Crockpot Madras Lentils

As of today, I am not longer a partner in my chiropractic office. It has been a hard transition. Since I was in middle school, I wanted to be a chiropractor with her own office. In 2004, with a partner who was also my husband, I achieved that dream. It was not a small task for two people with no real experience. We had the backing of a local bank that believed in us and family support, but other than that we were very much Newbies! It was a grand endeavor and something that I am still proud to say I was part of.  At the beginning of any adventure, there is a lot of adrenaline and excitement. This and the great people of Greenville made us a success in business for many years. The problem was that there was no relationship in my marriage except business. No personal life. Work was 24 hours per day. This was felt very deeply in 2008-2011, when health care began to change, the housing market collapsed and banks suffered. Our business was affected. All of this work stress was brought home every day and it crushed the last inkling of any kind of personal life that was left. Despite my best efforts to stop this pattern, it worsened. It was taking everything out of me as a person, a chiropractor and a wife.

In 2011, I finally made a change. In 2013, I divorced my partner and put into works the ability to leave the practice that in the past years had caused me so much pain. February 27, 2015 was my last day seeing patients. Today, at a meeting, I officially signed over my shares of my business and resigned as corporate president. It was bittersweet.  In these past 2 months, I have felt at peace with my decision and have even looked forward to my last day. Today, signing those papers took a huge weight off my shoulders. I am happy! For the first time in probably 5 years, I am happy!

So where does that leave me? That is still up in the air. I will always be a chiropractor and I am currently an instructor at local universities. But overall, right now, I am celebrating my decision and strength. I am taking some time to nurture ME! I know that can not last forever and I don't want it to. I will be back in some large way soon. I am not sure what capacity that will be or in what city, but I know that I have learned a lot and will use all my experiences to take the next big step.

Moroccan Lamb Chili with Kale, Chickpeas and Sweet Potato

As most people know, I am a craft beer enthusiast. I love all things about craft beer. The atmosphere of the breweries, the people and the laid back culture. I am a huge fan of several of our local breweries here in Greenville, SC and the neighboring Asheville, NC. I am excited to try new places, new beers and new flavors. Just this past weekend, I spent a Saturday with my best friends in Asheville, giving them a brewery tour of some of my favorite places. Of course, we had to kick it off at the brewery that I am obsessed with, Burial Brewery. We then moved on the several others including Green Man Brewery and the new Funkatorium which opened in October. It was a great tasting event and a great time out of town with my BFFS. I was so appreciative that they came out to celebrate me in a way that I adore!

 

A little fun at Burial Brewing with my girls.

Enough about Asheville, lets talk about the best brewery in Greenville, SC and one that I support often. A few weeks ago, my girlfriends and I went to Quest Brewery for their chili cook off. This is my favorite brewery here in my Greenville, SC area. We all had an exceptional time. The event took place in the actual brewery right under the fermenters. I was going to enter with my Turkey Pumpkin Chili but since the event was only a day after I returned home from my big Pennsylvania excursion, I decided to just go and enjoy and imbibe rather than putting a bunch of work into it. As it turned out, there were several great chillies to sample. They had everything from venison chili to an awesome spicy sausage chili with handmade sausage ravioli floating in it, to chili that featured some of the porter that is made by the brewery.  Some impressive cooks were represented. 

A Smoking Mirror Smoked Porter last Friday Night  when we came to see Zac Parks. Check him out!!

I have to admit that I got this recipe idea from there. This chili was the chili that my friends and I loved! The unfortunate part is this was one of the employee submissions so we could not vote for it. When I got home, I scoured the web for the recipe and found this one, which is spot on. And what better way to celebrate it than with a Quest Smoking Mirror Smoked Porter. 

Cheers!

Slow Cooker Chana Masala

I have become addicted to this dish and have been buying the pre-packaged, prepared version that is microwavable. It is one of my new go-to, easy foods that I look forward to making after a long day. The fact that makes this meal so convenient also makes me a little wary of eating it too often. The drawback- microwaving food in a plastic bag. It seems...hmmmm... not so natural. Right? We hear so much about carcinogens and PCBs, yet these options are still available, Why are they so alluring? Because we are all busy and need food fast!!! While microwave beans and rice are still more healthy than the "fast food" alternative, it still is not a prime food choice. So I decided that this would be a great recipe to make in bulk with fresh ingredients. No.. it is not as quick but, the truth is, one Sunday afternoon before I went out to work in my garden, I threw the ingredients in the crock pot and in about 6 hours it was finished. Not bad when you consider all the "yucky stuff" that you are eliminating.  Feel good about yourself and your food and serve up another bowl.

