been busy, however I find when I have the attitude, “I have a lot of time” I am at ease with what my plans are and confident that I can accomplish them. The last few days I’ve had the attitude, “I’m so busy” so I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed. Non the less, I am grateful for time. Time with family, friends, my daughter, husband, myself. Time to enjoy the outdoors, media, events, great food, and the list goes on and on. Time is so valuable.

I am also grateful for old/new friends. We have friends that my husband has been friends with since they were young boys. We rarely see them since we moved to Calgary, however they are moving here!! So now it feels like we have new friends We had them for dinner Sunday, it was great to visit with them and we played the board game Ticket to Ride.

I made spiced chicken with mango salsa, here is the recipe:

6 servings: The sugar in the spice rub caramelizes as the meat, forming a delicious brown crust.

Mango Salsa:

1/2 cup hot jalapeno jelly
3 TBS fresh lime juice
2 1/2 cups chopped peeled pitted mango (from 2)
1 1/4 cups chopped red bell pepper
3/4 cups chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno chile, minced

1 TBS ground cinnamon
1 TBS ground coriander
1 TBS sugar
1 TBS paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 4-ounce beef tenderloin steaks (each ~ 1/2 inch thick)
Olive oil

Whisk: jelly, and lime in large bowl to loosen. Mix in next 5 ingredients. Season salsa to taste with salt and pepper.

Prepare: Mix cinnamon and next 5 ingredients in small bowl to blend for spice rub. Brush chicken breasts all over with oil, then sprinkle each side with 1/2 teaspoon spice rub (I drowned the chicken in the spice, it was great!).  Cook chicken at 350 for 20 mins. Serve, passing salsa separately. I served this with sweet potato fries and spinach salad with mandarin oranges, almonds and craisins.

I am also grateful for adventure. This past Family day our friends took us ice fishing. It was quite the adventure, I appreciated every moment though. Here is a photo on the lake, mountains in the background. The weather was awesome!

I ran into an acquaintance I hadn’t seen in a long time over the weekend. He had lost a lot of weight; he didn’t even look like him. He looked happy and at much more healthy than I had known him to be. I asked him what he’s been up to and what his secret was. He said he lives by the theory that if money wasn’t an issue, what would he do? So he does what he loves everyday, his passion is designing and he does it everyday in a place where he can look out the windows.

If money wasn’t an issue, what would I do everyday?

I would learn about architecture, host fun parties, make amazing feasts for my friends and family, I would do something outside everyday, whether it be hiking, snowboarding, kayaking, back country skiing and the list goes on of what I love to do outside.

Have you asked yourself this question before? Is there anyway you could make this a reality for your everyday life? If so, how? What do your answers tell you about yourself?
What does my answer tell me about myself? How can I make this happen? To be discovered

Cheers,

Krista