(Personal) Space invaders

by michelle on May 14, 2012 · 1 comment

I had forgotten how positively draining it is when my personal bubble is invaded constantly.

If you’ve ever observed servers in a restaurant at their service station, or watched the baristas at Starbucks work together in a peak time of day, you’ll notice quickly that there’s not a whole lot of personal space to be had. It was always a major adjustment for me, when getting acclimated to a new job, having people I wasn’t really comfortable with in my bubble.

And then, when I was comfortable with them, and barely noticed when bumped or touched while working, I would still be completely drained when it came to personal space, it just wasn’t as awkward.

So, mother hood is a lot like working at a coffee shop for many reasons, but the lack of personal space really wears me down.

I did not mind at all that Jonas wanted lots of cuddles and snuggling today while he was getting over his fever. I enjoyed the baby laying across me on the couch like he did when he was little and that was the ONLY way he’d sleep at all ever. It was a nice change of pace in the world of “toddler”. But for someone who has a pretty large personal bubble, by the end of the day, my space has just been invaded and I am completely drained. Not to mention the fact that my cat has woken me up at around 4:30 for the past few mornings and I haven’t really gone back to sleep after that. Yawn.

So instead of worrying about all of the things tonight, I’m going to shower and read and hopefully get a good night’s sleep.

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Ok, I have to share this because I feel like it’s a breakthrough for me, though something so simple might be intuitive for others.

This is so, so good.

Pan-fried mesquite chicken with homemade rice-a-roni

You will need:

  • Coconut oil, enough to pan fry some chicken in. This will vary depending on how much chicken and how big your pan is.
  • Chicken breasts
  • McCormick Mesquite grill seasoning
  • Adobo seasoning
  • 1/8 cup of some liquid (stock, water, wine, vinegar, whatever)
  • Some rice, already cooked.

Preheat your pan on medium heat and add enough coconut oil to pan fry some chicken in, about 1/4 inch on the bottom of your pan.

Sprinkle the tops of your chicken breasts with adobo seasoning and then coat them with the mesquite seasoning. Put the chicken seasoned side down in the pan, and then do the same on the other side.

Cook the chicken thoroughly, 6 minutes a side or so. Then place the chicken on a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Turn the heat down to medium-low.

Add the liquid you’ve chosen to the pan, and deglaze the pan, making sure you’ve scraped up all the delicious bits at the bottom. Then add your rice and stir until combined. I used left-over wild-rice blend from a few nights before.

This tastes like rice a roni, but is so much better for you. And so delicious. Yum. Serve chicken on the rice. Dinner is served.

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