Psalm 34:8-10 "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." We serve such a good God! There are some days when I am just astounded and amazed by His goodness. I mean, the very fact that we get another day on this earth is a testament to His goodness! And what a promise - that if we seek His face, we will lack no good thing. He so yearns to pour out blessings and every good thing on His children. All we have to do is turn to Him and open our hearts. And if there seems to be lions at your door or around every corner, don't worry! Because they, unlike us, will grow weak and hungry! Amen to that!
So I am so happy to say that I finally reached week 9 of Couch to 5K! I must say, I would have thought that Clarisse would show a little more enthusiasm. She was just "You've made some progress (said with a long O sound) over the last few weeks". Uhhh you think?? Of course, I only listened to her introduction to make sure I was supposed to run for 30 minutes, then switched over to Forrest Gump at the gym instead of her strange compilation of musical items. Forrest and I actually "just started runn-an" together (please read that in a Forrest Gump accent), which made the time fly by. I cannot believe and would have never guessed that I would actually get to the end of this program! I don't have a very good track record at keeping at things...softball...soccer... If you have started KEEP GOING! YOU CAN DO IT!
We tried several new Mexican recipes this week and both were absolutely delicious. I found both on one of my most frequently visited blogs "Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour". I highly recommend both those and the couple recipes to follow! You can't go wrong with any of them this week!
Mexican Casserole Tostadas
2-3 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1-2 tsp cumin
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped (I omitted since I didn't have it on hand and those red ones are expensive! Preschool teacher budget rules the grocery list)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, drained
1 1/2 cups salsa
4 oz. cream cheese
2 tomatoes, chopped (I omitted...not a fan)
1/2 - 1 cup shredded cheese
Corn tortillas for tostadas
Oil for frying
1. Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and add to skillet with onion and cumin. Saute until chicken is cooked.
2. When chicken is cooked, add bell peppers and saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add salsa and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add cream cheese and stir until melted.
5. Add black beans and tomatoes, stir well, and transfer to 8x8 baking dish.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, top with cheese, and return to oven for an additional 5 minutes.
This dish is so delicious and versatile you can literally put it with anything (rice, tortilla, chips, etc.) I tried out making my own tostadas (uhh who knew it was so easy and why have I not been doing this my whole life??) Just heat some oil in the bottom of a skillet, pop those corn tortillas in, and turn when golden and crispy. Don't forget to poke some holes in them before frying and drain excess oil off on a paper towel. Scoop a big ol' helping of the casserole onto each tostada and enjoy!!
Chicken Enchilada Pasta (and so much more!)
This recipe is seriously the best bang for your buck. I made it as it was originally intended, as a pasta sauce, and ended up with about a gallon of leftover sauce. I ended up taking it to work one day as a tortilla soup (just added some black beans and topped with crushed chips) since it already has chicken in it. Then I used it another day as enchilada filling (added black beans, roll it up in a tortilla, oh yum). If you want something to stretch for all kinds of meals, this is the one for you!
2-3chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
2 Tbsp. oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced (I used green again)
1 4-oz. can green chiles
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 10-oz. green enchilada sauce
2/3 cup red enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheese
1 cup sour cream
Penne pasta
1. Cook chicken and shred. Boil pasta according to pasta and chop all veggies.
2. Heat oil in skillet and cook onions for 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and peppers and cook another 3-5 minutes.
3. Add cooked chicken, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, and enchilada sauces. Simmer for 8-10 minutes.
4. Add cheese and stir until melted. Add sour cream and cook on LOW until well mixed throughout.
5. Drain pasta, return to pot, and pour sauce over noodles.
Seriously, you have to try it!!! Mexican flavor with pasta....my two favorite things in the world!
We've been talking about fall the past couple weeks at the preschool....although these poor Texan children are seriously deprived of any fall colors outside. Since we've been exploring apples, pumpkins, gourds, and the like, on Friday we made homemade applesauce! So easy and made the room smell delicious!
