Spicy chicken chili

I've been on a meat kick lately and all I've been wanting is beef (which is a far cry from my former vegan lifestyle) so I took it as a sign that I might be needing some extra protein in my life, what better than chili? And to kick up the protein factor I used chicken (organic, free-range), 3 different beans, kale and quinoa.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)

1.5 cups quinoa

2 cups of kale, shredded

1 can of stewed whole tomatoes 

1 diced onion 

1 diced yellow pepper

1.5 cups diced carrots 

1 can of pinto beans

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of white beans 

1 fresh jalapeño, sliced 

1/2 cup of picked jalapeños 

1 tbs minced garlic

1 tsp smoked paprika 

1 tsp h. Sea salt 

1 tsp smoked sea salt 

1 can of organic chicken broth

 1. Boil chicken breasts in salted water and shred before hand

2. In a large pot put 1 tbs of olive oil and sauté peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic and carrots for 5 minutes

3. Add chicken, kale, salt, paprika and jalapeños and stir until spices are distributed evenly

4. Pour in chicken broth plus one can's worth of water. Cover and bring to a boil.

5. Once boiling add quinoa and beans, turn to low and let simmer for 2 hours

We topped ours hot sauce, sour cream, lime, fresh and picked jalapeños, green onions and tomatoes 

and served it with a big green salad

*i have a portion problem and can never make a dinner for just two people so with days worth of leftovers we later had:

Chili-stuffed bell peppers and

Chili soup!  (Chili over rice not pictured)

Vitamixxxxxx!

For years I have been dreaming over vitamix blenders. I've tried convincing everyone around me to buy one. The entire time I've known my husband I've sang its praises to him and yesterday I was finally rewarded by the food gods with one, actually my husband bought it for me but whatever. It's beautiful. It's amazing. It's the 5200S model with 10 speeds and I love it. We made a few experimental drinks in it. First one with banana, almond milk, cocoa powder (and that's where the healthy part ends) chocolate cookies, chocolate chips and a handful of m&m's. We were just curious about what would happen and let me tell you after that combo got blended into oblivion it came out so smooth and creamy and tasted like the worlds best chocolate milk. We then made pomegranate juice with the seeds from the previous post. Just used Pom seeds and filtered water, blended it, poured it through a sieve and enjoyed. 

This morning I made green smoothie with water, banana, apple, romaine, cilantro and celery which didn't taste as good as the cookie but whattayagonnado?

 Dan made a carrot banana apple one that was amazinggg. I'm really excited to get this thing going. Now that Dans on his new routine and dropping weight I get to focus on tweaking mine which will now probably involve a whole lot of blendables. 

How to seed a pomegranate

One of the perks of my husbands job is that he knows where all the little treasures of the city are, including where there are fruit trees growing on city property. The crown jewel being the pomegranate trees not far from our house but not easily found by the public. We went picking and although I was on spider watch the whole time I kept reminding myself that while I'm filling up target bags of these babies they are currently going for $2.99 each in the grocery store.  When I was little my mom gave us pomegranates maybe twice a year and when she did we had to put on old clothes and sit in the backyard picking out one seed at a time. My mother-in-law however blew my mind when one day I came over and there was a huge bowl just full of seeds. It was amazing and beautiful and since then I've come to learn that poms are a big part of Persian culture and also how crazy easy they are to seed! So I've decided to share the knowledge. 

>>make sure to wash the outside

>>when cutting in steps 2 & 3 be careful not to go too deep so as not to burst the gems

>>sometimes I'll sprinkle a little Himalayan salt on top or a little sugar or just eat them in all their naked glory. 

Autumn air, full of prayer

Happy October 1st! Yesterday was so gloomy and perfect and wonderful, hopefully after this weekend the weather will start getting more autumnal.  I live for October, it's my favorite month and part of what I call the Holy Holiday Trinity because I love November and December equally but in different ways. In honor of the first day of autumn weather and the last day of September I made a little stew for lunch. No recipe, just pictures

(Grass fed organic beef from a local farm, used only 1/2 lb. and fed 4 people) 

Fun fact: I dropped another 5lbs, holla. I took the dog for a little 2 mile run and then when Dan came home we went and did sprints and a few drills, just enjoying being outside in the cool weather before the rain comes and we're forced into the gym. We go for long walks together almost every night and we use the time to recap the day, voice any concerns and really just hold hands and kiss like teenagers. When I go for walks by myself I spend a lot of the time praying and getting connected with God and I pray constantly, it's what gets me through the day and now Dan and I do it together on our walks. I've never been one for public prayers as I feel it's a personal act but every day my husband becomes more and more a part of me that there isn't anything I would rather do alone that I wouldn't much more prefer to do with him and now praying is one of those things. We just walked in the wind hand in hand saying prayers for each other, for others, for ourselves, for growth and love and forgiveness and it settles my heart in such a way that I see the world so differently. I made a mid-year resolution to cut out all types of backbiting. Whether it be "venting" or sending a text that I think is funny or harmless but is at the expense of another and as part of that purge I had to ignore or redirect when others would want to vent or make a joke to me. It gets hard at times because you become so overwhelmed by the actions of other that you just want to brew up this shit talking storm but I've learned if I can hold it in for 24 hours and pray on it, the next day I feel absolutely nothing, the anger and frustration is gone and the whole thing seems silly after all.  So here's to a new month in continuing to be a prayerful and cheerful being, amen.