Sausage and Kale Soup 21 Day Fix Approved


Sausage and Kale Soup**

Total Time: 48 min.


Prep Time: 10 min.


Cooking Time: 38 min.


Yield: 6 servings, about 1¾ cups each

Ingredients:


1 Tbsp. olive oil
 (this was only used to brown the sausage, we left it out of ours)

8 oz. turkey kielbasa sausage, sliced


2-4 cloves garlic, minced
 (we use 4 because we LOVE garlic)

2 to 3 medium leeks, chopped, just white and light-green parts


1 bunch kale, stems removed and discarded, torn (about 4 cups)


1 (15-oz.) can kidney beans, drained, rinsed


1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes, no added salt


6 cups low-sodium organic chicken (or vegetable) broth


Ground black pepper (to taste; optional)

Preparation:


1. Heat oil (if using it) in large saucepan over medium-high heat.


2. Add kielbasa; cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until browned.


3. Add garlic, leeks, and kale; cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft.


4. Add kidney beans, tomatoes, broth, and pepper (if desired). 

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information: (per serving)

Calories: 181

Fat: 6 g

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 23 mg

Sodium: 1137 mg

Carbs: 20 g

Fiber: 5 g

Sugars: 5 g

Protein: 12 g

Find and "Like" me on Facebook, Click here!!!!  where I post tips, tricks and information on transitioning to a healthy lifestyle, clean eating, living gluten/soy/dairy free and MORE recipes to come! 

**Original Recipes from Team Beachbody - Get a Club Member account for just $2.99 a week and have access to a HUGE database of healthy eating recipes, personalized meals plans and more. Get your member account HERE .

Dark Chocolate Muffins (Soy/Dairy/Gluten/Refined Sugar FREE)

Dark Chocolate Muffins (Soy/Dairy/Gluten/Refined Sugar Free)**

Sweet and moist with super chocolate punch, no one will ever know there isn't a DROP of flour in these yummo muffins.  Super simple to make and already measured out for your 21 Day Fix. Don't miss saving this recipe to use as your secret weapon during the holiday season coming up! 

Total Time: 22 min.


Prep Time: 20 min.


Cooking Time: 12 min.


Yield:12 servings, 1 cupcake each

Ingredients:


1 (15 oz.) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained, rinsed


3 large eggs


½ cup pure maple syrup
 (You can sub this out for Agave Nectar to reduce the effects on blood sugar) 

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder


1 tsp. baking soda
 (we use Bob's Red Mill Aluminum Free Baking Soda)

3 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted


1 tsp. pure vanilla extract


1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (we use Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Chips to make these SF/GF/CF)

Preparation:


1. Preheat oven to 350° F.


2. Prepare 12 muffin cups by lining with muffin papers or coating with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. (You can use a dab of coconut oil in each muffin cup instead of using spray, that's what we do). 


3. Place chickpeas, eggs, maple syrup, cocoa powder, baking soda, coconut oil, and extract in blender or food processor; cover. Blend until smooth.


4. Divide batter among 12 prepared muffin cups.


5. Top each muffin with about four chocolate chips; push into batter.


6. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Cool completely and enjoy!

**Original Recipes from Team Beachbody - Get a Club Member account for just $2.99 a week and have access to a HUGE database of healthy eating recipes, personalized meals plans and more. Get your member account HERE .

Find and "Like" me on Facebook, Click here!!!!  where I post tips, tricks and information on transitioning to a healthy lifestyle, clean eating, living gluten/soy/dairy free and MORE recipes to come! 

Thank YOU For Comparing My Middle To Your End...

It has recently been brought to my attention that someone had questioned "If that 'stuff' works, then why are 'they' still fat?"  This person was referring to Shakeology and BB programs in relation to myself, and a few others, but I do believe they were truly trying to avoid singling me out. So kind. Alas, I knew the day would come when someone compared my middle to someone else's end. 

So here is what I have to say about it:

1) What this person may not know is that I have multiple medical issues that compromise my ability to shed pounds and keep them off.

2) What this person may not understand is that my PCOS (hormone disorder) and my Thyroid (slowly dying) causes my body to fight me every step of the way, making it exponentially harder for me then for someone without these issues to just "lose weight" and not be "fat". Their words, not mine.

3) They may not know that at 16 years old I was told I would have to shoot myself with hormones to sustain any miracle pregnancy, if I could have one at all, and those hormones added weight on faster then anything I've ever seen, all for the life of my children. That I FOUGHT to have those babies and my body, it's "condition" and NOT getting "fat" weren't important. The life of my unborn child trumped EVERYTHING. 

