Walk the Talk

It is way easier to give advice than to take it.

I mentioned the blog to Andrea and Jay today - the former while at work, the latter while working out. It's easy to give advice while things are humming along, when I've eaten breakfast, when I've had a healthy lunch, etc... etc... etc...

AND THEN LIFE HAPPENS. I've worked out HARD between 5 and 6. My man calls me to have a drink after work with a business colleague. I get to catch up with my son briefly in between his own busy social schedule. Bill's catching up with his son while I see mine, and suddenly.... it's 8:10, and I'm starving.

My first thought is to grab dinner at a restaurant. My second thought is there is lots in the fridge at home. My third thought is "forget the first thought, I'm REALLY hungry". My fourth thought has made the blogspot.

What good is my advice to busy professionals if it's not true? Why should anyone read this and spend their own precious time if I don't walk my own talk?

Crap. I hate being principled. My own advice is for other busy people, not myself! You mean I actually have to take my own advice? And yet, I do.

So? I grabbed a bottle of the same wine I had with my colleagues at the LCBO (at 8:15), and headed home to my fridge. And the result was amazing - at 8: 25, and before I would have even been served an appetizer at a restaurant.

A great tip I learned from a busy cookbook author was to grab an apron and throw it over your work clothes when you walk in the door instead of changing. So I turned on the burner, grabbed the apron, took out the chicken breasts (organic, free range, no antibiotics, YES, more expensive but it's my body).

Crap again, I'm out of olive oil. Oh well, I have butter and that will only make my "sacrifice" more yummy, and more French. In it goes.

There is a tiny bit of Dijon - just the last few bits that cling to the jar that make it almost ready to just be washed.... Except there is wine! So in it goes - about 1/8 of a cup, and sloshes around with the dijon and some salt.

And here's one of my favourite expressions... "meat is like a man. It moves when it's ready to move,". My friend Maureen loves this quote, mostly because she's married to Don;) (meat molecules shrink when they're ready... which is really unlike men, who enlarge when they're ready, but I digress...)

Meat of any kind will easily flip when it is properly cooked so DON'T PRY THE MEAT OFF THE PAN OR THE GRILL UNLESS IT DOES SO EASILY!!!!)

So I have two beautifully browned chicken breasts. Now I'll add the dijon mustard wine liquid to deglaze. I go to the garden to grab some thyme, which apparently is in everything delicious. So in the pan it goes...

THIS SAUCE IS AMAZING. Seriously, I probably never would have even tried it without YOU, the blog readers. I would have just gone to Foia, and had Vanessa make dinner for me. But this one's a keeper...

The front door goes "click" - Bill's home for a few before he heads to hockey... He loves that the blog describes the craziness of being a busy professional. He loves that it would apply to anyone with a busy career, with a busy life and an empty stomach. And he loves that I'm being honest about how challenging it can be at times.

I don't have all the answers - but I promise... if you're reading this, I won't pretend to. I'll just give you real, honest dialogue on how to feed yourself whenever it's really possible. I surprised even myself tonight thanks to this blog.

K