The DO IT ALL Personality

Hi my name is Ashley and I am about to get really raw with you all. I am a "do it all" personality. What I mean by this is I want to be able to do it all NOW but I can't which causes anxiety, depression, anger and self doubt because I try to do it all anyway. By "all" for me I mean, I want to be a stay at home mom and homemaker, I want to work and bring in an income, I want to be able to enjoy every aspect of my 4 children's childhood including school activities and such, I want to have time to spend with my friends, I want to clean and organize the house but I also want to spend time with my family, I want to volunteer and be more involved with our church, I want to homeschool, I want to travel, I want to get my real estate license, I want my Arbonne business to be further along then it is (even though I just started and it is actually doing better then the average person who started just 3 months ago), and so on. You get the picture, I have big wants, goals and dreams... with little patience.

This is something I always knew about myself but am just now really realizing because the people who mean the most to me are starting to suffer because I am spread so thin. I am get snippy easily, I am sad a lot, I blame others and it's just not pretty and its not me. I think part of it being so bad lately is because for the first time in years I actually have energy and feel good. I am motivated to get things done and better myself and my families lives. The thing is I realized I can not do it all, at least not all at once! That it is okay to have goals and dreams but I need to focus on one thing at a time and what I need to do to get me there. What is priority and what can wait. I needed to remember that God is in charge, not me. That I need to breath and pray and figure out what is the most important to me. I made a list of what is most important and a reasonable time frame. Having it in black and white not just in my head helped. I am not sure why I felt the need to write this, maybe someone out there needs to know they are not the only "do it all" out there and that it's time to step back and let God take control. Whatever the reason, here it is.

Oh The Life of Crohn's - Septic Shock and Bowel Resection Surgery

As most of my readers know I have this lovely thing called Crohns Disease (insert heavy sarcasm). I found out I had Crohns in November of 2013, almost 6 years ago. Boy oh boy what a roller coaster it has been! Multiple medications, SO MANY scans I am not sure how I am not glowing, researching like crazy, diet changes, flare after flare, fatigued to the point of depression because I just wanted a normal life! It's one of those things that just when I think I am doing better BAM I am knocked back down.

Well fast forward to August 2018, random high fevers but felt okay when they would break and no other symptoms. I powered through for 3 days and the night of day 3 it got the best of me. After very busy day of popping Advil to try and get through I spiked fever again and couldn't get it to break. I was nursing my 5 week old baby in the parking lot of the restaurant we were at and couldn't stop shaking and my breathing got very heavy. My husband got to the car and said he was taking me to the ER as I was turning blue. All of my kids in the car seeing me like this. I passed out on the way but some how managed to come to and walk myself in the ER because the kids were in the car and someone had to stay with them, at least that is how my mom brain and power kicked in and thought. They rushed me to a room. I was told my heart rate was 190 and I was in septic shock. I was in and out of consciousness but I remember my husband never leaving my side, the nurses trying to keep me conscious, telling my husband to make sure my kids know how much I love them and how much I love him, to tell my parents I love them and praying so hard to the Lord to please give me another chance here on earth because I knew I was dying but I was FIGHTING! My body may of been giving up but my mind was not! Guess what here I am today to talk about it!!!!! It still makes it hard to breath remembering it, but I also am reminded God kept me here for a reason and I truly believe that reason is my family. My kids and husband were all I could think about and that is what helped pull me though! That mom power I call it! So while recovering in ICU they tell me it was an infection that was Crohns related.

Well now we are at March 2019, I've started a great job just a month ago and start having a ton of pain and super bloated when I eat. I go to the ER they tell me Im just constipated. Well my GI orders an MRI that shows I have a bad stricture and partial bowel obstruction and I need emergency surgery the nurse says. We opted to wait on a colorectal surgeon since thats what they do... that was a mistake as he was awful during my recovery, but its over with now. 12 days of a liquid diet and I finally had my surgery. All went well and I was sent home 2 days later. Well 2 weeks to my surgery day I was doubled over in pain, I get sent to the ER and I am full of infection and abscess. They should of been drained according to every other doctor but my surgeon would not admit that I had infection and said I needed to be tougher when he removed my bandages and sent me home. I got a second opinion and they agreed with the ER but I was already on 2 very strong antibiotics so they waited to see if that would help which it did, after 2 rounds of them. I was still having a lot of issues after surgery but I made my way back to some what of a normal life eventually.

I was tired of still feeling the way I did before surgery minus the pain so I finally decided to try a clean eating program my friend told me about, even though I thought I already ate pretty well. To my surprise it actually worked! Like it helped A LOT! This is now my new lifestyle and I use these products and the understanding of food it taught me daily! If you would like more information check out this Video . You can order the products here . Everyone with Crohns is different and this is my opinion. What helps one may not help the other but I figure its worth a try for others because if you don't make time for you wellness you'll have to make time for you illness.

