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 ;-)

Water is getting old....

Since the day Brynlee Ann was born, I drank AT LEAST 1 can of Coke a day...I say at least, because there were days I would go to Sonic to get a large vanilla coke...several times a week. It's a nasty habit. As my genius mother-in-love says "Go clean a toilet with it and then you won't drink it...." I still drank it! I didn't drink Coke much during my pregnancy because of the caffeine and the sugar, but I made a deal with myself -- if I delivered Brynlee Ann with NO pain medications, I would reward myself with a Coke...problem was, I didn't put an end to it!

March 20 I stopped drinking Coke COLD TURKEY! And honestly, I haven't even craved it! But, I have been getting tired of ONLY water here recently -- I last 4 weeks before getting tired of JUST water...not bad! So I thought I'd share a few favorite options of mine:

Fruit/Veggie Infused Water -- in a pitcher, add thin slices of: 2 limes, 1 grapefruit, 1 lemon, & 8 strawberries. Top with ice & cold water. Stir and serve.

This was ABSOLUTELY refreshing! Try not to squish or smash the fruits too much, or the water becomes quite sour from the citrus. Also, experiment with cucumbers, peaches, and other great refreshing fruits & veggies! Not only does it taste good, but isn't it pretty??

 Kombucha Tea -- Our favorite brand is from a Fort Worth company - Holy Kombucha. They are available at WholeFoods Markets here in DFW, and you can contact them via their website to find where else it can soon be found! If I need a sweet, refreshing drink, I usually drink about 8 oz. It has GREAT health benefits -- it naturally contains probiotics, antioxidants, enzymes, and amino acids that are so vital to our body functioning properly. We have not tried a flavor in this brand we didn't love!

Low calorie & low in sugar. This has been a HUGE asset to me not craving soda. My one caution (personal opinion) is to avoid the Synergy brand of Kombucha tea -- it is derived from Green Tea extracts and contains high caffeine (they have a larger selection of flavors, but it doesn't taste as fresh/refreshing as Holy Kombucha). I will keep y'all updated if I find other brands I like! 

What is your favorite sugar-free, natural drink? 

Apple Pie...minus the pie...a la mode!

I am venturing to guess we all experience a sweet tooth now and then...am I correct? I sure do! One of the most amazing "creations" I've gone back to over & over again is my Apple Pie a la mode. There is nothing sinful about this amazingly delicious dessert....did I mention it only takes 2 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook...oh, and 4 ingredients?!

Ingredients:
1 Apple, thinly sliced (I use my Pampered Chef mandolin slicer on the thinnest setting)
Ground Cinnamon, to taste
Coconut [palm] sugar, to taste
SO Delicious brand (dairy, soy, gluten free) Vanilla Bean Ice Cream [no sugar added, if available]

Preheat oven to 375-400 degrees. In an oven safe bowl (I use my small, personal size, Corningware bowl), place one layer of apple slices to cover the bottom. Sprinkle cinnamon & coconut sugar. Repeat until you are out of apples. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve into new bowl and top with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream! Serves 2...oh yea, it's also a great date night recipe!!

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

Why? Who needs crust when you've got something this delicious?!?! Enough said.

What is your favorite type of pie? I may attempt to make other crustless desserts! 

Taco Pie...minus the Pie

I found a really promising recipe that sounded delicious -- pie crust + taco meat topped with avocado & lettuce? YUM! Problem...the original recipe called for Almond Flour (can't have nuts) and butter (can't have dairy), so I thought, why not replace almond flour with coconut flour and butter with coconut butter....not so much! I'll give you the original recipe, and if you have nuts & dairy in your diet, let me know how it goes!

Ingredients:
Crust: 1 1/2 cup almond flour + 1/4 cup butter, melted -- mix and pour into 9 inch pie pan & pat down
Pie Filling
1 lb ground meat, organic/grass fed, hormone free
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
Taco Seasoning (the original calls for BBQ sauce, but there are so many things I can't have in BBQ sauce, and I know I just love taco seasoning, so I made this concoction): 1 1/2 tbsp cumin, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp ground oregano, pinch of crushed red pepper (I'm technically not allowed red pepper, but I figured just a few wouldn't hurt!)
Lettuce
Avocado

Directions
Make pie crust. Use coconut oil to saute chopped onion. Add in ground beef, brown. Once browned, at about 3 tbsp of taco seasoning and stir well (add 1/4 cup of water, if necessary). Let simmer for about 5 minutes, then pour into pie crust. Put in oven for 30 minutes on 350 degrees.

