Slowly Catching On

Hi there! How was your weekend? I'm sad to see another one behind us. Sadly we are not off for Columbus Day so tomorrow will be a full day of work and class!

This morning I was up earlier than I had hoped and my tummy was growling. That seems to be the Sunday trend as of late. I quieted the Hungry Monster with another fall bowl of hot cereal. This was the standard mix with a spoonful of mashed sweet potato, frozen berries, 1/2T of peanut butter and a light drizzle of syrup. Yum!

I took care of a few things and then headed out to the farmers market. I got quite the haul today: eggs, apples, pears, green beans, a small kabocha squash, and a mini Amber squash which I've never tried before.

Once home, the morning was still young so with my best effort to procrastinate homework I started the process of cleaning out my closet for fall and winter. I made it through the hanging items but still have drawers to go through most likely on Tuesday.

I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we're having in DC and combine my goal of some exercise with grocery shopping. I huffed it to a Whole Foods almost 2 miles away from my apartment which made for some great cardio. I treated myself to a hot bar lunch that included a few pieces of veggie sushi, greens, black beans, beets, carrots, tofu veggie burger, black beans and rice, and some chick peas. It was the perfect treat!

My walk home was just as glorious and I didn't mind carrying my groceries home with me.

I decided that I would make chili this afternoon so I got started on the prep work for that. Here is the recipe for my Chicken Chili, which I kind of threw together based on what I had in my fridge and freezer.

• .8lb ground local, organic chicken breast
• 1c chopped onion (it was ~1/4 of a large onion)
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1 28oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 2T tomato paste
• 3/4c black bean
• 3/4c corn
• 1c chopped bell pepper slices  (I used frozen)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• chili powder and cumin to taste (maybe 1/2t and 1/8t respectively)
• 2 cups water

In an non-stick sprayed pot, cook the chicken on medium heat, breaking it up into smaller chunks and crumbles. This should take about 5 - 6 minutes. Once chicken is fully cooked through, remove from pot along with any liquid that cooked off. Respray your pot and over medium heat, cook your carrots, onions, and garlic until onion turns translucent. Add in the beans, corn, bell pepper, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, spices, and water and stir. Adjust seasoning to suit your tastes. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a summer. Let the chili simmer over low heat, covered, for 2 hours or so, stirring occasionally. If you like a thicker chili, remove lid and let simmer for an additional 30 minutes or so.

This recipe yields 5 1 cup servings with a great nutritional profile as well. Not to mention it's delicious!

While this was cooking I tackled accounting with an apple for brain food interspersed somewhere in there. It's amazing how I feel like I'm finally catching on to some of what I'm learning just as our final is right around the corner. Oh well... After smelling my chili for the better part of 3 hours I was ready to dig in for dinner!

I toasted up a bit of polenta to make "croutons" which I topped my chili with along with some hot sauce.

The rest of the night has been spent cleaning, homeworking, and preparing for the week.

Are you off for Columbus Day? When it comes to chili, recipe or no recipe? Beans or no beans?