Bring on the challenge!

Winter has not been kind. It's been two dark months of snow storms, frigid temperatures, gray skies, and lots and lots of carbs. It's been night after night of sitting in front of Netflix or Hulu Plus with huge bowls of macaroni and cheese, cupcakes, or gooey pizza with extra sauce. Ahhh! just thinking about it makes me want to run out and pick up a large pie...dammit!

Winter will soon come to an end and along with broken shovels, pot holes the size of craters, and mix matched mittens it will also leave behind my expanding waist line. Spring is around the corner. At least according to CVS and Duane Reade, with all the St. Patrick's Day decor and Easter eggs. These are all clear signs that warmer days are approaching. Time to put down the fork and lace up the sneakers.

With this in mind, I decided to join the Biggest Loser Challenge here at the UN - 21 participants and 2 months of fierce, but clean competition. Our goal is to motivate and help each other reach our goals to improve our eating habits and shed a few pounds...and of course win the GRAND PRIZE.

So, let the games begin and good luck to everyone!

Minimalist

Simple foods - the ones that only require one, two, three ingredients. One of my favorites is linguine with marinara sauce. Pure comfort. Satisfying. Just add a piece of bread and a glass of wine...and there you go.

Slow-Cooked Pulled Barbecue Chicken

The recipe is for a 1 1/2 to 3 quart cooker, however I doubled it and used my 7 quart cooker. Leftovers are excellent on nachos!

1 small white or yellow onion, chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbs. cider vinegar
2 tbs. light brown sugar
1 tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 to 4 soft hamburger buns

1. Sprinkle the onion and garlic over the bottom of the crock and arrange the chicken thighs on top.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, cider vinegar,
brown sugar, oil, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, and salt; pour over the thighs. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, or until the chicken is fork tender.

3. Remove the chicken from the slow-cooker. With two forks, pull apart for the meat into shredded chunks; return to the slow-cooker and stir to combine. Cover and leave on the KEEP WARM setting until ready to serve. Served spooned on to warmed hamburger buns.

Recipe courtesy of Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two.

Who wants pancakes?

It's 2:13 am and I'm sitting in bed debating whether or not I should get up and make pancakes. Mmmm, fluffy homemade pancakes with maple syrup all for myself since Dave is away for the weekend. This is serious. I'm never hungry at this hour! Never mind the oatmeal that's in the slow cooker and will be ready at 7:00 am...pft! Healthy breakfast? Who wants that on a Sunday morning? Bring on the pancakes with butter, in my case soy-free Earth Balance, maple syrup and maybe some scrambled eggs on the side...ah! and let's not forget the coffee-Puerto Rican drip-gracias. Hmmmm...

New Look

Thrilled by all the new designs. I hate when there are too many selections. I want to try them all.

Project over here, project over there...

You know that dreadful feeling when you have to do something you really don't want to? Well, I feel that way right now. There are so many projects around the house it's hard to decide which to tackle first. Actually, I have to clean out my closet. There's no more room. Even Dave has stated an opinion, so it's serious. Ugh! Next? The master bedroom is getting a face lift from top to bottom and I would like to have this completed by Sept. 1st. Once this is done we can focus on the basement and maybe the kitchen/back porch sometime next year.

Jalapeño Cornbread

Great with chili! Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Arrowhead Mills.

1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup of organic unbleached white flour
1 cup organic yellow cornmeal (Arrowhead Mills)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs or 1/2 cup of liquid egg substitute
1 cup of soy milk or milk substitute*
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tbsp. honey**
1 1/4 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated***
2-4 jalapeño peppers, chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare an 8" square pan using oil or cooking spray. Saute the onions in the vegetable oil until just limp, about 5 minutes. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl blending well. Separately beat together the eggs, milk, honey and oil. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients beating until just moistened. Stir in the onions, 1 cup of cheese and the jalapeños. Pour into prepared pan ad top with remaining cheese. Bake 20-25 minutes or until crusty brown.

* Oat milk is a good substitute
** For a sweeter cornbread, increase to 4 tbsp.
*** Cheese can be omitted for those who suffer from milk allergies (as in my case).