Since we didn't enjoy the flavor of the "crust", we scooped the beef out and ate it on top lettuce with avocado -- a taco salad :-)

Yummy Rating (1 being the worst & 10 being the best/closest to traditional recipe): sans crust...9...with crust....2

Why? I liked the idea of having a crust...but the crust pretty much tasted like coconut flavored sand...but the taco beef was DELICIOUS!! I love this recipe! 

I will be uploading my absolute favorite taco recipe soon! Between this recipe & the one with veggies in it, I doubt we'll ever eat "normal" tacos again! 

Lemon & Herb Chicken Marinade & Baked Brussels Sprouts

While out in the Wild West, I wanted to try some new recipes. Right now, Brian and I are loving grilled chicken, so I decided to try a marinade, then we grilled the chicken. The recipe I followed recommended baking the chicken in the juices, but I much prefer grilled chicken :-)

Lemon & Herb Chicken Marinade

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2-3 garlic cloves, minched
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Mix up well then put chicken & marinade in a zip lock bag. Place in a bowl (to keep from leaking) and marinade in refrigerator for 2+ hours. Be sure to turn the bag half-way through to make sure the chicken is being evenly marinaded. If you plan to grill the chicken, lay it out on the counter 30 minutes before grilling.

Although I LOVED the chicken, I much rather pair my entree with a yummy vegetable. Since Brussels Sprouts are my favorite vegetable, Nancy (Brian's mom) roasted them in the oven! So simple, exquisitely yummy!

 Roasted Brussels Sprouts (I did this with cabbage for lunch today)

Slice brussels sprouts in half (slice cabbage into four-five, 1 inch pieces)
Toss in 2 tbsp olive oil (brush cabbage slices with olive oil)
Spring with Kosher Salt & fresh cracked pepper

Bake on 400 for 35-40 (45-50 for cabbage) minutes, flipping halfway through.

Yummy Rating (1 being the worst & 10 being the best/closest to traditional recipe): 7 

Why? We have been eating tons of grilled chicken...and to have something fresh and tangy like this was delicious! The brussels sprouts gave a great additive to the chicken! I even ate the leftover chicken on a salad at lunch a couple days...I must say, the chicken was better fresh off the grill than reheated (thus, the rating of 7).

What is your favorite veggie? How do you cook it?

 

April Life Update

Be prepared for an insane amount of pictures from our Easter weekend!

For Brian's mom's 50th birthday & Easter, we traveled to the Wild West to spend time as a family. We started out our journey late Thursday night. Brynlee Ann has a very special message to share...


Friday was Nancy's 50th birthday, so after grocery shopping (so we can stay with our healthy eating plan) all day, we headed to a yummy hibachi restaurant to celebrate! At the end of dinner, our waiter brought out dessert for Nancy with a special gift from all of us :-)

 We custom created an Origami Owl Living Locket (stayed tuned for a website, or comment below for more info) -- the birthstones are Brian's, Matthew's, mine & Brynlee Ann's

Next, was Good Friday service at church. We went home, began relaxing, and SURPRISE! Aunt Susu, Nancy's childhood friend walked through the door and surprised her!

 This is the most still picture I could get of our little busy toddler! Isn't that little romper precious??

Brynlee Ann absolutely LOVED hanging out on the back porch on the swing with Papa.

Saturday was the day of Nancy's Grace Adele party, but what she didn't know is it was really a surprise birthday party! Nearly 20 of her closest friends, including Aunt Susu, were able to join us to celebrate 50 years, complete with a DELICIOUS cake (yes, I may have cheated and had a couple of bites...the smallest piece of cake I've ever eaten!), gag gifts, and Grace Adele purses!

 Our friend, Anlee, made this hilarious, and delicious cake!

 Birthday song for the birthday girl!

Nancy being a good sport & trying out her new cane :-)

Sunday, we worshiped together while celebrating our RISEN Lord, Jesus! He is Risen, indeed!

 I am so blessed to be a part of this family!

