The staff this month has been celebrating our love of food + our joy of story. We've taken some time to think back on what about our taste buds recalls goodness in our minds. Go here to catch up.

I did some thinking on what I wanted to share. And the recipe I landed on isn’t something that I cook on special occasions or even, in fact, something I have made in the past decade. However, I have found special meaning around this meal, more meaning than I ever thought there could be.

My mom has always been an excellent multi-tasker. She worked full time and was always transporting my brother and I to our baseball/softball/soccer games, paper routes, youth group events, friends’ houses, etc. It wasn’t an easy gig for her but she knew that we loved what we were doing and in her mind, the busier we were in our activities, the less time we would have to get into trouble. My mom was a smart cookie.

A busy schedule always brought sacrifices in our kitchen. The amount of time that was available after school, work and between practices was extremely limited. Mom was not a big fan of junk food in our house so most of our meals were mostly healthy considering the standards 25-30 years ago. Fast food was also a rarity for us, so mom had her standard “go-to” meals that she would cook on the days when we were on the go. One of the meals that became a very consistent meal for us was “Chicken & Rice”.

I know what you are thinking. What is so special about this dish? It sounds like a pretty simple dish… rice and chicken. Well, you are right. The dish itself is not really what makes me want to reminisce. But it’s the “why” my mom made this dish {what seemed like} every single week for years.

This dish took maybe 10-15 minutes to cook and 5 minutes to eat. My brother and I complained every single time she sat that meal in front of us but she kept cooking it. Back then we thought she was just torturing us. She would say, “quit whining and eat”. I know now that she was just doing what she could to keep things moving in the direction that they needed to go. Forward.

Mom, I get it now. I’m glad you taught me that:

There is no perfect way to do things.
Your kids will love you no matter what you feed them.
Do the best you can with what you have.
Pick your battles.
The kids will survive and move forward.

Thanks for the torture. {INSERT BIG GRIN} I appreciate all those sacrifices you made to get us to practice on time, feed us something semi-healthy and to always, always be there.

To celebrate this childhood memory, I just recently went to my mom’s house so we could reminisce about the good ole chicken and rice recipe. There was some discussion between my brother, myself and mom if there were any other ingredients. But we came to the conclusion that there were only two.