I am now doing really well, I am still on Stelara a biologic medication for Crohn's but I hope to get off of it soon and just continue my new healthy lifestyle thats actually been the thing to help me! A biologic lowers your immune system and has very scary side affects but the doctors want me on it for a year but can not really give me a reason other then to make sure I don't end up back in surgery sicne my Crohns was active when I had the surgery. See most doctors have told me for the past 5 years "diet has no affect on Crohn's Disease" well myself and MANY others including a doctor I see will disagree. The only time I started feeling better and got a quality of life back what when I started putting good stuff in!

I wanted to write this so others can understand what Crohn's Disease can do to a person. To help raise awareness and maybe let others see they are not alone and there is hope out there! That just because someone doesn't look sick on the outside doesn't mean they are not fighting a battle on the inside.

SHE'S BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!!!!

WOW! It has been a LONG time since I've been on here!!! So many things have changed... where to start without this being super long winded?!

First, I've had 2 more babies a girl who is now 2 and another boy who is 1. They are 15 months apart and I'm not going to lie, that is HARD! They are just what we didn't know we needed though. They keep life busy and interesting that is for sure! If you lost count that makes a total of 4 kids, 9 and under, 1 potty training and 1 still fully in diapers.... we need a stiff drink most days (HAHAHA) but seriously, send white claws, yep that just happened. 

Second, I went back to work full time. It was a HUGE adjustment for the whole family and I did not adjust as quickly as I thought I would, but we are in a groove now. If a groove is a family of squirrels let loose in a nut factory but we are making it work.

Third, a few month before I started work I went in to septic shock and almost died. Then not long after I started work my Crohns flared up BAD to the point I had to have emergency surgery, bowel resection. I was out of work at my new month old job for almost 6 weeks... it was rough! Stress related, 100% in my opinion but was bound to happen anyway at some point they said. The recovery was the worse part as I got infection and abscess. Then I developed blood clots in my portal vein causing PVT. Its been a heck of a ride with my health but I am back on track now! I am much more aware of what I am eating and how I am living my life because of all of this also.

Fourth, I am back on track because of a company called Arbonne. My friend told me about it for MONTHS and I was scared try try something new as it may make my crohns worse. I finally tried their skin care and loved it then NOTHING was helping me still after surgery so I said what the heck and tried their nutrition line. Y'ALL in just a week I was feeling better and in just 2 weeks I was back to what I could remember before Crohns. I was BLOWN AWAY that this actually worked! I have now been using the nutrition daily for 2 months and feel like a normal person again and have such a better quality of life. Now do I still have to watch what I eat, yes but the 30 days program with Arbonne taught me how to do that!  Because of so much success (for my whole family) with their products, the QUALITY of the products and what they stand for I decided I others needed to know and I wanted to share it with them so I became an Independent Consultant with Arbonne. That is job number 2 for me... just a to add to my busy life. I love it though! Helping others live a healthier and better life is such a passion of mine and I feel my calling I have found out! It doesn't even feel like work to me. Link to a healthier life!

Lastly, this blog! I am back and changing it up. It is no longer Cooking with Mrs. Milly but Cooking up LIFE with Mrs. Milly. I will still be posting recipes, most healthier then the past but also all about life as a family of 6, my business, mom, wife and kid related posts and more! I am super excited to start sharing with you all again!

Mrs. Milly's Homemade Chicken N' Dumplings

It was always a battle in my house over chicken and dumplings. My mom made it a little thinner with Bisquick drop dumplings and chunky carrots, celery, onion and chicken breast.
My Papa made it with noodle type dumplings, thicker, more of a shredded dark meat chicken and small diced celery and onion so that's how my dad liked it.

Now I like it both ways, one is also lower fat but we are talking southern winter food here so lets not try to kid anyone. When I think of good ol' southern chicken n' dumplings it is how my Papa made it, sorry mom...  Now my Papa did cheat and use frozen dumplings and I know that's not how his mama taught him but we let it slide ;-) I wish I had my Grandmas recipe for dumplings because I hear she was a great cook, but I don't. So I was determined to make awesome homemade dumplings and I did it! It was 2 thumbs up and full tummies all around!
  

As you see I added some yellow carrots going with my moms theme but was not a fan, its all preference though.

Chicken and Broth:
5 Chicken Quaters
1 tsp Dried Thyme
1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 tbsp Garlic Powder
1 tbsp Black Pepper Corns
2 Bay Leafs
1/2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
2 Tbsp Salt

- Add all in a big pot, just barely cover with water and boil until chicken is cooked through. 
***Save Broth*** This is your base and you'll use some in the dumplings also.

- As chicken is cooling to pick, dice 2 Stalks of Celery and 1/2 an Onion 
- Strain out water you cooked the chicken in and keep the clean broth
- Put a little more then half the broth back in pot with celery and onion, salt and pepper to taste and bring back to a boil. I didn't measure, you can always add more in if it gets too thick
- Pick chicken and add to pot
- Last cook dumplings right in the pot 

Dumplings:
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Shorting
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Chicken Broth
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt

- In your mixer add dry ingredients and shorting, mix
- Put on dough hook and add in wet ingredients and mix until it starts to pull from sides and form a dough ball
- Flour surface very well 
- Flour top of dumplings very well, cant have too much flour here. It will keep it from sticking and help thicken your broth.
- Roll out to 1/4-1/2 inch thick depending on how you like them, cut in strips with pizza cutter
- Bring broth back up to boil and drop in till they all float to the top. 