Homemade Applesauce
8 red apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp. cinnamon
1. Peel, core and cut apples into bite-sized pieces. This is the most time-consuming part...everything else is a breeze!
2. Add apples, sugar, water, and cinnamon to crockpot. Cook on high for 2-3 hours.
3. When apples become soft, mash using a potato masher.
4. After the first few hours, reduce heat to low and cook for another 2-3 hours.
5. Mash periodically until you get your desired consistency. Add more sugar if desired.
I believe I ate more than all my kids did combined! Except my little cowboy who would just walk over and help himself to more...and was surprisingly good at wielding the giant ladle! Of course I had two picky ones that wouldn't even try it, despite how excited they were as they helped me prepare it, simply because it was a darker color than store bought applesauce. Seriously kids?? Its apples, sugar, and cinnamon...there is nothing in there that you don't like. I really had to fight the urge to ban them from leaving the table until they tried one bite like my mom used to do and I will do with my own kids. The argument "you don't know if you like it unless you try it" had no effect on these pickies. I used all sorts of method of persuasion to attempt to get them to try one teeny-tiny bite but once the whining and brink of tears came, I surrendered. Their loss means more for Mrs. Sawah!
So I just thought I'd share a really easy way to make a super fast and super yummy meal. Many of you probably know this trick already but I'm still going to share it with those who may have been like me for most of my life and had zero kitchen sense (what do you mean you have to turn on the burner to make a grilled cheese? Ohhhh I accidentally turned on the fan...whoops.) So a staple in our place is a jar of alfredo sauce. I know many have reservations about jarred alfredo but the Classico Four Cheese is actually pretty good. Normally I make my chicken, boil my pasta, toss it in with a nice helping of sauce (don't even bother heating it up), add some pepper, Italian seasoning and cheese and we're good to go. Well this time I thought I'd try to put a tiny bit of effort into it and oh my goodness what a difference it made...yet still took no time at all! First I sauteed some green onion and garlic in olive oil until I could start to smell the garlic and the onions were becoming transparent. Then I added the sauce to the pan and thinned it out with a splash of chicken stock. Let it simmer. To the linguine I added zucchini ribbons (saw this on Rachael Ray one time and was intrigued.) Peel your zucchini with a vegetable peeler and make long "ribbons". Pop those in with your pasta for the last 4 or so minutes of cook time. I normally just cut up zucchini or squash to add to the pasta but this looked so much prettier and was easy to twirl on your fork with the long pasta strands. Drain the pasta and zucchini, pour doctored sauce over everything, top with Italian seasoning (we like alot of it in our household) and lots of cheese. I swear, the garlic, onions, and chicken stock make all the difference in the world!! I'm never plopping the sauce in the pot and calling it good again.....well, I say that now....
Don't let the name fool you ...and don't think of old people creamed corn!! I got this recipe from Rachael Ray's website and for some reason was just drawn to it. We tried it out last night and oh my goodness....so tasty! The sauce was very light and buttery, leaving us full but not miserable like many cream sauces can do. So good and so easy to make...the only effort you put in is chopping up some veggies! I halved it and had just the right amount leftover to take to work tomorrow. This is the un-halved recipe:
6 ears of corn on the cob, husked (or 3 cups thawed frozen corn or canned corn)
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/4 pound pancetta or lean, center-cut bacon (I used Great Value bacon...surprise surprise)
1 Fresno chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped OR 1/2 small red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. thyme, finely chopped (I used dried)
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup shelled fava beans (or defrosted shelled edamame or lima beans...I used the latter)
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken stock
3 Tbsp. butter
1 pound egg tagliatelle or other wide-cut pasta
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (I had plans to use dried....just realized I completely forgot it ha!)
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese, for topping (Or if you are like me....GreatVal Italian blend shredded cheese for $2!)
1. Into large bowl, scrape corn off of cobs, as well as cobs themselves, catching juices. Or open up a can of sweet corn and keep a little bit of the juice.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and bring large pot of water to boil for the pasta.
3. Add olive oil to the hot skillet and add bacon. Cook to render the fat and crisp, 3-4 minutes.
4. Add corn and juices and cook for 3-4 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add the peppers, onions, and garlic; stir for 5 minutes.
6. Add fava beans/edamame/lima beans and deglaze pan with chicken stock or wine.
7. Stir in butter and reduce heat to low. (I might have added a little extra butter)
8. Salt boiling water and boil pasta according to package directions. Add 1 cup of starchy cooking water to corn mix (next time I'd add less than that. I ended up draining some excess liquid from the leftovers).
9. Drain pasta, toss with corn, top with parsley and cheese.
Taste and see :)
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