Food Wednesday: Beans and Rice with Chicken

This recipe comes from the Dominican Republic, where my husband served as a missionary for our church for two years.  He learned to love the humble, and tasty food there!  I have yet to visit there, but myself, along with our kids have also grown to love the Caribbean cuisine!

Ingredients
1TBS  olive oil
1/2 - 1 red onion cubed (my girls aren't huge fans of the onions, so I use 1/2... unless I make more portions of course)
1-2      cloves garlic
1 tsp    cilantro
1 tsp    thyme
2          cups water
2          chicken boulian cubes (makes 2 cups chicken broth)
2          cans red kidney beans, strained-keep the bean water (2 cups dried beans = 1 1/2 can)
1 TBS  tomato paste, or 2 TBS tomato sauce

Put a pot on the stove to heat at medium high heat.  Once hot, add olive oil and let heat.  Once oil is hot, add onions and garlic to saute.  Stir frequently, and after about 1 minute, add cilantro and thyme.  Continue to saute.  Once the onions begin to sweat and become clear, add the water to the mixture.  Bring to boil, then add the boulian cubes.  Let boil until dissolved.  Then add the canned, or soft/stewed strained beans.  Stir and let simmer.  Once the water has boiled down, after 5-10 minutes add the bean water.  Let stew for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Finally add the tomato paste or sauce, and let simmer on low/medium heat. 

This recipe is super easy and very inexpensive to make.  If you are working with dried beans (even more cost effective) be sure to soak the beans all night in water, then you have to let them stew all day until you are ready to make this recipe.

Serve over a bed of steamed rice.  We usually have chicken with it as well, but be careful not to have too much of the beans and chicken, as they are both proteins.  Serve steamed asperragus on the side, and you have a full, filling and healthy meal!



Let's face it, I cook a lot of meat on a frying pan on my stove.  It is just easy for me, and it always turns out delicious, juicy, and wonderfully every time!  So here is my very simple way to cook the chicken to go with the beans and rice.

Pan Fried Chicken

Ingredients
2-3  boneless chicken breasts
1 TBS olive oil
seasonings

I cut the chicken breasts in half, length-wise, and then I slice them down the middle to make thinner pieces of chicken.  This helps the chicken to cook quicker.  I usually start the chicken after I have added all of the ingredients for the beans, except the tomato paste.  Season the chicken well.  Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash, thyme, cilantro, and/or other seasonings that you prefer.  Heat up the skillet or fry pan to medium high.  Once hot, add oil, let heat.  Once oil is hot, put chicken in pan, and let cook.  Turn the chicken once.  I like to wait until the first side is nice and browned before I flip it.  After the chicken is done, let it rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Delicious eating, and Happy losing!

Evelyn

Beautiful Heartbreak - Hilary Weeks - Every Step

Hey everyone! I have been so busy with my other blog. It has been a wonderful thing for me. I have been learning so much about myself, and I have been learning how to over come my trials. I have lost 13 pounds in the five weeks that I have been working to change my lifestyle.

I just want you all to know how much I love you! I have wonderful family, and I have wonderful friends. I will be forever grateful!

This song is just what I needed to hear today, and the video was just as great. If we all held signs telling what we are going through, everyone else would be so much more compassionate to one another. So just remember, when someone is rude or impatient or mean, we don't see the whole side of the story.

I hope you have a wonderful day, and that any of the blessings that you need come your way!

Evelyn

Liebster Blog Award

On Sunday, Debbie at Africa's Blog awarded me the Liebster Blog Award.  What is that you ask?  Well I asked the same thing!  Read on to find out more!




'Liebster' is the German word for friend or love!
The Liebster Blog Award spotlights the up and coming blogs that have less than 200 followers. So what’s the catch for this award?

By accepting this award what we need to do is:

1. Copy and paste the award on our blog.

2. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to us.

3. Reveal our top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

4. Hope that our followers will spread the love to other bloggers.

Here are my top 5 pics!