Enjoy!

~Mrs. Milly~




Mrs. Milly's 2cents: Making things homemade is so much better tasting and better for you than store bought items full of preservatives and unneeded ingredients. Anytime you can use organic products it makes it that much cleaner and healthy for you. Enjoy the satisfaction in doing it your self!
            This was also easy on my stomach but each person with IBD is different. Please use caution     and consult your doctor before trying anything new. 

 

Mrs. Milly's BBQ Shrimp

My husband has asked me to make this for a year now. We got a bunch of shrimp right off the dock and the first thing I thought after the Shrimp n' Grits I make was to finally make this for him. As soon as I found the recipe he gave me a year ago I thought, is this name right? and I'm changing this up for sure! I am glad I did because it was a HUGE hit and has been requested to be made again and again.

Why oh why is it called barbecue shrimp??? Beats the heck out of me because it has nothing to do with BBQ. I do know it was started by an Italian restaurant in New Orleans long ago and is now a staple in New Orleans. I am not a fan of the name and wanted to call it something different but, it is what it is... and it is DELICIOUS! There are many different versions of BBQ Shrimp out there. Mine is the best of course ;-). It is less spicy since my kids eat it and well, I'm a wimp. You can make it with more heat very easily though.


Mrs. Milly's BBQ Shrimp:

•  2lbs. 16 Count Shrimp, still in shell but headed

• 2 1/2 Sticks of Butter

• 2tbsp Coconut Oil

• 3 Cloves of Garlic, minced 

• 1/4-1/2 cup Sweet Onion, diced small

• About 6 shakes of Worcestershire Sauce

• 1/4 cup Chicken broth

• 1 Green Onion

• 2tbsp Louisiana Brand Seafood Boil (powder not liquid)

• 1/4tsp Thyme

• 2 Bay Leaves 

• 1 Lemon, juice and save peel to add in pot

• 1tsp Apple Cider Vinegar 

• 1/4tsp Ground Cayenne Red Pepper - *This is were you can add more heat. Use more and add some red pepper flakes if you want too.

How To:

1. Melt Butter and oil in a large skillet. 
2. Add sweet onion and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. 
3. Mix in all other ingredients, but shrimp.
4. Once to a medium low heat add shrimp right in pot
5. Once shrimp is cooked thru serve up with some warm French or Italian bread for dipping.

Enjoy!

~Mrs. Milly~

See the Juice down in there?! That's the good stuff!

Easy Beef Stew

This is perfect for those cold nights! I have posted another stew recipe, Hunt Camp Stew that my husband told me about which is similar to this but I think this one is my favorite. My friend Chris told me the secret to this, if your a Bloody Mary drinker and never thought of this your going wonder why. It is so full of flavor and so simple!

-1+ lb of stew meat, I used 1.18lbs of top round steak and cut in to bite size pieces. Get what ever is on sale.
-1/2 an onion, diced
-1 clove of garlic, minced
-1tsp coconut oil
-1tsp butter
-1 bag of frozen vegetable soup mix
-2 cups beef broth
-1 1/2 cups zing zang (or your favorite brand) of bloody mary mix. Yep, that why didn't I think of that moment just hit. This is the secret that makes it so flavorful. Add more for a richer flavor and less broth. I don't like to much tomato in mine. 
-Salt and Pepper

1. In a dutch oven or heavy duty pot brown salt and peppered beef in the oil and butter. 
2. Keep fat but take meat out of pot.
3. Put onions and garlic in fat and cook for about 3 minutes.
4. Add the frozen veggies and meat in the pot. 
5. Cover almost all the way, the vegetables will make more liquid, with broth and bloody mary mix.
6. Salt and Pepper to taste.
7. Cook at a simmer for an hour or more. The longer it cooks the more tender gets but so do the vegetables so it all depends on how you like it. 
8. Serve over rice. 

ENJOY!
~Mrs. Milly~

Super Easy Angel Food Cake Pineapple Muffins

My boys were begging for dessert so I got to looking at what I had for a quick fix. I had a box of Angel Food Cake mix in the pantry and a bowl of fresh cut pineapple in the fridge. I thought I bet those go good together and they do!!!!

I used my mini muffin pan so the bake time was quick with two little ones pacing in the kitchen. I mixed the angle food cake as directed, add water, easy enough. Then a piece of pineapple in the bottom of each muffin spot. They cook fast this way so you have to keep an eye out, it took about 8 minutes.

For the topping I took the rest of the pineapple, about a cup worth and half of a container of whipped cream and blended them together then placed in the freezer to firm up some.

When I say these were good, that is an understatement. They were gone so fast! DELICIOUS!!!!

I'll be making these for our next get together too! 

*You could really use almost any fruit for these*

 (I turned a few upside down so you could see the pineapple)

Enjoy!

~Mrs. Milly~