quick & spicy tomato and chicken soup

Modified this recipe after one of Giada's that struck my interest on a recent episode of Everyday Italian. It was a kitchen basics show and featured things you could probably whip together out of what you already have on hand. I altered it slightly to compensate for a quart sized chicken stock (didn't want leftovers), cavatappi (was on hand) and less than a full jar of sauce (was already leftovers). Also, with the addition of the breast meat of a rotisserie chicken for protein, this came in at 4 ww points for each of 6 servings.

2t EVOO

3 med carrots, diced

1 med shallot, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2/3 of a jar of marinara sauce (really, whatever you have on hand works fine)

32 oz chicken broth

1 can cannellini beans, lightly rinsed

1c cavatappi pasta

14 oz chicken breast, in bite sized pieces (again, this is what my chicken had, use whatever you have)

Lemon juice from 1/2 fresh lemon (if you don't have fresh, just skip this)

Heat EVOO in medium stock pot, add carrots and shallot and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic, saute another minute or so. Add sauce, broth, beans and bring to a medium bubble. Add pasta. Once the soup comes to a bubble again, reduce heat and simmer 8-10 minutes or until pasta is cooked through. Remove from heat, stir in chicken. (If your chicken is cold, you may want to add it sooner to ensure it heats through before serving). Squeeze lemon juice, if using.

This makes 6 sizeable servings.

Trixie's tips:

Add sprinkle of parmesan or crumbles of goat cheese as a topping.

Add chopped freshed parsley for a little more fresh zing.

Another suggestion from the comments on Giada's recipe recommended adding chicken sausage - yum!

busily separating eggs or baking cakes?

How many times have you started an organization project by buying a bunch of cute baskets, clear boxes and a label maker? Or in a panic, dealt with a stressful job situation by applying for a bunch of wrong-level, wrong-fit jobs just because they happened to be on CareerBuilder? Or, like me, started a self-helpy project by throwing a library's worth of books, new journals and smooth-writing pens at the problem? Sigh. I wish I could express to you how many virtually new journals I am staring at right now...

In our fast-forward world, it's so enticing to grab ahold of the latest fad diet, popular relationship guide book or - let's face it - anything Oprah says. In these resources lie some sort of inspiration or appreciation or probably better defined: aspiriation. Something in there hooked us and made us believe that that resource ALONE was the answer. Or worse, again like me, I grab at pieces of this and facets of that and never end up pulling together anything in a complete sense. And spend a lot of time spinning.

So here's my advice (which, yes, it's probably the same thing you've heard from your therapist, Dr. Phil, Bob Greene, and Oprah herself), but maybe this helps put the concepts into a language that you're willing to grab onto.

1. figure out where you're going

Any time we undertake a big journey, we need all sorts of things. We need a map, a compass, snacks, fun people, a place to get off the road for awhile and rest. But if we don't even know where we're headed, we don't have any hope of getting there even with the top of the line GPS. Again, you may not have to say that you're going to Naples, but it's probably good if you can decide some basics: island, snowy mountain, tropical, a lake, a city, Europe...and so forth. Naples, Italy is a far different place than Naples, Florida and the journey there takes a whole different set of resources.

2. find your native tongue

I spent a few hours with a good friend the other day who's struggling with this. She proudly pulled out a notebook with tabs and colors and lists and sticky notes and declared THIS ONE "the Bible!" I took a deep breath and informed her that, no, that was in fact a notebook. A tool. A helper in her journey. But where on earth was she going? We talked through a marketing analogy (my bailiwick) and this spurred something in her. She landed on a baking analogy (her bailiwick). Spending time choosing the best chocolate in the world, having the best mixer or whisk or whatever, researching velvet cake recipes, calibrating your oven and so forth wasn't going to do her any good if she was trying to make a lemon cheesecake.

3. figure out who you are, where you're starting from

This is where those darned personal branding exercises come in so handy. Simply put, it's an authenticity check point. If you go on to the dreaming step too soon, there's a danger that you'll start wandering around in someone else's version of success, your own "baggage" version of fulfillment, some random number that you've always wanted to see on your paycheck but don't remember why. This process is critical to getting you on the path. Using the analogies above, it's sorta like admitting you're really not an airplane person even if you might randomly visualize yourself in First Class traveling at the speed of sound. You might truly be more of a train person, wandering a little more slowly, seeing the countryside pass by. Or in my friend's case, is she a key lime pie or a 6-layer wedding cake? And then accept it. If you're a cupcake, embrace being a cupcake. If you're a pedal biker, then give your bike a big warm hug.

4. dream big

I've talked about this before but when you're determining your destination, don't let the realities of your current job, the city you live in, your relationship with your spouse, your debt, your anything get in your way. This isn't a "visualize it and it will come" or "ask the universe" perspective, I promise. It's probably not a good idea to visualize yourself as Will Smith's wife, or Donald Trump's second in command because those jobs are sorta filled already. Trust me, I double checked.

