Yesterday morning, I cooked sopas for my team. Yes, the good, old sopas — macaroni pasta, soup, milk, chicken stock, chicken strips, carrot strips, cabbage, pepper, salt, onion, and garlic, plus a chicken cube flavoring.

I boiled four (4) chicken breasts the night before and set them aside, thinking of preparing a creamy, chicken macaroni salad, which I have been craving for in the past month. You know, a sumptuous snack with elbow or shell macaroni pasta, chicken strips/bits, mayonnaise, raisin, pineapple tidbits, diced apples, pickles.

I was thinking, “I’ll just bring the chicken strips, macaroni pasta, then I’ll prepare and mix all the ingredients during lunchtime in the office.” But sometime between 7:30-7:40am, I changed my mind, I thought of just preparing macaroni soup. It was raining a bit and the thought of eating a warm meal seemed more appetizing.

So for 20 minutes, I felt like a contestant in the Iron Chef (amateur version 😀 ), peeling carrots and slicing them, washing cabbage leaves and slicing them, boiling the pasta, my small kitchen knife rattling against the chopping board, and counting 1,2,3, urging myself to hurry up so as not to be late.

My milk got cold, my bath was rushed, and the soup almost overflowed, but all was well in the end. I brought the large pot to the office (putting layers of cloth underneath the pot in my eco bag, so it would be balanced and would not spill). Everyone was able to have some during lunch, and even breakfast. Even the workers who were renovating some part of our Office were able to eat. (Yeah, I cooked more than I had planned).

What could be improved? I didn’t have evaporated milk, only fresh milk. The former would have given the soup a milkier taste. I also didn’t have celery. I had bottled burger pickles, which I could have sliced but I didn’t have the time. So I put in the pot together with the other ingredients, some green olives instead.

Overall, it was good.

The only thing was, I got home after work to a messy kitchen (see photo) where the pasta, cabbage, and pepper were still on the counter, and the soup which I had to transfer on a smaller pot because even the big pot didn’t have enough space after putting the carrots and cabbage, etc.

It’s exhilarating to do this sometimes. But not every day. Sometimes, I just prefer a quiet unhurried morning (never mind that I was thinking of numerous things), where I warm my tummy, drinking milk while looking at the trees outside, before taking a long, cool bath.

May you also have your Iron Chef moments. May you also have your quiet mornings.

Happy reading! ❤