Chicken Pesto Broccoli Deliciousness!!! Pure YUM!!!

Ohhhhh.....MMMMMMmmmmmm! 
I CANNOT believe how fantastic this meal turned out!! Chicken pesto turned into chicken/pesto/broccoli/ DELICIOUSNESS.
Here is how I made it, a spin off of several you'll find on the internets.

Ingredients:
- chicken tenders, on the thin side is nice
- two packets of Knorr pesto sauce mix (has always been my fav)
- package of skim Mozzarella grated cheese
- Olive oil 
- cooking spray
- broccoli
- pine nuts
- spices I used were: salt, ground oregano, garlic powder

What to do:
- pre-heat over to 365 degrees F (just in case you think in Kelvin or other..)
- mix pesto packets in bowl with one cup water and 1/3 cup olive oil
- add pine nuts (as much as you like, I liked a LOT) and stir
- spray glass baking dish
- pour 1/4 bowl of your pesto mixture in glass dish
- lay the chicken strips on top of that
- dash with garlic powder
- dash with ground oregano
- pour the rest of your pesto mixture on top of the chicken. Some of it slid off so I scooped up some pine nuts to make sure they rested on top
- dash with salt
- COVER with aluminum foil

Bake
- Bake at 375 F for 25 min
- remove from oven and turn over the chicken strips which are not quite done
- re-scoop pine nuts so some are on top
- add one handful of finely chopped broccoli 
- bake 5-10 more minutes

Continuing:
- Remove from oven, remove foil
- add the rest of your broccoli now (I like crispy - or at least non-mushy broccoli)
- add your Mozzarella cheese. Add lots. Oh heck, live dangerously, add the whole package
- stir a tad and then drizzle a few spoonfuls of pesto sauce on the top
- broil for 3 minutes, watching it so it bubbles and boils and browns, BUT doesn't BURN.

THEN...
- remove from oven
- bask in the glory that is chicken pesto broccoli deliciousness
- take pictures and post all over social media
- EAT, don't forget to eat.
:-)

                   

An Alternate View: Peaceful Procession, Procedure, and Partaking at #GC78

This morning, at 7:15 AM, our diocesan bishop, Morris K. Thompson, my bishop-in-residence at St. Paul's Episcopal - Duncan Gray, myself, several members of the Louisiana Deputation, and hundreds of others participated (I heard a rumor of 1500) in "Claiming Common Ground", a peaceful procession of the group Bishops Against Gun Violence. 

It was early, it was hot, and it was amazing to see so many people joining the procession with a worshipful spirit and an energy to stand up and say "NOW is the time for the work of speaking out against gun violence!" A very moving speech by Carolyn Tuft brought the listeners to tears and she described how she was shot and her daughter shot and killed. She pointed out that if she had had a gun, there would still not have been enough to time react and that events would have unfolded in the same manner. HERE is coverage of her speech by the Episcopal News Service. If you have the time, it is well worth a listen. All of the testimonies from those who spoke were intensely powerful. Bishop Hayashi of Utah also spoke about his experience of being shot and the long healing process for him and for his family.

Many thanks to the organizers who obtained all the permits and to the police force that rode ahead of and alongside the bishops as we all walked!                   

Bishop Thompson has been a member since the group's inception and he and many other bishops joined the group to take a stand by advocating for changes in gun legislation, exploring new technologies, and keeping guns out of the hand of dangerous criminals, the mentally ill, and the underaged.

I interviewed him regarding his participation in the group and the article will come out in the next EDOLA issue of ChurchWork. (Of course the notes I typed up are nowhere to be found on my iPad and the physical notes from which I typed are at home, BOOO.)
  More photos here in my #GC78 Facebook album (will be on Flickr soon!) Following the walk, a shower and rehydration were in order! It actually isn't THAT hot here, but there is very little shade and dehydration can happen rapidly. The weather forecast for tomorrow predicts 103 degrees, but as they say......"it's a dry heat" and it really is.

Morning worship was inspiring and the music was good. I enjoyed sitting in the rear of the room today and seeing the whole room before me. I also loved Katharine Jefferts Schori's sermon this morning. HERE is the link.
This afternoon held a legislative session from 2:15 to 6:15. During this session, there were supposed to be elections to the Executive Council, Church Pension Fund, Treasurer of the General Convention, Disciplinary Board for Bishops, Trustees of the Church Pension Fund, and Trustees of the General Theological Seminary. There was an opening point of privilege by one of the clergy deputies which included a SONG about the new card swiping and voting procedure! He sang it to us all!
I'm sure it's on the media hub or some may have it from the streaming video, but here it is from my phone anyway :-)
VIDEO 

They did not finish all intended business that I know of, but I may have missed a few things since I decided to take a first glance inside the House of Bishops. Because of timing and catching them at their break and then not staying very long afterwards, I will plan to revisit if there is an open session.

Today, I actually ATE LUNCH. It's the fourth day of convention and the sixth day here and today I ate lunch. I'll have you know that it was a very tasty turkey, basil pesto, provolone panini!

