mompreneursara watsonmosaicfoodscatering

We have about 35 people working with us from full time to part time banquet staff. We feel so blessed to have such a wonderful team to assist us in making this a great food company and to have fun working together as well.

what should we know about Mosaic Foods Catering?

It now operates out of Mezzaluna at 309 Roberts Street in Downtown Fargo. We cater breakfast, lunch, dinner, hors d'ouevre parties and more. We have a full liquor license

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to assist with bar events as well. We can cater out to many locations that do not have an exclusive caterer and we also have our own event room, which is Mezzaluna. It seats about 100 people and we are currently booking Holiday Parties.

what part of owning your own business do you least enjoy?

The ‘business work’—paper work, invoicing, bills etc. My passion is in the kitchen and working with people.

top 3 business mistakes you’ve made and have learned from?

1. Overbooking. There is nothing worse than being stressed or late for an event. We take great care to make sure every event is done well and on time.

2. Employees. Not every person has the same skills. There are times we have expected too much out of certain staff members, only to find their talents may not be exactly what we thought. We do try to move folks around in the company to find their nitch and their ability to showcase their strengths.

3. Hanging on to concepts to long. We are a growing company, we often need to slow down and evaluate each aspect of the business. How much time and money we are spending on projects that may take more energy than needed.

of all the foods you prepare, do you have a favorite?

My favorite is more of a global cuisine. I absolutely love Asian and Mexican cuisine. I love to prepare and consume it.

how do you and your husband separate your marriage and co-worker relationship?

Eric and I are very lucky to be married to each other. We both have a passion for the Culinary Arts and when not at work, we are often talking about things such as new food trends or researching other restaurants. We often don’t see each other much during the day at work. We both head up different areas of the business and are rarely in the kitchen at the same time.

what is a typical day like for you?

I generally try to be the first person in the house awake. It is amazing how much I can accomplish in the wee hours of the morning by myself. Once the

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kids wake up we go into routine mode...get them out the door and off to school. Then comes the office work. Catch up on paper work, daily orders going out...the day can completely change from there. Days consist of meeting with catering clients, setting up for events, delivering food, picking up food, scheduling staff for events, preparing food, tasting food, tasting wine, etc. Every day is a little different which makes the job so much fun. I try to be home as much as possible for the kids after school. We have an excellent team of folks working with us and can juggle schedules pretty well.

what mom sacrifices have you made for the sake of your profession?

I'd like to be the Mom with fresh baked cookies every day when the kids get off the bus. Truth is, they rarely get fresh baked cookies from home... sometimes treats come home with me from the catering kitchen though. I try to not think about the sacrifices, but rather hope that they are learning a great work ethic and also the importance of having and scheduling family time. We rarely miss concerts, programs, games etc. We try to work our schedules around their schedules too. I feel like a crazy person during the day, but try to relax and be there for them at night. When we are needed at events or at the restaurant, we feel very lucky to have family, friends and wonderful caregivers helping us out.

away from the kitchen what might we find you doing?

Gardening or maybe out for a bicycle ride with the kiddos. We enjoy the outdoors, whether it is going to the family lake place, venturing to state parks, or hiking around town.

what is your family’s favorite meal?

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(701) 234-2700 womens.sanfordhealth.org when it comes to feeding your own family, are you organized and do a meal plan weekly?

My family LOVES almost any meal we can all sit down and eat together. We have family dinner as often as possible, but as with most busy families it seems to be at the most 3 or 4 times a week. Pasta is a family favorite—a nice salad, Spaghetti Carbonara, and a good, crusty bread with real butter. Our entire family is adventurous eaters, which makes meal time easy.

I do not plan weekly meals. I just try to have ingredi- ents on hand so we can quickly whip something up. Chicken, potatoes, rice, a wide variety of vegetables and fruits is a must in our house. what is the best meal planning tip can you share?

Keep the staple foods on hand—with access to 100's of recipes online it's pretty easy to come up with a quick meal. I sometimes just Google the ingredients we have to work with and TaDa...that is our meal. For example: Google: “Chicken, peanuts, squash”—you may get ‘Groundnut Stew’—lucky for us it’s another family favorite.

309 Roberts Street Fargo, ND 58102

701.373.7805 www.mosaicfoods.net

White Bean Chicken Chili

The leaves are falling, temperatures are cooling and there’s no better way to mark the arrival of autumn than with a big pot of soul-warming chili! Fast, easy and so yummy. Perfect recipe in our book!

prep: 4 minutes cook: 22 minutes yields: 6 servings [serving size = 1 ½ cups] you need:

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic

2 [15.5 oz] cans cannellini beans, un-drained

3 cups chopped cooked chicken

1 [14.5 oz] can fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1 ½ teaspoons salt-free Mexican seasoning

¼ teaspoons salt

1 cup [4 oz] shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers how to:

1. Heat oil in a large kettle over medium-high heat.

2. Add onion and garlic; sauté 2 minutes the details:

3. Mash one can of beans in a small bowl with a fork.

4. Add mashed beans, remaining can beans, and next 4 ingredients in kettle; bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

6. Add cheese and simmer 5 minutes stirring constantly.

7. Consider topping chili with additional Monterey Jack cheese, low-fat sour cream or plain fat-free yogurt, chopped onions, chopped fresh cilantro, salsa or crumbled low-fat tortilla chips.

Calories 284, Fat 8.3g, Protein 28.3g, Carb 23.5g, Fiber 6.1g, Sodium 920mg source: cooking light super fast suppers tiny sprout portraits