Two of my favorite things - a book review and an easy, delicious recipe. 😀 We'll start with the food. After all, who can enjoy a good book when hungry? Have to get our priorities right. 😉

Easy Crockpot Chicken & White Bean Chili/Soup

This recipe is so great. It's really just chop, open, toss into the pot and let the crockpot do it's thang. It's kind of in between a chili and a soup. The ingredients all remind me of chili, but the consistency comes out a little more like a very hearty soup. I am not the most talented cook in the world. So if I am able to complete a recipe and it turn out well, then you know it's a fail-proof winner. 😉

INGREDIENTS

• 1 package chicken breast, diced
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 medium zucchini, chopped
• 1 large can Cannellini beans
• 1 can Great Northern beans
• 1 can black eyed peas
• 1 can Rotel
• 1 can Diced Green Chilis (optional - if you want extra spice)
• 3c chicken broth
• 1T minced garlic
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Now the step by step...

1) Dice chicken breasts into around 1" pieces.

2) Chop the zucchini and onion into even peices.

3) Toss the chicken and veggies into the crockpot.

chicken, zucs, onion

4) Add all the beans, Rotel, chilies, and seasonings.

with the beans, rotel, and chilies

5) Pour in chicken broth and stir mixture to evenly distribute all ingredients.

broth joins the fun and we all mingle together

6) Pop on the lid and let cook for 8 hours on low.

7) Have a hefty bowl of the warm, slightly spicy, healthy concoction.

up close and personal

That's it!!! Super simple, yet very delicious. And very healthy too. I did use low sodium broth and for the beans you can rinse them to get off some of the extra salt or use a lower sodium brand as well. This is a very satisfying meal. Other benefit = it makes a TON, so you have plenty to freeze and have on hand for when in a pinch with dinner. Frozen packaged meal? No, thanks! I got my soup! 😀

Next stop on this post = my belated book review! I actually finished this book over the weekend, because I could not put it down. What book is it?? This one!

The Time Traveler's Wife

I know, I just got done reading a book from another popular movie (Dear John), but this one finally became available at the library and I had to read it. This was definitely one of the best books I have read in a long time. I loved how different it was. Now, I adore chick lit and light hearted reads, but I also really like books that have a deeper plot and more to mull over. The Time Traveler's Wife delivered on that very well.

The story is about a man who has a genetic disorder which leaves him being thrown into different times without warning. He time travels against his will, and usually to places in his own past. For example, much of the beginning of the book describes instances where he time traveled to his present day wife, but when she was a young girl and teenager. Later, after they finally met in the present, the plot shifts more to the difficulties of loving someone with this "genetic disorder" and all the troubles they encounter trying to build their life together. The narration goes back and forth between Henry, the time traveler, and Clare, his wife and love.

What I most enjoyed about this book is the fact that while it is a beautiful love story full of emotion and relatable characters, there is a LOT of intriguing things to consider in the bigger picture of our own life and worlds as we know them. Henry will often be sent into times he does not enjoy from his past, but with no ability to change them. He just has to watch what has happened, knowing what is coming, but with nothing he can do about it. Clare, from a young age has had visits from Henry and has grown up knowing that he would one day be her husband. She often times will make comments about Henry being her destiny and she has known nothing else but to love him.

All of this led me to ponder the ideas of predestination. How much of our lives are tied up in things that have already happened somewhere else that we have no clue about? Does fate play a role in our lives? Are there parts of our "destinies' that we don't really have control over? It was actually fun to read such a wonderful story, but have it bring so much more thought out of it. I highly recommend this novel. I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't speak for it. But this book is something special, that's for sure. 🙂

I'll end this now with some links to all of the giveaways going on around here....and one last request for votes for M. The poll is back up and it should be open until later tonight. This is the last time I'll ask, but please click here and vote for #24 😀

Lauren at Eat, Drink, and Be Hopeful is having a Chobani giveaway

Lara at Thinspired is having an Attune Bar giveaway

And check out my giveaway of Gnu Bars if you haven't already!

