Tasty Tuesday: Chicken and Pasta in a Lemony White Wine Feta Garlic Cream Sauce

I always feel kind of silly posting recipes with ridiculously long names like this one. I mean, yes, I probably could have shortened it, but I wanted to showcase all of the main ingredients ... So ridiculously long name it is.

If you've been reading my blog for a while (or even if you've just looked through some of my previous Tasty Tuesday posts), you probably know that pasta is one of my favorite things to make and eat. Add a creamy sauce and it's pretty much guaranteed that it will be one of my absolute favorite meals.

When I came up with this recipe, I was craving pasta with a rich garlic cream sauce. And, while a simple garlic cream sauce is delicious, I really wanted to make something a little different. I've been on a feta kick lately, so we happened to have some in our fridge. We also always keep some white wine for cooking on hand, so, in an effort to use items we already had in our kitchen (well, mostly ... I had to buy a lemon), this recipe was born.

This is the kind of decadent pasta dish that I can't allow myself to make all the time. (Not if I would like to avoid gaining 50+ pounds!) But I think it's important to splurge sometimes, and this is the kind of dinner I want when I'm going to splurge.

One thing to note before I share the recipe: the recipe as written makes a lot. I usually make extra when I cook because I rely on leftovers for dinner on our busiest nights. I will say, though, that this meal wasn't quite as good heated up. It wasn't bad or anything, but it definitely tastes best on the day it's made.

Chicken and Pasta in a Lemony White Wine Feta Garlic Cream Sauce

A Divulge and Indulge original recipe.

Ingredient List:

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 3 fairly large breasts.)
• 1 box short pasta (I used Garofalo organic gemelli from Costco.)
• 3 tbsp butter, divided (I used unsalted butter.)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 cloves garlic (or, if you're lazy like me, the equivalent of jarred, pre-minced garlic)
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash Italian Medley
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

1.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

2.  Melt 2 tbsp butter over medium heat in a large skillet. 

3.  Combine the Mrs. Dash Italian Medley, sea salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture over the chicken breasts.

4.  Once the butter has melted, add the chicken to the skillet, cooking until lightly browned on all sides and no pink remains. After the chicken is fully cooked, remove it to a plate and cut it into smaller chunks or strips if desired. (As you can see from the picture, I cut mine into chunks. I like cutting my meat into smaller pieces in meals like this because I like to have both chicken and pasta in almost every bite.)

5.  Melt the remaining 1 tbsp butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.

6.  Add the olive oil and garlic to the melted butter, cooking until the garlic is fragrant (about 30 seconds to 1 minute).

7.  Whisk in the flour to create a roux. You'll want to whisk the mixture constantly for about 1 1/2 minutes to avoid lumps.

8.  Gradually whisk in the heavy cream until no lumps remain.

9.  Reduce the heat to medium low. Whisk in the white wine and juice from the lemon, and continue whisking the sauce until it thickens and bubbles. (This should take about 5-8 minutes.)

10.  Remove the sauce from the heat. Stir in the crumbled feta cheese until it has mostly melted. Add additional seasoning to taste if desired. (I just added a little black pepper.)

11.  Add the chicken back into the large skillet, then add the drained pasta. Pour the sauce over the pasta and meat, then toss several times to coat evenly.

I loved that I could taste each of the main flavors in the sauce. Sometimes I'll make something and it will mostly taste of one or two of the main ingredients, but this sauce definitely allowed all of the flavors to come through. And if you're not a fan of feta or white wine or lemon, you can easily switch up the ingredients to make it your own.

Recently Read: In-Depth Reviews - March 2016 Edition

As you've probably noticed by now, I've been sharing more in-depth reviews of the books I discuss in my Show Us Your Books! posts the Sunday following the link-up. (If you haven't read my shorter reviews of these books and would prefer to do that, you can find them here.)

I know not everyone loves reading lengthy reviews. I also know I can be long winded when it comes to talking about things I really enjoy (like books and music, for example). That's why I save these posts for the weekend.

If this isn't your thing, skip it and come back on another day. If, however, you want to know a little more about why I did/didn't like a book, this post will give you that information.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson - 278 pages

Completed on 02/13/2016

Wintergirls was a difficult book for me. I don't mean that it was a difficult read in the way that, say, Anna Karenina was difficult. It was difficult because it spoke so openly and honestly about what it means to struggle with a mental disorder and what it feels like to be completely out of control of your life and your actions.

In the case of Wintergirls, the mental disorders were anorexia (in the case of the main character, Lia) and bulimia (in the case of her best friend, Cassie). Lia also had to deal with some other major issues, including self-mutilation and depression ... And her best friend's death.

