In celebrating Myles 6th birthday today, I think back over the past six years of my life and am in awe of the lessons I have learned and how truly blessed I am. For a minute today, I said why am I writing a blog, maybe no one is reading, but then I thought I am going to keep writing because its one of the things that I love to do. My son loves to write also. He is working hard at journaling and sound out words and doing things on his own and I am amazed. He is spelling things phonetically which I am totally fine with but he is learning and growing by leaps and bounds. 

I am not sure that I have a This or That for today, more reflection, that life is exactly what you make it. It is up to you to get up every day and do it again. Either you control your circumstances or you let them control you. Last night I was talking to hubby about the idea that I have right now for starting This N That and providing some individualized services to small groups or families to start building capital to eventually own a restaurant. We all have to start from somewhere and be willing to do what needs to be done to get there. No matter how many people are against you or even when you feel there is no hope, you have to find that silver lining in each cloud.

I have never been a big soup eater but today I decided that I was going to make soup. Every where I have been recently, I have been eating soup. In the past few weeks, I have fell in love with Panera's Cheddar Broccoli soup. I have tried Lemon Orzo with chicken, Posole and some others. After trying Posole I pretty much figured I did not like the texture of Hominy. My next thing was to figure out what could I substitute. I have been reading recipes seeing what different chef's/cultures put in their pork stew recipes and came up with my own. Like I said I will always be a student, learning and developing from others and my own experiences. Today I did my take on Posole. I did not use all of the traditional ingredients and tried to lighten it up a little. I think it came out pretty good. Hubby says I should have added more carrots and maybe some celery to it for flavor. Yes I have my own personal food critic at home. Just like now, Myles is refusing to eat his dinner which is pizza bagels. So now its a test of wills. I am telling him he cant have anything else until he eats so he is teary eyed of course. He has been eating junk all day (it's his birthday lol). 

Every day you have a chance to do something new or improve on what you did yesterday. This year, and this blog is helping me stay accountable is to get up every day and do something different and not to be complacent. This year, I will do more for my community and give back more. I am not totally sure as to what that means, because I am stretched pretty thin. But sometimes the smallest gesture can really help someone. Maybe today This N That is what are you doing between This N That this year. What did you do yesterday that was your This but today you can make it your That! 

Just like with cooking, a change in preparation or a change in an ingredient can make the world of a difference. It will change the whole flavor of your dish or maybe even your life. You never know until you are willing to change and change your This into your That. What is That thing that you need to do or have been wanting to do. Why are you not doing That thing? For me I can say, I am such a creature of habit that I am used to doing This because its what I always do, now I am determined to do That just because its different. Who knows what doors will open and what impact you will have if you are willing to change one thing at a time. Like with recipes, I may leave out one ingredient or add a new one and my dish becomes something totally different. 

So tonight I just ask that you think about your This N That and do one thing to change you This to your that you your That to your This and see what happens.  Be sure you check out my Face book page for pictures and recipes of what is mentioned in my blog.