Fall-ish Nights... Call for my favorite... Soup!

Soups on!

As the nights get cooler and my favorite time of year begins I start making my favorite thing: soup! This year my goal is to try to make many new soups like Corn Chowder, Italian Wedding, Kale, Sausage and Potato, etc. But sometimes, you crave your old standby... Vegetable Soup.

TURKEY & VEGETABLE SOUP

1/2 lb. ground lean turkey breast (if you're Vegetarian omit and/or add Soy crumbles)

3 medium carrots, sliced

5 stalks celery, diced

1/2 white onion, diced

2/3 cup frozen sweet corn

2/3 cup frozen peas

2 cups frozen french or regular cut green beans

2 cups fresh spinach, packed and torn

3 cups chicken broth (low sodium)

1- 14.5oz can tomato sauce

1 - 2 tbsp. chopped garlic (we like a lot of garlic!)

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried rosemary & thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Makes 7 - 1 cup servings - 120 calories per cup

This makes a hearty, stout soup. If you like your soup to be more broth, add more broth! :)

In a large Dutch oven or soup pot spray bottom with Olive Oil cooking spray and cook your mirepoix mixture (carrots, celery and onions) until onions are translucent. Add in your garlic and raw turkey, cook until meat is almost done. Next add in all remaining ingredients except spinach. Bring to a boil then simmer covered on medium low for about 20 minutes. Add in torn spinach leaves, stir well, cover and remove from heat. Remove the bay leaf and discard before eating!

Enjoy!

Fit Foodie's McMuffin

I've been really into breakfast food lately. (Or who am I kidding, always!)
This morning I was torn between oatmeal, Kashi GoLean or an egg sandwich ... the egg sammie won.

1 lightly toasted Light Multigrain English Muffin (90-100 calories)

2 slices of Canadian Bacon

2 scrambled egg whites

1/2 slice Sargento Reduced Fat Pepperjack cheese

Total: 185 calories

McDonalds McMuffin - 300 calories

For the 115 calories you are saving you could have:

1 large banana or apple - or

3 plums  - or

2 naval oranges - or

1 cup of strawberries and 1/2 cup blueberries!

it's been awhile, but I'm back!

It seems I got caught up a bit in life. Since my last post I began and completed an Intro to Nutrition course and signed up for a Master's level class in Health Education this fall. That's the big news in my personal life.

In my food life I am still maintaining my weight loss with a fluctuation of a few pounds (which is normal) and recently realized I have been maintaining my weight for over a year (14 months to be exact but who's counting). I've also been discovering new food finds and conjuring up new meals.

My breakfast this morning...

2 pieces of lite wheat toast

1 hard-boiled egg (most of the yolk removed)

1/2 ounce of crumbled feta

Put all this under the toaster oven and alakazam, you have a warm, yummy protein and carb breakfast combo for 135 calories! 

Now... moving on. New store finds:

I am addicted... completely addicted to Soy Chips. I can't even stop myself. I crave them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks... My favorite is the barbecue flavor. 

The most awesome thing about them (other than the great BBQ flavor)? They have impressive nutritional stats! One serving (20 chips) is only 110 calories, 3g fat, 3g sugar, 3g fiber and 8g protein. (that's 2g more than one egg!)

Another new find: Nature Valley Protein bars... Now, I've been eating protein bars for awhile. I've found that to get the most bang for your calorie buck the Pure Protein brand is the best. However, they tend to taste much like protein powders and less like something you want to joyfully consume. Some other bars like Kind and Mojo have the same basic nuts and gooey composition as the Nature Valley ones but have less protein. The Peanut, Almond and Dark Chocolate bar is super tasty, packed with whole nuts and leaves your mouth feeling tired from all the chewing. (which is what you want!) It's 190 calories, 12g of fat (I'm assuming from the good nut fats!), 6g of sugar (not too bad considering) and 10g protein. They may kick my Luna bars out of the running.

If you have a new product you'd like to share with me please post it in the comments. I'd love to hear about new foods to try! 

Wrap it up!

I've been craving wraps with crisp, fresh veggies lately... probably due to the warmer weather. Someone told me about "everything" wraps with only 80 calories and while I stood there drooling and super excited I came up with this wrap idea. Made it today and now I'm sold. I may eat this every day for the foreseeable future. So I'm sharing it with you...

Very Veggie & Hummus Wrap 

1 Tumaro's Everything New York Style Deli Wrap (click here!)

1/4 red pepper - cut into strips

3 - 4 slices of tomatoes on the vine

2 tbsp. Grandessa Garlic Lovers Hummus (or any other you prefer - 40 calories per 2 tbsp)

1/4 c. Mann's Rainbow Salad

2 slices yellow onion

1/2 c. baby spinach

2 tbsp. homemade tzatziki - see below

Total calories - 200

Tzatziki sauce

1 container plain Greek yogurt

2-3 tbsp. finely diced cucumber

1-2 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tsp. garlic powder

sea salt

black pepper

My New Favorite Summer Salad...

