Hot Italian Sausage Red Beans and Rice

This has become one of our favorite dinners; it's so easy to make, and so incredibly good.

You need:
2TB olive oil

1 medium yellow onion

1 large clove garlic

2 medium green peppers

1lb hot italian sausage, or mild if you prefer. I buy the loose kind, uncased, but of course you can just slice up normal cased sausage, or buy the links and cut it out of the cases.

1 15-oz can red beans

1 cup long grain brown rice

1 15-oz can chicken broth

1/2 cup hot water

seasonings to taste (obviously not all are mandatory, and you can be creative. These are just what we have in the cabinet and what I generally use):

1TB salt

1TB black pepper

2tsp crushed red pepper

1TB dried basil

1TB dried oregano

1TB coriander

1tsp cumin (be careful with cumin- too much can really overpower anything)

1tsp dried mustard

1 bay leaf

What to do:

Roughly dice onion and garlic, and cube green peppers.

In large skillet, heat oil, then add onion and garlic, and saute on medium heat until brown, about 5 minutes. Add sausage, peppers and seasonings, and saute until meat is cooked thoroughly, about 10 minutes. Carefully drain excess fat.

Add beans, rice, broth and water, and bring to a light boil over medium heat, then cover tightly and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer slowly for 45-55 minutes, stirring only once or twice during that period, until rice is tender and liquid is mostly cooked off.

Allow to sit, lightly covered, for 5 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

(PS- Don't forget to refrigerate the leftovers before you go to bed. It's even better the next day!)

Top 10 Fitness Tips

Because everyone loves a good top 10 list, right?

Fitness is a daunting challenge to many, but what's easy is gradually making small, simple changes in your daily routine.  Educating yourself is a vital part of tackling any new challenge, so this is a compilation of what I've learned are the most important steps to living a healthier lifestyle.  At least, they're what works for me.

In no particular order:

1.  Drink more water.  A huge portion of our caloric overindulgence is in beverage form.  Instead of spending your day going from coffee to soda to beer, drink water all day.  You'll be surprised by how much you didn't need that caffeine.  Make water your beverage of choice at lunch and/or dinner, and keep a bottle at your desk.  And drink more tea, hot as a replacement for coffee, iced instead of soda.  An iced tea/lemonade mix is something available at most soda fountains, and it's the most irresistible beverage on the planet.

Physical Fitness

(Yes, I realize the post below this one is a recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and I stand by it.  It's all about moderation, people.)

I ran on my high school's cross-country team, and I loved it.  It was the only sport in which I was even close to showing anything resembling natural skill, and I have nothing but fond memories of the smell of freshly cut grass that filled our lungs every practice and the familiar fatigue in my muscles and taste of sweat on my lips.

When I went to college I read the average 5k time of my school's cross-country team's members and never mustered the courage to show up at a practice, which was probably a mistake.  Luckily, George Mason also had a brand-spankin' new fitness center on campus, and the summer before my senior year I took classes and also took my butt in to work out 5 days a week.  I taught myself how to lift weights, diversify my exercise, and combine lifting and cardio activity to maximize my return.  My senior year was a very productive one for me in the gym.

For some stupid reason the summer after my senior year in college I started smoking.  Even more inexplicable is that I started by smoking Marlboro Lights, which shows a lack of both intellect and taste.  I ended up smoking a pack a day of the toastier Camel Lights for the next 9 1/2 years. Amazingly, I actually did have a gym membership for part of this time and did work out for about a year, but as soon as I moved further than a block from the gym the habit quickly died.

I do have smoking to thank for meeting my husband, as we first introduced ourselves over Camel Lights outside our jobs on Connecticut Avenue in Washington.  And it was Brett and I that tackled and conquered the mighty tobacco together 8 years later, in January 2009, married and living in Chicago, where a pack of Camel Lights now topped $9.

We were having a cigarette in the bathroom one night, as was our custom.  Hey, this was January in Chicago, and anyway at least we weren't just smoking in the living room like our parents did.  We were discussing how nasty smoking made us smell, and how much money we were spending, and how much we needed to quit, which was actually rare for us to be talking about.  And something made it just snap in my brain.  I don't even think I said it to Brett right then, but sitting in that bathroom sucking on that cancer stick, I made up my mind.

--

The Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You've Ever Had In Your Life

I'm not joking.  Here we go:




Blue Ribbon Chocolate Chip Cookies


Here's what you need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup shortening 
Of course you can just use 3/4 cup butter if you don't have any shortening, but shortening improves the consistency and makes them taste better.)


1 cup packed brown sugar (I use light brown.)
1/2 cup white sugar


1 TB vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk

Creamy Chicken, Potato and Orzo Soup

SO good, and so much fun to make!

Creamy (Dark-Meat) Chicken, Potato and Orzo Soup

(serves 4)
__________________________________________________________________
Here's what you need:

3TB butter (or olive oil, or a combo)
1 med sweet onion
1 clove garlic
3-4 large carrots
4-5 celery stalks
2-3 lbs on-bone chicken thighs, legs or wings, or a combo
2 cups tap-hot water
1 cup chicken broth

3 large or 5-6 small potatoes: red, gold or white (don't matter)
1 cup dry orzo or rice
3/4 cup heavy cream

fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
bay leaf
oregano
basil
salt
pepper

A loaf of nice, crusty Italian bread

large stockpot
colander


__________________________________________________________________
Here's what you do:

Equality in a New Decade

2010 has been a busy year for gay rights.  As the year comes to a close, repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell looks very likely, states like New York and Maryland are taking a serious look at joining 5 other states (MA, IA, CT, VT & NH) and D.C. in offering marriage equality to their LGBT citizens, and groups like the American Family Association are finally having to spend their time and energy as they should, attempting a PR battle against being classified as 'hate groups' by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

None of these events we're witnessing is minor in the grand scheme of the gay rights movement. The end of Don't Ask Don't Tell, as easily evidenced with a quick Google search, is quite the contentious topic at the moment, probably mostly on the floors of the US House and Senate. The repeal's weighty effect on our nation is further displayed in the fact that a questionnaire was distributed to all US Service members earlier this year to collect their opinion on the subject.  I suppose gay people should be flattered that the consequences of our presence demand such exploration and analysis.  Is our freedom as humans to speak openly about the truth of who we are really something that should be up to a vote?  Besides, would the same rules not apply to us?

The Future of WikiLeaks and Mr. Assange

A judge in London granted bail today to Mr. Julian Assange, the recently famous founder of the international anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks, although he remains jailed currently pending the possibility of appeal.  Swedish authorities were given two days to lodge their case.

Mr. Assange is fighting a request from a Swedish judge for his extradition to that country to face sex abuse charges involving accusations made by two young female WikiLeaks volunteers.  No matter if Mr. Assange is freed today on bail, the extradition decision could take weeks or longer, the New York Times reports today.  His next court date is set for Jan 11.

Julian Assange                                                      photo:AP

He surrendered to British authorities and was jailed a week ago when a judge reviewing the extradition order declared Mr. Assange to be a flight risk because of his “nomadic lifestyle,” his lack of ties in Britain, his network of international contacts and his access to substantial sums donated by WikiLeaks supporters. From now until his Jan 11 court date, Mr. Assange has been ordered to wear an electronic tracking bracelet, live at a registered address in London and report to police every evening.