A little over 10 years ago, I found myself at an incredibly difficult crossroads. Facing a failed relationship with my immediate familial support system more than 350 miles away, I knew the path back would be challenging. In the aftermath of my break up, I discovered a circle of friends who carried me past the heartache and feelings of sadness.

Break ups can be opportunities for intense and purposeful instrospection. The time I spent reflecting and growing allowed me to recognize what I wanted most out of my life- to serve and help others. I reenrolled in graduate school at The University of St. Thomas and let my heart lead me the rest of the way through my counseling coursework.

In the midst of rebuilding my personal life, I decided to get a tattoo of the silhouette of birds in flight. It served as a daily reminder every day as I got dressed that I was not alone. I had the comfort, love, grace, and support of my flock. Rooted in the adage, “birds of a feather, flock together”, I found strength and solidarity in the people who lifted me up when I needed them the most.

How poignant and fitting that I chose Birds of a Feather Wellness & Counseling as the name of my private counseling practice. It is my privilege and honor to help and serve my clients as they find their way back to themselves through therapy, personal development, community, and wellness.

At the heart of the work I do, I hope to encourage, inspire, and nurture you to spread your wings and soar to your fullest potential in life. Thank you for being a part of this wellness community, birdies! I look forward to sharing wellness content with you on this site.

Meal planning can certainly prove to be a duanting task, especially if this isn’t your forte and you feel at a loss about where to begin. To simplify the process and also give you some new, easy, and healthy recipes to try, I’m offering you a bird’s eye view of how I meal plan using my weekly meal planner template.

As I established earlier this week, it starts by generating ideas. You can find these in a wealth of places including some of your favorite magazine subscriptions, social media feeds, and the internet. I have to say that in a pinch, Google is the absolute best way to troubleshoot your way into a creative recipe by simply typing several key ingredients you have on hand and letting their search engine capabilities do the rest.

If you’re looking for more ideas and guidance about meal planning, please visit the Birds of a Feather Wellness Facebook or Instagram account.

Without further ado, let’s launch into this week’s meal planner starting with the dinner breakdown for each day of the week. Each day will also include a link to the recipe online (if needed) so that you have everything you need to pull together a great dinner.

Because today is Thursday, I would schedule my curbside grocery pick up at HEB for later this afternoon and move through the week from Thursday through Wednesday. This is important because I try to be mindful of keeping my produce fresh.

THURSDAY

Pasta with sauteed chicken, mushrooms, artichokes, and sundried tomatoes

This recipe is a simple and easy way to use fresh and staple items for an easy and delicious weeknight meal. I typically opt for whole wheat pasta but feel free to use the type of pasta that best meets your dietary needs.

Ingredients- 8 oz pasta, 1/2 onion (diced or sliced), 2 cloves garlic (chopped), 1/2 a pint of portabella mushrooms, 1 LB chicken tenders (cubed), 1 jar of sun dried tomatoes, 1 can of artichoke hearts quartered.

In a large pot, boil the pasta per the directions on the package.

In a skillet on medium high heat, add 1 TBS of olive oil from the jarred sun dried tomatoes and sauté half the for 2 to 3 minutes until the onion is translucent. Then add the garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Toss in the chicken (cubed) and sauté until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Next add the mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes in oil, and canned artichokes. Cook until the mushrooms, tomatoes and artichokes are warmed through.

Add the cooked, drained pasta to the skillet and mix throughly to evenly distribute the oil. Top with fresh lemon juice and shredded parmesan. Serve with a country-style loaf of bread and a chopped salad.

FRIDAY

Crunchy eggs with bacon, hashbrowns, and biscuits or pancakes

Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner? There’s a lot of flexibility with this meal, and it’s especially a fan favorite for children. To make this meal more balanced, serve with fresh cherry tomatoes and fresh fruit.

The crunchy eggs really take the traditional fried egg up a notch. Here’s a link to the Real Simple recipe:

https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/crunchy-skillet-eggs-herbs-recipe

A few of my favorite hacks for making this dinner especially great include the following:

• Allow the frozen hashbrowns to thaw completely in the fridge overnight so that they can really brown in the skillet.
• Bake the bacon in the oven at 425. Cook on one side for 4 to 5 minutes. Then flip and cook for an additional 4 minutes. This allows the bacon to be extra crispy! I then use the bacon grease in my eggs for an extra layer of flavor. You can omit this step if you are being health-conscious. I genuinely believe these simple pleasures should be enjoyed in moderation provided that you are exercising regularly and eating mindfully most of the time.
• If you’re pressed for time pre-made frozen biscuits and frozen pancakes are a great time saver.

SATURDAY

Steak and grilled peppers and corn on the cob with homemade chimichurri

Fire up the grill for this flavorful summer dinner.

