Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soup. Show all posts

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Spicy Chicken Soup

A beautiful 65 degree day! Had a nice 2 mile run outside around the neighborhood with Brandon. Then he installed our new pull up bar. (I can't do pull-ups so I should probably call it something else!) I had Brandon put me up on the bar and then I hung and slowly let my self down. I did this twice for chin-ups and once for pull-ups. Then I did 6 Standing pull-ups (Lean back with feet on the ground and slowly pull and release yourself from the bar). 3 Australian pull-ups (An upside down push-up using the bar).  For some this may sound easy but... pull ups are hard. Then I had to do 5 "REAL" push ups. After all the working out, I was glad I had thrown dinner in the crock pot this morning.  This gave us time to work out, enjoy the beautiful weather and have a little quality time before bed. 


For Dinner I made up a spicy/hot chicken soup 

Spicy Chicken Soup

Ingredients: 
1 C. Celery leaves, chopped finely
4-6 Chicken Breasts, cook whole
1 (8oz. can) Tomato Paste
1 Jar Tomato Sauce + 1 Jar of Water
1 Tbs Chili Powder
1 Tbs Hot Sauce
1 Whole cloves of Garlic
3 On the Vine tomatoes, diced
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Add all the ingredients into a crock pot. Cook on low heat for 7 hours. 
Shred the chicken into chunks with a fork and mix the soup well.  Add more Hot Sauce if you would like more heat to the flavor. 





Enjoy! 

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

What do I do when.. Q&A time.

Our Fridge  prepared for lunches and Breakfasts for the next day

I have had some great feedback from my previous blogs. I have also had a lot of questions from people trying to eat healthier. Here are a few of the questions with some of my advice. Before you read this- go to Costco and invest in TUPPERWARE. I hope you find some answers to any questions you had. If not, ask me questions and I will do my best to answer them.  

1.) If I buy veggies and fruits and just throw them in a drawer- I tend to forget about them and they go bad before I can salvage them for a meal. Do I have to grocery shop every day for fresh veggies?
I have gotten into the routine of washing it all, cutting it, packaging it for lunches or putting it with the other foods that I am going to make a meal with. This is my OCD showing but it is a great way to make sure I don't waist great food. This only takes about 30 minutes once you've got your Tupperware/baggies and routine set in place.

2.) I eat more fruit because it is small and it seems more easily accessible. How can I get more vegetables in my diet?
In an attempt to eat less fruit, I decided to cut and package veggies, pre- cook and package veggies and keep them more accessible than my fruits. I have been grabbing the carrots, tomatoes and celery over the pineapple and strawberries.

3.) Lunch is HARD to do because I work, what do you do for lunch?
My best advice here is- make extra! I always make extra pieces of chicken or extra meat for leftovers. I throw it on a salad or with some steam fresh veggies and it is a perfect lunch. Another great idea is to make some soup on Sunday and pre-package it into Tupperware for the week. Most soups can be frozen and saved for later in the week.

4.) What Can I do for Breakfast besides Eggs?
Eggs can raise your cholesterol so I have been told to eat no more than 6 a week. Other options are muffins- check out some of the muffins on the blog, Meat (sausage, bacon, ham, leftover steaks etc.) and sweet potato hash, fruit with some nuts and seeds or pancakes (we have had pancakes leftover from dinner and they are fine reheated in the morning.)

5.) How do you work all day, come home, exercise and prepare meals?
I have an amazing husband who helps me, motivates me and encourages me daily. He will jump in and cook meals if he is home first. We have an I cook, you clean system. We generally help prepare the menu's, grocery shop and organize our meals together. I prepare our lunches and get the coffee set up the night before. I pre-make a lot of the meals on Sundays. Because I eat healthy, I have more energy and (a lot of days Brandon begs me to go run off my energy). I think the keys here are: Preparation and a partner who encourages you or joins in your healthier lifestyle with you(it doesn't have to be a spouse, it could be a friend- I have a friend who does Sunday cook day with her daughter and then they package the meals and distribute for the week).

Eating healthy can work for you and to stay consistent, you have to stay organized. If you go to your fridge and there isn't any food, you will devour anything you can find. There have been days where I walk in and will literally eat whatever is in front of me. On my prepared days, it is veggies or fruit but on my unprepared days it is chocolate or less healthy items.

What are your healthy tips for others? What do you do that helps you to eat veggies over fruits or chocolates?