But if your dream is to create a lifestyle that allows you to spend time watching your children grow up vs sending them to daycare, or exercise by walking on the beach each morning, then we've got something to work with. Are you fulfilling your personal destiny by serving the hungry? Are you becoming the go-to realtor in your market? Are you transitioning from the corporate world to teaching? Let your mind wander here a bit. Even if you decide later that some of it really isn't where you see yourself going, it's important to consider all sorts of things that appeal to who you are and what makes you tick.

5. then break it down

Whether or not this is career-related or relationship fueled journey, where do you see yourself waking up each morning? What kind of work do you do, functionally? In what environment? What kinds of people do you need to meet to learn more? Where do those people hang out? What do you need in hand to be ready to talk to them? Here you can start a list of tools you'll need, what the best ones look like and where you can acquire them. You can figure out the best way of tracking your progress (a calendar, a to-do list, a "bible" notebook) because now you know what progress should look like. You know where you're going. You know whether to whip egg whites into a stiff peak or melt chocolate.

This is the part where so many of us buy the label maker and have no clue what to type. Stop. Deep breath. Put the label maker away and go back to the dreaming a little bit more, in whatever way works for you. For me, it's a giant poster-sized sticky note and a Sharpie. Brainstorm. Figure out what feels right. And if you consider something as a tool, ask yourself: does this tool serve me on my journey? Or is a distraction? Because that networking group that someone told you that you HAD to join might just be a time suck that is taking you off track.

In the end, this is a process that no one can do alone. Again, trust me, I tried. You know how it's so much easier to perfectly see what's going wonky in a friend's romantic relationship or a business that you read about in the paper? It's called perspective. And lack of involvement. And a critical - though loving - eye. We can help each other see through the complications and emotions that tangle us up. So find yourself a first-mate (or whole crew, if you need one). Identify your transition team. Keep in simple and keep it tight. Then your journey can begin in earnest.

who's afraid of a little personal branding?

Personal branding has become quite the buzz phrase these days. Information is coming at us in every direction saying why personal branding is "CRITICAL TO YOUR SUCCESS, TO YOUR VERY SURVIVAL EVEN!" Which has unintentionally made it a little scary. I've been trying to figure out what it means to me, and how people can really use it in "normal" life.

Part of this, for me, goes back to the idea of creating a lifestyle that supports and nurtures both my creative and wage-earning side (right now, much more creative than wage earning, but we'll get there) and my personal fulfillment side, or what it means to actually live in this life I have. These things are so inextricably intertwined for me as an independent, one-woman-show entrepreneur that they're hardly worth trying to sort out as different elements. Or are they?

Well for sure, I have a personal brand. Tracy Morgan. It's my personal values, strengths, personality, attributes and mission/vision that guide my decision making and my prioritization. These are the core of who I am, who I'd like to become. These days, I'm proud to say, they're more authentic and real than they've ever been. And they inform the brand that I've created for my business, Segnavia Creative. But because the business is its own entity with its own goals and measurements of success (however linked to me as an individual entrepreneur), it also has its own values, strengths, and so on. Several of these are the same as my personal brand. Several are different. Most are nuanced and refined versions of who I am, using the lens of what services the business provides.

When it comes to personal branding as an everyday thing, going through this exercise myself has highlighted to me why it's important for everyone to do. Big things like career changes, job hunting, etc need to begin with the end in mind. It's a little like planning a vacation - you think about where you want to go, what "kind" of vacation it would be (lying low and relaxing, intentionally soaking up the local color, or visiting every duomo in Italy?) and then start mapping out how to get yourself there. What form of transportation, what you need to pack, who you want to take with you. Resources you need. Questions you want to ask.

My version of personal branding puts you in a place to think about all of these things as they relate to your own individual journey. Thinking about how you want your life to look and how you want to spend your days - in a year, in 5 years, in 10 years - you can start to fit in the work you'd be passionate about, the way in which you prefer to share your talents, the type of job you'd like to do within that work/industry/service area, etc. Lifestyle first. Truly authentic to who you are. What a concept, right?!

So in the example of looking for a job, you consider where you want to end up. Think about how you package yourself - are you a marketing consultant? Virtual assistant? Public relations pro? Think about the types of people and environment you want to work in - in an office, with a W2, without a boss? Think about the people you need around you to get there, aka your network or - as in my case - transition team. Think about the tools you'll need - resumes, bios, LinkedIn profiles. Think about how you present yourself - what your image, dress, attitude, web presence, references say about you. Then, from a place of strength, you can push yourself forward.

It's easy to lose the core and possibilities of personal branding in all of the buzz words, technobabble and salesmanship lingo. Don't be afraid! In the end, think of personal branding as both a process and a tool. Acknowledging and celebrating who we are has inherent value even in the most general sense. And specifically, developing your personal brand will help you sight, measure and course-correct all the way along your journey.

launching some stuff

I have been working on a model for a self-coaching circle as a way to experiment a little bit with my personal branding and coaching ideas. I figure, get a few friendly guinea pigs in a room together, start talking about how we all got "here" and see if that might be a reasonable method for getting us all in the mindset for self-improvement. A little inspiration, a few good ideas, some shared stories. All good right?

