#5 A Spouse Who Is Flexible

Today Scott and I swapped roles.  We both hope to pass the DELE Exam in May and realized that meant we would need to be flexible in schedules and roles between now and then.  SEND suggests that one spouse go to school full time and the other part time, to allow time for all the domestic tasks.  Up until now, Scott has been the full time spouse and I have been the part time, but today all that changed.  For the month of November I will go full time and Scott will pick up a greater share of the domestic responsibilities.  I am grateful for a spouse who is flexible with responsibilities and is willing to cook, clean, shop, and even clean a bathroom.

Today he cooked Tuscan Chicken Stew.  Yum!

Ingredients

• 8 skinless chicken thighs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 2 red peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (28 ounce) cans peeled tomatoes
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 large fresh oregano sprigs, chopped
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• salt and pepper
• 4 sprigs oregano (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet until hot, not smoking. Saute the chicken in the oil until brown. Remove chicken from the pan and reserve. Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook 3 to 5 minutes until soft but not browned. Add minced garlic.
2. Carefully drain tomatoes reserving liquid in a cup or bowl. Mash the tomatoes into a thick paste – more concentrated than tomato sauce but not as thick as tomato paste.
3. Add chicken, tomatoes, wine and oregano to the onions and peppers. Simmer 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through. If the pan becomes dry, add a little of the reserved tomato liquid. Do so sparingly.
4. Add cannelloni beans to the pan, and simmer another 5 minutes until hot.
   Recipe from www.food.com