Turkey and Veggie Soup

Summer is quickly approaching and that means soon warmer weather will be the normal. But, as we have experienced this past week in Atlanta, we can still have a few cold days left before the heat fully arrives.

What does that weather mean? One last chance for a hearty soup before the cool soups make their appearance on the dinner table.

This last week I experimented with the ingredients I had around the house to make our hearty turkey and veggie soup. The great thing about this recipe is that it can definitely be made to what YOU have in your kitchen and what YOU like.

But for a base recipe, here is what we used!

Ingredients

1lb ground turkey

2 tsp cooking oil or butter

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 sweet potato, cubed

4 cups raw kale, chopped

1 cup baby carrots

4 cups chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes

1 tsp basil

1 basil leaf

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp paprika

Directions

1. In a large heavy bottomed pot (such as a dutch oven) over medium high heat, heat up your cooking oil or butter 

2. Add you chopped onions, sautee until soft and translucent. Add your garlic in and cook for one minute. 

3. Add in the chopped green peppers, and potatoes.

4. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. 

5. Add kale, bay leaf and diced tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Let cook for about 10 minutes, covered. 

6. As that cooks, brown your turkey with all of the seasonings mentioned above added in with it.

7. After turkey is browned, add to soup, mix and cover. 

8. Let cook over medium low, stirring occasionally for about 25 minutes. 

9. Garnish with cheese and plain Greek yogurt if desired! 

Enjoy these last few days of warm soup weather before the fall. This is an easy and yummy way to get veggies in! Experiment with what you have and make it fun. 

What's your favorite soup? 

Green Machine Pancakes

Pancakes, one of the classic American breakfast options. Unfortunately, I have never been their biggest fan. Mostly because I don't like eating sweet foods for breakfast. But, when I got married, I discovered that my husband loves pancakes.

So I end up making them quite a bit around here for him. I don't usually eat them myself, again, because I don't like sweet foods for breakfast. But when I found a clean recipe of panckes , I had to try them!

I have made several variations of these healthy pancakes for Zach and he definitely approves! The recipe is simple to vary based on your tastes, so I will include the base recipe as well as the green machine version.

Base Recipe - Clean Eating Pancakes (makes about 4-5 pancakes) 
Ingredients
1/3 cup rolled or steel cut oats, uncooked
2 eggs
1 banana

Directions
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor, blend until smooth.
2. Use a 1/4 cup to measure out pancake batter.
3. Cook over medium to medium high heat as regular pancakes

GREEN MACHINE PANCAKES
Ingredients
1/3 cup rolled or steel cut oats, uncooked
3 eggs
1 banana
1 loose scoop of Greenberry Shakeology

Directions
1. Place all ingredients in a food processor, blend until smooth.
2. Use a 1/4 cup to measure out pancake batter.
3. Cook over medium to medium high heat as regular pancakes

And there you have it! Clean eating pancakes that you don't have to feel guilty about eating. They will fill you up and leave you satisfied and nourished! You can also vary the vase recipe to include any fruits or other things you want to put in, or even top them with!  Have fun with the recipe!

What is your favorite pancake combo? 

Guilt Free Chocolate Pudding

Generally, I tend to not have a sweet tooth. I would take something salty over sweet most any day. But, there are days where I crave chocolate. That sweet tooth rears its ugly head, and all I want to do is whip up a batch of brownies and devour the whole thing. But that is not really conducive for good health to do that. So, I had to come up with a new solution!

The new solution? Finding healthy sweet replacements, and ways to "healthify" different recipes.

Thankfully, in my new 21 Day Fix Extreme book, they did that for me! There are actually a few recipes that I plan on trying over the course of my 21 day journey to help satisfy my sweet tooth in a healthy way, but I wanted to experiment with a few of the recipes sooner, and I chose chocolate pudding!

For some reason it was just calling my name, and I gave it a go. Surprisingly, the recipe is super simple, and takes just a few minutes to make, and then only an hour to chill and BAM! You have your healthy sweet treat ready to go.

Who's ready to get their healthy sweet treat on?

