Burn Down the House Chili

I have been smelling something on fire the past couple of days. The boyfriend didn't smell it, even when I made him stand in the exact same spot as me in the kitchen. You see, I'm a little bit of a "super-smeller", and have been even when I was a smoker. It smelled like either a wood stove burning, or a barbeque pit, but only in one corner of the kitchen.
I forgot about it on Monday after verifying that there was no fire, but on Tuesday I was determined to find out what it was. Were my neighbors grilling something delicious? Maybe it was a wood stove, although the temperatures have been in the 70's. I stood in that one spot in the kitchen, and smelled everything, including the bamboo cutting board. Then I looked up. Eureka! Mr. Greens had bought a bunch of dried chili and peppers from Fresh Pickins this weekend, and the smell was seeping out of their bags. They smelled peppery, but also like wood smoke. I grabbed the bag and ran into the other room, "I'm not crazy!" I yelled.We had chili tonight with these large dried peppers. I'm obviously not a pepper connoisseur, nor did I pick out the peppers. Mister made the chili with beef, diced tomatoes, bell pepper, dried peppers, beer, stock, red beans, kidney beans, and maybe a few secret ingredients. He was cooking by feel, but ended up being disappointed with his dish.I was not disappointed, and ate half of this bowl.Plus several pieces of cornbread. [Maybe 3 small pieces?]And....2 beers.














To rewind a bit, for breakfast I had steel cut oats with a teaspoon of brown sugar, walnuts, and raisins.
It was creamy and good. I added a dab of milk (maybe a tablespoon or two?) to help liquify it a bit. When I make a big batch and keep a few servings in the fridge, they tend to become rather gelatinous. Most of the milk seeped out of the container on the way to work.
Unfortunately I snacked on these a little bit:They really made my stomach hurt. I haven't had M&M's in awhile.
For lunch I had a sweet potato half (plain)
and black eyed peas. Oh yeah! I could've eaten about 3 servings of BEPs but I held back. A little bit later I munched on a few veggies from this tempting tray. Even had some hummus. Nice paprika dumpage.But I wasn't really hungry, so I stopped. I even brought out a pear and Zbar to be photographed but they didn't get eaten. I am not taking any victory laps for intuitive eating yet, I think it was the M&M's that killed my appetite for the rest of the day.
Right now I'm drinking a good decaf tea-Sweet Coconut thai chai. Sweet Dreams!

Duang Tawan

Theme of the day: No cooking!


One good thing about blogging is that I realize how many packaged foods I can consume in a day. (I also keep a food diary for calorie purposes, but I don't always step back and really consider what I'm eating.)
Breakfast: This morning I had a Chobani strawberry with half a banana.
On the side I enjoyed a few Puffins.
Snack: mini Cashew Cookie Larabar.Workout Woes:
My workout today wasn't super great. I felt like I should've had a rest day, although I often feel like I don't deserve rest days because I'm not yet where I want to be physically.
Most of the advice I read about running and aerobic activity is intended for healthy, active people. I feel like I should push myself and workout more than someone who is at their desired weight. I read an article recently that stated people who are looking to lose weight should aim for 250 minutes of exercise a week. This is what I've been going for, although I've read a few articles that say that is overtraining. I don't know what to think.
/end rambling

My lunch was also out of a package.
I'm going to try to make these myself. It might be simple enough to make a batch and freeze them for emergencies. The only thing I'm not sure of is corn masa. I've never made that before.

I had a snack later of the other half of the banana and a Mojo bar. The Mojo was tasty. I love salty and sweet!
Dinner: It was a surprise dinner date! Mr. S told me he was bringing me to the cafe, and we ended up driving to our favorite restaurant, Duang Tawan. They are a sushi and Thai restaurant in Baton Rouge, on the corner of Sherwood and Coursey. We haven't been in quite a while. The sushi is what made us try them years ago, and the curry is what keeps us going back. It is to die for!
We shared a sushi roll for our appetizer. It was a JB roll (Japanese Bagel). The ingredients were simple, classic and tasty: salmon, cream cheese, and scallions. The chef makes excellent hand rolls as well.
I wanted to try something new, but I ended up sticking with one of my old favorites: Panang Curry with shrimp. (The rice was added after the photo-op.)
The coconut milk makes it creamy and sweet, the dried pepper flakes add a mild kick, while the lime leaves add an interesting subtle flavor.

Did you know I have a lime tree? I bought it to use the leaves in curry. The only con to Panang Curry is that there aren't many vegetables, only a couple tiny slivers of red bell pepper. I know that that's the way it's supposed to be, so I shouldn't complain. I stole a few of my date's green beans and eggplant. Here's his Pad Ped Pork:
One other thing I like about Duang Tawan is they use seasonal vegetables, and sometimes throw in a little surprise to your dish. (Like sweet potato, eggplant, etc.) It always compliments the dish, and feels like a bonus.


Off to watch "The Soup" and drink a Sam Adams!
P.S. Later on this night I had a couple of these:
And a piece of plain pepperoni pizza from Schlittz & Giggles, which is a bar and pizza joint located in downtown Baton Rouge.
I blame it all on Mr. Greens.