Breathing With the Heart

Cooking isn't something I ever really loved until about a year ago. Now I can't wait to try a new recipe, especially now that I'm married to a man who will eat almost anything. On Tuesday I attempted my first White Chicken Chili.  It was DELICIOUS.  Even though the recipe is a "meal for two," there was enough extra for my husband and I to enjoy leftovers for lunch the next day. This recipe comes from The Complete Cooking for Two Cookbook  from America's Test Kitchen. You can find my version of it below! Ingredients: 1 15-oz can white or yellow hominy  (I used white.) 2 cups chicken broth 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or other cooking oil) 2 poblano chile peppers (Poblanos have a richer, earthier flavor than bell peppers, but you could easily substitute green bell peppers in this recipe.) 1 small onion  (I used a yellow onion, but in the future I'll probably use a purple onion for added color.) 2 garlic cloves  1 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. ground coriander 1 ta...

Talk about a transformation! I may be thinner on the left, but I’ll take 29-year old overweight (but healthy) Brandy over 17-year old skinny (but sick) Brandy any day... Imagine that growing up, you were always chunkier than the other kids. You were healthy, but always overweight. But then as a teenager, things suddenly change. Imagine that at 17 years old you lose 30 lbs. in 3 months without trying—you lose 30 lbs. without exercising and while eating all the junk food you can eat. Sounds fantastic, right? Now imagine being told by a doctor, at 17 years old, that you have an autoimmune disorder that usually affects people in their 30s, and that the reason you’re losing that weight is because your body is essentially attacking itself by producing too much thyroid-stimulating hormone, thus raising your metabolism to an unhealthy level that could have dire consequences if left untreated. Then you’re told that, because of that autoimmune disorder, you have a dangerously high heart rate and...