Lia and Cassie grew up together, and as they began developing new, more mature bodies, they began to fear gaining weight. As they discover ways to lose weight, they find themselves almost competing to be thinnest. The girls eventually have a falling out, and the last time Lia hears from Cassie is the night she dies ... The night Lia refused to answer even though Cassie called her thirty-three times.

The story is told in an interesting, almost poetic way, as Laurie Halse Anderson weaves together moments from Lia's past and present that have led her to walk the dangerous line between the living and the dead. Haunted by her memories of Cassie (and by Cassie herself), she must decide how much she's really willing to lose.

This was one of the more realistic books I've read when it comes to mental disorders. Anderson very accurately describes what it's like to have obsessive and disordered thinking (two things I unfortunately have firsthand experience with), and how difficult it can be to recognize when others are trying to help when you've followed that downward spiral so deep inside yourself that you can no longer see out.

That being said, it was definitely a very tough book to get through. It's an extremely sad and unsettling story of a girl struggling with her issues because she doesn't know how to do anything else. It's not that she wants to feel these awful things about herself or deny herself the simple pleasure of a cupcake or never experience a life outside of her own head ... She's just felt this way for so long that she no longer knows how to live any other way.

I really loved this book, and wavered between a 4 and 5 star rating. I settled on 4 stars because while it was very good and made me feel so many things (I definitely cried at the end!), I wished Anderson had gotten just a bit deeper into Lia's character. I felt like I didn't know that much about her as a person other than she was the child of divorced parents, she used to take ballet, she was once best friends with Cassie, and she was anorexic and depressed.

It kind of feels weird to say that because readers are given such an intimate look into her mind, yet she somehow felt incomplete. And maybe that was the point ... Maybe she was supposed to seem like she wasn't much more than the mental disorders overwhelming her. But I would have liked to know a little more about her.

Despite this one flaw, I thought the book was amazing. And, even though I still felt like I didn't know much about Lia as a person by the end of the book, I still cared about her.

I would definitely recommend this book, however, I'd do so with some hesitation. If you've dealt with any of the issues discussed in this novel (whether firsthand or with a friend or family member), this may be a really difficult read. It's definitely not the kind of book you want to go into with absolutely no knowledge of what it's about. But, as difficult as it was for me to get through certain sections of Wintergirls, I'm so glad I read it. I'm sure it will stick with me for a long time.

Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg - 293 pages

Completed on 02/16/2016

Wow. I don't even know where to begin with this book.

Although I anticipated really liking this book (I mean, Jana and Erin both highly recommended it, so I knew it had to be great!), I didn't expect to feel completely gutted (yet strangely hopeful) by the end. I also didn't expect to dissolve into a hot mess of tears that made Eric tentatively ask, "Um, are you okay?" as I finished the last few pages.

When I read a book like Did You Ever Have a Family, I struggle with finding a way to adequately describe my thoughts. Basically I just want to say, "Read this now!" to everyone I know (and anyone who reads this, obviously).

Although their relationship has been strained for the past few years, June Reid and her daughter, Lolly, have been spending more time together as they prepare for Lolly's upcoming wedding. But on the night before the ceremony, June's entire world is shattered.

In an instant, June's home goes up in flames, taking the lives of her daughter, her daughter's fiance, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke. Feeling completely alone and directionless, June decides to leave her small Connecticut town and begins heading west.

Did You Ever Have a Family is told from multiple points of view, from major characters like June and Luke's mother, Lydia, to those who have a very limited view of things from the periphery, like the wedding caterer and the couple running an inn on the Pacific coast. Although there are many characters, I thought choosing to mix the "insider" points of view with those on the outside was an interesting way to tell the story.

My only real issue with this book was one of the subplots involving Lydia. I think that Bill Clegg was trying to show readers just how lonely she really was, especially after losing her son ... But I just didn't think it was overly effective because it was just so bizarre. (At least in my opinion.)

That being said, I still really loved this book. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was nearly flawless. The characters were rich and vibrant ... I felt like I was reading about real people, not fictional characters. The story was heartbreaking but also surprised me by adding an element of mystery, as readers don't discover what actually caused the fire until close to the end. I also really enjoyed Clegg's writing style, though I admittedly didn't love that he switched back and forth between first and third person quite a bit from chapter to chapter. (That's just something I generally don't like.)

This book broke me apart in so many ways. It's a story about grieving and secrets and guilt. Despite the darker subject matter, though, it's also a story filled with hope.

"And it might be you never know the part you played, what it meant to someone to watch you make your way each day. Maybe someone or something is watching us all make our way. I don't think we get to know why."

