Brown butter, Butternut Squash, and Ring Bouncing

FIGHT:
Having a boxing ring in the temp space has been a hell of a lot of fun.  The excitement of the other gals, the new space, and the motivation of the teachers is amazing.  Everyone seems to be riding that high and working at the top of their game.  Saturday & Sunday were fun ring days, bouncing off the ropes following up with a crazy hard cross, footwork, its been awesome and inspiring.

FOOD:
One of my favorite things to make is chili.  Not quite sure when it all started, I used to make the Bear Creek premix back in SLC when I would throw parties. I was the only gal who carried around a crock pot from apartment to apartment throughout my 20's.  Its something that I really love making, sharing, and trying new things to throw into the pot.  This time, I used my Cooking Light's recipe of Chili Verde.  Trader Joe's had some amazing peppers that I sliced and diced. I want to share the recipe, as it is seriously delicious.

Green Chile Chili
1 Tbsp. Canola Oil (I used coconut)
12 oz ground sirloin
1 1/2 Chopped Onion
1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 Teas. Paprika
5 Garlic cloves minced
1 bottle of dark beer
1/2 c salsa verde
1 (4oz) can of diced green chilies
1 (15 oz) can no-salt added tomatoes, undrained
1 (15 oz) Kidney Beans
optional: cheese to grate on top and green onion chopped
-In a large pan, add oil and turn to med-high heat.  Add sirloin, cook until done and crumbling.  Add Onion, chili powder, and paprika. Stir occasionally for 4 minutes.  Add garlic, saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in the beer, bring to a boil--cook for 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid evaporates.
-add the Salsa Verde, add the rest of the ingredients up to the cheese. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I love to add different things each time and since I looooove the heat, there is always cayenne pepper and jalapenos. And if you are short on time, which I always seem to be, the precut onions and frozen chopped garlic are definitely lifesavers. The beautiful thing about this is it makes a ton, you can share, have a couple lunches, and it freezes beautifully.

Tonight I made Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Butter Sauce.  It took me all of 10 minutes to make, it was delicious, and easy to clean up.  Gotta love Trader's and their delicious experiments. The Sage Butter sauce was courtesy of Epicurious.com.

FILM:
I have been sucked into the world that is "Friday Night Lights".  Anyone who knows me probably can't wrap their head around it, but that first season was amazing.  It seems when things are crazy, episodic TV is just what the doctor ordered, I can veg and be hypnotized.  I'm trying to get the juice and material to hit the storyboards again.

So here I am on a Sunday night, a crazy week of work ahead of me and training at night.  You can only imagine how the house is looking about now and I have one of my best friends coming next weekend, then the following my Parents.  Time to splurge and bring in reinforcements.
Goooooood Griiiiefffff....