Friday, October 03, 2014

Black Bean Chicken and Rice, plus other updates

[Note: I started writing this post over the weekend, but between my sister's birthday and a sudden bout of the flu I was unable to publish.]

First things first: My 2nd recipe from September.

I should probably change the name of this blog to "crock-pot improvisations," because that's all I ever write about any more. This recipe was pure improvisation, made with whatever I could find in the pantry that sounded like it would taste good together. As my time in theater could have told you, I was never very good at improv. I had a can of black bean soup, some cumin, and some frozen chicken breasts. I was going to add some salsa in as well, but then I remembered I already ate all the salsa. It came out edible, but that's about the best I can say for this recipe. The taste was fine, but because of the black bean soup the result was too grey to be too appetizing. Don't get me wrong, I still ate it.

How I made it
1 can Black Bean soup
2 frozen chicken breasts
About 1 tsp of Cumin (I didn't measure)

I threw it all in my crock pot and cooked it on high for about 5 hours. Then I shredded the chicken and served it over rice.

What I'll do differently
I don't think I'll make this one again, and if I do, I'll adjust it so much that it won't really be the same recipe anymore. So, no "what I'll do differently" this time.

In other news

I'm trying to cut back on the amount of soda I drink. I bought some flavored sparkling waters to try to satisfy my sweet/bubbly craving, and so far it seems to be doing the trick! I actually have not had a soda today. It's been a long time since I chose to go a day without a soda. Some of the waters I bought have sort of an odd aftertaste (I think it's the Splenda, although I don't taste it in all of the flavors though they all have Splenda), so I was trying to find some alternatives to perhaps flavor the water myself. I went to my go-to source for stuff like this: Pinterest. I searched "sparkling water flavor" and the first result? How to make a Gin Fizz. Not exactly what I was looking for, Pinterest, but I like where your head's at.