Yoga and Salsa Verde

Yeah, you read that correctly. I said, "Yoga and Salsa Verde." Those two things have kind of been consuming my life for the past couple days. I made a big 'ol batch of some kick ass salsa verde. I practically put it on EVERYTHING! Especially chicken quesadillas (corn tortillas, of course, gotta keep the tummy happy). I'll put the recipe at the end of the post, so you can all indulge is the green goodness.

Now to the yoga part. I've never really done yoga before but some of the poses were always incorporated into my exercises. I've always loved aggressive sports and I continuously thought of yoga as a cool down, not necessarily a complete exercise.

As the years have gone by high impact sports have become increasing more uncomfortable. I guess 10 years of soccer, 4 years of cross country, and 3 years of softball can do a number on your joints (especially my knees). This past winter my knees were not doing well in the cold, so I quit running and started using my elliptical more. Let me just say, I don't like ellipticals, the movement is so awkward for me, the only thing I like about them is how many calories they burn.

One of my other passions is kickboxing, I took the classes for a few years and LOVED it! I stopped doing it once we moved to our last duty station because there wasn't a gym close enough that offered the classes. One day, I would LOVE to join a kickboxing gym. It's one of those dream goals that I have for myself. We're moving again in like seven months, so nows not the time for me to fall in love with a kickboxing gym but I'm definitely going to look into it at our next duty station. But my point of writing about this is because at the end of every class we would do yoga for the last 10 or 15 minutes and it was so nice and relaxing and I completely enjoyed it.

I've thought about the relaxing aspect of it a lot lately, especially while Mr. I has been away in Afghanistan. I could use all the relaxing techniques I can get! So, I was talking to Mr. I on Wednesday and somehow yoga got brought up. I was telling him how I've been wanting to try it out.  I also mentioned thinking about possibly purchasing a DVD (I'm too chicken to take a class without testing the waters first). My smarty pants husband reminded me that he added Netflix to the Wii while he was here on R&R and that I could probably find a DVD there to follow. DUH! I don't know how I forgot about that, but I did. So, I searched Netflix and VIOLA! There were a bunch of DVDs and I actually found one that was called "Yoga for Health: Gastro-Intestinal Disorders." Oh, Yoga, you know me so well!

I did some "Crunch" video on Thursday. I don't think that was necessarily the best choice because it started out nice and easy then all of a suddent it became hard as hell quite challenging. I did the "Yoga for Health" one today and really liked it. It actually flew by and didn't even feel like I did an hour at all. Today I'm a teeny tiny bit sore which I like because then I know its actually doing something.

I'm really excited about trying more videos and eventually attending a class (they have them here on post). I'll let you know how it goes once I get enough courage and perfect this pose ;)

And if you've made it this far(you're awesome and certainly deserving), here's the salsa verde recipe:

Ingredients


2 chicken breasts

2 cups chicken broth

1 small white onion

3 clove garlic

2 teaspoons salt

2 pounds fresh tomatillos, husks removed

4 anaheim peppers (you can use jalapenos or serrano peppers if you wish, I just prefer the taste of the anaheim)

fresh cilantro (however much you like)


Directions

1.In a saucepan, combine chicken breast with chicken broth, half the onion, two cloves of garlic, and 2 teaspoons salt. Bring to a boil, and then boil for 20 minutes.

2. Prepare the tomatillos by removing the husks and giving them a rinse. Now its time to prepare the peppers. This is when you control the heat of the salsa. If you want it crazy hot throw in the peppers whole. I personally don't like my salsa verde screaming hot so I cut them open and take out the seeds and the ribs. This will remove all the heat if you do it correctly.

2.Now place the tomatillos and anaheim peppers in a pot with water, enough to cover them. Bring to boil, and continue boiling until tomatillos turn a different shade of green (from bright green to an army green color). Strain tomatillos and chiles, and place in a blender with the other half of  the onion, 1 clove garlic, and some cilantro (or not, if you're not a fan).

3. At this time the chicken should be ready. Reserve broth, set chicken aside to cool, and discard onion and garlic. Shred the chicken with a fork (or two :)).

4.Pour in reserved chicken broth into the blender Blend all ingredients until they are completely pureed.

And there you go!

It should look something like this, and taste like heaven.