Guilt Free Chocolate Pudding 
(Makes 4 servings, 1/2 cup each)

Ingredients
1 1/2 scoops of Chocolate Shakeology
1 medium ripe avocado
1 medium banana
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (plus more if too thick)
Optional raspberries or sliced strawberries for the top

Directions
1. Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Again, if it's too thick, you can add a little additional almond milk, just go slow!
2. Divide into 4 separate dessert bowls, and set in the fridge to chill for one hour so it can set.
3. Top with a few raspberries or sliced strawberries, if you so desire, and enjoy!

There you have it, a super simple, four ingredient way that you can easily satisfy your sweet tooth in a very healthy way! Finding simple replacements like this can be a key component to staying on track in your health and fitness journey as you find ways to enjoy the foods you love in a healthy way!

What's your favorite healthy sweet treat?

Zoodle Pad Thai

Zucchini and Thailand collide in this delicious dish! I have been absolutely loving my Vegetti lately (it's what makes these "zoodles"- aka zucchini noodles), and decided to make a dish with an Asian flair from one of my favorite Asian countries- Thailand.

I created a veggie pad thai dish not long ago and loved it, and decided that I would substitute the whole wheat noodles for the delicious zucchini noodles to add in an extra servings of vegetables! It's actually even easier to make with the zucchini noodles because they don't have to cook longer.

So, here we go! 

Zoodle Pad Thai (Optional with chicken)
6 servings
Ingredients
-6 medium zucchini
-2 tsp cooking oil
-1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
-1/2 an onion, finely chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1 green bell pepper, chopped
-1/3 cup peanut butter
-2 Tbsp soy sauce (plus more to taste)
-3 Tbsp coconut milk (more to taste if needed)
-Pinch of crushed red pepper
-1 Tbsp Sesame seeds (plus a few extras for garnish)
-2 chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces (if using chicken)

Directions
1. Use a vegetti or other spiralizer cutter, cut all of your zucchini on the "thick" setting, set aside.
2. Heat your cooking oil in a large skillet, and also bring a medium pot of water to a boil (one that you can fit a steamer basket into)
3. Sautee your onion until translucent, add in garlic and sautee for a minute, until fragrant.
4. Add in all of your other chopped veggies.
5. Sprinkle and mix in your sesame seeds and let the whole mixture cook over medium to medium high heat for 5 minutes, until veggies begin to get tender.
6. Add in your chicken, cook until done, mixing with veggies.
7. Mix together your peanut butter, soy sauce, and coconut milk, to make your peanut sauce. Add in a pinch of red pepper, and pour over chicken and veggie mixture.
8. Cook for 5 minutes over medium high heat.
9. While the veggies and chicken are cooking, steam the zucchini very briefly. I prefer my zucchini noodles with more crunch. The longer you steam them, the smaller they get, so you can vary it according to your taste.
10. Remove and toss with the chicken and veggie mixture.
11. Top with a few red pepper flakes and sesame seeds, and enjoy! 

So, who is ready to try using zucchini noodles??

Veggie Pad Thai

Ever since I tasted Pad Thai on the streets of Bangkok, I was in love. I paid about 50 cents for a whopping portion of pure amazing noodle-ness. Sprinkled with spice, crunchy peanuts and sometimes little dried shrimp (those weren't my favorite). But this week I decided to bring Thailand here for a little experiment and make my own veggie Pad Thai inspired dish!

The result was super easy, and super delicious! You could throw in whatever you want as well and make your own veggie combo. I just happened to use some of the veggies we love most and it turned out great!