I'm not really sure what I've been doing all week with regards to lunches. I want to say I've eaten during lunchtime, but mostly it's been more toward dinner. I know it's vital that you see a photo of my lunch so....

Tonight, our Louisiana Deputation had dinner together! Everyone has been working very hard and I think it's the perfect night for a fun and social time together! We are partaking of free time, great food, and great new friendships!

Thank you for reading! Stay Tuned,

Caroline :-)

VSG Update - Almost Two Years Out from Surgery and Links

I thought that it was high time I write about my VSG surgery again! I am including links to all of my previous blog posts at the end of this post in case anyone would like to read them. I've been contacted several times over the past two years to talk about my story or to chat with friends who are considering having weight loss surgery so I feel like my previous blog posts were actually helpful to some people! Yay! That was my goal and if I can help even ONE person with any aspect of examining the pros and cons of weight loss journey and/or surgery, I'm happy I can do that! 

                               

Here's a picture of me today! Happy, more healthy, and while I feel like I could lose some more weight......and I might do that.....I am waaaaaaaay more satisfied than I have EVER been in my whole life with how I'm maintaining. I do have some frustrations and here are a few of them:

FRUSTRATIONS
- I still have to watch my weight. I knew that I would and the surgery is a tool to help you and a LIFE CHANGE. I knew that too. Sometimes though, I get mad that I still have to watch the scale, but overall, I watch it fewer times and I eat healthier so I did change my lifestyle. 
- Somehow, my eyes are STILL bigger (now much bigger) than my stomach. I still catch myself eating rapidly and sometimes eating too much. I've not thrown up, not even once, from eating, since my surgery. Most people throw up often, at least I think they might, if they overeat. When I know I've eaten too much, I hiccup a bit, feel tight in my esophagus, and feel kind of bad. Bad enough to not eat any more, but I do not feel nauseous. Well, I take that back. Twice in two years, I did feel nauseous from eating one bite too many, but I didn't push it and within minutes that went away.
- I have rediscovered "slider foods" such as chips, cake, and crackers. This is not awful, but isn't too good either because they go down TOO EASY and I can eat a lot more than I originally intended if I'm not careful.
- Drinking while eating: I still can't do this well and technically, most folks are told that you are not supposed to. If I go out after rehearsal and want to have a drink, I drink most of it BEFORE eating some of my meal and I just have to resolve to take home most of my meal.

GOOD THINGS
- I'm a size 14 which is what I was at the end of high school. I have  feeling I could be a 10 or 12, and maybe I'll want to be a 12 at some point, BUT I'M HAPPY so whatever.
- clothes are cooler and more fun to wear
- This is both good and bad......I've noticed that some of my acquaintances / friends, speak to me more, and listen more attentively to me. New people I meet, as long as they don't have the southern "Good ole' boy" syndrome, tend to look me in the eye and actually treat me like I'm present. In the past, I had many MANY incidents of (mostly men) being introduced to me and then immediately carrying on conversation with the person next to me as if I was not there. Damn shame, idiots.
- I CAN have any foods I want and so I do :-) Many folks are not able to eat certain foods.
- My hair has been able to hold curl since the surgery. It began to grow back from the hair loss I experienced so I still have many lengths overall, but it's a lot curlier!
- I don't think about my surgery or weight loss very much. I'm me and have settled into my new way of eating and I like it!

Here are PAST BLOG POSTS on my VSG SURGERY. I hope that some of these will help people. If anyone has any questions, feel free to contact me. It can be a pretty lonely place when you're researching WLS and aren't sure of many things!

1. Background, http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/03/my-weight-loss-surgery-journey-part-i.html

2. VSG Journey Part II - Insurance and Going for it! http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/03/wls-journey-part-ii-going-for-itand.html

3. VSG Journey Part III - Types of Bariatric Surgery - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/03/wls-journey-part-iii-types-of-bariatric.html

4. Part IV, Surgery Scheduled http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/03/wls-journey-iv-surgery-scheduled.html

5. My Choice for VSG Surgery: Endobariatric - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-choice-for-vsg-surgery-endobariatric.html

6. A Day and a Half - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-day-and-half.html

7. My Journey to Endobariatric - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-vsg-journey-to-endobariatric.html

8. Discharge Day! - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-vsg-journey-discharge-day.html

9. Three weeks out from surgery - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/06/vsg-journey-update-3-weeks-out-from.html

10. Experimental Eating - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/07/vsg-experimental-eating-and-eating.html

11. 10-12 weeks out - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/07/staying-on-track-life-10-11-weeks-after.html

12. 5-month update - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2013/10/vsg-5-month-update.html

13. One year later - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2014/05/vsg-one-year-after-surgery.html

14. Hair Loss - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2014/03/vsg-hair-loss-yikes.html

15. VSG - What A, I Eating - http://thewhiskeypalian.blogspot.com/2014/03/vsg-what-am-i-eating.html 

Blessing for a Meal

Bless, O Lord, this food to our use and us to thy service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Blessing for a Meal

Bless, O Lord, this food to our use and us to thy service, and keep us ever mindful of the needs of others. In Jesus' Name, Amen.