Chicken Chop Suey

This post is inspired by the Social dimension of wellness.

Social wellness is about relating. It's about attracting and maintaining long-lasting relationships. Further, it involves building healthy, nurturing, and supportive relationships as well as fostering a genuine connection with those around you by taking the time to listen and learn from others.

“Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of  people.” - Karen Salmansohn

A few days ago, I decided to visit my mom’s grave, drop off some flowers, and tell her how much I love and miss her. As I was standing by her stone, I noticed what I thought was a landscaper carefully weed whacking the grave site next to hers. I tried not to pay too much attention and was actually annoyed; of course on the day I had chosen to visit my mom there would be someone hanging around close by. I was thinking to myself, out of all the thousands of gravesites, couldn’t this guy go to another area and prune? I carefully placed the flowers on the ground as I knelt down to apologize to my mom for the noise and quietly prayed that he would go away. Then, I began to hand pick weeds around her grave stone as I felt even more annoyed that the cemetery wasn’t tending to my mom.

“Don’t judge people for the choices they make when you don’t know the options they had to choose from.” - Unknown

All of a sudden, I heard the voice of the landscaper. “Is that your mom?” he asks. I looked up to answer him and ask why he was spending so much time on the grave next to her. As he limped over to me, I noticed that he looked like he was in pain and had a very hard life. He told me that his dad had recently passed and that his mom was coming to visit. He wanted to make sure the grave was well manicured for her. He had a tear in his eye as he spoke of his father and how much he missed him.

I felt ashamed of myself for thinking he was a landscaper instead of someone who had lost a loved one. He continued to share his story, telling me about how he comes out every week to carefully tend to his father's grave. As he continued, he struggled to speak. He apologized, telling me he had just had a stroke, and he was embarrassed by his impediment. I assured him that I totally understood both his loss of his father and the repercussions of a stroke. My mom also suffered from a stroke, so I was well acquainted with the side effects. He shared with me how he used to ride motorcycles, and I told him I too was an enthusiast. Then, he shook my hand and wished me a blessed day. Later, I watched him get into his truck and drive away. This experience made me reflect on how judgmental I can be at times and how I really need to work on this ugly characteristic. We never know what others are going through, so we should never make assumptions as to why they’re placed in certain positions. While I was walking back to my car, I saw the same man drive up to my car. He got out and told me he really enjoyed meeting me and that moving forward, he was going to see to it that my mom's gravesite was well manicured weekly. He explained, every time he visits his dad and cleans his site up, he will care for my mom's as well. I was so touched by his kind gesture and reached for my wallet to give him some money, but he denied the money and drove away 😊

It’s funny how the lessons learned in life are often presented to us in the strangest situations, if you choose to acknowledge them.

Recipe of the Day: Chicken Chop Suey

INGREDIENTS

For the Chicken:

• 2 Chicken Breast, thinly sliced

• 1 Tbsp of Cornstarch

• 2 cloves of Garlic, grated

• 2 tsp of Grated Ginger

• 1 Tbsp of Low Sodium Soy

• 2 Tbsp of Neutral Oil such as grapeseed or vegetable oil

For the Veggies and Sauce:

• 6 cups of Mixed Chopped Vegetables, such as carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms, bean sprouts, snap peas

• 1/4 cup of Low Sodium Soy Sauce

• 1/3 cup of Water

• 2 tsp of Cornstarch

• 1 tsp of Sesame Oil

• 1 Tbsp of coconut sugar (or regular)

• 1 Tbsp of Rice Vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a bowl, toss the chicken with the cornstarch, garlic, ginger and soy and let it sit for a few minutes.

2. In a large, nonstick skillet, add the oil and preheat over medium high heat. Then, add the chicken, making sure it's not all stuck together. Move it around until it develops good color. Once it's pretty much fully cooked through, remove to a plate.

3. In the same skillet (add more oil if needed), add the vegetables and cook for about 3 minutes. In the meantime, mix together the water, soy, vinegar, sesame oil, cornstarch and sugar. After the 3 minutes, add it to the skillet along with the cooked chicken and allow it to cook for a few minutes or until the sauce has thickened and reduced.

4. Serve with fresh chopped scallions and hot pepper flakes for a little heat!