Let me start by saying if you have a grill, you should use it. Some of us in apartments don't have that luxury and crave that charred taste badly!

Summer Salad

7 oz. baby carrots, cut lengthwise in half

1/2 small white onion, cut in 1/2" slices

1 medium zucchini, cut in 1/2" slices

6 oz. sweet potato, skin on or off, cut in 1/4" slices

5 oz. chicken breast

1-2 cups baby spinach

1/3 cup fresh lime chipotle corn**

1 lime

garlic powder (to taste)

sea salt to taste

Now, if you have a grill, you can grill all your veggies and your chicken - minus the corn and spinach. If you do not, roast your veggies at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Season the chicken breast with freshly squeezed lime (about half), sea salt and garlic powder. You can also toss your chicken in the oven as well - depending on thickness it should take about the same amount of time as the veggies. 

Dear veggie friends, you can easily omit the chicken! Save yourself 130 calories. :)

Once all the veggies and chicken is cooked place on top of fresh baby spinach. Next top your salad with 1/3 cup of the corn recipe below.

Total Calories: 400 (and this is a lot of food!)

**Fresh Lime Chipotle Corn

2 medium ears of fresh corn, husked and rinsed, shaved off cob

1/2 juice of a lime

1/4-1/2 tsp. chipotle chile powder (depends on how much spice you want - it's hot!)

Mix well and refrigerate. 

Makes 4 1/3 cup servings - 50 calories each.

Szechuan Pork and Veggies

I love, love, love Asian food. But you can not eat very healthy with all the oil and huge portions of rice they give you at restaurants. Therefore, mostly when I eat Asian, I make it at home. Luckily, most groceries carry a decent assortment of sauces to replicate those spicy, complex Asian flavors.

Szechuan Pork and Veggies

3/4 lb. boneless pork chop, trimmed of fat and cut into strips

3/4 lb. or about 3 c. of fresh broccoli cut into small pieces

10 white button mushrooms, sliced

1/2 yellow pepper, cut into strips

1/2 red pepper, cut into strips

1/2 small yellow onion, sliced

2 tbsp. lite soy sauce

1-2 tbsp. Szechaun sauce

Serves 2 - 380 calories each

In a large saute pan add peppers, broccoli and onion to about 1/2 c. water and a few tbsp. of soy sauce. You may need to cover the veggies for a few minutes to steam them. Once the veggies are cooked mostly all the way through, remove lid and allow the sauces to evaporate. Next add in raw strips of pork, Szechaun sauce and mushrooms. Stir frequently and cook thoroughly. 

You can certainly add brown or white rice to this if you want. 

Mini Zucchini Muffins - 25 calories a pop!

Growing up in a Southern home we ate a bit of zucchini bread. Now, I know there is no true substitute for the rich flavor of real butter and sugar, but I tried! Instead of opting for a bread I chose mini muffins, better portion control and they would freeze better. That is, if they last that long!

MINI ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

1 c. organic unbleached white whole wheat flour*

2/3 c. tapioca flour*

1/2 c. baking Splenda

1 -2 tsp. cinnamon (I prefer 2)

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1 egg

1/2 c. Almond Breeze Coconut Almond Blend Unsweetened Vanilla Milk**

1 3/4 c. shredded fresh zucchini, unpeeled (about 2 - 7" small)

3 tbsp. unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp. orange zest (optional)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. granulated brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray mini muffin pans with baking spray (the kind with flour - or use paper muffin liners). In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients (flours, splenda, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt). In a smaller bowl combine all wet ingredients (zucchini, egg, milk, applesauce, vanilla, orange zest). Once both bowls are mixed well pour wet batter into dry bowl and mix until blended. 

Pour by tablespoon into mini muffin pan. Once all batter is poured out sprinkle tops with 1 tsp. granulated brown sugar (a little goes a long way with this stuff). You can add more if you like, it's only 10 calories per teaspoon. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until desired. Some folks like their muffins more moist than dry and vice versa. 

Recipe yields about 34 mini muffins - 25 calories each.

*If you only have one type of flour - you may use whatever you have, all purpose, rice flour, etc. This just happened to be what I had in the cupboard. Just make sure you are essentially using 1 2/3 c. flour. You will need to adjust the calories based on your substitution - my recipe total flour calories is 625.

**If you would rather use soymilk, skim milk, whole milk, etc. you may use that as well. Just adjust the calorie contents accordingly - my recipe uses 20 calories of the blended milk.