Except what I'm hearing from so many of my friends of all ages is the struggle with weight loss. It's not like the world needs another diet or online chat room or weight watchers meeting. Those all are fine and good, and many of them are truly helpful. What's missing is a venue for real connection and a big fat dose of the loving kindness we are all forgetting to give ourselves to get through this process.

So many of us launch into weight loss in a fit of self-hatred. Sick of the way you feel, sick of the way you look. Sick of feeling guilty for sitting on the couch and watching "Biggest Loser" with a glass of wine and 1/2lb of cheese (oh wait...is that just me?). Sick of everything, really. And unless you're a mindshifting magician, that's not a very positive place to start what is undoubtedly a tough journey forward.

You bang yourself about the head and make up irrelevant goals. "I'm going to lose 20 pounds by the reunion", "I'm going to fit into this dress by the wedding," and so forth. But these kinds of goals really don't speak to us. They are false ideals and fake milestones that just feed off the fear. They don't dig deep and address what really motivates us to take on such a challenge. And one size does NOT fit all here either - what truly inspires one person to take positive action, may not even register with another.

And in truth, one of the big reasons we haven't addressed our weight issues is because we haven't quite been willing to face it. We avoid the scale, switch up to the next elasticized waistband, and stop looking quite so closely in the mirror. We're in pain here, people. We are NOT ready to push all of that aside and just turn into that rose-colored-glasses-wearing woman we've heard so much about. And what a shame too. Because this is not the moment in our lives when we want to be encumbered by our more creative avoidance tactics. Like trying to figure out what is going to motivate us "this time." It's really supposed to be the ignition switch for us to shine.

This is the time when you need to feel as if you've been launched into the sky by the most brilliant power. You have wings! You have strength and stamina for the flight! You have places to land and nourish yourself, replenish yourself! You have outright approval for a martini! But how on earth do we keep ourselves aloft when the flight is so long and hard?

So that's why I thought it might be interesting to see if we could use the weight loss/health & wellness adventure as a topic for our first self-coaching circle. Self-coaching because what you learn here is meant to be used as tools for helping you along your journey. Circle because we recognize the need for the camaraderie, kindness and enthusiasm that we find so hard to provide to ourselves. I'll keep you posted.

(And while we're in the business of launching things, I'd like to introduce you all to my new logo. See? Up there on the right? Cute, huh? Many thanks to Kara Nielsen Design for creating yet another beautiful logo. Website is next...wild rides R US!)

cold carrot soup

This recipe was originally featured in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, and I gave it a go last week. Of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone and amped things up just a bit. I then proceeded to serve this as a starter to 6 men and myself for dinner. Nice odds, eh?

Half gay, half straight and they ALL enjoyed the soup. Can't argue with results.

2T unsalted butter

1/4c diced onion

2 lbs carrots, peeled & sliced 1/2" thick (loving my mandoline for this job)

4c chicken broth

1 1/2c water

1T honey

1/2 t ground ginger

1/2t white pepper

1t salt

juice of 1/2 lemon

topping:

1-2 t evoo

1/2c fresh unseasoned coarse breadcrumbs (I tried panko but they were almost too light)

2T finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened (about 4 minutes). Add carrots, chicken broth and water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are very soft and cooked through, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from heat; add honey, ginger, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Check taste and re-season as needed.

Use an immersion blender or regular blender (in batches) to puree soup. Chill soup at least 3 hours (using a metal bowl speeds this process along) or overnight. Before serving prepare breadcrumb topping.

Heat olive oil in small saute pan over medium-high heat. Add breadcrumbs and saute until toasted and golden brown. Spread out on a paper towel lined baking sheet and allow to cool fully before mixing in parsley.

Serve by topping each serving with 1T of breadcrumb mixture.

Notes from the chief mess-maker:

• soup, sans topping, registers in at 1 point per serving (assuming 8 servings) on ww
• if you don't want to bother with the topping, try a dollop of creme fraiche, sour cream or goat cheese on this
• seasoning with chinese 5 spice would also be delish

missing in action

I'm a little lost this week, some journey-related directionlessness and some plain ol' busy-ness. So my apologies for the lack of post, but I will say that I have a number of good things on tap for the blog in the coming days. I'm thinking about:

• why we will run headfirst into a wall for everyone else in our lives, but wait and wait to prioritize our own health, happiness, security
• building a self-coaching circle
• where is the balance in the misadvertised "work/life balance" sham?
• book report on: Green Babies, Sage Moms
• good tools for calculating your carbon footprint...and then what to do about it
• my latest pea soup and carrot soup recipes

I'm also looking forward to spending some time with MY mom tomorrow. She's had a slew of MN-caught crappies on ice and we're going to thaw those babies, bread them in corn flakes and fry them up just like HER mom used to do for us! Really ready for that.

So, again, apologies. I'll be plugging in again shortly.