The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre - 336 pages

Completed on 02/22/2016

I'll start this by saying that, generally speaking, books with an "Erotica" label on Goodreads don't pique my interest. (The one exception was You by Caroline Kepnes, which I read and reviewed last year. I'm patiently waiting for the sequel, Hidden Bodies, to arrive on my holdshelf at the library!) I liked You because it was less about fucking (or romance, for that matter) and more about getting into the mind of a psychopath.

So when I first read the summary for The Girl in 6E, I thought it might be the right kind of "Erotica" for me.

Deanna Madden lives alone in an apartment, locking herself away from the world. She hasn't been outside in three years. But she isn't afraid of what's out in the world ... She's afraid of what she may do if she's around other people.

In an effort to forget her troubled past and avoid her murderous urges, Deanna escapes into an online world. Known as "Jessica Reilly" online, she pays her bills by working in the sex cam industry. Men (and sometimes women) make their requests, and she brings their fantasies to life.

Occasionally she comes across an especially perverted client, but not until she begins chatting with "Ralph" does she feel truly afraid. Ralph is seemingly obsessed with very young girls, and, after talking with him several times, Deanna begins to fear that "Annie" isn't just his fantasy. And, if she is a real little girl in danger, Deanna must decide whether she's willing to take matters into her own hands ... And how far she's willing to go.

The Girl in 6E is one of the more interesting books I've read recently. While it didn't have the sort of emotional appeal that Wintergirls and Did You Ever Have a Family did, I was completely captivated by the story. The author obviously did quite a bit of research on the sex cam industry, and I appreciated that I was able to see inside a world I probably never would have otherwise.

There were a few things I really didn't like, though.

My first major issue with this book was something that bothers me about a lot of books and movies. In fact, I'd say it's probably the number one reason why I don't typically go for entertainment that falls under the "Romance" category. I'll try to avoid spoilers and keep it a little vague, but the whole "I just met you but I'm so completely into you/might be in love with you and will do pretty much anything for you" thing always annoys the shit out of me. Not only did that situation pop up in this book, it also felt really out of place.

My other major issue with The Girl in 6E was that I felt like there were too many inconsistencies when it came to Deanna's character. Was she really an evil murderer or was she just a confused young woman with a lot of issues? It was never completely clear. I think that the author was attempting to create a complex character, but unfortunately it sometimes just came off as a little awkward and unbelievable.

Overall, though, I really enjoyed the story and rated it 4 stars on Goodreads. This isn't the kind of book that will stick with you forever or change your life, but it will definitely keep you entertained! (And I already have the second book in this trilogy checked out from the library, so obviously I wasn't quite ready to leave Deanna and her story behind.)

Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf - 284 pages

Completed on 03/04/2016

A couple of Heather Gudenkauf's other books, The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden, have been on my "To Read" list for a while (along with this book). After reading Steph's review of Missing Pieces, I decided to move it to the top of my list. I was in the mood for a good thriller, and this seemed like it would fit the bill.

Unfortunately, Missing Pieces fell flat for me.

Sarah Quinlan's husband, Jack, has a very troubled past. His mother was murdered in their home when he was just a teenager, and, after disappearing, his father became the prime suspect. Eager to cut ties with his hometown and the terrible memories that linger there, Jack moved away as soon as he could and never looked back. But when his aunt is hospitalized after an accident, Jack feels compelled to go back to Penny Gate, Iowa to be with his family.

As Sarah learns more about her husband's family and past, more and more questions arise. Digging deeper into the mysteries surrounding his mother's murder and his aunt's accident, Sarah begins to wonder how well she really knows the man she married.

I'll admit that sometimes I struggle with suspending my disbelief while reading books or watching movies, but so many of the things that happened in this book made me shake my head and think, "What the fuck is this author thinking?" Many of the character's actions were completely unbelievable, and I also found it strange that Sarah knew so little about her husband of 20 years. I mean, he was described as a fairly quiet man who wasn't very open about his past ... But still. I probably could have believed that she was discovering all of these things about his life before her (and reacting the way she did) if they'd only known each other and been married a very short time. But 20 years? No. I don't buy it.

I also didn't really like Sarah (or any of the characters, really). It's not that the characters were simply unlikable (I actually don't mind reading books with unlikable characters) ... It's just that none of them seemed particularly well developed, and I honestly didn't care much about any of them.

And, since I was hoping this book would keep me turning the pages, I was annoyed that I was able to pick out the killer so quickly. I kept hoping that maybe the author would go in another direction (she certainly tried to plant several seeds of doubt throughout the book!), but no ... It was exactly who I thought it would be. In fact, I was so disappointed by this that I tossed the book down as soon as it was revealed and said, "I fucking knew it!"

