I told Mom.
Not the full thing — not 'I'm dropping out.' More like: 'I'm thinking about taking a semester off.' Which is what you say when you're probably dropping out but want to test the waters first.
We were in the kitchen. She was making her pot pie — the from-scratch one with the crust I learned to make in spring. I was rolling dough. She was stirring the filling. The kitchen smelled like butter and chicken and the very specific anxiety of a daughter about to disappoint her mother.
'A semester off,' she repeated. Not a question. A weighing.
'The loans, Mom. I'm already $8,000 in debt and I don't know what I'm doing with the degree. Communications is — I don't even know what communications IS. And the commute, and the money, and —'
'Is this about Ryan?'
'No. I mean — he's part of it, but —'
'Rachel.' She put down the spoon. She looked at me. 'I'm going to say this once. You don't drop out of college for a boy. You don't change your life for someone you've known for six weeks. That's not love. That's gravity.'
'I'm not dropping out for Ryan. I'm dropping out because I'm spending money I don't have on something I don't want.'
She was quiet for a long time. Then she said: 'Your father and I never went to college. We turned out fine. But we wanted more for you.'
'I know.'
'We wanted you to have choices.'
'I DO have choices. This is a choice. Taking time off is a choice.'
She picked up the spoon. Went back to stirring. 'One semester,' she said. 'One. And you work. And you save money. And if you want to go back, you go back.'
That's not what happened. I didn't go back. But she didn't need to know that yet. And maybe I didn't either.
Dad took it better than I expected. He said, 'College isn't for everyone. The Marines wasn't for everyone either. You find your thing.' And went to the garden. That was the whole conversation. Kevin Abernathy, brevity champion of the Abernathy household.
Megan took it worse. 'Rachel, you CAN'T. You have ONE YEAR left and you're just —' I stopped listening. Megan, who had a scholarship. Megan, who had Dad's GI Bill. Megan, who never had to choose between tuition and groceries. Megan doesn't get to have an opinion about this.
The pot pie was perfect. The crust was flaky. The filling was rich. And the decision was made, even though I called it 'one semester.' Even though I knew it was more.
Sometimes the hardest choices are the ones that look like giving up from the outside but feel like freedom from the inside.
I'm nineteen. I'm in love with a Marine. And I'm not going back to school.
Dinner is at 1800. Some things don't change.
We didn’t always make pot pie. Some nights, especially the ones where conversation was heavy and nobody wanted to stand over the stove, Mom would throw everything into the slow cooker and let the house fill up with garlic and warmth while we all figured out how to be around each other. This Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken is that kind of meal—the kind you make when you need dinner to do the comforting for you, because the words aren’t quite there yet. Creamy, rich, and impossibly easy, it’s what I reach for now when the decisions feel bigger than the kitchen.
Slow Cooker Tuscan Chicken
Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 4 hours | Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 cups fresh baby spinach
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
- Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- Season the chicken. Pat chicken thighs dry and season on both sides with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, onion powder, and red pepper flakes.
- Layer the slow cooker. Place seasoned chicken thighs in the bottom of the slow cooker. Scatter minced garlic and sun-dried tomatoes over the chicken, then pour in the chicken broth.
- Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours 30 minutes or HIGH for 2 hours, until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
- Make the sauce. Remove the chicken and set aside on a plate. Stir the heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and cornstarch slurry into the liquid in the slow cooker. Stir until the cheese is melted and the sauce begins to thicken.
- Add the spinach. Stir in the baby spinach and let it wilt into the sauce, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Return the chicken. Nestle the chicken back into the creamy sauce. Cover and cook on HIGH for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until everything is heated through and the sauce is rich and thick.
- Serve. Spoon the chicken and sauce over rice, pasta, or crusty bread. Garnish with fresh basil and an extra sprinkle of Parmesan.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 345 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 19g | Carbs: 7g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 680mg
About the cook who shared this
Rachel Abernathy
Week 73 of Rachel’s 30-year story
· San Diego, California
Rachel is a twenty-eight-year-old Marine wife and mom of two who has moved five times in six years and learned to cook a Thanksgiving dinner with half her cookware still in boxes. She married young, survived postpartum depression, and feeds her family of four on a junior Marine's salary with a freezer full of pre-made meals and a crockpot that has never let her down. She writes for the military spouses who are cooking dinner alone in base housing and wondering if they're enough. You are.
