Our neighbor is a huge NIU football fan.  Both he and his wife went there, his daughter goes there now.  The only problem is that some games are on some weird sports channels, and as Tony is a lover of all sports (except basketball and hockey – those are two sports we never watch.)

As luck would have it, we did get the channel and the game was set for 11:00 on Saturday morning.  He brought over bagels – he told me he was going to bring them over so I held out with just coffee until he got here.

weekend9.15 003

Just a plain bagel with light cream cheese.  I love the little blisters from the toaster oven.  Carb heaven. Open-mouthed smile

I thought that the guys would have a lunch appetite by the third or fourth quarter, but they ended up being just fine.  No worries, that just means more chili for me this week!

So far every Suzie recipe I’ve tried has been amazeballs.  I am making her lasagna soup for the third time this week for heavens sake!  Go click on the link to that soup – make it this week, you’ll thank me later.  Okay, you’re back?  Let’s talk about her chili.  Her “award winning” chili.   I did make a few teeny tiny adjustments below, but you can see her whole recipe and directions here.

Chili

1 1/2 lb. ground sirloin
10 oz. chorizo (winning)
1 T. red wine vinegar
1 t. cumin
1 T. worchestershire sauce
1/2 t. oregano
1 T. paprika
2 T. ground black pepper
1 T. kosher salt
1 T. hot sauce (left out because Tony can’t stand the hot stuff!)
1/4 c. chili powder
1 T. dried minced onion (no fucking way)
1 T. minced garlic
few shakes of sage
4 pieces of bacon
few shakes of dried cilantro
1/2 can of Bush’s medium chili beans (I used the whole can)
1 T. syrup or agave nectar (I left this out too)
1 (15 oz.) can of tomato sauce
4 c. beef broth (I reduced to 3 cups)
dash of red pepper flakes

I also added one can of drained black beans and one can of canelli beans.  Before I added the two additional cans of beans the chili was really soupy – but after I cooked it down for 2 hours on Friday night, and another 2 hours on low Saturday morning, it turned out amazing.  Even Tony loved it!!  It had just enough heat level for him with the chili powder.   I, of course, added some Tabasco to my bowl. Open-mouthed smile  Thanks again for another great recipe Suzie!

weekend9.15 014

When I was cleaning out my refrigerator and freezer this weekend, I realized I never did anything with the broccoli rabe I bought last week.  It’s also known as rapini, which is why I’ve had trouble finding it – didn’t know it was the same thing!

The reason I bought it was because on a Food Network show (can’t remember which one), they went to an open market in Philadelphia and one of the vendors sold a roasted pork and broccoli rabe sandwich with provolone cheese.  It sounded amazing.

I ended up blanching it in batches – only needs to cook for about 2-3 minutes, then put it in an ice bath to stop the cooking – you still want the bright green color.  I ended up using half of the big bunch in my SIL’s lunches this week – I sauteed some with some cooked brown rice, and sauteed another serving in a little bit of olive oil and crushed red pepper.

I decided to make a pesto with the rest.  Seriously I shunned pesto for YEARS because of the color.  I just turned my nose up to it and thought I’d never even like it so why try.  So many wasted years!

Broccoli Rabe Pesto

  • makes 12 rounded tablespoons – each heaping tablespoon is 78 calories, 7 fat, 1.6 carbs, .8 fiber and 2.1 protein

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces blanched broccoli rabe
  • 20 basil leaves
  • 6 tablespoons grated parmesan
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Put everything but the olive oil, salt and pepper in a food processor.  Pulse a few times, then turn the processor on and drizzle in the olive oil, you may have to scrape down the sides a couple of times.  Season with salt and pepper.

weekend9.15 019

I ended up trimming the bottom one inch of the broccoli rabe – not sure if you can eat that part?   Then added everything else – fresh basil smells amazeballs.  And please ignore all the shit on my counter – that’s how I rollz.

weekend9.15 022

weekend9.15 028

Look at how bright and fresh that looks!

weekend9.15 025

I decided to toss some of the pesto in my pasta.  I cooked up 4 ounces of fettucine for Tony and me.  In a small skillet, I cut up about 3 ounces of leftover steak from Friday night, just enough to warm it up and get a sear on it.

Then tossed the pasta and the steak with 2 tablespoons of the pesto.

weekend9.15 003

This was so good – slightly bitter from the broccoli rabe, but a great balance with the garlic and Parmesan cheese.  Mom, I think you would like this!

And because I was a football widow yesterday, I accomplished something that I’ve been trying to do for months . . . get rid of some kitchen cabinets that have been in my basement for . . . five years!  Quick story – our neighbors redid their kitchen – they took down some Merillat cabinets and wanted to know if we wanted them – our kitchen is old.  Really old.  So we took them, proceeded to put them in our basement and there they have remained for five years.

You see, it’s the quintessential domino effect – if we would have put these cabinets in our kitchen, then we’d need new counters, floors, appliances, etc.  So I put them on www.freecycle.org – and after a couple months of no-shows, a couple picked them up today!  So while I had no “technical” workout yesterday, you better believe I was busy moving the cabinets to our back basement door – and then I had to help the couple because it was obvious the woman was the director and her husband was the muscles.  Now I have a basement floor!  Not sure what we are going to do with it, but its nice to have that space opened up again.

So I got 75% of what I wanted accomplished this weekend – I’ll take it.  My computer and back room are next on the list – that might be tackled tonight since its Monday night football. Open-mouthed smile  And another NSV?  I did all the laundry, folded it, and put it away!  I am the queen of having piles of clean clothes in the basement.  Hannah, you’d be proud!

I am off for a 30 minute walk before work –  I want this to be my new goal this week, and now that work won’t be so busy, my lunch time workouts are back.  I am about 95% back to normal from my bronchitis – so happy about that!

I did walk/jog for 55 minutes on Saturday – I posted this on facebook – this is my new mantra!  Um, it might take a while! Open-mouthed smile

run til I don't jiggle

Weekly WI time – last week I was 172.8:

My hope is that with more workouts this week, that loss will be bigger next week. 😀

Check out these amazeball eats!

Anyone make anything new this weekend?  Make it a great day!