It has been a week. A week of rest and recovery. A week of catch-up and work. We finished our 6th week of school. Already! Time is flying.
I am officially resting my shoulder from my two falls-one on the bike and one while running. So, no biking or swimming for a while. Now is the perfect time to heal it. Triathlon season is over with. Training can be scaled back without repercussions. Instead of swimming and biking I entered an October challenge. Run or walk at least one mile per day. It doesn't sound like much-unless it is a torrentially rainy and cold, busy campout weekend. Saturday night found me pacing my house at 10:45 to get in a mile. The things I agree to do...
I played with my camera and my food and the light the other evening. My food photography class was helpful enough, but I think a lot of it is just going to be trial and error. And asking for a butcher block something or other for my birthday or Christmas to use as a neutral back ground. My good winter light is in my living room-on my buffet-with a bright white top. Not the best surface for food photos.
I finished a book this week. I have had 4 brand new releases on my bedside. I had to return one, but I was able to renew the other three. I got one finished (Lisette's List), and am hoping to finish the other two over my vacation-if not before. Those would be both Diana Galbadon's and Clive Cussler's newest offerings.
This weekend promises to be sunny though cool and fairly not busy. Mr. Hippie is preaching at church on Sunday morning and we will be heading to Art Prize one last time for this year. Other than that, I see lots of sleeping and reading and just hanging out in the forecast.
This recipe is easy, and it puts your slow cooker to work. First do a batch of black beans. You could even cook them on low overnight. And then cook the chicken the next day. Voila! Food cooked while you sleep...
This is a fairly healthy recipe. I swapped out the tortillas for Romaine lettuce leaves on for my Fit & Healthy plan. Feel free to use tortillas or lettuce as you will.
Slow Cooker Beans
1 pound dry beans
6 cups water
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
1-1/2 tsp salt
-Peel and halve the onion. Add to beans. Crush the garlic clove with the flat side of a knife blade and remove the peels. Add to the beans.
-Cook the beans on high for 6 hours or until tender. Add the salt and allow to cool. Can freeze in recipe size portions. (1-1/2 cups of beans equals 1 [15.5 oz] can of beans.
Chicken and Black Bean Burritos
2 pounds chicken breasts
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp water
1-1/4 tsp salt
1-1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 onions, sliced
2 green bell pepper, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
12 to 18 flour tortillas
12-18 large romaine lettuce leaves
2 tomatoes
2 green onions
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 (15 oz) cans black beans or 3 cups homemade black beans
1 tsp cumin
1 jalapeño pepper (opt)
3 Tbsp water
-Slice the onions and green peppers. Mince the garlic.
-Place chicken breasts on the bottom of a slow cooker. Add the butter, water, salt, cumin, onions, green pepper, and 3 garlic cloves on top of the chicken breasts. Cook on low for 8-9 hours or on high for 5 hours. When meat is cooked through use a knife and fork to shred it.
-In a medium skillet, combine beans, water, jalapeño pepper and 1 tsp of cumin. Mix well and heat until hot.
-Chop the green onions and tomatoes.
-To serve, layer tortillas with a lettuce leaf, chicken mixture, bean mixture, green onions, tomatoes and cilantro. Fold.
So, I forgot to serve mine with both the cilantro and the green onions. And I even had remembered to buy the green onions. Oh well...
Have a wonderful fall weekend!
