Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Hungry?

I'm feeling much more sane today. Thank you all for your great advice on my fear associated with exercise. I'm going to go to the doctor (need to see a new one) and hopefully get referred to a cardiologist in my husbands office. I need to be a little easier on myself and wearing my heart rate monitor puts me a little more at ease. I don't ever get too close to my max. All these things will help me feel better. Getting closer to 40 here...about 8 more weeks I think!

Behold the paella (isn't she a beauty??)














This was so incredibly good (if I do say so myself). I was even proud of the way it looked. All the seafood is from the Farmers Market and it's expensive to make but worth it. Aside from the chorizo, it's actually quite healthy. If I were to make this just for us and not guests, I would use chicken chorizo to lighten it up more. I used Emeril's recipe and it was perfect. Now if only I had a commercial stove that could handle this I'd make it all the time. Mine almost melted.

Something about fall makes me want to cook. I have homemade chili for lunch today. I'm going to post my secret recipe because it's so easy, cheap and filling. I keep half in the fridge in single serving containers and freeze the rest (also in single serving containers)

What you need:
Trinity mix (onion, green pepper and celery) - I buy this pre-diced in the produce section which saves me time and waste.
Bag of shredded carrots
1lb. ground turkey breast
2 cans crushed tomatoes
2 cans spicy chili beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
minced garlic - frozen garlic cubes from Trader Joes have changed my life
Chili Powder
Crushed Red Pepper

What to do:
Cook trinity mix in 1 TBS olive oil until soft.
Add ground turkey breast and cook until brown. (You shouldn't have to drain it if you have lean breast)
Add Tomatoes
Drain kidney beans (leave liquid in all other beans) and add to pot
Add carrots (this is done simply to sneak in more veggies. Sometimes I use zucchini too!)
Add garlic
Add about 4 TBS chili powder
Add crushed red pepper to taste.

Bring to boil then simmer for an hour or 2. That's it!

People rave about my chili and most of it comes from cans. I also make a white bean chicken chili in the crock pot. We rotate the 2 chilis through most of the winter for lunches though my husband prefers the red stuff.

Today I saved my workout for after work since I heard a rumor the sun was going to come out. I haven't had enough sunlight lately so I'm going to go for a big walk tonight. The sun doesn't rise until I'm leaving for work this time of year so I need to keep doing what I feel like doing in terms of exercise. It's been rather liberating not forcing myself to stick to one particular thing. I'm also starting to THINK about affording the Y around the corner. With winter coming, that would help a great deal.

Hope everyone is having a good week! Thanks as always for your awesome advice!

11 comments:

  1. Yummmmmm! I copied down the recipe. I'm thinking of using it for a cool weather tailgate. It just sounds wonderful. As for the Paella, I'd be there in an instant for something that wonderful looking....and tasting. I agree, tho', there is something about cooler weather that gets my inner Julia Childs really kicked into high gear.

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  2. That recipe looks great. Thanks for the reminder about breaking it down into individual servings - I love soups, stews and chilis but often won't make them because dh is not a fan. Individual servings is exactly what I should do! I'm a fall/winter/early spring cook like crazy person. Once it's late spring and summer, well, those are my seasons and I want to be out and about, not cooking.

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  3. I'm all for a meet up! Especially if paella is involved. That looks AMAZING! :)

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  4. oh, yum! wanna come over and cook for me?

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  5. The chili sounds great! I've never heard of "trinity mix" but I've seen it in the grocery store. As for the cans of spicy chili beans - could you take a picture of one so I will know what to look for? Never heard of them, either.

    Glad you're feeling better about the heart issues!

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  6. "It's been rather liberating not forcing myself to stick to one particular thing."

    Yes! I just did a post about this a day or two ago and I couldn't agree more!

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  7. Your chili recipe does sounds amazing and so easy! Thanks for sharing. (If you were feeling super generous and wanted to tell us the white chicken chili recipe too, that sounds really good too :)

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  8. Are those mussels? I've never put mussels in mine, but I tried them for the first time last summer in Hilton Head Island and LOVED them! I am a seafood FREAK. Glad you're getting out for that walk...good for you girl!! I think I injured myself over the last couple of days w/ trying to incorporate jogging into my walks. I could barely move today. I usually walk in the mornings but it took me til 5pm today to talk myself into it!! No jogging today...only walking...but I got my 4 miles in...sometimes you just gotta' suck it up and get the sh*t done. :)

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  9. Fall makes me want to cook too. Your paella looks amazing. If you're ever in SE Pennsylvania, stop by and whip me up a batch!

    I hope you got that sunny walk in yesterday. It's beautiful here, so I'm blowing off the gym in favor of walking outside.

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  10. All your cooking sure sounds and looks good. I know what you mean about fall - I always want to make something warm like chili. I made pasta fagiole soup last week. Mmmm mmmm, good.

    Have a great weekend.

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  11. Just popping in to check on you girl! Hope you're having a lovely Fall weekend. I got used to more frequent posts from you and then you disappeared! lol Hope all is well. :)

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