recipe to go with "feathers and bricks"

you KNOW that i have to have a recipe with every posting, a remnant of the "snail mail" that i used to exchange with my mother (back when i did "snail mail"...back when i was corresponding with my mother...). so, without further ado..... CHICKEN BASIL from "Chicken Dinners in ONE POT">>>>>>> SPICY CHICKEN WITH SWEET BASIL (i thought that this would be super-appropriate to go with "feathers"...and it's what we are having tomorrow for the "Olga-fest")>>>>>>>3 s/b chicken breasts, ~1#, chunked>>>>>>>(2T olive/peanut oil--- which i leave out)>>>>>>>1t minced garlic>>>>>>>1t crushed red pepper flakes>>>>>>>1 zucchini, chunked (i added this)>>>>>>2T soy sauce>>>>>>>2T Thai fish sauce(yes!!! you need this...no, you cannot leave it out!!)>>>>>>>1t sugar>>>>>>>1C small, fresh basil leaves (no, you cannot use dried.......)>>>>>>>2 green onion, sliced>>>>>>>saue onion, garlic and red pepper flakes to hot and beginning to soften>>>>>>>add chicken and zucchini and saute until chicken is white but not yet completely cooked (3-5 minutes), add rest and saute until chicken is done and basil is wilted>>>>>>>squeeze a bit of lime/lemon juice over ( if you have it!)>>>>>>>serve over fluffy rice (which i always have in the fridge)>>>>>>>fluffy salad and/or sliced pineapple is a good side dish here

feathers and bricks

I saw something the other day on the 'net that stuck with me and wanted to share it with you. I don't know if you'll like it as much as i did but here goes.>>>>>>> The woman was talking about those things in life that can "ruin a perfectly good day". She said that her daughter would come home from school and, when asked about her day, would start in on how so-&-so said that her hair was wonky or her outfit was weird, how her lunch sandwich was mushy or the bus was stinky. How her day was ick because this or that happened. The woman said that these were like "bricks" that blocked her daughter from seeing that it had been a pretty sunny day...that she had beautiful hair and a great figure that made every outfit look great...that her bus ride took her all the way from the school to the house without breaking down and she didn't have to walk home in snow or blinding heat. That i was really a good day but those "bricks" blocked her from seeing this.>>>>>>> What if, instead, one saw these things (the "wonky hair", the "weird outfit", the "mushy sandwich") as "feathers", just little flips what occur and then blow away in the wind or a puff of air from your lips? What if every time something happens that could be a block in your view of happiness was seen as a feather that could just be blown away with a puff of breath? >>>>>>> I tried this yesterday to mixed results. Ok, the "no water situation" was more a brick than a feather....but the cat waking me at 0200, the waking too late to do yoga before i had to make breakfasts, the twinge in my back while walking--- feathers. The lunch that was highly anticipated and then only 'meh"-- feather. The book that i thought would be good...that i looked forward to reading after a morning of chores and to-dos tat ended up being a bust (but i felt that i had to read a bit more b/c surely it would get better soon!)?....feather. >>>>>>> I felt like Libby, accumulating a pile of feathers around me (although she kills the bird first). I just puffed and blew away the feathers. Did i completely see the beatiful day? Not really but i did see it more clearly than the wall of silly bricks that were my bland lunch, bland book, and stiff back. I can walk without a wheelchair (unlike my friend's hubby). I was able to eat the bland lunch (unlike when my jaw was wired shut a few years ago). I had the afternooon to read the bland book (didn't have to work the 12+ hour shift that my son does every weekend).>>>>>>> pura vida. Trying to see the forest, not the few wilted trees within it (and the feathers at the bases of those trees). >>>>>>> See if you can pfft away some of the feathers in your days this week. I'll tell you about my successes (and "do-overs") this week. Good luck!>>>>>>>