Soup a Day Challenge #2

An easy, yummy RAW soup.

Carrot Hazelnut Soup

1/2 cup of hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups of water
3 cups of carrots, cuts into chunks
1 apple peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon of raw honey
1 teaspoon of ginger
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Himalayan salt sand pepper to taste.

Directions:
1. Place hazelnuts and water in a food processor. Process until smooth.
2. Add carrots, apple, honey, ginger and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.

A Soup a Day - Mix veggies with Fusili

Mixed Veggies with fusilli pasta

Ingredients: 1-2 lbs of mixed chopped veggies. I used: Yellow squash, carrot, bell peppers, celery, spinach and potatoes.
For the broth: Onions, cilantro, garlic, salt, celery and water. Or use vegetable broth. It taste better than chicken broth.

Directions: If you making the broth, Approx: 4 cups for 1 lbs. In a large sauce pan add broth ingredients and let it cook til boil on medium high.

Soup directions: Add potatoes first if you using potatoes. Cook them until tender and add all other veggies. Let all veggies cook until tender. Then blend all veggies and put it back in the sauce pan. Adjust salt and pepper to taste,

Pasta: If you  would like to add a whole wheat pasta, cook as direct and add to the soup in the end.

Garnish soup with chives or parsley.

Nomilicious.

PS: You can make enough for the week. Place in a glass container and store in the fridge/freezer.

Breakfast

Filled Crepes

Ingredients for crepes

• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  

  Directions:

  1. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, flour sugar and salt until smooth.
  2. Heat a medium-sized skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Grease pan with a small amount of butter or oil applied with a brush or paper towel. Using a serving spoon or small ladle, spoon about 3 tablespoons crepe batter into hot pan, tilting the pan so that bottom surface is evenly coated. Cook over medium heat, 1 to 2 minutes on a side, or until golden brown.
     
     

Filling:
1 onion finely chopped.
2-3 tomatoes chopped.
1 cup of finely chopped smoked ham or other protein.
1 cup of spinach
2 tbsp of butter
salt/pepper to taste.
Parmesan cheese and green onion for garnishing. About a 1/4 cup

Directions:

1. In a large skillet sauteed the onions until they are brown, add tomatoes, cook on medium heat until tender, add ham, spinach, salt and pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes and remove from heat.
2. Add a spoonful of the filling on the center of the crepe and roll it, place it on a plate. And add another crepe. Then shredded Parmesan cheese on top and sprinkle the green onions.
3. Enjoy it!
   
   Nutrition facts:  Amount Per Serving  Calories: 164 | Total Fat: 7.7g | Cholesterol: 125mg
   ______________________________________________________________________________

Spinach fruity smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups of any milk or 1 1/2 cup of yogurt

2 cups of spinach

1 cup of strawberries

2 bananas

2 apples

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a blender cup and mix it well.

Pour in a large glass and enjoy it.

Balsamic, Garlic and basil marinated chicken Breasts

This recipe is from:http://www.fortheloveofcooking.net

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh basil
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, basil, sea salt, and freshly cracked pepper, to taste, together in a large zip lock bag. Mix until well combined then add the chicken breasts to it, seal and place into the refrigerator for 2-24 hours.

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 20 minutes prior to grilling.

Coat the grill rack with cooking spray then heat on high. Place the chicken on the grill rack and cook 4-6 minutes per side or until cooked through and the juices run clear. Let the chicken rest for 5-7 minutes before slicing and serving with a little more chopped basil sprinkled on top. Enjoy.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is from: http://www.simplyrecipes.com

Prep time: 20 minutesCook time: 10 minutes

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds sweet potatoes
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt

Dressing
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (including tender stems)
1 teaspoon of lime zest or lemon zest
2 tablespoons of fresh lime or lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Pinch of salt

Directions:

1 Prepare your grill for hot, direct heat. While the grill is heating up, peel the sweet potatoes and slice lengthwise, or on a diagonal, into 1/4 inch-thick pieces. Coat the sweet potato slices with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with Kosher salt.

2 Combine all of the dressing ingredients into a small bowl.

3 Once the grill is hot, lay the sweet potato pieces down onto the grill grates. Cover the grill and cook until each side gets some grill marks, between 3-6 minutes for each side, depending on how hot your grill is.

4 Toss the sweet potatoes in a bowl with the dressing and serve hot.

Yield: Serves 4.

Zucchini and Corn with cilantro + Zucchini crusted Chicken

Zuchini and Corn with Cilantro

1 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 finely chopped medium red onion.
1 and 1/2 cups of zucchini (about a lbs)
1 cup of corn whole-kernel (canned or fresh)
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp of lime juice
Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions: Heat oil in a large nonstick over medium-high heat. Add onion and sautee until translucid, then add zucchini and corn, cook, stirring occasionally 7-8 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender.