I didn't know why this person did it, though, so of course I had to read on. Unfortunately, the reason was, in my opinion, a little silly. I understand that this character was supposed to be a little unhinged anyway, but I still had a hard time buying the motive.

I think one of the most disappointing things about this book was the fact that it started off strong and then seemed to drag on. The writing wasn't really bad or anything, but Gudenkauf failed to captivate me. It took me almost two weeks to finish this book because I never felt compelled to pick it up. That's an insane amount of time for a book that's under 300 pages!

I'm not completely giving up on Heather Gudenkauf, though. I'll probably read at least one more of her books. I think Missing Pieces had an interesting plot, but the underdeveloped characters, their unbelievable behaviors and reactions, and the less than thrilling presentation kept me from really enjoying the story. This book definitely falls under the "just okay" category for me, and for that reason I gave it 2 stars on Goodreads.

From the Bookshelf: Recently Read - March 2016 Edition

I was hoping to have this post up much earlier today, but obviously that didn't happen. I usually try to write my reviews immediately after I finish reading a book, but I've really been slacking lately in the blogging department ... So that didn't happen either.

And, if I'm being honest here, I slacked quite a bit in the reading department last month as well. I've only finished 4 books since the last Show Us Your Books! link-up with Steph and Jana (for comparison, I read and reviewed 7 books last month). Oh well ... At least the majority of the books I'm reviewing today were really good!

So let's get to it, shall we?



Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson - 278 pages - 4 stars

Lia and Cassie were best friends, impossibly thin girls each struggling with her own personal demons. For Cassie, it was bulimia and the desire to be the best at everything. For Lia, it was anorexia, self-mutilation, and depression.

The girls eventually have a falling out, and the last time Lia hears from Cassie is the night she dies ... The night Lia refused to answer even though Cassie called her thirty-three times. Now haunted by her memories of Cassie (and by Cassie herself), Lia must decide how much she's really willing to lose.

Laurie Halse Anderson did an excellent job really getting into the mind of a teenage girl suffering from obsessive and disordered thinking. This is probably one of the most realistic books I've read when it comes to mental disorders.

Because of this, it was a very difficult book for me to get through. Although I thought it was fantastic, I recommend it with hesitation. If you've dealt with any of the issues discussed in this novel (whether firsthand or with a friend or family member), this may be a really tough book.  The story is both sad and unsettling, and it's definitely not the sort of book to pick up if you're looking for a fun, light read.

If the plot intrigues you, though, I say read it. It's well worth the time. The writing style is unique and almost lyrical, and the story is not one I'll soon forget.


Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg - 293 pages - 5 stars

In a single moment, June Reid loses her entire family. As she watches helplessly from the yard, her home is engulfed in flames, ending the lives of her daughter, Lolly, her daughter's fiance, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke. Feeling she can't bear to stay in her small Connecticut town after the tragedy, June begins aimlessly driving across the country.

Did You Ever Have a Family is a story about grieving and secrets and guilt. But it's also a story filled with hope.

This is the kind of book that I find difficult to review because I loved it so much. It's so much easier to write about all of the things that are "wrong" with a book than it is to explain why it touched me so deeply. Tears were streaming down my face as I finished the last page, and I felt completely gutted ... Yet I also felt strangely hopeful.

I'll share more of my thoughts on this book on Sunday when I post my more in-depth reviews. For now I'll just say that this book was amazing and beautiful. If you only read one of the books I'm reviewing today, please read this one. But don't just take my word for it ... I know that both Jana and Erin also gave it 5 stars on Goodreads!


The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre - 336 pages - 4 stars

Deanna Madden (a.k.a. "Jessica Reilly") is a reclusive young woman who makes a living working in the sex cam industry. She hasn't been outside in years, choosing to lock herself away in her apartment rather than risk giving in to her dark, murderous urges. Creating a very simple set of rules for herself, she's managed to avoid killing for three years. But rules were meant to be broken.

The Girl in 6E definitely falls under the "WTF did I just read?" category. There are a lot of explicit sexual situations (but, oddly enough, no actual sex). There's a bloodthirsty main character with a dark, tragic past. There's also a subplot involving a pedophile (and that alone is generally enough to give most people a "WTF did I just read?" feeling).

Although I had a couple of issues with the story (I'll discuss those in more detail in Sunday's post), I really liked the book overall. The story was fascinating (I definitely felt like I learned a lot about the sex cam industry!), and I stayed up late reading at least a couple of nights because I was so captivated by the story.

I don't think this is the right book for everyone, but I found it very entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading the other two books in this series (and I actually already have the second book checked out from the library)!


Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf - 284 pages - 2 stars

Sarah Quinlan's husband, Jack, has always kept her mostly in the dark about his troubled past. However, when his aunt is hospitalized after an accident, he cannot avoid his hometown and the terrible memories that linger there any longer. Soon after arriving in Penny Gate, Iowa, Sarah begins to learn more about her husband's family and past ... And finds herself wondering if she really knows him at all.

I had really high hopes for this book after Steph gave it 4 stars and said she read it in a single night. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.

I'll be discussing my thoughts on this book in a little more detail in Sunday's post, but for now I'll say that it just couldn't hold my attention. I love thrillers and I love stories about family secrets ... But I didn't love this book.

It wasn't the worst book I've ever read (not by far!), but, for me, it was truly "just okay." I had to force myself to pick it up each time I had time to read, and I even went two or three days without picking it up at all. It took me well over a week to finish it, which is kind of insane for me. (Well, it's insane when the book is under 300 pages!) I didn't hate it, but I really didn't care enough about the story or the characters to ever feel captivated by Missing Pieces.

February 2016 Goals and Results

I kicked ass with most of my goals and workouts in January. In February? Not so much.

Today I'm linking up with Kristen and Gretchen and sharing my goals and results for last month.

When months like February happen, I hate posting my goals and results. I mean, obviously I'm human and shit happens ... But it still sucks.

My biggest issue in February was getting sick. Eric got sick, and, despite my best efforts, I managed to catch whatever awful thing he had. I feel like neither of us get sick often, but when we do, it completely wipes us out. We were both sick for about two weeks. 

I did try to do a few lighter yoga workouts during that time (as well as work toward some of my other goals), but I just really wasn't feeling it. All I wanted to do was sleep. 

Hopefully March will be a much more productive month for me! For now, though, here are my goals and results for February:

February 2016 Goals and Results

1. Don't buy any snacks or Doubleshots at work.

FAIL. I was seriously so close to achieving this, but I had to cave one day late in the month and buy a Doubleshot because I woke up too late to have coffee at home. I would have filled my travel mug, but the lid broke a couple of years ago and I never bothered to replace it. I prefer to have coffee before I get on the road anyway, so it didn't seem necessary to buy a new one. I feel like I need caffeine to function properly/avoid getting a headache (not a good thing, I know), so I opted for a Doubleshot. Other than that, though, I stayed away from the snacks and sugary coffee drinks last month.

2. Read 5 books.

FAIL. I actually can't believe I failed this one. Five books in a month is pretty average for me, so I thought this would be one of my easiest goals for the month. But, like I said at the beginning of this post, I was sick for about half the month and I spent a lot more time sleeping than reading.

3. Continue exercising 5 days each week.

FAIL. While this was mostly due to being sick for two weeks at the beginning of the month, I also kind of let myself slip toward the end as well. It was like, "Well, I already failed this goal so it doesn't really matter." I know that's a terrible way to think, but I got pretty busy the last week of the month and I guess I felt like I needed to somehow justify not making time for even a 20 minute workout. Whatever. Moving on.

4. Try 3 new recipes.

PASS. Like last month, I tried 4 new recipes. I've already posted the Vegetarian Spinach, Artichoke, and Feta Breakfast Casserole, the Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup, and the Buffalo Chicken Potato Nachos with Avocado Ranch Sour Cream, and I'm planning to post the fourth new recipe next week.

5. Go completely vegetarian (all meals) once each week.

PASS. This was actually a pretty easy change to make, and it's something I'm planning to stick with in the upcoming months. I may eventually try to go completely vegetarian twice a week (or maybe even more), but once a week is good for now.

6. Post 2-3 times each week on my blog.

FAIL. I started off pretty strong, but the last couple of weeks of the month got really busy. (So if I haven't been as active with responding to comments or leaving comments on other blogs lately, that's why.) I didn't have the extra time to devote to writing and editing blog posts, so I just posted once a week and called it good. I'd prefer to post at least twice a week, though, so this is something I'll continue to work on.

7. Finish New Mexico trip recaps on my blog.

FAIL. I think this one is an obvious fail since there were clearly no new posts about our trip. I'm not sure why I didn't do this (other than maybe lack of motivation while I was sick and lack of time later in the month), but I really need to get it together and finish recapping that trip. I mean, we went to New Mexico in November. I probably should have finished those posts a long time ago.

As you can see, it wasn't a complete bust ... But it wasn't exactly a great month either.


I decided last month that I would start posting my monthly workout totals in an effort to stay motivated and accountable. Obviously that didn't work so well in February, but I'm still going to share the workouts I did do and hope that maybe it will motivate me to push myself a little harder this month. (Though I did manage to lose another 2 pounds last month even without hardcore workouts, so that's something!)