The highlight of our trip was watching Papa & Brynlee Ann share in their love of airplanes! We got to spend a bit of our day on Saturday "flying" Papa's airplane!

So to cap off this update, I'm so excited to share my progress on the RepairVite program! I have been enjoying delicious food, while losing weight and feeling better than ever! I "cheated" a little bit with a couple bites of cake, and I also ate about 5 bites of steamed rice at dinner Friday night, but considering I was away from home for 4 days, I'm quite proud of myself!

This week, I have a delicious marinade coming up, as well as my favorite recipe so far, tacos...yuuum! I need to eat lunch ;-)

Starting weight on 3/19 - 253.6 lbs
Current weight - 240 lbs

Carrot & Sweet Potato "Chili"

We have been having an abnormally chilly end to our March, so I started craving a chili. I scavenged Pinterest & other websites for any sort of recipe that falls within my regulations that resembles chili.

I found this recipe for Carrot & Sweet Potato Chili. The problem I run into, is when I think of Chili, I think of spicy. Unfortunately, at this time I have no type of peppers (jalepeños, chili peppers, red peppers, etc.) in my diet. I decided to try this out.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 cup carrots, cut into large chunks
2 cup sweet potatoes (not yams), cut into large chunks
2 cups chicken stock/broth
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 pounds grass-fed ground beef
1 avocados
cilantro for garnish (optional)

Heat your coconut oil in the bottom of a heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring. Add the carrots and sweet potatoes and cook for 5 minutes, or until gently browned. Add the stock/broth and sea salt and bring to a boil, cover and then simmer for 20 minutes, until the vegetables are soft. Meanwhile, cook the ground beef in a skillet until thoroughly cooked throughout and browned. Set aside. When the vegetables are finished, add the ground beef and stir to combine. Continue cooking for another 15 minutes covered at a simmer. Serve each bowl garnished with avocado slices and fresh parsley.

Yummy Rating (1 being the worst & 10 being the best/closest to traditional recipe): 3 

Why? I'm not a fan of plain ground beef -- I like to spice it up. I ate 1 bowl of this, and did not eat any leftovers. It lacked flavor, in my opinion. Brian, on the other hand, who does like plain meat, would likely rate this recipe around 5-6. Because I'm such a picky eater, I probably will not make this again.

Did you try this? What do you think? Do you have any autoimmune pale/RepairVite diet approved chili recipes?

Lemon Blueberry "Cupcakes"

It was while making these cupcakes I had the idea for this blog!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups organic unsweetened dried coconut shreds
• Zest of one organic lemon
• ¼ cup fresh squeezed organic lemon juice (I just used the lemon I zest-ed)
• 2/3 cup organic coconut palm sugar (the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of maple syrup, but that is not on my diet)
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ cup frozen organic blueberries

Preparation: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 6-8 muffin cups with liners.
2. Place the unsweetened coconut in an 11 cup food processor.  Process 5 minutes (my high-powered blender only took 3 minutes).
3. Let the food processor rest for 5 minutes – so it doesn’t overheat.
4. Scrape if necessary, and turn back on for 5 minutes, or until it is liquidy and you can hear it splash.  For picture support of this process, see this post.
5. Add the zest, lemon juice, coconut sugar {maple syrup} and sea salt.  Process until it comes together. At this point, the liquid became pretty clumpy, so I added unsweetened SO Delicious brand coconut milk 1 tbsp at a time until it was more smooth.
6. Add the baking soda, and process just until incorporated.
7. Divide batter into 6-8 muffin cups. I think it's because I used sugar & not syrup, but the batter was almost like a smooth, softer toffy texture. Top with 1 Tbs. frozen blueberries on each cupcake.
8. Bake for 25-27 minutes.  I knew they were done when the looked like caramelized on top & the blueberries were cooked. 
9. Chill before you serve for the best consistency – although I did really enjoy them warm out of the oven, they were just a little liquid-y. I tried a chilled one and I was a little like eating a lemon bar...with blueberries :-)

Yummy Rating (1 being the worst & 10 being the best/closest to traditional recipe): 7

Why? The sweetness is spot-on. One of these is plenty & cures that sweet tooth! This is 100% on my RepairVite program, no cheats! I will be making these again! 

Did you try these? What do you think?