Ground Chicken Chili

First time I've ever made chili and I think it's going to be pretty darn good...

1 lb ground chicken
1 can red kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1/2 large yellow onion (chopped)
1 stalk celery (chopped)
2 small cans tomato paste + 2 cans water
15 oz tomato sauce
Garlic (minced)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
olive oil

I'm horrible at measuring so these measurements are guesstimates based off a few recipes I researched.

Saute onion, celery, and red pepper flakes in olive oil (a couple tablespoons) until tender

Add ground chicken and garlic and cook until chicken is no longer pink

Meanwhile, rinse the beans (you can choose any beans you want).

Once chicken is cooked through, add the beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, and chili powder.

The recipes all say to cook until heated through but I went ahead and simmered for about 40 minutes, while I cooked up some basmati rice to go along with it!

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San Diego Holiday Half

So for the past 6 months I have been training for the San Diego Half Marathon. There were so many times I never thought I'd make it. 13.1 miles is a long way. I've had the most inspirational 'coach' and running partner for this entire journey and I seriously could never have done this without her! A few things that I did learn... races can start late. The race time was 7:30 and they had us line up in the wrong spot, so we all had to shift to the correct place. Obviously prolonging the start time by at least an hour. I had drank my amino energy with the anticipation of the 7:30 start time- next time I'll take that drink right down to the start line and finish before we run! Also, I didn't take a bottle of water. I figured just drink on the route- not a good idea or train with less water. Eat more the day before and eat about 300 calories prior to the race. I had a side ache throughout a lot of the race and that was not fun! Also, I need more hill training but that will come with time. The race was not my best run day but I finished- 2:34 and my garmin tracked us at 13.25 miles. So we were pretty much on track for our 2:30 goal. Definitely did more walking than expected but overall I'm happy. Funny thing is, 2 weeks prior to this race we ran 13.1 miles in 2:35. That run I was much stronger but Dara had a tough run. It's nice when one of us is on and the other is off but it would be even better if we could both be 'on' for race day... Next up is possibly Surf City in a few weeks!