Again, I know this stuff is boring for some people. I kind of feel like my workout summary is especially boring because I never share what types of videos I did (though, to be fair, I never write that down so I don't remember by the time I'm ready to post it here). If you're the kind of person who doesn't care to read about someone else's workouts, feel free to skip this part of the post.

February 2016 Workouts

Week 02/01 - 02/08:

02/02: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/03: Yoga video (35 minutes)
02/05: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/08: Yoga video (60 minutes)

Total Time: 155 minutes (2 hours, 35 minutes)

Week 02/09 - 02/16:

02/09: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/14: Yoga video (40 minutes)
02/15: Yoga class (60 minutes)
02/16: Walking/light jogging - treadmill (60 minutes; 3.79 miles)

Total Time: 190 minutes (3 hours, 10 minutes)

Week 02/17 - 02/24:

02/17: BodyPump class (60 minutes)
02/19: Yoga video (45 minutes)
02/21: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/22: Yoga class (60 minutes)

Total Time: 195 minutes (3 hours, 15 minutes)

Week 02/25 - 02/29:

02/25: Yoga video (30 minutes)
02/26: Yoga video (60 minutes)
02/29: Yoga video (30 minutes)

Total Time: 120 minutes (2 hours)

I don't think this was horrible by any means, but I only did strength training once and cardio once. Once in an entire month.

I like to try to do one day of strength training, one day of cardio, and three days of yoga each week, but I'd really be fine with any combination of those things. Yoga can definitely be really challenging (and I usually work up a sweat unless I've specifically chosen something "lighter" for relaxing), but I like to try to vary my workouts (at least a little).

This month I've already been favoring yoga a little more, but I'm going to try to incorporate some cardio and/or strength training back into my workouts. (And yes, I realize that I'm technically strength training when I'm doing yoga, but I'm talking about using weights in a class like BodyPump.) Hopefully I can get back into that habit!

Tasty Tuesday: Buffalo Chicken Potato Nachos with Avocado Ranch Sour Cream

Although Eric and I have mostly been trying to make healthier food choices, we said "fuck it" multiple times during the month of February. Since we were both sick, we felt justified in making things with heavy cream (like these Red Garlic Mashed Potatoes and this One Pot Tortellini with Italian Sausage in a Tomato Cream Sauce). We also made brownies (twice) and just seemed to eat more "bad" food in general.

Today's recipe is a perfect example of what I mean when I say we've been eating more "bad" food.


I'm a huge fan of buffalo chicken, and I've been craving it a lot for the past couple of months. I've also been seeing a lot of potato nacho recipes floating around on Pinterest and various blogs, so I spent some time trying to figure out the best way to combine a basic potato nacho recipe with buffalo chicken.

I'm not going to lie: this recipe isn't perfect. Eric thinks that maybe next time we should try grilling the chicken and dicing it up. The shredded chicken from the crockpot was really juicy, which was nice ... However, it retained a little more moisture from the chicken broth it was cooked in than we would have liked, and the result was a slightly thinner buffalo sauce and potatoes that lost some of their crunch after the chicken had been sitting on top for a while.

That being said, the overall result was very good. (Obviously good enough to post here!) The flavor was almost exactly what I had imagined when I first started figuring out how I could make these nachos. This kind of recipe is also very versatile, so it would be pretty easy to switch up the meat (or method of cooking the meat), toppings, and flavors. Eric and I both really loved these nachos (we seriously ate the entire pan that you'll see pictured below in one sitting!), and this is the kind of thing I'd want to make if we were going to have a small group of people over. (It's not really enough to feed a large group unless you doubled or tripled the recipe. Or maybe we just eat a lot. Haha.)


One final thing before I share this recipe: these nachos were spicy. I was honestly surprised that Eric liked them so much because even I thought they were pretty spicy, and my spicy food tolerance is much higher than Eric's. I'm posting this recipe exactly as I made it, but I'd highly recommend using less hot sauce and/or omitting the jalapeños if you (or someone you'd be making these for) don't love super spicy foods.

Buffalo Chicken Potato Nachos with Avocado Ranch Sour Cream

Adapted from a recipe on Real House Moms.

Ingredient List:

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 large breasts.)
• 7-10 small to medium red skin potatoes (I used 7 or 8, and that was more than enough for us. You can also use 1 large or 2 smaller russet potatoes if you're not a huge fan of the red skin potatoes.)
• 1 1/4 cups shredded cheese (I used a cheddar jack blend.)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot.)
• 1 avocado
• 1 packet dry ranch dressing mix
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp garlic salt
• 1 tsp black pepper (plus additional to taste)
• Sea salt to taste
• Olive oil (I didn't measure how much I used, but I just tossed the potatoes in a little olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper before the initial cook time, so use the amount you feel is best based on the amount of potatoes you're using.)
• Toppings (optional): diced green onions, sliced pickled jalapeño peppers, fresh diced tomatoes, extra cheese, extra avocado, etc.

