Beer Cheese & Broccoli Soup: The perfect winter/TMJ dinner

As you may know by now, I have TMJ -- super intense jaw pain and clicking/cracking noises every time I eat, talk and sing. Basically, my jaw is popping out of the joint socket whenever I do any of the aforementioned actions. It's getting so painful, I can't really eat much. Though, it may be due to the frigid weather we've had in Arizona.

To say I've had a craving for soups lately, then, would be a gross understatement. Soup fits the bill as the perfect non-chewing, cold weather pick-me-up food. After my dental appointment this morning, J.D. found me the following recipe, for beer cheese soup from an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives that features Otto's Sausage Kitchen in Portland, Ore. I promised myself I wasn't going to drink for a looooong time after the New Year's Eve I had -- I'm sure you know the feeling -- but beer in soup was quite a surprise. It mixed well with the thick cheesy texture and the caramelized onions to create a flavor I wouldn't mind having again, even amidst the world's worst hangover!

With slight modification, I bring you Beer Cheese & Broccoli Soup:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c butter
• 1 chopped medium sized yellow onion
• 1/2 c chopped broccoli florets
• 1/2 c chopped carrots
• 1/2 c chopped celery
• 1/3 c all-purpose flour (modified from original 1 c)
• 2 c chicken broth
• 1 (12-oz) beer of choice (we went with a Pilsner Urquell)
• 7 oz extra-sharp shredded cheddar
• 7 oz shredded Gruyère
• 2 c half-and-half
• 1/2 t garlic salt
• 1/2 lb smoked sausage (J.D. had it in his soup bowl, I opted out)

Directions:

Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat. Add chopped onion, broccoli, carrots and celery. Sautée until softened.

Add flour. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. Add chicken broth and beer.

Heat until it comes to a boil. Slowly add cheese while stirring until just boiling and smooth.

Add half-and-half and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low and cook until soup has thickened.

Cut smoked sausage into 1/2-inch pieces and place in a saucepan. Sautée sausage over medium heat until heated through. It will probably take about 5 to 7 minutes. Add sausage to the soup, transfer to a large serving bowl and serve hot.

AND WE'RE BACK!!!

It's been a long frickin' road, but my running has been struggling the past few months. I'm not gonna lie, since I don't have padded bike shorts and since my knee's been bothering me, I've really only worked out once or twice a month since living here in Arizona. I tried Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred for a few days when I knew I couldn't run and it was too hot to bike, but I didn't have the heart. I'm a runner and if I couldn't run, then what did I have left?

My eating habits went down the drain too. I've been eating junk and drinking a lot. Since I don't have a job, it's easier to get hungry during the day and grab a snack from the pantry. Bad snacks :) But this isn't aimed at being a downer post. This is a new day. The weather is cool and conducive to running so I figured it'd be nice to try the Couch 2 5K program. I downloaded the app and off I went (paced by a British woman's voice telling me when to run and when to walk).

I'm going to admit, I do feel pretty silly doing this program because I was averaging about seven miles per run this spring. And I set a PR at a 5K race in June as well. It was very frustrating for me to start on Week 1 Day 1, because it's basically alternating between jogging and walking every 90 seconds, plus a five-minute warm-up and cool-down for a total of 30 minutes. My frustrations were after building up a good jogging pace, I'd have to stop and walk immediately. But, seeing as how I pushed myself because I felt good earlier and wound up with a knee injury, it's going to be smart to ease into this. I did feel strong and my knee didn't bother me much. I just feel out of shape I guess :) my lungs need to get back in the groove of running too.

I did also have another reason for exercising again (other than feeling utter lazy): my TMJ has been soooooo painful I can't even get out of bed some days. TMJ is intense pain in the jaw joint that leads to crazy gnarly knots in my neck and face and head. I've been given PT exercises for when I'm home, but I've also been advised to exercise. So this was also a desperation attempt to keep the pain at bay. And you know what? I think it really helped!

In about 30 minutes, I walked and jogged just over two miles. Funny because on the first day I'm basically 2/3 of the way to a 5K ha. Maybe I'm jogging too fast? Either way, in summary, C25K = smart for me right now. Maybe this'll give me the kick in the pants I've been needing all summer :) I hope I can stick with it and my knee cooperates.