Monday Monday

I have the lyrics from the Mama's and the Papa's in my head.

We've had a fun rainy weekend here in central Illinois.

Although I worked a lot, long story short, I left the joint with an agreement with the manager that I'd work only one shift per month through the

rest of the semester, keeping me on the payroll in case I decide (for some crazy reason) that I'd love to work there again in the summer and up my hours.

Fine with me. I can do one shift a month. I feel like a giant load has been lifted off of my shoulders. Hurray!

Hurray for Saturdays to actually clean our house, or do the laundry, or better yet- go to the temple. Hurray for the re-institution of weekend date-nights with Jonny.

Speaking of him, this morning I drove him to the airport. He's off to USC for a conference on solar cells with his professor. He was the one chosen from his research group to go. He's been working so hard on learning new things about quantum mechanics and made an awesome poster for the poster session which has diagrams of squiggly things and words I don't understand. But I'm so proud. He's smart. And he loves me. He's a wonderful husband and I'm so lucky to have him. Say Hi to California for me, babe!

Yesterday we had some friends over and ate this for dinner:

YUM.

Lean ‘N Green Chili from The Pampered Chef

8 (6-inch) corn tortillas, divided

2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided

1 cup chopped poblano chile peppers (1-2 medium) OR green bell pepper

½ cup chopped onion

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾ inch pieces

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 garlic clove, pressed

2 cans (14 ½ ounces each) chicken broth

2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 ¼ cups salsa verde (green salsa) or 1 can (10 ounces) green chile enchilada sauce

2 tablespoons snipped fresh cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut four of the tortillas in half and stack them one on top of another. Cut tortillas into ½ inch strips; place in bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon of the oil. Spread in a single layer over the bottom of a pan. Bake 10-12 minutes or until crisp, stirring once. Remove from oven.

2. Meanwhile, remove membranes and seeds from chile peppers; chop with knife. Chop onion. Cut chicken into ¾ inch pieces; toss with cumin. Fold one tortilla to fit into grater; coarsely grate into separate small bowl. Repeat for remaining three tortillas; set aside.

3. Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 5 minutes. Remove chicken from pan; add chile peppers, onion and garlic pressed. Cook and stir 3 minutes. Stir in chicken, broth, beans, salsa and grated tortillas (I put in a large pot). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes.

4. Snip cilantro and stir into chili. Ladle soup in bowls; top with baked tortilla strips.

Yeild: 6 servings (about 7 ½ cups)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 10-12 minutes

Cook Time: 23 minutes

I think I'm going to love mondays this semester. I have absolutely nothing scheduled. That means I get to do lots of homework/clinic prep/run errands/eat food, and generally do whatever I want. Happy Monday, Everyone! Here's to a great week.