Veggie Pad Thai

Ingredients
-Package of Whole Wheat or Gluten Free noodles (or your noodle of choice, rice noodles are fun, or spaghetti squash if you want a ton of veggie servings!)
- 2 tsp cooking oil
-1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
-1/2 an onion, finely chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1 green bell pepper, chopped
-1 cup of fresh sprouts
- 1/3 cup of chopped green onion
- 1 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
- Store made Thai peanut sauce (or you can make your own with a 1/3 cup peanut butter, thin out with soy sauce- start with 2 Tbsp. Thin further with coconut milk- start with 3 Tbsp. Taste test from there. Add in a sprinkling of crushed red pepper and sesame seeds)
- 1 Tbsp Sesame seeds (plus a few extras for garnish)

Directions
1. In large pot, bring water to a rolling boil and add your pasta to cook.
2. Heat your cooking oil in a large skillet
3. Sautee your onion until translucent, add in garlic and sautee for a minute, until fragrant.
4. Add in all of your other chopped veggies- broccoli, peppers, and green onion, and sprouts.
5. Sprinkle and mix in your sesame seeds and let the whole mixture cook over medium to medium high heat for 5 minutes, until veggies begin to get tender.
6. After pasta is done, drain and add into the veggie mixture.
7. Add your homemade or store bought peanut sauce on top, add cilantro and mix together.
8. Divide up, garnish with sesame seeds, a few chopped green onions, and even a sprinkling of red pepper flakes.
9. Dig in and ENJOY!

You could even add in cooked chicken that has been chopped up, or cook up some tofu and add that in as well! The possibilities are endless.

So I want to hear from you! Have you ever had Pad Thai?

Finish Your Broccoli First!

“May I be excused?”

“Not until you eat all your veggies!”

How many of us grew up hearing that at least a handful of times in our lives? I’m sure there are a fair few of you out there, including myself. I have never really hated vegetables, but I never loved them either or specifically asked for them. Unless you count stuffing grape tomatoes in my mouth straight from the garden when I was a kid (there’s photographic proof of this).

Growing up, particularly through middle school and high school, I never really was keen on eating all my fruits and veggies. Fruit didn’t appeal to me unless it was the only option, and a veggie was just an afterthought with dinner for me sometimes. Then there was the occasional salad thrown in just to look cool.

But as a whole, I didn’t really make it a part of my daily nutrition. That has carried over into my adult life, and fruits and veggies were more of an afterthought for me rather than a staple or main food group in my life. And thus, I found myself packing on the pounds and lacking a lot of nutrition that I needed, leaving me tired and weak a lot of the time.

This past April, everything changed. I was introduced to the 21 Day Fix, which laid out for me how much fruits and veggies (and every food group for that matter) I was supposed to have each day, and just how big each serving was supposed to be. “What?! You mean I have to eat multiple servings?” I thought. Veggies was one of my biggest category for daily nutrition and to that point it was probably my lowest next to fruit.

How about you? Do you struggle to get your fruits and veggies in? Do you ever get that random bag of broccoli because it seemed like a good, healthy choice at the time, only to find it three weeks later rotting in your forgotten veggie drawer? That definitely happened to me. Though now I am happy to say those drawers are used daily now.

So, how have I turned my habits around to getting 5 servings of veggies and 3 servings of fruit in per day? (Which in all honesty that is a liberal estimate of what I had per week before of those things) For one, the 21 Day Fix has taught me how to plan it in, and actually enjoy eating vegetables and fruit. It is now a daily staple in my life.

Another big way I make sure to get my fruits and veggies in, especially in a pinch, are smoothies! You can stuff those things full of fruit, and veggies! Did you know that you can add kale or spinach to your smoothie and you can’t even taste it? Try it out! You get a punch of nutrition and you don’t have to feel like you’re eating like a rabbit (as my husband would say).

The moral of the story is, eat your fruits and veggies! Find a way to incorporate them more into your diet through planning. Plan snacks, make smoothies, sneak them into your dinner. I promise you that you will start to notice a difference in your energy and how you feel when you fuel your body with the right nutrients.

So what’s your favorite way to sneak in fruits and veggies to your diet? Share some of your tips below!

Honest Review of the 21 Day Fix

“Just one more bite and I’ll be done.”

“Oh just a little bit more."

These were thoughts that often ran through my head while eating, justifying myself to keep eating when I knew I should have stopped. My portion control was out of control, and I wasn’t sure how to stop. Because of that, I packed on the pounds, grew weaker, and felt awful inside and out.

Most of you know by now that I started my health and fitness journey this year around February. I committed to doing T25, and loved it. I lost around thirty pounds doing the program, and finally finished one for the first time ever. Trust me, it felt good.