Instructions:

1.  If you're cooking your chicken in the crockpot, spray the inside of the crockpot with cooking spray. Add the chicken breasts, garlic salt, 1 tsp black pepper, and enough liquid (I used chicken broth, but you could also use water) to cover the meat. 

2.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3 hours. When the chicken has finished cooking, shred it with two forks and remove it to a medium bowl. (You can also grill or pan fry your chicken and dice it into small chunks, or you could shred a rotisserie chicken. I'll probably try grilling my chicken next time.)

3.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

4.  Slice the potatoes into medium thick slices (between 2.5-3.5 mm thick). I used a mandolin to do this, and, while it's not absolutely necessary, it's a great tool to get slices of consistent size/thickness. It's also so much easier and faster than trying to slice small potatoes with a knife. (At least in my opinion!) This is also how I know the actual thickness of the slices ... If I'd just been eyeballing it, I wouldn't know that they were between 2.5-3.5 mm!

5.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. (I actually had to use a total of three baking sheets for this recipe because there were so many potato slices.) 

6.  Toss the potato slices in a little olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper, then arrange the potatoes on the baking sheet(s) in a single layer.

7.  Bake the potatoes for 10 minutes, then flip the potatoes and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. (The total cook time will depend on how thin the potatoes are. I baked mine for the full 20 minutes, but I checked on them after 15 to make sure I didn't overcook them.)

8.  Coat a baking dish with cooking spray, and pile the potatoes together in the dish. Cover with the shredded cheese and diced red bell peppers, and return them to the oven to bake for an additional 5-6 minutes (or until the cheese has melted and the peppers have softened slightly).

9.  While the potatoes are baking for the final time, melt the unsalted butter in a microwave safe bowl. Add the hot sauce to the butter, and mix thoroughly.

10.  Pour the buffalo sauce over the chicken in a medium bowl. Toss several times to coat the chicken thoroughly.

11.  Add the avocado, sour cream, and dry ranch dressing mix to a food processor and blend until everything is completely mixed.

12.  When the potatoes have finished baking, remove the baking dish from the oven and set aside. Top the potatoes with the buffalo chicken, a generous dollop of the avocado ranch sour cream, and any additional toppings you would like to use (as you can see from the pictures, we used diced green onions and sliced pickled jalapeño peppers).

I know this seems like a lot of steps, but it's really not a difficult recipe. And, honestly, the cleanup was the one thing that took the most time. Everything else goes pretty quickly, especially after the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are sliced. (And the mandolin made slicing the potatoes feel ridiculously easy and quick.)

I don't know how well this reheats since we ate that entire pan in one sitting (I should probably be a little more embarrassed of this fact, but I'm not). I assume that since we had some slight issues with the chicken retaining a little too much moisture from the crockpot, the leftovers may have been a little soggy.

If you don't think you can eat this much in one sitting, you may want to cut down the recipe or use a different cooking method for the chicken. You could also try not adding any toppings (including the meat) to the potatoes until the potatoes have been placed on your plate, and then store the leftover potatoes and leftover toppings in separate containers.

Life Right Now: February 2016

I know that February is the shortest month, but even with the additional day this year it seemed to completely fly by. So, since I wanted to make general life update posts once a month this year, I knew I had to get this one up today!

Right Now in Entertainment:

- I've been slacking on my reading a bit this month, mostly because I've been either really busy, really tired, or really sick. I realized yesterday that I hadn't even picked up the book I was reading in two days because I just didn't have the time. (Well, not until it was so late that I was too tired to hold my eyes open.)

- Although it's been taking me a little longer to get through each book, I've read some really great ones this month. My next Show Us Your Books! post won't be as long as the last one, but at least it won't be full of books I didn't enjoy.

- As some of you may have seen on my Instagram, I went to one of those painting/drinking wine classes with a couple of friends from work on Saturday morning. It was a lot of fun, and it's something I'd definitely do again. And, while my painting wasn't amazing or perfect, I thought it was decent. (Especially considering I'd never done anything like that before!) Plus there were mimosas, and the first one was included in the price of the class!

Right Now in General Life Updates:

- I was sick for the first two weeks of February, so I basically did a whole lot of nothing during that time. Except maybe for this:



- Unfortunately, that means I completely sucked with my goals this month. Whomp whomp. I'm planning to share a goals and results post a little later this week, so you'll see what I mean. 

