Atypical Appetite for the Typical Individual

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Classic Strawberry Smoothie

Does anybody else love strawberries? I have been in a strawberry craze this entire past week and it doesn't show any signs of stopping. I've always loved strawberries. When I was little I always asked my mom to make me a strawberry flavored cake for my birthday. It was my go to. It's still my favorite fruit, but in college I always seem to waste fresh strawberries. I'm not sure why but I always seem to buy them and unless I immediately wash and cut all of them they just end up sitting in my fridge.

This week, however, I said no more! My solution to stop this mindless wasting of delicious fruit was to throw them in a smoothie. I decided to start this new rule where if my strawberries are starting to go bad I immediately toss them in the freezer. It has saved me countless strawberries and given me more supplies for my smoothies. I think I probably made a smoothie a day last week and I even ventured into making smoothie bowls!

Now, it is really easy to make a disgusting smoothie. If you simply combine fruit and ice and water you will get a real fruit smoothie, but it will probably taste extremely bland. This will be a real disaster if you're trying to get to a Smoothie King or Tropical Smoothie standard. It is important to remember to add creaminess and texture to your smoothie for ultimate yumminess.

While the fruit may change, I always add the same key components to my smoothies. I start with a frozen fruit, this week it has been strawberries. Then I ALWAYS add half a frozen banana. Even if you don't taste the banana it adds an extra level of creaminess. I add rolled oats, honey, peanut/cashew/almond butter (whichever I have laying around), and liquid. If I have almond milk I will use that, but if I don't water works just the same. The liquid is also very important because if you add too much it comes out soupy but if you don't add enough the ingredients won't mix in the blender.

Then I pour it into one of my mason jars and head out the door depending on the day (most days). Or if I have more time I will make a smoothie bowl out of it! I usually add granola, nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, really anything laying around that needs to be eaten. It is a great breakfast or afternoon snack. My favorite part about smoothies is that they are crazy easy to customize so look forward to many more smoothie recipes and tips from me! Hope you guys enjoy this one!

Sunday, January 21, 2018

Chicken Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili in a Skillet

Audrey Carpenter Dinner , 0 Comments

Sundays are usually my favorite days because you can just sit back and relax. However, when you are a track athlete it also means Sundays are sometimes the only free day in your weekend. As it so happens, this weekend we attended out first indoor track meet in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a solid start to North Florida's track season and I myself ran a pr in one of my events. I am a long distance runner so I ran the 3000 kilometer race and the mile for some speed work. I ran a 10:25 in the 3k which was a new personal record.

While the meet was great we were traveling from Thursday until 12 a.m. Sunday morning. Instead of having a relaxing Sunday I've been playing catch up. I've been running errands all day and doing homework in between. My day was so busy that I just wanted to eat something hearty and easy to make and go to bed with a content full tummy. I also wanted to use a sweet potato I've had in my kitchen for almost two weeks now.

This led me to my Chicken Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili in a Skillet. I was inspired by a post I saw on Pinterest by reciperunner.com although I switched it up so I could use some ingredients I already had in my kitchen. That is one thing I like to do a lot, take recipes and then switch them up and use things I already own rather than go out and buy more food. It also turned out to be more liquid than I thought so that's why I called it Chili but if you can think of a better name for it let me know!

I also learned how to par-cook my sweet potato, which was a skill I previously did not know. Par-cook is basically where you peel, chop, and boil some type of food, in my case a sweet potato, and then use it however you see fit. It's basically a way to precook something you want to use maybe for meal prepping, because it would take to long otherwise, or just to freeze and cook more easily later.

So without further ado here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bit size pieces
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 sweet potato peeled, par-cooked, and cut into bit size pieces
10 oz can Sriracha tomatoes and red chilies diced
15 oz can of black beans
1 thinly cut jalapeño
1/3 cup salsa
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 lime juiced

Instructions:

Par-cook the sweet potato: peel, chop into little bit size pieces and cook in boiling water with a touch of salt for five to seven minutes. Drain and cool.
Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat.
Combine all the spices together.
Add the chicken to the skillet and evenly coat with half of the spice blend. Cook for three minutes. Add the onions and cook a few more minutes or until the onions are softened and the chicken is cooked through.
Lower the heat and add the rest of the spice blend, sweet potato, tomatoes, black beans, salsa, and jalapeño.
Stir together and cook for a few minutes until everything is heated through.
Take of the burner and squeeze lime juice over everything and top with shredded cheese. Stir together to melt.
Enjoy!

As a side note, I love spicy food but if you do not than you can simply withhold the jalapeño!