But, even though I was working out and getting stronger, I was still filling my body with the wrong foods. I was eating like I was before I started working out, not getting enough fruits and veggies, and just lacking any sort of portion control. However, my body started to crave these things. I started to realize how important good nutrition is, and decided I needed to find a way to work on my nutrition.

I meal planned a little bit, mostly for what lunch and dinner were going to be, and just as a general idea at that. The thought of getting into nutrition and correct portion sizes was intimidating. The idea of adding in fruits and veggies every day, multiple times a day was daunting. And thoughts like, “how do you even cook eggplant or cauliflower?” entered my mind regularly. I knew the nutrition had to change, so I pushed ahead.

Enter the 21 Day Fix.

A workout program with great exercises for thirty minutes, and even more importantly, an amazing nutrition guide and plan. I talked to my husband about it and we decided I could go for it and start this program now that I had finished with T25.

So, what did I find from the 21 Day Fix? In short, amazing results (I lost over 6lbs and 7.5 inches my first round), and even more so, I learned so much about portion control and nutrition.

Here are my PROS and CONS from this program.

Let’s start with the CONS, the list is much shorter.

-It can be intimidating to meal plan at first, and plan out your whole day of eating, which it really is key to do on the 21 Day Fix for the best results.

-It can be overwhelming at first looking at all the foods to eat and trying to figure out HOW to plan from that.

-As with anything health and fitness related, change can be difficult, and learning a new habit comes with ups and downs, good days and hard days.

-It can take a little bit to get into the groove of the meal planning and prepping.

So, not too many cons. Really, overall, there were not a lot of drawbacks on this program for me. I prepared myself mentally for the change ahead, so it wasn’t too bad, but it might be difficult and overwhelming for some people to step into a new way of meal planning and preparing. But, the good news is, it is totally doable, and gets easier over time!

Now for the PROS! Because there are a lot.

-The workouts were the perfect amount of time for me. 30 minutes is my sweet spot!

-The workouts also were great because they cater to all levels of fitness, and are all simple but effective exercises. If you need to go slower, follow the modification. If you want to pick it up a notch, go for it!

-I finally started to understand PORTION CONTROL. This is huge.

-The colored containers were easy to follow and keep track of.

-It’s not a crash diet, you’re eating from every food group, because your body needs the proper nutrition from each group.

-I wasn’t hungry (or hangry). People usually assume if you’re on something like this, you’re starving all day. Not the case here!

-I now know how much of each food category I need to be eating every day, and it’s SO much easier to incorporate fruits and veggies into my diet every day now.

-I have a lot more energy because my body is being properly fueled

-I got great results from it!

Honestly, I could go on for a while about this program. It really has been incredible, and such a huge learning tool in my health and fitness journey. I now feel like I have a much better handle on nutrition, how my body uses food as fuel, and how to eat to nourish my body, not just eat because I’m bored or it looks good.

Another great part of my experience with the 21 Day Fix was being involved in a challenge group. I led a group of a few other ladies who were going through the same program, and we all kept each other encouraged and accountable so we could reach our goals and get results.

I’ve learned that if you put in the consistent effort and work, you’re going to get results. And that’s an amazing thing, and can truly be life changing- it has been in my life. So if you want to join in on one of my challenge groups in the near future, comment or message me and I’ll get you more information! I have a special group happening soon specifically for the 21 Day Fix, and a special deal for it as well.

So let me hear from you now, what’s the hardest thing about nutrition for you?

Meal Planning and Workout

One quote that I absolutely love and know to be true is "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Sure it may sound cliche, and overused. But you know what? It's completely true. I have seen that over and over again in my life, especially when it comes to health and fitness.

How have I stayed motivated?

I make a plan.

How do I stay on track every week?

I make a plan.

Sure, things happen. Life comes up, you have to go do this or that, someone comes over, or you're just dead tired. But, that should not stop you from planning ahead and having your eyes set on the prize. Whether it's just a plan for the day, week, month. Having a plan is going to help you reach your goals because it keeps you focused on what tasks are priority.