1.  Kendra's Bucket List

      
A little spiritual, a little satire, a little crafty, and a whole lot of family!





2.  Moments of a Libra

Wonderful art.  As an artist, I love art blogs!  This one is unique!




3.  Jolinda

Fantastic photos, fun and interesting posts!





4.  The Striped Notebook

New products, and updates to her fiction blogs!  Excellent stories!








5.  Start Laughing-Wherever You Are!

Humorous pictures every day!






There are a lot of blogs that I love to read, but these five are among my very favorite!  So check them out and congratulate them!

I am so excited to be recognized as an up and coming blog!!  I certainly hope its up and coming!  Thanks again, Debbie at Africa's Blog!

Evelyn Curtis!

Fitness Tuesday: Low Impact vs High Impact Exercises

Since I came to the disappointing realization that my knee will not be able to handle long distance running, I had to regroup and change up my exercise program.  The goal of running 1 mile by December is not very realistic.  I am a huge advocate in not telling yourself that you can't, but I might end up injuring myself if I keep pushing myself to run right now.  The last thing that I need is to set myself back physically, when I finally have a handle on my weight and am changing my lifestyle.  A major injury could put all physical activity on hold...

So instead of making excuses about why I can't 'exercise,' I am going to have to change things up to accommodate my current handicap.

photo via

I know that I am not alone here.  Bad knees are common... not to mention being over-weight... that sure doesn't help!  The goal is to begin some exercises that are easy on the knees/joints and still burn the calories your body needs to lose weight.  So maybe I can give you suggestions that you can do, and if you have any suggestions, then please email me!  I'll even post them on the next Fitness Tuesday.

High Impact Exercise 

Consist of exercises that cause both feet to leave the ground at the same time, or cause a higher amount of strain on the joints.  Some of these include, running, jumping, some aerobic classes, and some dance classes.  According to the article Low Impact vs High Impact Exercises: Which is Right for You?, the way you determine if high impact exercise is good for you is by assessing your physical status.  Do you have a strong "baseline" of fitness?  Meaning, are you at low risk of having joint problems?  Then high impact just might be the best thing for you.  The benefits of high impact exercises is that they burn more calories than low impact exercises.

Low Impact Exercise
Consist of exercises where at least one foot is in contact with the ground at all times.  They will not be as hard on the joints.  A few examples of these are walking, some aerobics, some aerobic dance classes, hiking, elliptical, and rollerblading.  I suppose the way to tell if these exercises are the best choice for you is to determine first if High impact exercises are too much for you.  If so, then move down to the next level of low impact, and go from there.

No Impact Exercise
Consist of exercises that support the body.  Examples are, cycling, swimming, water aerobics.  After any surgery for your hips and knees, you are most likely going to be instructed to swim and cycle to strengthen your muscles again.  Spinning classes are a great way to get a major calorie burn without feeling the pain like from running.  Swimming is the same way.  If you get in a pool to swim laps, it will definitely get your heart rate up.  How do you know if no impact exercise is right for you?  Do you have pain and joint problems even when doing low impact exercises?

For me, walking and hiking cause my knee to swell.  I don't necessarily have pain with these two forms of exercise, but if I do too much, then I do experience swelling pain.  High impact exercises clearly are not easy on my knee.  I found that out the hard way after three weeks of running, my knee finally said, "No more!"  The best exercise for me is going to be low to no impact.

I have to say, this realization really disappoints.  For all of my life, I have been a high impact kind of exerciser.  I love running, I love jumping, and playing sports.  It is a large pill to swallow that I should not be doing those things right now.  It is frustrating, because I just want to be where I used to be.  I guess that is the consequence of not listening to my body.

The thing that helps me stay positive is that I don't believe that I will always be a low-no impact exerciser.  I just need to build up the strength in my knee.  I refuse to accept that I cannot do the fun high impact exercises anymore... I am just going to have to practice my patience while I lose weight and get into better shape!

Where do you fit in among these three types of exercise?

Happy losing!

Evelyn Curtis