Meetings and a Recipe

I went back to Cardiac Rehab today, after missing my session last Thursday. Today was education day, but since I'm in Phase III of the program, I wasn't required to attend the meeting in the back room, and could get on with my exercises about fifteen minutes ahead of my scheduled hour.



The weather was fall-like today, with temps in the 70s. If tomorrow is predicted to be as cool as today, we plan to make a road trip south to see a museum exhibit about the human body. We want the day to be cool, so Shih Tzu will be comfortable in the car while we are touring the exhibit.



Since it was so cool today, I got a hankering for soup for lunch, but none was made, and of course I can no longer eat the canned ones because of the salt content. So I settled for a slice of bread with a little peanut butter, a glass of cranberry juice, and a bowl of fresh fruit.



After lunch, I decided it would be a good idea to try a new veggie soup recipe to have during the rest of the week. Naturally, though, I didn't have quite all the ingredients I needed, so Hubbie and I went to the WDCS to get the required items.



By the time I put all the veggies, the split peas, the lentils, the rice, the barley, and the whole- wheat macaroni into the soup, along with a can of no-salt tomatoes and various spices, the big Dutch oven was filled nearly to capacity. I hope the soup tastes as good as it smelled while simmering.



I won't get a chance to find out tomorrow, though, if we travel south, since we'll carry a lunch of sandwiches, etc., for the trip.

Later this afternoon, I attended an arts council meeting, and then a community theater board meeting at 7:30 p.m., which dragged on until 9:30 p.m.

Between meetings, we had a supper of chicken fixed with onions, bell peppers, and red potatoes, along with English peas and carrots. The chicken was prepared using a new no-salt recipe, obtained from Weight Watchers, and it is really good. Here it is:

Easy Baked Chicken and Potato Dinner

4 frozen chicken breasts without skin
4 medium potatoes unpeeled, cut into 1" pieces
1 medium bell pepper, cut in 1.5" cubes
1 medium onion, cut in 8 wedges
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 15x10x1-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place 1 frozen chicken breast half in each corner of sprayed pan. Place potatoes, bell pepper and onion in center of pan. Spray cooking spray over chicken an vegetables; sprinkle evenly with cheese, garlic powder and paprika.

2. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is fork-tender and juices run clear, stirring vegetables once halfway through cooking.

Note: the changes we made to this recipe are that we thawed the chicken breasts (we used large ones), covered the dish with foil, and cooked at 350 degrees for about one and a half hours.