Chicken & Lime Soup

I know we're exiting the cold weather time when soup is the choice of meal for dinner, but I just had to share this! It was DELICIOUS!! My awesome cousin, Brittnee of Journey to Fitness with a Jogging Stroller, shared this recipe with me!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1-2 carrot, peeled & sliced

1-2 stalks of celery, diced

2+ cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh, minced ginger (I would use less if you aren't a ginger fan)

1/4 tsp cumin

salt & pepper to taste

6 cups chicken stock/broth

1-2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded 

2 tbsp cilantro, chipped

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Juice of 6-10 limes

Directions:

1. In a pot, saute onion, carrot, and celery in olive oil for until soft & starting to brown.

2. Add ginger, cumin, salt & pepper and saute for another 1-2 minutes.

3. Add chicken broth and bring to boil. Reduce & simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add chicken, cilantro, vinegar, and lime juice and simmer for 5-10 more minutes

Yummy Rating (1 being the worst & 10 being the best/closest to traditional recipe): 9

Why? The original recipe calls for 1 chopped jalapeño...seeing as how I can't have them, but LOVE spicey things, I can imagine this recipe would be even BETTER with a jalapeño! I also shredded the chicken TOO much and it was just a weird texture. Overall, this is was a PHENOMENAL soup recipe! 

Taco & Avocado Salad

I love me some avocados and apparently, right now, I love me some taco meat, too!

I'm not a huge fan of ground beef...or the taste of beef for that matter...but taco meat, seasoned correctly, lasts a long time for me, and so far, isn't getting old! I make a variation of this salad at least twice a week! Super fast, easy to take to work for lunch, and delicious!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat, organic/grass fed, hormone free
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
Taco Seasoning: 1 1/2 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp ground oregano, pinch of crushed red pepper (optional)
Salad mix
Avocado

Directions:

Saute onion in coconut oil. Add ground beef and brown completely. Drain fat from meat. Add taco seasoning and 1/4-1/2 cup water. Simmer for 5ish minutes.

To serve, put salad mix in a bowl, top with half avocado, fill avocado with taco meat. ENJOY!

Yummy Rating (1 being the worst & 10 being the best/closest to traditional recipe): 10

Why? To me, this IS a traditional recipe! I LOVE LOVE LOVE avocado, and the taco meat has so much flavor! This is a great meal! I hope you enjoy it, too!

Gluten/Grain, Soy, Nut, Dairy, Egg free Chocolate Chip Cookies

I think a better term for these cookies is "Allergen Free" cookies!

There is 1 tiny little cheat from the RepairVite diet...shhhh, don't tell my doctor!

Ingredients:

3 cups unsweetened coconut (or 1 bar of creamed coconut, melted)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips (because of my restrictions, I buy the Enjoy Life! brand that are dairy, nut, soy free from Whole Foods)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. If you have a bar of creamed coconut, melt in microwave for 30-60 seconds, until warm enough to stir smooth. If you are using unsweetened coconut, pour into foot processor, or heavy duty blender and puree for 5 minutes (time it, make sure your appliance doesn't over heat). Let the appliance cool off for 5 minutes. Puree for another 5 minutes until the coconut is completely liquid -- consistency of milk. 

3. Add maple syrup, vanilla, salt, remaining shredded coconut, and baking soda & baking powder, then stir, or turn appliance until until it becomes dough like. 

4. Stir in chocolate chips. 

5. Drop by tablespoons on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Yummy Rating (1 being the worst & 10 being the best/closest to traditional recipe): 9 

Why? When you haven't had a lot of "real"/traditional recipes for as long as I have, this taste of dessert is absolutely delightful! It has a strong coconut taste (but it's a real coconut flavor, not imitation...BIG difference), so if you don't like coconut, you may want to try these for someone else you love :-)

May Life Update!

I don't have as many pictures as last month, but I'll be sure to give you some sneak peaks of recipes coming up!