Ingredients: 1 pkg mixed sweet mini peppers, 2 12 oz strip steaks, 3 to 4 ears of corn on the cob (husks removed).

Here’s a link to my favorite chimichurri sauce:

Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Shrimp with Chimichurri Dipping Sauce

Heat the grill to medium.

In a bowl coat the sweet mini peppers with olive olive oil, salt, & pepper. Use a basting brush to coat the corn in olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Season the steak with salt and pepper. Transfer all items to a large platter.

Place on the grill and cover. Turn the peppers and corn periodically so that they get a nice char going on all sides. The steak will cook anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes per side depending on your desired preference. When finished, remove from the grill and slice the steaks into strips, then top with the homemade chimichurri sauce. Serve alongside an ear of corn and peppers.

SUNDAY

Chicken fried rice

I’m always a fan of ways to shortcut my time in the kitchen. This is where frozen staple and pantry items absolutely save the day. For this recipe I use Tai Pei vegetable fried rice as a starter. Then I use fresh produce and chicken to round the meal out.

Ingredients: frozen fried rice, 1 LB chicken tenders (cubed), 1/2 sweet onion (thinly sliced or diced), 1/2 a pint of mushrooms (sliced), frozen edamame, & PF Changs vegetable egg rolls

In a large skillet on medium high, heat 1 TBS of olive oil. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the cubed chicken and mushrooms, and sauté until cooked through. Remove from the skillet and set aside. Add the package of frozen rice along with 2 teaspoons of oil and water. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes until the rice starts to brown. Stir occassionally. Add the chicken, mushrooms, and onions and stir to evenly distribute the ingredients. Serve with edamame and egg rolls.

MONDAY

Tacos with rice and beans

This simple recipe can easily be a weekly staple and can be swapped out for ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken.

Taco ingredients- 1.5 LBS ground meat, 1 pkg taco seasoning, 1/2 sweet or white onion (diced), flour or corn tortillas (soft or hard), shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, diced tomato, diced avocado, and jarred salsa

Rice ingredients- Mi Tienda Mexican rice or your grocery store’s pre-made equivalent, 1 can of black or pinto beans (drained and rinsed), 1/2 cup frozen corn, 1/4 sweet onion (diced), chicken broth

In a large skillet on medium high, sauté onion in 1 TBS olive until translucent. Add the beef and brown. Add the taco seasoning and follow the directions on the package.

On a comal or flat skillet, warm the tortillas if preparing soft tacos. Warm the crunchy tacos in the oven per the directions on the box if your prefernce is cruchy tacos.

In a medium-size pot, sauté the 1/4 onion in olive oil, add the frozen corn and canned beans. Microwave the rice per the package directions and then add the rice to the pot. Add a small amount of chicken broth to keep the rice and beans from drying out. You may have to adjust the amount of broth as you stir the ingredients together. Reduce the temperature to low, and allow to warm through.

Serve the tacos with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, diced avocado, and salsa and plate with rice and beans.

TUESDAY

Pulled pork sliders with chopped salads

This is the easiest weeknight meal of all time. It can easily come together in less than 15 minutes. I reserve this one for weeknights I know that I will be especially presssed for time.

Ingredients- HEB natural fully-cooked pulled pork or your favorite grocery store’s equivalent , 1 pkg whole wheat sliders, your favorite barbeque sauce, sliced dill pickles, and a storebought chopped salad kit.

Heat the pulled pork per the directions on the package. Serve on sliders with bbq sauce and pickles. Add a heaping portion of salad to your plate and enjoy.

WEDNESDAY 

Rice bowl

This is the perfect way to repurpose leftovers. Build this bowl around key ingredient you have on hand or from leftovers from earlier in the week. The important thing to consider when dreaming up your bowl is to integrate at least one protein, some fresh or frozen produce, and a great jarred or homemade sauce. Consider using your favorite salsa, chimichurri, or oil based sauce.

Ingredients- leftover rice and ground beef from Monday’s tacos, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, grated cheese, fresh cilantro (choppped), fresh squeezed lime juice, and salsa

Depending on how much you have leftover you can stretch this recipe with a bag of microwaveable brown rice and canned black or pinto beans.

Warm the rice, beans, and ground beef in a skillet or microwave. Remove the stove and add to a bowl. Top with fresh diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, grated cheese, cilantro, lime juice, and salsa. These can be enjoyed alone or with a side of tortilla chips for an extra crunch.