Remove from heat, stir in cilantro and remaining ingredients.

Zucchini crusted Chicken 

1lbs of chicken meat (breast, thighs, drumstick…)

2 large zucchinis (chopped in food processor, it looks like a pesto)

½ cup of bread crumbs (or substitution) I used Wheat germ.

1 tsp of Lemon-garlic spices (if available)

1 tbsp. of Olive oil

cooking oil

Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven at 350F.

Wash and dried the meat, poke with a fork on both sides. Place the meat in a bowl and add spices, salt pepper and olive oil. Rub all the meat with the oil. Then add the zucchini pesto and bread crumbs. Coat all the meat with the mix. In a large nonstick pan, add cooking oil in the pan, not much, just enough to fry coat the chicken. Add each piece of chicken until they are crusted and a bit dark. Remove from heat and place them in a cooking greased sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the inside temperature is 165F.

Remove from the oven, and enjoy with the zucchini with corn and cilantro! Nom, Nom.

Great progress in the past 8 months

I have been losing consistently since May and I plan on continuing doing that for the next several months. By no means is a easy task, but my drive to achieve my goals is greater than eating ice cream every week.
I finally visualize what I'm going to gain when I lose the weight. I want to keep going and achieve my first 50lbs goal. I'm hoping I'll be there by September. It's a doable timeline.
Physically I haven't seen much change, but in my face though, I saw a change, and my clothes start to be loosen on me and that's a great feeling.
My first life goal is getting into the nursing program, and I figured that I can shed some pounds by next Spring. I want to be role model and inspiration to my patients. After nursing school, I want to marry the love of my life, and I want to be a fit bride and wife. I want to be an example of health for my family.
All these goals are driving me to success. I plan, I stop to think about what is worth, and I make choices and decisions. It's not always pretty but if I screw one meal up, I'm back right into the next one.
It's a mindset, where we need to make our mind obey what we need and not what we want.

A piece of my daily life

I can't believe I'm about 20lbs away from my first goal, which is 50lbs. I have been in control for the past few months and in sync with my mindset. It's nervous racking but I just want to do it.
I really want to embrace the change without hesitation nor self-sabotage. I just need to keep the focus and the eyes on the prize. The prize? A much healthier life style followed by achieving my goals.
It possible, I just need to keep going!

A few foods from the day...

Nutrition is 80% of weight loss. So, if I don't follow a healthy eating plan, most likely I will not succeed. I'm trying to eat clean but I must say, sometimes a spare of the moment happens, and we don't stop to think and eat what we shouldn't. I ate pretty good today, except for 10 Hershey's kiss that were staring at me. I don't dwell on it. I just move on and try to burn the bad calories I ate. For example, last week I gave into a ice cream bar, which had 320 calories and loaded with sugar. Well, I spent an hour on the elliptical and treadmill burning that damn ice cream. Next time, I'll eat something less caloric. I'm not depriving myself of sweets, but I'm trying to eat consciously. So far, it's working. But I am reducing sugar intake. It's like quit smoking. Little by little, less and less sweets. Most of the time, if I am craving a sweet something, I will eat a peach or banana. Eat consciously and we can still lose weight.

The hardest thing I ever going to do...

I have been losing weight since October 2011, when I recommitted to my weight loss journey. Losing weight and maintaining it, will be the hardest thing, I ever going to do in my life. For many different reasons. It's a life style change for life, not a quick fix.

On these years of motivation, frustration, and all that goes in between weight loss; I learned, that without the commitment of sacrifice and hard work, you will fail without a doubt. Some people say they are ready for a change, but they give up a month after the commitment, that's why I say: "this is the hardest thing some of us will ever do". It won't be perfect but I promise myself to get up, each time I fall. I want this, I need this change for my life sake. So many dreams to achieve and I want to be an example, a role model and an inspiration for those struggling like I am. I don't want to let myself down and that's why, I am taking one day at a time. For those who doubt me, I will prove you wrong.

So, what the plan? Simple. No fad diets, no magic pills, no especial foods. Just moderation, balance and a decent calorie intake. In my case, for now I am eating 1500 daily calories and 1800 when I have an intense workout, (like CrossFit). The total calories is divided in 3 main meals and 2 snacks. I'm eating mostly home cooked 80% organic, mostly fish and poultry, an occasionally sweet treat in moderation. I'm currently exercising 5 days a week, 30-60 minutes a day. Some are intense workouts, some are moderated, like biking. My goal is to have a balanced nutrition and keep moving.
The picture is my latest visual tool. It placed in my study/office and I can see it, everyday. I add all my workouts and times, the five days I workout. Every Saturday, I add my currently weight. It will help me see my progress.
I'm excited and looking forward to achieve my first goal!!