A Little Bite of This and a Little Bite of That

There are many people in my life that I look up to and admire. There is one person in particular that I believe had the most influence in my life, and that would be my sister Heidi. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful sister who has become one of my best friends. We are so much alike, but yet so different. The beauty of having her to look up to is that I could take a little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and incorporate them into my own self, but remain just that, myself. There is so much to be thankful for, so to put it in words is difficult, but here it goes.

Heidi, I know you already know this, but sometimes it's nice to have the reminder, I wanted to write to you to express how much you mean to me, and to thank you for being such a great role model. When we were younger, growing up as your little sister was a challenge, because in my eyes you were so great and I always felt that I wanted to be just like you. Somehow, you never made me feel like I was living in your shadow. You always pushed me ahead; in fact, sometimes even ahead of yourself.

Secondly, I want to thank you for picking me up from my many failures in life with a smile and a laugh. It made me stay true to my sense of humor and gave me the strength and courage to start over. I appreciate that you never you never judged me, and allowed me to be myself. You were always proud of me, even when I was in doubt.

On a final note, I am a better person because of you. As wild and free as I was as a kid, I remained a free spirit, but adopted a more grounded approach with your help. Thank you for always having my back even through the times that you may not have agreed with my decisions.

Love Always-

Randi

Through the many years together, you never let me down
You picked me up from failure and turned my life around

You always helped me through tough times when all I felt was fear
It seemed to be so easy to show that you just care

You always found me funny even just expressions on my face
I think it's because you know I just walk at my own pace

You love the fact that I am crazy, and you know you're crazy too
When we are both together, we become that crazy crew

Thanks for all the laughter and the tears that we both shared
And most of all, I want to say- thanks for being so damn weird

Love you Heidi

-Randi

 

Chicken Soup for a Sister's Soul

 

Ingredients:

 

1 3.5 – 4.0 lb. roaster chicken (with pop up stick)

½ box of stove top stuffing

2 large cans of chicken broth

2 large white onions

2 cloves of garlic

½ bunch of celery (with leaves)

½ bunch of carrots

3 radishes

1 cup of grated cheese

1/2 pound of ground beef

1 egg

2 tablespoons of bread crumbs

1 Tablespoon spoon of basil leaves (fresh or dried)

Salt

Pepper

5 chicken bouillon cubes

1 package of egg noodles or any small pasta

 

 

Preheat oven at 375 degrees. Cook the stove top stuffing, set aside. Rinse off the roaster chicken and remove the insides. Place stuffing in the chicken. Place one peeled onion at the end of the chicken (this will help keep the stuffing in). Place the chicken in a large baking pan. Add water to cover the bottom. Do NOT cover with foil. Place in oven at 375 degrees. The pop up will tell you when the chicken is done. Check every 15-20 minutes and pour newwater over the chicken each time (this will prevent burning and drying out the chicken).

 

While the chicken is cooking, pour both cans of chicken broth into a very large stove top pot. Add the other chopped white onion, 2 chopped cloves of garlic, ½ cup of celery leaves, 3 radishes cut in 4 pieces, ½ cup of grated cheese and the basil leaves. Stir well and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked. Check and stir every 15 minutes.

Place ground beef in a mixing bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of grated cheese, egg, 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs, salt & pepper then mix well. Roll mixture into tiny meatballs alittle larger than a nickel, set aside.Slice celery and carrots, set  aside.

 

When chicken is fully cooked, take out of oven and let cool. Pour remaining water from the baking pan into the pot. Add onion from chicken into the pot and also add the 5 bouillon cubes into the pot. Remove stuffing and use for a side dish.

Once the chicken is cooled off enough to touch, remove all meat from the chicken and add to the pot. Also add the uncooked tiny meatballs, carrots and celery. Add the rest of the grated cheese and cook on medium heat until carrots and celery are soft.

 

Cook noodles or pasta separately. Add to soup when serving.

 

 

 

Serve with grated cheese, salt & pepper.