This week was kind of boring...

I had some great idea for a post the other day but it slipped my mind and I have not been able to think of it since then. Other than that, my week was rather routine. I managed to stay up for Conan's monologue for both of the last two nights, which is a pretty big deal considering all the gym time I put in this week and the fact that I go to bed at old people time (10:00 p.m. usually). I think I sit more in the Leno camp because it's all I can really remember from being a kid. I only think I stayed up for Johnny Carson maybe one time. Didn't he have a ton of curtains behind him or was I hallucinating? I do feel bad for Conan though and I hope he gets another opportunity because I think he is funny in a kind of different (college stoner) kind of way and has a niche market of people (college stoners).

Yoga is going so well. I could kick myself for not going sooner. It's one of the best things I think I've ever done for myself. I usually try to do another class or a little bit of cardio so last night I rode the bike for a few minutes and had a weird encounter with my evil nemesis trainer, Mondale, who was on the elliptical. Out of all the classes I do, he's the only instructor that doesn't actually do the work out with us (and his is SO INSANELY HARD that I will never be able to complete it) so it was kind of outer worldly to see him on the pansy elliptical machine.

I made a really easy WW recipe this week (well, it was a WW recipe before I gutted it to suit my tastes) but it came out well.

Green Chili Stew (modified from Hit the Spot, WW Cookbook), ~6 points per 1 1/2 cup serving
3 large red potatoes, quartered
3 chicken breasts
2 cans (4.5 oz) diced green chiles
1 package of reduced-sodium vegetable broth (I used one of the cardboard packs from Whole Foods, it was about 3 cups, if doing cans, I'd get two of them)
1/4 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
salt and black pepper to taste

Cook the chicken breasts and shred meat. I opted to bake for about 20 min at 350 degrees. I put just a touch of olive oil on each breast so they wouldn't stick to my cookie sheet and sprinkled them with Adobo seasoning. You could also marinate them for a few hours.

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, saute onion and garlic in the olive oil until onion is softened (about 5 minutes). Add the shredded chicken saute for another minute or so.

Add the broth, potatoes and chiles to the pot and increase heat to high. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Stir in the cilantro and add salt and pepper.



I made this on Monday night but saved it to eat on Tuesday. It kept really well in the fridge and was great warmed up. I made three huge pots of stew (2 kinds of chili and this one) and we still have plenty of leftovers and it's so easy to come home from the gym and throw some of this in a saucepan and let it heat up. I have been eating all three soups with a little bit of Garden of Eatin' Baked Blue Corn Chips (still the only baked chips I've found that are tolerable and these are pretty good) and a little bit of fresh grated sharp cheddar. It made meals so easy this week and really delicious.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, I could take one of the leftovers but it wouldn't do it justice to show you cold. Trust me, it's yummy and doesn't require a plethora of crazy ingredients. Despite the two cans of green chiles, it's not killer spicy.

Bon appetite!

Beer Bread... Num Num Num

I don't think I'm planning on becoming a food blogger or anything but I just had to share this recipe (and my crappy low-res pics) because it's insanely easy and REALLY yummy.

I first tried it last week and made it according to the original recipe but tonight was Round 2 and I changed it up a little bit.



Here's my beer bread almost at the end of the hour of baking. As you can see, I don't have a bread pan so I put it in this freaky pan we got at IKEA that I thought was going to be a funky bundt pan but it's actually too small for an entire cake mix but the perfect size for beer bread.

Fresh out of the oven. As you can see, tonight I added some sharp cheddar cheese and a little bit of garlic salt. I was also making a potato/corn chowder and I felt like something a little more savory. The original beer bread has more of a sweeter taste.

Here's the aforementioned freaky pan from IKEA. It's incredibly disappointing because it doesn't make the bottom of the bread (or cake) have the cool shape you think it will have. Oh well, it makes an excellent octagonal beer bread.

This is how it looks from the side. DEEEEEEEELISH.

I wish you could see the steam that was rising. I threw some Brummel and Brown on that piece and chowed down.

Here's the recipe courtesy of Gerald Norman, via Recipezaar:

3 cups flour (sifted)

3 teaspoons baking powder (omit if using Self-rising flour)

1 teaspoon salt (omit if using Self-rising flour)

1/4 cup sugar

1 can/bottle (12 oz) beer

1/4 cup melted butter (you can even go with less than that... Gerald's original recipe calls for 1/2 cup which would be totally excessive)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Sift flour into medium sized bowl. If you don't have a sifter (like me!), carefully spoon the flour into your measuring cup. Make sure not to pack.

Mix dry ingredients and beer.

Pour into greased loaf (or freaky IKEA) pan.

Pour melted butter over mixture.

Bake for 1 hour.

Remove from pan, cool for 15 minutes, slice and serve!

That's it!!

Tonight, I added garlic salt to the dry ingredients (with only a pinch of sugar) and stirred a little sharp cheddar into the wet mixture. I grated a little extra cheese on top before pouring melted garlic butter on the top. I loved the original version for it's sweeter taste but my version tonight almost tasted like Red Lobster's Cheesy Garlic Biscuits.

I can't get over how easy it is, it literally took me 5 minutes to prepare. Plus, using beer in place of yeast makes it kind of idiot-proof. Both times I used Carlsberg beer but next time I may go full sugar and use a Sam Adams Cherry Wheat along with some whole wheat flour. It sure beats paying almost $5 a loaf for an artisan bread at the grocery store! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!