Another thing I love

I love my job. I say it all the time. When parents of patients ask why I drove almost 3 hours each day to get to and from work, I tell them it's because I truly love what I do!

And I feel so lucky for being able to say that. Because really, how many people out there look forward to going into work each day!?

Don't get me wrong...there are many days that the alarm just seems to go off way too early.

Or days that I walk into a room that looks like it should belong into a circus with all the pumps and machines which makes me nervous! But a good dose of healthy fear of what we do gets us through our job. When a PICU nurse becomes too "comfortable" it can be a scary time!

But back to my love of my job. I seriously love working with kids. I love making a difference in their life. Impacting not just the health of a child, but the overall well-being of an entire family.

And I especially love that once I clock out, I can leave the job behind. I don't have any paper work or responsibilities once I'm home.

Which really leaves me time to do other things that I love. Once of these things is trying to come up with healthy recipes for Jon and I to enjoy. And let me tell you, I found another one that will become a staple for us this fall and winter so I thought I'd share it...we've already made this twice in 2 weeks! That's substantial for us!

Plus, it makes enough leftovers so I can take it to work the next day and have tons of nurses stare longingly at my lunch! No lean-cuisine here...just some delicious, healthy soup!!!

*Note: I don't measure things most times, so you'll just have to bear with my recipe! But, I adapted this from a few different mexican meatball soups that I found online so you could find exact measurements if you want.

Crock-pot Mexican Meatball Soup

-In a crock pot, mix chicken stock or broth to fill about 3/4 of the way. Add in one can of black beans, frozen corn to your liking, one can of Rotel or another "mexican" flavored spicy tomatoes, a few splashes of lime juice, a few diced up jalapenos, a dash of salt and a dash of pepper. Cook for 2 hours on low.

-To make the meatballs, take ground turkey or ground beef (we used lean ground turkey to be a bit healthier) and add fresh cilantro, salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes. Form into 1-2 in balls. Place in broiler for about 4-6 minutes (or until outside starts to brown). Once browned, place in crockpot with the rest of the soup and turn to high for about an hour.

-Once the soup is done, make a plate of "fixins" to put on top. We used tortilla chips, avacado, sharp cheddar cheese and fresh cilatro. -Serve with a glass of spicy red wine and enjoy....YUM!!!

The only unfortunate thing about the leftovers at work is the glass of red wine is not included. But it still tastes awesome!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!