I was brought up in a home of professionals, and the people in my circle never spoke highly of a woman with a housewife title. Somehow, that mindset was stuck in my subconscious, and I aspired and worked full-time and part-time for most of my life. I enjoyed work-life, and more times than not, I took on job responsibilities that far exceeded my job duties, simply because I enjoyed pitching in here and there, and I have multiple skills that span across different sectors. I was exceptional working in front-of-house, and I equally thrive well in back-of-house situations, which was useful throughout the years.

However, being a Stay-at-Home wife in recent years, came about as a major paradigm shift in facilitating the nomadic lifestyle of my husband and I. Wherever possible, I would step into the role of Admin, Project Management, or sometimes, simply Home Management.

These days we've been in a bit of a limbo, but I continue to plough away at different projects, which fill my daily schedule to keep my mind active and to keep me abreast with the times. Staying relevant is important, especially in our silver years as we grow closer to the stipulated retirement age. I've encountered many women who decided to go back into employment, after being a housewife and growing kids, and for different reasons, they found themselves having to go back to working, mainly part-time jobs.

What I find is that when women return to employment, they have little confidence in their abilities, and struggle to fit into the demands of the workforce.

Despite being in limbo at the moment, having worked in several managerial roles, I still find myself breaking down home management duties in a professional format such as housekeeping, security, my admin and blogging, errand-runner and so on. Hive has changed the game for me completely as a Stay-at-Home mum and I am constantly learning through this platform, which I think is ideal.

My typical day varies according to the jobs at hand, and I am enjoying being fully responsible for how I spend my hours daily.

Other than that, I enjoy cooking and do it as a mindful activity, in a stress-free and enjoyable way.

Today I had spent most of the day doing some me-time activities including my weekly hair steam treatment, before spending the evening in the kitchen preparing some scrumptious Chicken Wings.

I like to experiment in the kitchen, and for meals that I cook regularly like chicken wings, I'm always experimenting and creating new recipes so that they are always different, but consistently mouth-watering and finger-licking good.

These extraordinary chicken wings...

...are herby and spicy, and recently, I have been adding rosemary to the mix. Rosemary is one of my favourite herbs, and I think it adds "pizzazz" to the chicken wings.

Here's my mad-sounding recipe that makes me want to eat the entire lot all at once:

When I'm cooking for people who are not too keen on garlic, I blanch them to reduce the pungent flavour.

• Blanch an entire garlic by separating the cloves and boiling them in hot water unpeeled for about 5 minutes. Leave it to cool.

Place the following in a bowl

• Grate the zest of 2 large lemons
• Chop a handful of fresh rosemary leaves into small pieces.
• salt and pepper to taste.
• Chop one red chilly pepper including seeds.
• Add some hot pepper sauce to taste. I add enough to make it so hot with the hope that no one will be able to eat it but me. Still, I haven't been lucky for that to happen as yet.
• Add 1 heaping tsp of Dijon Mustard
• Approximately 1/4 cup of Olive Oil or more.
• A dash of soy sauce
• A dash of Brown sauce (optional)
• A dash of Tomato Sauce
• 1 Tbsp each of a mixture of dried herbs from your cupboard (basil, thyme, Italian, and Herbs de Province are good choices).
• Add the garlic by crushing them in the mixture of herbs.
• Mix those all together
• Add salt and pepper to the chicken and place the chicken in a ziplock bag.
• Pour the mixture into the ziplock bag and massage the mixture in the bag, and seal.

💡Seasoning my meat in zip-lock bags and leaving them overnight, preferably, is a game changer.

Remove chicken from the fridge and leave to sit for a few minutes, and I first line the Pyrex dish with a layer of fresh whole rosemary leaves, before placing the wings on top

I then add another layer of whole fresh rosemary leaves on top. Just as seen here.

Cover and bake for 45 minutes at approximately 220°C... check and turn once and bake for another 15 to 30 minutes at a lower temp of 180°C.

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While the chicken cooks, the house is filled with a beautiful aroma that puts you in a wonderful mood.

As Stay-at-Home mums, it's important to keep ourselves in a positive and progressive state of mind. It doesn't matter if we are cooking, gardening, cleaning, or blogging online, it's important to lift ourselves and to help to uplift other women who might be struggling to cope or adjust to new phases of their lives.

Let us not forget, there are also men, who sometimes find themselves with a status of a Stay-at-Home Husband.

People's circumstances change, and I think that transitioning can be easier if people are more open-minded, put the fun in mundane activities, and create the best of whatever life presents us, and how we go about our daily lives.

Thanks for stopping by peeps, for a glimpse into how I keep my mind positive, and most important, I do hope that you will try this recipe and share it with your partner. If chicken wings are not your thing, be sure to substitute it with your preferred meat or meat alternative. You might need to adjust the cooking time:)

Until next time,

All the images are mine.