Today, the fall weather really kicked in and it was a curry-kind-of-a-day. This is another recipe from Hannah Freese, RD that we had tonight and it really hit the spot.
I've been enjoying the walks around the neighborhood that I take with my neighbor and I always end up taking many photos.
We always walk down this street and the sun was just starting to set the other day and it was gorgeous outside. It was funny, too, because we were just talking about how neither one of us have the urge to travel or even go anywhere during this pandemic and how lucky we are that we aren't restless like so many folks. Then she says, "Well, here's why! Just take a look...we have all this right before us. Seriously, why would you want to leave this?!" We had to stop and laugh at ourselves for the timing of our conversation. Of course, not everybody has gorgeous views like this and we both do feel fortunate to live where we do. But I think she and I are the kind of people who enjoy simple pleasures in life like taking walks in our neighborhood. (Granted, it does have gorgeous views.) Bruce always suggests that we should go "somewhere" on our walks. Since we've been walking around five to seven miles, Bruce says "why don't you go down to Alki Beach or somewhere nice?" But we just like walking around the neighborhood and talking. We talk so much, it would probably be hard for us to go somewhere that we had to actually think about where we were going. All the houses around here are now decorated for Halloween so it's very entertaining. After living here for five years, I know where all my favorite houses are with the best decorations.
We've decided that skeletons seem to be the theme this year, although there are way less houses decorated this year than years past because of covid. The Skeleton Theater is not preforming this year which is half a block away. People came from far and wide to see their free performance every Halloween so I'm not sure we're even going to get trick-or-treaters this year. I have candy in the freezer from last year left-over so I'm definitely NOT buying any Halloween candy. Besides, I'm still on Hannah Freese, RD's diet. My biggest accomplishment on her diet so far is that I've lost my craving for sugar and that is HUGE for me. The first three weeks of the diet, she has dark chocolate with a fresh orange for an evening snack or walnuts with dark chocolate. She's really nice to us the first three weeks which include snacks and overnight oats for breakfast. But on week 4 which is next week for me, I notice the snacks are gone and we're suppose to stop eating after 8:00pm. I've already lost my desire to snack or have chocolate so I think the diet is working. It's a 12-week plan to fix your broken metabolism. Once metabolism is corrected, you won't crave sugar, you'll feel satisfied after eating, you'll have lots of energy all day long, you'll be calm and relaxed, weight loss will be easy and you'll have very healthy labs. I checked my labs and my triglycerides are 139 and HDL 61. Hannah says that if your ratio of TG/HDL is greater than 1.65, you have a broken metabolism. My ratio is 2.27. 😩 That's why I can't lose weight and crave sugar! When the pandemic started in March and we had "Stay at Home" orders, I read Delay Don't Deny and decided to do it. I was determined not to gain weight with staying home everyday. Bruce immediately lost 15 pounds just eating from 10:00am to 6:00pm! I had an even shorter eating window and NOTHING! Bruce's TG/HDL ratio is 1.5, that's why. So, I'm determined to fix my broken metabolism. I love all of Hannah's recipes. She outlines every week with a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu seven days a week complete with recipes. So far, I love most of them. This curry dish was another really good one. Bruce loved it, too. He's home from Iowa again after going to his dad's funeral on October 8th and is now in quarantine again. He tested negative after his last Iowa visit but now we have to do it all over again. We spend lots of time out on our deck talking at a distance and watching our bird feeder and bird bath. There are a TON of birds this year, we love it! We both have binoculars so we can see them close-up even though the bird feeder is not that far away. Like I said, simple pleasures.
Make 4 servings
1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
1-1/2 cups water
1 Tbsp. olive oil (or coconut oil)
1 pound chicken thighs, boneless, skinless (optional, if you wish for non-vegetarian version which I did)
1/2 cup red onion (finely diced)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 Tbsp. fresh ginger (peeled and grated)
2 cups broccoli (chopped into small florets)
1 cup coleslaw mix
1 red bell pepper (de-seeded and sliced)
sea salt and black pepper to taste
1-1/2 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
2 cups organic coconut milk (canned)
1 cup organic vegetable broth if making vegetarian version
2 cups chickpeas (cooked, drained and rinsed)
1. Cook your quinoa by combining quinoa and water in a sauce pan. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer and cover. Let simmer for 12-15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Remove lid. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
2. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat and add oil. Add chicken thighs and cook on medium-low heat very slowly. Turn over after a few minutes and season with salt and pepper. Continue cooking until done.
3. Remove chicken from pan and place on a plate to cool. Add onion, garlic, ginger, broccoli, slaw mix and red pepper to the juices in the pan. (I also used some yellow bell pepper I had leftover.)
4. Saute for 5-10 minutes or until vegetables are slightly softened.
5. While the vegetables are cooking, cut up the cooled chicken thighs into bite size pieces. Stir in curry powder, red pepper flakes, coconut milk, chickpeas, and chicken. If you are making the vegetarian version, add vegetable broth.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
6. Serve over quinoa and garnish with cilantro and chopped peanuts, if you wish.
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