I wanted to take a quick second and share my personal plan for the week with you all for my workout and my meal plan! This is generally the format that I use every week. I actually have my whole workout plan done for the next 10 weeks, but this post just includes this week.

Currently I am going through my own hybrid schedule of T25 and the 21 Day Fix workouts, and using the 21 Day Fix meal plan. I absolutely love it. Both workouts are about 25-30 minutes each, which is a perfect time frame for me. I get in, get my workout done and go on with my day feeling fabulous.

The other part of my plan is even more important- my meal plan. Before I was married, I definitely never made a meal plan. It seemed confusing, time consuming and just not worth it. But I can tell you that it absolutely is worth it. I have saved so much time and money by taking just an hour once a week to create the next week's meal plan.

Because I use a meal plan, I don't end up with the mystery meat that went bad in the back of the fridge, leftovers get used right away, and my husband and I are not sitting there night after night saying "Well, what do YOU want for dinner? What are you in the mood for?" We plan, we shop, we conquer!

Meal planning also helps keep me on track with my eating, and mindful of the choices I make. With meal planning comes meal preparation, which I will save for another blog. But it is also a component that can seem daunting at first, but will ultimately save you time and money.

So what is on the menu for this week? Let me show you!

I'm pretty excited about a few new recipes I am trying my hand at this week, so be on the lookout for some recipe posts to come from this meal plan!

Let me hear from you now! What is your greatest struggle with meal planning? If I could answer one question about meal planning, what would it be?

Sesame Chicken

Thailand. The Philippines. Malaysia. Cambodia. China.

Taken in Beijing, China

Five months in five different Asian countries. From November 2011 to the end of March 2012, I spent my time spread across those five Asian countries as part of my World Race route. And let me tell you, I absolutely loved the food.

Me out on the Great Wall of China!

Market in Bangkok, Thailand

I've always loved Asian food, but never cooked much of it. I am completely inspired by the fusion and boldness of the flavors of Asian food. And let me tell you, when I was traveling with the World Race, Asian food was like a gift of heaven. It was full of flavor, which is what I'm all about- bold flavor.

Lately I have been wanting to get into cooking different Asian dishes and try my hand at those unique flavors. So the other night I whipped up and experimented with Sesame Chicken. And let me tell you, it was a winner!

Here's the digs on this delicious recipe inspired by the exotic flavors of Asia!

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients (Makes 4 servings)
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 Tbsp. sesame oil, divided
10 Tbsp. soy sauce, divided
1/4 cup of honey
1/4 cup of corn starch
2 cups of water
2 cloves garlic, minced
To taste: garlic powder, pepper
Optional: ginger and sesame seeds (I did not have either, so I didn't use, but it would compliment the dish well)

Optional:
4 servings of brown rice (about 1 cup uncooked rice cooked in 2 cups of water)
4 servings of cooked snap peas

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 and place chicken in a baking dish.
2. Mix 2 Tbsp sesame oil, 3 Tbsp soy sauce, and a generous pinch of garlic powder and pepper. Pour over chicken, and bake chicken about 20 minutes until mostly cooked through. Don't overcook because you will be putting the chicken on heat with the sesame sauce.
3. Heat remaining 3 Tbsp of sesame oil in a large skillet (a deeper skillet is best for this), over medium high heat.
4. Mince garlic, lower heat to medium and cook 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
5. In a separate bowl, mix together soy sauce, water and corn starch until blended, and mix into sesame and garlic mixture. Add honey in right after.
6. Heat through until it starts to thicken a little.
7. Take your chicken out and chop into smaller pieces, then place in the sauce.
8. Note, if the sauce starts getting too thick, you can thin it out with more water.
9. Let the chicken and sauce blend together and cook over medium about 5-10 minutes.
10. Season with garlic powder (I used about 2-3 teaspoons, but I love garlic), and black pepper. You can also add more soy sauce if you like the flavor. If you are using ginger and sesame seeds, add at this point.
11. Serve over a bed of rice with snap peas, and enjoy!

What's your favorite Asian dish? Share below, I love learning new recipes!