Meatless Monday ended up being Meatless Saturday, which was a blazing 90+ degrees with high humidity and ozone warnings. We had Chef Salads, and although our meal was meatless, I did include half a hard-boiled egg in each salad and a few cubes of cheddar cheese for protein. I had made Chunky Vegetable Chowder on Friday to have with our Friday Hammy Sammys, so we had the leftover chowder with our salad. Here’s the recipe. It makes a lovely summery, veggie soup.

Chunky Vegetable Chowder from Betty Crocker 30 Minute Meals for Diabetes

6 large servings 3 carbohydrate choices

Ingredients:

1. 1 tablespoon butter
2. 1 medium green bell pepper, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
3. 1 medium red bell pepper, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
4. 8 medium green onions, sliced (½ cup)
5. 3 cups water
6. ¾ pound small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (2 ½ cups)
7. 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme OR 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
8. ½ teaspoon salt
9. 1 cup fat-free half-and-half
10. 1/8 teaspoon of pepper
11. 2 cans (14.75 oz each) cream-style corn

Directions:

• In 4-quart Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add bell peppers and onions; cook 3 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Stir in water, potatoes, thyme and salt. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer about 10 minutes or until potatoes and tender.
• Stir in remaining ingredients; cook about 1 minute or until hot (Do not boil, or it will curdle).

Seriously, get this cookbook, Betty Crocker 30 Minute Meals for Diabetes.  It is fabulous!!

In an effort to educate our palates and try some new things to keep some spice in our marriage 😉 Mike and I made a curry together for the first time ever. Yes, we cooked it together. I found a relatively easy recipe at verucaspice.com. Here’s the recipe…and, oh yeah, it was delicious!

Indian Chicken Curry by Nirali Patel at verucaspice.com

4 Servings

Ingredients:

1. 1 pound chicken breasts, cubed to bite size
2. 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3. 1-8 oz can tomato puree
4. ½ a red onion, fine chopped (1 cup)
5. 1 heaping teaspoon fresh grated ginger
6. 1 heaping teaspoon finely chopped garlic
7. 1 Serrano chili, finely chopped (optional)
8. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
9. 1 teaspoon ground coriander
10. 1 teaspoon ground garam masala
11. ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
12. ½ teaspoon red chili powder to taste
13. Juice of ½ a lime
14. Salt and pepper to taste
15. A little over 1 cup of water

Directions:

• Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and fry until they are golden for 6-7 minutes.
• Add ginger and garlic and fry for 30 seconds, reducing heat to medium.
• Add tomato puree and continue to cook for 6-7 minutes until a lot of the water has evaporated and oil starts to seep through the mixture.
• Add spices (except garam masala). Fry spices in mixture for about 5 minutes.
• Add cubed chicken and stir, coating all pieces.
• Add the water and stir well. (Stir in the Serrano pepper here, if you choose to use it.)
• Cook, partially covered for 10 minutes until chicken is cooked through. You can uncover and let moisture cook out if you wish.
• When at desired consistency, add garam masal, lime juice, salt and pepper.
• Enjoy!

I know it looks complicated, but it really wasn’t. And it was so tasty, and not at all spicy hot. I don’t think I’ve ever had the spices turmeric or garam masala in my kitchen before.  Turneric is so pretty…and tasty.  We didn’t use the optional Serrano pepper, but we will try it next time. Mike likes spicy hot foods, and I’m willing to try it once anyway.

As for progress on the rest of my quest: Joan and I have now been to the Rec Center to walk for 4 days.

• Day one-I walked 4 times around the track…thought I was gonna die!
• Day two-I walked 5 times around the track…pretty sure I did die for a minute there. 🙂
• Day three-I walked 4 times around the track and quit because it was 90+ degrees and humid out, and I was going grocery shopping from the Rec center. I was fairly OK after the Rec Center, and circling around a stroke after grocery shopping.  I will not push that hard on such a hot and humid day again!
• Day four-I walked 7 times around the track. After six laps I felt really good so I thought, “What the heck; I’ll do one more lap.” Then after my seventh lap, my feet, knees and back were VERY unhappy.

Tomorrow will be Day 5 at the Rec Center. I plan to be in the moment (not just thinking about getting it over with), and I will listen to my body, stopping at the first sign of actual distress.  And hey, 13 laps is a mile, so I made it over a half mile yesterday. Woop!!

Thanks for reading, dear friends! God bless your day

Donna