Weekly Shopping List

Produce– portabello mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes (3 to 4), romaine lettuce (I usually buy the pre-washed, trimmed option), fresh lemons & limes (3 to 4 each), corn on the cob (3 to 4 ears), 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 bunch of parsley, garlic bulb (1 to 2), onion (2 to 3), 1 pkg sweet mini peppers, chopped salad kit (2)

Meat– Chicken tenders, 2 LBS (I usually opt for these over chicken breasts because they cook faster, which saves time in the kitchen. I will use half the package for Thursday’s recipe and then freeze the other half until Sunday’s recipe), skirt steaks (2- 12 oz), 1.5 LBS ground meat of your choice, 1 pkg HEB natural fully-cooked pulled pork

Pantry– tortillas (corn, flour, or boxed crunchy depending on your taco preference), 1 pkg whole wheat slider buns, canned black or pinto beans (at least 2 cans), 1 can of artichoke hearts, microwaveable brown rice, jarred sundried tomatoes, your favorite bbq sauce, sliced pickles

Refrigerated– Mi Tienda Mexican rice or your favorite microweable Mexican or Spanish rice

Frozen– Tai Pei vegetable fried rice, edamame, hashbrowns

Dairy– Eggs

The image of my shopping list includes additional items specific to my breakfast, lunch, and snack ideas. I only included the list of ingredients you will need to make the weekly dinners.

I hope you found this bird’s eye view of my weekly meal plan to be both inspiring and helpful. With careful planning each week, you can create healthy, delicious meals that allow you to stay on budget and stay on track with your health and wellness goals.

Feel free to email me at birdsofafeatherwellness@gmail.com for this meal plan template or for specific questions regarding meal planning.

Spread your wings & soar in the kitchen,

Heidi

 

 

 

 

My heart is filled with grief and sadness for the loss of my grandmother, Elida “Ellie” Rios. Fondly referred to in our family circle as “Gammie”. This incredibly resilient, poised, and tenacious woman passed away peacefully in her sleep early yesterday morning to find eternal rest.

She grew up in a quiet, small town in rural Texas with her parents, Felix and Ana Leal Zuniga. The middle child of six, her older and younger siblings: Celia, Eladio “Lalo”, Anna, Evelyn, and Ercilia “Ersie”, naturally found themselves enveloped in her caring and generous spirit. Her first language was Spanish, and she later learned to speak English when she started  elementary school. She spent her formative years in Hebbronville developing a love of fashion and style all her own as she enveloped her family and friends in her kindness and love.

GRACE

Upon graduation from Hebbronville High School, Ellie crossed paths with a handsome duster-pilot at the San Benito Airport. Her courtship with Guadalupe “Lupe” Gomez quickly blossomed, and Ellie found herself falling deeply for her first love. The two married and made a life together in Los Fresnos, Texas with their two children, Dahlia “Dolly” and Gil.

Ellie’s natural grace and glamour evolved into entrepreneurial success when she opened Ellie’s Beauty Studio. Her passion as a hairdresser embraced a desire to help other women find strength in their beauty. These weekly visits to Ellie’s offered far more than just a trim or a style, she also offered insight, wisdom, and community to all the women she served.

For those of you who did not have the privilege of crossing paths with this woman. I feel a key part of her story lies in her poise and grace. This is a woman who genuinely and wholeheartedly embraced her femininity. She had immaculately styled hair, teased just enough and always the perfect shade of blonde. She wore a full face of makeup that was never overdone but always finished off with the perfect tint of red lipstick. Her delicately manicured nails always wrapped around a fashionable handbag that she usually slung over her shoulder so she could saunter just so, lighting up the path along her way as though it were a high fashion runway. Her sense of fashion always mirrored the times, and one of her favorite pastimes until the very end came from the joy derived from retail therapy with her daughter, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters.

GRIT

In July of 1966, Lupe tragically died in a plane crash leaving Ellie widowed with two young children. Her strength and tenacity allowed her to overcome numerous challenges as a single mother during a time when female entrepreneurs were not treated with the same level of prestige and success as their male counterparts.

Life after Lupe proved to be a challenge, but she never lost sight of her dream to build her business while also providing for her children. As any strong woman would tell you, it never comes easily. It requires steadfast dedication, application, and grit. She made sacrifices like renting her family home out to supplement her income while living in the back three rooms of her beauty shop with her children. Despite these challenges, Ellie proudly put her two children through college as she continued to scale her beauty business.

With time, Ellie found room in her heart again for love. And one day, as fate would have it, she drove her car to the neighboring town of Brownsville for auto repairs. As she waited for her car, she decided to pass some time at a nearby ice cream parlor for a treat. It was here that she met her second and final love, Rafael “Ralph” Rios, a high school coach and wood shop teacher in Brownsville.

