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On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Elizabeth works out with her trainer, Skeet, after school.  While she works out, I ride a bike and listen to my “Workout Playlist” and try not to die.  On this particular Tuesday, I rode the bike for 30 minutes.  That may not sound like much to some of you, but considering the fact that I started out only able to ride 8 minutes at a time, I’m pretty proud of 30 minutes.

When I finished, I had noodle legs.  I sat on the bike for more than a few minutes, waiting for the feeling to go away.  It didn’t.  I considered quietly slithering to the floor and lying in a heap until time to leave.  I even texted my friend, Angie, and told her my intention.  She – being the kind of friend who understands that I am not, by nature, a
“gym person” – offered some wise advice:

Just be sure to put a sign around your neck so they don’t think you’re dead.

I decided against slithering.  I hoisted my leg over the bike and stood shakily for a few seconds before stepping down from the bike platform.  Whose idea was it to put the bikes on a raised platform forcing tired people with jelly legs to walk like newborn baby giraffes to get down and stumble away?

Elizabeth, Christopher, and I were all working out at the same time.  Michael came in for his workout just before we left, so at some point, all four Pates were working out at once.  Pretty cool when I think about it!

I was just grateful that I had put dinner in the crock pot before I left that morning.  The kids and I walked into the house and it smelled wonderful.  Poor Christopher is still following a different eating plan, so he only got to smell our dinner while he ate one of the meals I had prepped for him.

But the other three of us enjoyed it!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

  • 3 pound bag of frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 packages of taco seasoning mix
  • 2 16-ounce jars of salsa
  • 2 15.25-ounce cans of whole kernel corn, drained
  • 2 15.25-ounce cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
  • Rice for serving

Place frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Pour taco seasoning over the chicken.  Top with salsa, corn, and beans.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

While rice is cooking, stir the mixture in the crock pot.  This should shred the chicken.  Serve warm over rice.

Well Duh #1:  You can control the heat level by adding the salsa of your heat preference.

Well Duh #2:  We had this over yellow rice the first day and white rice the second day.  Both were awesome!

Well Duh #3:  Do not thaw the chicken breasts before cooking.  You need them to be frozen if they are going to cook all day long.

Well Duh #4:  Did you count that?  Five ingredients!  That’s all.  Just five ingredients in one wonderful dish!

I was pitiful.  Staggering around the kitchen, cooking rice.  Grimacing every time I got up to get something.  Pitiful.

But I can’t wait to go back on Thursday and do it all again!

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