I am now writing my blog post.

Sat down this morning to bang out a blog post. That was the plan. But first I needed to open up my email account to check for messages. Then a quick peek at Facebook before another quick peek at LinkedIn.
Now why did I sit down? I shouldn't be sitting here. So much to do around the house. From my office chair I can see toys on the floor and a pile of laundry waiting to be folded. Ugh, the guilt. Oh hey! A friend I have been trying to make plans with is now available to chat with on FB. Better grab the chance before his chat window dies again. Okay, back to writing this post.
Just remembered I need to email my sister about getting together to house hunt this week. So proud of her. The Onion just posted a funny video link . . . I need to make a shopping list for Easter dinner. Where will I find the time to fit it all in? Wish I had more time to get this blog post done and then maybe work out. Some day I'll hire a housekeeper so I can spend my time on the projects I really want to spend time on; writing, working out, home cooking, scrapbooking . . .
Damn it I'm out of time. Will have to finish this blog later.

I'm ashamed to admit how many of my mornings have started like this and ended as afternoons with little accomplished of real consequence. Enough already. Self discipline - please be mine. Confidently I say

Totally Excellent Broccoli Beef

Chinese food is not only very expensive but many recipes are also surprisingly fattening. Sure I know this but still it is so delicious and one of my top two comfort foods. Even when I tried to rationalize I was at least eating my vegetables I knew.  I especially love the flavorful rich sauce of a kung pao dish. I love sauces. The first time I gladly ate cooked vegetables I did so because of the fantastic pepper steak sauce those delectable green beans were bathed in.  I can still remember the rich pepper taste on my tongue and the look of amazement on my husband's face. If he hadn't seen it himself he wouldn't have believed I would ever clean my plate of cooked green veggies. 

During my quest to find healthy, delicious, quick and easy recipes I discovered the recipe below in Cooking Light magazine.  The flavor completely satisfied my Chinese food craving while saving money, eating healthy and making me feel like a totally together, responsible adult.  You can be sure Broccoli Beef is now a regular on the meal plan rotation.

Read all instructions and prep all ingredients before you begin cooking.
Ingredients:
As much white rice as you like. This meal cooks fast so start it early.
2 tbl dry sherry, divided
2 tbl lower sodium soy sauce, divided.
1 tsp sugar
1 pound boneless sirloin, cut diagonally across grain into thin slices
1/2 cup lower sodium beef broth
1 tbl cornstarch
1 tbl hoisin sauce
1 tsp Sriracha (hot chili sauce) or 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper.
    I used the red pepper
2 tbl canola oil, divided
1 tbl bottled ground fresh ginger (not sure how it can be bottled and fresh? I used fresh)
2 tsp minced garlic
4 cups pre-chopped broccoli florets
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup sliced green onions

1. Cook Rice
2. While rice cooks, combine 1 tbl sherry, 1 tbl soy sauce, sugar and beef in a bowl. In a second bowl stir together1 tbl sherry, 1 tbl soy sauce, broth, cornstarch, hoisin, and red pepper.
3. heat 1 tbl oil in  a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef mixture; saute 3 minutes or until browned. remove beef from pan. Add remaining 1 tbl of oil to pan. Add ginger and garlic, cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add broccoli and 1/4 cup water; cook 1 minute. Add onions; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broth mixture and beef mixture; cook 2 minutes or until beef is thoroughly heated and sauce is slightly thick.

Starting from Scratch

During my "time off" from working I promised myself to take advantage of this opportunity to do all the things I complained I didn't have time to do while I was a working mom. Creating meal plans, more organized grocery shopping and trying new recipes, cooking more healthy meals from scratch were at the top of the long list.
I put myself down for quite a while because I didn't have what I would describe as an organized household. I worked most weekends so there was very little time for pet projects. Other issues that seemed to be priority kept popping up.   I knew we could save money and time if I could just get us organized. We ate out too often and shopped at convenience stores, paying a heavy price for those conveniences. When we did try to buy fresh foods our lack of planning often caused the food to go bad before we had a chance to cook with it. Oh my Grandmother must have been nagging in her grave. We thought these quick processed foods made our lives easier but we soon discovered they did not make our lives happier. We gained weight, lacked energy, rushed through meals and had wasted more money then we realized.

Just Write Damn-it

I admit it, I ran. Just a touch of failure, or what I saw as failure and I ran away from the blog. Many things could have triggered my dash to the back door. A friend complimented what I wrote - "Oh God someone is actually reading this! What if my next post sucks?" Another friend who writes seemed to so effortlessly - "I'll never be as good as her, so why try?"  After weeks of thinking through the purpose or identity of my blog I felt lost on a path full of bill boards and street signs. There seemed so much to say that I didn't know what to say first. Should the posts be published in a certain order? Will my writing seemed confused? Will my post be useful to others?