The two of them built a life around her beauty shop and his teaching career. They grew old together in Los Fresnos watching their own children find love and expand their families. They both valued the importance of civic duty by serving their communities through service and leadership. Some of her most proud commitments included service to the Los Fresnos Junior Service League, Los Fresnos Band Boosters, Mr. Amigo Association, Sembradores Unidos, Alambras,  Eucharistic Minister at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, and a member of the Red Hat Society.

GAMMIE

Ellie was lovingly and fondly referred to as “Gammie” among family and loved ones. This moniker evolved from my inability to say, “Granny” as a little girl. Quickly this became the name adopted as her grandmother name. Growing up, those in our friend circle also warmly and respectfully called her Gammie. In many ways she was a grandmother to many always embracing them in a warm hug and nourishing their spirits with baked goods and iced tea.

Ellie led a long, rich, and storied life. She loved deeply, persevered fiercely, and taught me that femininity can be both beautiful and bold. Her legacy and memory as a wife, mother, sister, grandmother, aunt, businesswoman, and friend will live on in the stories her loved ones share. She touched my life in so many poignant ways, and I was so incredibly blessed to to have a grandmother like my Gammie.

Despite my sadness, I take comfort in knowing one day I will cross paths with her again in Heaven. Until then, Gammie, I’ll put on my bright red lipstick always channeling your grace and poise as I reflect on the day ahead in the mirror.

Hasta que nos volvamos a ver, Gammie, siempre te amaré y siempre te llevaré en mi corazón.

Idioms are widely used in conversations between family, friends, and colleagues with regularity. These groups of words have a meaning that strays significantly from those of the individual words. In my day-to-day conversations, I often take for granted how confusing these phrases might be to the English language learner or my own seven year old, for that matter.

“Umm, mom. I’m not sure how it can be raining cats and dogs. All I see is a bunch of water?”

Because I’m always looking for unique blog content. I thought it might be fun to include some of my favorite idioms that I can find parallel with in my daily life. So lend me your ear as I go out on a limb. My hope is you will understand the method to my madness when it’s all said and done.

Birds of a feather flock together 

It makes perfect sense that people with similar passions find solidarity pursuing the things they love most in life. Interestingly my tribe of running buddies truly are birds. We are the Bayou City Road Runners, to be specific. My love of long distance running has allowed me the opportunity to cultivate some incredible friendships. Shared mileage and post run coffee breaks have always provided the perfect blend for friendships that go the distance.

Best of both worlds

In life there is nothing better than sharing quality time with the one’s you love while also being able to check something important off of your to do list. Case in point, knocking out a long run as you chase your son through the neighborhood on his go cart. This definitely offers the best of both worlds.

Chasing rainbows

Chasing rainbows is all about following your dreams. Even at thirty-five, I continue to chase personal bests and first place finishes. It’s important to always set goals and put the wheels in motion. Continue to dream big and chase those rainbows with gusto. You will set an incredible example for those around you, and inspire others to dream big too.

Getting a second wind

When you work full-time and also balance a spouse, children, and a home life, almost daily, you are counting on that second wind to kick in. For children, this proverbial second wind often morphs into a third and fourth wind. Ah to be so young and carefree! Truthfully though, finding that second gear is an integral part of managing all of the facets of my life. Granted this second wind may take more coffee than it used to, but I still find myself digging deep for that second wind when I need it most to get through a particularly long day.

Hold your horses

Children have a way of forcing us to find moments to pause in life and see the world from their vantage point. Their beautiful world is full of joy and wonder. Their lives are simpler and unencumbered by schedules and mile long ‘to do’ lists. In their own perfect little way, they monopolize the market on holding their horses. We could take note, and try to follow suit by giving ourselves the opportunity to reflect on the little moments in our day. Find time to slow down long enough to appreciate a gorgeous sunset or a perfect full moon illuminating the night sky.

Be patient. You never know what might come your way if you allow yourself to wait it out.

Every cloud has a silver lining

This is one of my favorite idioms because it is a conscious choice we make to look at the situation in a positive way. Choose to be hopefully optimistic. Even the most difficult of times will lead to better days. Take for example, the muddy mess that happened when Atticus slipped in the mud last spring at the state track meet. I could have panicked, especially because I didn’t have a spare change of clothes on hand. But how could I rain on his little parade. He was having the time of his life running around, and he couldn’t care less about being covered in mud. Every cloud has a silver lining even if it’s a messy one!

Over the moon

When someone is over the moon, they are beyond pleased and incredibly happy. I am blessed to have two sweet boys who live out most days in this elated state of happiness. I treasure every smile, every belly laugh, and every moment of ecstatic wonder to the absolute fullest. This approach to life makes every day a little sweeter and a little more memorable.

Without a doubt, idioms clearly are a regular part of my storytelling and daily conversation. They offer a unique perspective of looking at life that is candid and refreshing. It’s the icing on the cake!