Spicy Taco Soup

I love soup!! As you can probably tell. I always have but now I have more of an opportunity to eat it whenever I want. I love the versatility of soup with a salad, a sandwich or alone. It is simple and one pot can feed one person for a very long time. One of my favorite thing about soup is the fact that most of them I can freeze into single serving containers and pull out as needed. With my busy work schedule of teaching and seeing patients, some days I want to come home and have no prep or cooking time. I want to plop down on my couch with a bowl of soup in my lap and watch nonsense TV. Yes, here is my confession: I will watch Real Housewives of Anywhere. Watching these tucked, coiffed and bedazzled "reality" (loosely stated) stars have cat fights and party till their wigs fall off , makes me feel grounded and amazingly intelligent. And best of all after a day of decision making and being responsible, these shows do not require me to think. These modern day "soap operas" are one of my secret obsessions, but a girl has to draw the line somewhere right??  Never, never will the Kardashians be seen on my screen. Sorry, just saying: even tacky can be taken too far!!



Veggitastic Vegetable Soup

OK, so I do not have a huge story about this recipe, other than I have fallen in love with this soup!! I have made this soup 3 times in the past 3 months. It was a recipe that I found in my Eating Well magazine a few months ago and put aside in "my vault of recipes that will never be made."  My BFF Ginny also saw this recipe and decided to make it. She brought me a bowl and it was delish so I began chopping, and chopping and chopping. Yes, this soup takes a lot of prep, but it is worth every bit of work and it makes a ton of soup. Since I have some late nights at work, I have been making this soup and freezing it in individual serving size containers. I get it out in the morning before work and it is ready to heat up for dinner. Also if I want to add a little more bulk to my bowl, I will drop in about 1/3 of a cup of organic brown rice and stir and enjoy.

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Chickpeas

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Chickpeas

I have tons of these chickpea recipes stashed away in my recipe archives.  I think by now, I have so many, I could probably blog "Chickpeas 50 Ways." So, last weekend, I finally got bored enough to give it a try. Isn't it funny how some recipes you see and just have to make right now!!! I remember one night before I started this blog, I  ran out of work and straight to the grocery to get ingredients to make an amazing Blackberry Wine Chocolate Cake. It could not wait!!! Thank goodness our grocery stores here in South Carolina sell wine or my "sweet dreams" would have been shattered.  I would have had to wait 24 more hours and that was not possible. Ironically, my "OMG emergency recipe cravings" are always something involving chocolate and sugar. Ironic?  Probably not. Stress induced you say........ you must have been reading for a while.

On the other hand....chickpeas..... not such an emergency.

I am happy to report that this recipe was excellent. It was super simple and made a great tasty, treat that was healthy. When eaten right out of the oven, they taste a lot like a peanut.  After cooling a little, they have a crunchy texture that is a great substitute for many common snack foods such as chips or pretzels, but much healthier. Maybe through this little experiment, I have realized that those recipes that are stashed away are my attempt to save the best for last. Next chickpea adventure- Curried Chickpeas!

Turkey Pumpkin Chili



Turkey Pumpkin Chili

Where have I been? I bet you are thinking I have gone into winter hibernation. Well that is kind of true! We are moving into my least favorite season of the year.... COLD! I hate Cold Season. LOL! No really, I have been busy cooking, but not baking so much. I have been on a 21 day cleanse and for those of you out there who have cleansed you know energy is at a minimum. But.... I AM BACK! And while Cold Season is my least favorite time of the year, I have a tons of comfort food recipes for this time of the year as well as holiday recipes from my family. So.... with any luck, for the next few months, you will be reading so many recipes from me that you will wish I was hiding in a cave somewhere!

So, when we were on our 21 day liver purification, we were restricted to only veggies and fruit for the first 10 days and then thankfully after day 11 we were allowed to eat lean meat. In the fall, on Sundays, there is nothing I love more than to put a pot of chili on in the afternoon and watch football (GO STEELERS!) While on the first 10 days of veggies, I kept saying I want chili, but I was restricted to what ingredients I could use. On day 11 the challenge was on: I was chili or bust.!!  I have had this recipe in my book of tricks for sometime and while it intrigued me, I was a little leery of whether or not it will WOW! me. Boy, am I glad I gave this a try. I think that this will be "my go to chili recipe" now. I have tried so many healthy chili recipes in the past and all were mediocre. This one is fabulous and you don't even realize that is is ground turkey or pumpkin for that matter. When I made this chili and told my friends it had pumpkin in it they looked at me like my cleanse had also erased my common sense but after the first taste they realized that this healthy, vitamin A and C packed chili was Pumpkin-licious!

Grandma Ethel's Calico Baked Beans

Slow cooking allows the flavors to really blend.

This is one of my Grandma Ethel's recipes that I remember eating every year at our family reunion. It is an old recipe that I have had forever but never made. I have had multiple parties and cookouts but I guess I never made "the occasion" to make this recipe. When I was planning my Summer Porch Party to share my new house with my best friends, I was going through recipes and thought why not use an old recipe that is new to me since I had never made it.

It has been quite a few years since I have had these slow baked, legumes. The classic recipe is really simple and the smell that fills the house while the beans cook is amazing. There is a good amount of bacon and ground beef in this recipe which makes it superfilling. It is hearty enough to eat as an entree or pair it with some chicken or a burger for a great side dish.

These beans got rave reviews at my party which made me proud. Not only was I proud of the recipe itself but I was humbled once again to make a recipe that was my Grandma's; keeping her spirit with me in the kitchen and through the celebrations of my life.