Jerk Chicken Soup

So, I have been making an effort this month to try one new recipe a week. Last week it was enchilada casserole from Cooking Light. This week, I modified a recipe I found on Weight Watchers dot com. I tweaked it enough that I will just claim it as my own.

1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
4 tsp olive oil, divided
1.25 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs - cut into bite sized pieces
2 cloves garlic
1/2 large onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 (14.5 oz) can fire roasted tomatoes with peppers, onion and garlic (I used HyVee brand)
1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups fat-free, low sodium chicken broth
1/2 lime, juiced
2-3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro


Mix the first 5 ingredients (dried spices) in a small bowl. Toss with the cut up chicken and set aside.
In a 4 quart soup pot, saute garlic, onion and bell peppers in 2 tsp olive oil until soft. Add in tomatoes, beans and chicken broth.
In a large non-stick skillet, cook chicken in 2 tsp olive oil until mostly done. Add to the soup. 
Cook for at least 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. 
Just before serving, squeeze in juice from 1/2 lime and stir in cilantro.


This is pretty spicy and I imagine my leftovers will be even more so. You can cut back on the amount of the spices to make it more mild, or some diced avocado or a little light sour cream might help tone it down, too. 


This makes 6 servings, about 1.5 cups each. By my calculations, it's 6 WW points per serving. 

So...we took some time off

Miner and I took a whole bunch of time off, actually. There are some fun new projects coming up on the house that we'll be able to report on soon. We've also started back up with our runs and walks, so I can report out on those, too. I kept a separate exercise and weight loss blog for a while, but I think I'd rather consolidate all that stuff here.

We just finished our run/walk for today. 1.54 miles in 22:38 minutes. Not too shabby. It was chilly and cloudy, but I'm feeling great. :-)

Garden Update

Here's the first good sized crop of tomatoes and zucchini from the garden. 

And here is a look at what the garden is like today. Compare that with the previous photo... Actually, I took this one last weekend. The storms that blew through on Friday afternoon kind of beat up the tomatoes, so they aren't quite as tall now. 

 

Cubs v Cardinals

I knocked two things of my "baseball bucket list" this week. I got to see a Cubs/Cards game at Wrigley (I saw one at the old Busch Stadium a while back) and I went to a weekday day game at Wrigley. It was super fun. We lucked out and it was sunny for the game and didn't rain until later in the evening. Even better, the tickets were free and our seats were in the shade.

It was a long, hot day, but was a lot of fun. The game went pretty quick. We didn't get there until the middle of the 2nd inning. It was a great game and the Cubs beat the Cards 5 to 0. Not bad, considering the Cards are currently in 1st place in the NL Central. 

Yesterday, I walked the Bix with my friend Tim. His wife (also my friend) Jada ran it. It was pouring down rain. I'm talking cats and dogs. For those that don't know, the Bix is a 7 mile race with some pretty big hills. The start of the race is straight up Brady Street which is a 1/2 mile hill that's steep enough I always have to downshift in the bug to climb it. Tim and I made pretty good time. We finished at 1 hour, 49 minutes. This included a stop for Tim to tie his shoe, to contemplate going down the slip n slide someone had set up in their yard at the turn around, to get a couple Twinkies from the Hostess truck, for Tim to grab a Miller High Life off the water table, me to slap the hands of all the little kids along the road and just in general having fun. Tim and I did not go down the slip n slide. Jada did. Tim and I are still kicking ourselves for not doing the slip n slide. 

All that aside, it was super fun. I think Jada and I have started a tradition now of having a bloody mary after a race. We did it after the Bridge Run in March and we did it again yesterday. Here's a photo of us at Mac's Tavern in Davenport. You can't see it, but we are still soaking wet. We are all fired up for the Bridge Run next year. 

Old Man Chase

I know I have written about The Yellow Bandit before, but I am not certain if I have ever mentioned Old Man Chase. Chase is the yellow lab across the street. When I first moved in, I thought his name was Jake for some reason. Chase lived to the nice old are of 14. He was a beautiful almost white yellow lab who had the most distinct bark. I'm sad for my neighbors. What a crummy way to start a weekend. :(

Miner says, "You're a slacker!! Post something, damnit!"

I need to get out and take some pictures of my garden today. There's tons of stuff growing. It's just too hot out right now. And it's not even that hot! Maybe this evening. 

I took Miner swimming out at West Lake Park. He was already pretty stinky and in need of a bath, so who cares that he smells like lake now. He is currently napping. I might decide to join him. 

My first ever guest post on a blog!

Check out The Mighty Rib...Kevin asked me to do a short review of a place I went while in St. Louis last weekend.