Let me start by confessing I "cheated" this month. We went as a family to German Fest in a town about an hour away and I tried SO hard to stay within my dietary restrictions, but other than sauerkraut, there was no protein within my diet...so I ate a sausage link...which was pork...GASP! And in all honesty, yes, I ate it on a hotdog bun...AHHH! And to make matters worse...I ended it with blueberry cream cheese streusel...SOUND THE ALARM!! Did I feel guilty? A little, but you know what...for how strong I have stayed on my dietary restrictions & how much weight I have lost, the guilt didn't last for long :-)

Other than that, I feel like April FLEW by!

We started Financial Peace University and are really enjoying the biblical views of managing our money. Something we have been confirmed of recently is that THE LOVE of money is the root of all evil...not money! We get so stressed out wondering if there's enough money in the bank account to cover our debit card purchase, or pay for that credit card bill, and we were missing the point...when CASH is in our hands, we know, without any stress or worry, if the money is there or not. I made my first 2 cash transactions this morning and I feel GREAT! I knew I had the money and I was using it to purchase what I had planned for. Do any of you have experience with FPU?

My parents went to Korea to visit my brother, a captain in the army, who was having a change of command ceremony. He had been in command of a company for a little over a year & a half. They had a GREAT time! I honestly never thought I had a desire to visit an Asian country, but from their pictures and stories, I'm actually kind of jealous!

 My brother is the guy in the middle.

My brother & his girlfriend. It was Mom & Dad's first time meeting her and they loved her! I hope to meet her soon! 

Mom & Dad

Aren't the cherry blossoms beautiful?? They were in full bloom and Mom said by the time they were leaving, it looked like it had snowed on the ground because of the petals! I always think of my sweet friend, Amanda, when I see Cherry Blossoms! 

At the same time my parents were Korea, Brian's parents & Aunt were in Ireland! I haven't seen any of their pictures yet, but from the stories, we are just can't wait! Although it was a crazy two weeks, we survived 2 whole weeks of both of our parents being "out of pocket" for the first times in our lives for a long period...needless to say, we weren't fans :-) 

We were so blessed to meet a couple in a church who is in the same stage of life as us! They are so sweet -- I get along great with Laura, and Brian and Doug hit it off as well! We have started a LifeGroup at our home and we could not be any more excited! It has been a tough year not feeling settled, but I think we may finally be getting there...

Soooo....I promised a few sneak peaks of recipes to come...

Chocolate Chip Cookies -- dairy free, soy free, egg free, gluten free!

Taco & Avocado salad

Chicken & Lime Soup -- recipe compliments of my beautiful cousin!

Sweet Potato Chips

And if anyone is curious about what happens with Brynlee Ann when I blog OR why I don't blog often...here's picture proof...

What you can't see, is that she has opened the coat closet and has started pulling blankets & purses out, as well as the stack of about 30 more blocks from that bucket on her head...

This month will bring an end to my 60 days on the RepairVite program. I will still stick to most of the guidelines, but I get to add in ONE food every 72 hours beginning May 21! The idea is to find out what my body can tolerate and what irritates it. From there, I will know what to stay away from to keep my weight managed! I'm so excited to keep seeing results and continue becoming a new me! 

Starting weight on 3/19 - 253.6 lbs
4/2 weight - 240 lbs
5/3 weight - 231 lbs

Now for my shameless plug...
Scentsy is offering an incentive trip to Cancun in January! I would absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE to earn an incentive trip and be able to have a fun, care-free week with my Scentsy sisters & show off the new me!! I would love your help to get there!! Here's how:

1. Have you ever considered joining a direct selling company? I'd love to share with you why I chose Scentsy Family Brands and invite you onto our team!
2. Do you like the product so much but just can't afford everything that you want? Host a party and earn free & half-priced items!
3. Have you been wanting to try the products (Velata, Grace Adele, or Scentsy), but never had a chance? Love the product and need more? Now's your chance to purchase and help me reach my goal!

If you fall into any of these 3 categories, let me know! I'd love to help you in any way I can! Thanks, ya'll ;-)