Well, first off I want to give a shout out to my girls Krys, Mandy, and Stacia!! These are three close girlfriends of mine from my old online home (a fitness site) and I am so happy that they have found their way to my blog. Don't worry - none of them are the watermelon dress friend 😉 And I honestly don't diss on her color choice and do think it can be pretty with her wedding plan...I just don't think it will be a friendly color to a watermelon belly. But, then again, NO bridesmaid dress is going to be! 😉

But moving on. Today I am actually going to post about FOOD! Now, you may notice that I do not post my meals every day and sometimes not even a single mention of a meal for a week. The reason why I don't do this is because feeling the need to document everything I eat with a photo is unnecessary and detrimental to me. Some people enjoy it, but I can get way too caught up in it too fast. I prefer to eat what I enjoy as long as it is all part of a healthy, balanced, moderate diet. I have spent way too much time analyzing everything I eat and allowing it to put me back into a bad relationship with food, so documenting it all is not good for me. I'm at a good place with my lifestyle and plan to stay that way. Plus, I prefer my blog to reflect the many aspects of who I am, not simply what I do in the kitchen. And I only get about 10 minutes to eat at any given time with a one year old at my feet, checking me out like this:

peekaboo!

I will, however, post reviews of things I tried and enjoyed and recipes I experiment with. Today I decided to go for a yummy sounding recipe that the awesome Danica posted on her blog last week. Kung Pao Chicken. It sounded and looked oh so good. And it uses the appliance for people who don't cook crock pot! Perfecto! Or however you would say that in Chinese. Anyhoo...it went like this...

Cut up 1 lb chicken breasts into chunks and place in slow cooker.

cubed chicken breast

Mix together hoisin sauce, soy sauce, cooking sherry, ketchup, ginger, red pepper flakes, hot sauce.

sauce

Pour over and coat chicken in slow cooker. Cook on low 6 hours. Gotta love being able to go shopping for a few new workout clothes, play, read a book, and go to the gym while dinner is cooking 😉 I hit up TJMaxx and picked up a few workout tops and two sets of capris, all for $60!

new gear

So, I got to look cute while doing the following workout:

• 10 min elliptical warmup = 1.14 miles
• walking lunge + db pullover
• wide stance bb squat + incline bb bench press
• upright bb row + bb bicep curl
• 20 min treadmill = 4.0 speed, 5.0-7.5 incline

Back to the recipe. About 45 mins before serving, chop up your choice veggies.

celery, onion, green pepper, yellow pepper, broccoli

Mix water and cornstarch. Throw in the water/cornstarch mixture and veggies for the final 30 minutes of cook time. Let simmer and get thick and yummy.

served up

The TASTE of this was really good....but I was even able to screw this one up. I cooked it too long and the chicken was too dry. So, if you keep an eye on your cooking times I know it would be awesome! You can find the full recipe HERE.

To make up for the lackluster meal, my sister and I have been getting in some quality goofy time.

me and the baby sis

We decided to sort through some boxes of old books my parents brought over to salvage any that might suit Makenzie. It was very nostalgic. Can you tell I was an 80's baby by my elementary school reading?

Rainbow Brite, Glow Worm, My Little Pony, Bernstein Bears, Dr Suess

And we found this old joke book for children. Holy cow!!! There must have been a lot less of filtering what kids say and protecting kids back in our time. Here are some of the jokes we found while reading and laughing hysterically...

Ouch, Why did you drop that hot towel on my face? -- What? Did you want me to burn my fingers?

What do you get if you cross a pig and a hobo?? -- A filthy beggar!

Your name should be Lawn? -- Why? -- Because I would like to mow you down!

Nice, huh? Quality stuff for us kiddos! Another good one was "You're just like scrambled eggs! -- Why? -- Because you get beaten often!" WOW! At least it provided some good laughs to think that we used to be entertained by this when we were under the age of 10. 🙂

Okay, time to watch The Biggest Loser! Have a great night!

• Anyone else still watching The Biggest Loser out there? I still enjoy the show, but I really wish that the producers would stop trying to get the oldest and biggest contestants. I much preferred when the contestants needed to improve their health and lose weight, but I could SEE the results throughout the show by visible increased fitness and health and better body composition through the show. I understand the larger contestants are in need of the help, but I don't think how strenuous the expectations of the show are is suitable to them. It's not as enjoyable to see contestants who aren't really able to do anything and at the end of the season still have such a long way to go. They either need to extend the length of time contestants are at the ranch, or not have it be the biggest people they can find.
• Do you blog ALL of your meals? Just some of your meals? Or very rarely focus on your meals like I do? If you do blog your meals most of the time, does it ever wear you out or cause any negative thoughts/feelings/stress on your approach to food or what you're eating? Do you ever feel guilty for eating something or not eating something?
• What's a childhood joke you remember? Or what things were you into as a child?