- Eric and I tried a local Mediterranean place, El Basha, for the first time a couple of weeks ago and it was amazing. The place was really tiny, so it was a little difficult to find a table on a busy Saturday night, but the food more than made up for that. We ordered the mezza plate for our appetizer (which contained hummus, falafel, taboule, and baba ghanuje and came with fresh, warm pita bread). I had a falafel wrap with fries, and Eric got the lamb shish kabob platter with grilled vegetables, rice, and a salad on the side. The fries weren't great (not bad, just not great), but everything else I tried was delicious. I actually think this may have been the best falafel I've ever had!



It's clearly not a fancy place, but we got all of that food (plus two sodas) for a little over $30 ... So we didn't really go in expecting a fancy meal. I have a feeling this will become one of our regular places!

- I had a 9 hour long Skype date with my two friends that I usually Skype and travel with the same evening that Eric and I went out to El Basha. 9 hours. When I finally crawled into bed a little after 5:00 a.m. on Sunday morning, I accidentally woke Eric up. He said, "Did you fall asleep on the couch after you guys finished talking or something?" and I was like, "No ... We just finished." He looked at his phone to check the time, and his response was, "What the hell did you guys have to talk about for that long???" Haha.

Right Now in Things I'm Looking Forward To:

- Eric and I are going to see The Witch tomorrow night at the Alamo Drafthouse. That place opened a few months ago, and we keep saying we want to go ... So we decided to have a random Tuesday night date night so that we could see this movie before it stops showing there. I hope the movie is as scary as I think it's going to be!



- We also got tickets to see The Spill Canvas in April. We haven't been to a concert in almost a year (which is seriously crazy for me!), and I think this will be a really fun show. They're doing a "Requestour," which basically means you get to vote for the songs you'd most want to hear and they'll play the songs that get the most votes. Hopefully a lot of people going to the show in Omaha will want to hear the same songs I voted for!  

The beginning of February was pretty awful because getting sick guaranteed that I had zero energy and zero motivation to do anything besides sleep as much as possible. By the end of the month, though, the better things like trying a great new restaurant, catching up with friends that live far away, and painting for the first time with friends definitely outweighed the bad.

Now if I can get myself back on track with goals, blogging stuff, and working out in March, I'll be very happy!

Tasty Tuesday: Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup

I know I just posted a Southwestern Chicken Noodle Soup recipe about a month ago and today's recipe is pretty similar, but you know what? Sometimes you try a couple of spicy chicken soups within a short period of time and they're both so good that you just have to share the recipes.

I decided to make a chicken fajita soup after Eric said he was in the mood for fajitas. Soup is obviously not the same as a traditional fajita, but honestly ... I'm not a huge fajita fan. I love all of the components, but for some reason I always feel like they're missing something.

That being said, I loved this soup. It's a little thicker/heartier than the Southwestern Chicken Noodle Soup, and it's perfectly spicy without being "too much." (I usually gauge this on Eric's comments. I like my food much spicier than he does, so if it's the right amount of spice for him, I assume it's probably the right amount for most people.) It's also made in the crockpot, which means it requires minimal effort. (My favorite kind of recipe!)


I couldn't get a great picture of this soup (believe me, I tried), but trust me when I say it's worth trying. (Especially if you're a fan of Mexican/Tex-Mex flavors!)

Crockpot Chicken Fajita Soup

Adapted from a recipe on The Recipe Critic.

Ingredient List:

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 10 oz. can mild Rotel tomatoes and chilies with their juices
• 2 10.75 oz. cans condensed cream of chicken soup (I used low sodium.)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
• 1 poblano pepper, diced
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I used a cheddar jack blend.)
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp chipotle chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• Toppings for serving (if desired): avocado, fresh cilantro, additional cheese, sour cream, etc. (I just used some sliced avocado this time, but next time I'll probably add some fresh cilantro as well.)

Instructions:

1.  Spray the inside of the crockpot with cooking spray.

2.  Place the chicken breasts in the bottom, then add the black beans, Rotel, cream of chicken soup, water, cumin, garlic powder, chipotle chili powder, black pepper, and onion powder. Stir the mixture several times to blend everything together.

3.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

4.  When about 35-40 minutes of cook time remain, remove the chicken to a plate and shred with two forks. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup mixture.

5.  After the chicken has been shredded and placed back into the crockpot (about 30 minutes prior to the end of the cook time), add the sliced green bell pepper, sliced red bell pepper, and diced poblano pepper. Mix well to combine the peppers with the soup. (I chose to add the peppers later because I wanted them to retain some crunch. They softened a little, but they still had a slightly crisp texture. I'm sure they would be fine if you added them at the beginning, but I prefer slightly crisp to soft when it comes to peppers.)

6.  Stir in the cheese, and allow it to melt completely into the soup. (This should take about 10-15 minutes.) Serve with your favorite toppings.