4) They may not know that at 16 years old I was also diagnosed with a malformation in my hips that WOULD 100% cause me to be wheel chair bound or have replacement surgery in my later years. That hip problem causes me pain frequently. But I fight through it. 

5) They may not know that this past January I detoxed off of a very dangerous and serious postpartum medication. That I was forced to be on for 2 years b/c the Dr's didn't want me to go through such a serious withdrawal with a spouse that had the potential to leave at any time. That I laid in a bed dialing 911 because my husband was at work and I couldn't physically care for my own children. Shaking, vomiting and dizzy. Ready to call an ambulance from the severe withdrawal symptoms that I can only imagine would be much like that of a street drug user coming clean…and had two small children to take care of. That this alone set me back. Don't believe me, GOOGLE Effexir XR withdrawal. I had every symptom, and it was scary.

 

6) What they may not know is that I've laid on the floor crying, as I made my way through some workouts b/c I PROMISED my Coach, my Teammates and my Clients that I would be right there with them. I refused to let them all down. 

7) That Shakeology has made such a HUGE difference in my life and the life of my children, not just b/c of weight, but overall it was the  catalyst we needed to show us a healthier lifestyle. To transition us into eating better and learning about a better way to feed our bodies. 

8) That they should look at the picture below. The one where my own child didn't recognize me. The one where my grown friend didn't recognize me, and would have had no idea it was even me if I didn't tell him.  That one where I started... where I will NEVER EVER go back to. Whether my body fights me or not. I will fight back. I will choose better foods to feed my body. I will choose to MOVE and keep my body ever improving. 

9) But most importantly I would LOVE to tell this person THANK YOU. It was your ignorance of my life, and my triumphs, that allowed me the thought process to even realize how much MORE amazing my journey has been. How sometimes we can even impress ourselves with the dedication, commitment and drive we find deep in our souls when we truly get the leverage we need to make the change. 

10) Thank You person. Though I know you, I will NEVER EVER name you publicly…but my questions for you would be: What's your excuse? Where's your leverage? Then I'd tell you to BRING IT. 

You CAN Do Anything For 3 Days...

…Ok, I'm sure there are SOME THINGS you can't do for 3 Days, but you CAN change your body, get a good clean up, and learn new eatings habits in 3 Days and you can do it with me!

Want to know the difference between the 3-Day Shakeology Cleanse AND the OFFICIAL Beachbody Approved 3-Day Refresh? HEAR it from the creator herself!

Contact me directly on Facebook by clicking HERE.  OR go right to the 3 Day Refresh on my site using this link right HERE!

3 Day Refresh

Teese Vegan Soy Gluten Free Cheese Review

Dairy free cheese. I know, it sound SOOOOO delicious doesn't it? I've had a few that I have actually enjoyed. Then came that entirely different beast, finding a dairy free, gluten free and SOY FREE cheese. No matter how many times I force myself to smell a fake cheese, that "odor" gets me right in the stomach. I've always been too turned off to even try them. Until now. 

Do I still think they smell like barf? Sure do! BUT, now it wasn't about ME getting a cheese replacement, but finding one for my child. 

Since managing the various nutritional issues of my children, mainly my son, I've had to come out of the box and try these fake cheeses. So far I've tried two. The first of which I didn't do a review on because at the time I wasn't interested in reviewing anything, just finding a vegan soy free cheese that didn't make me want to barf. No kidding. I once had the unnamed brand of fake cheese on some mexican rice. My husband walked in to the room and asked if I had farted. All I could muster up was "No, it's this. It smells horrid and tastes like yuck, but I told myself if I keep eating it I will eventually just dislike cheese all together". How could that be good? Here's how, if I associated real cheese with the nastiness in the bowl in front of me, I wouldn't crave real cheese anymore and I wouldn't need to keep searching for one that would meet that craving." 

I had stopped the search for some time, and then I came across this little tube of "Teese" on the shelf at Wegman's while visiting family in New Jersey. I read the label (as per the usual) and my child could actually eat it without incident. But would he ACTUALLY eat it without wanting to barf? Here's his (our) review of the Teese Brand Vegan Cheese that is also gluten and soy free.As a little note, it still has that terrible "smell" I can't stand, but it greatly reduces in au de barf when I cooked it! 

 I hope you enjoy the clip! 

I Would Never Do Everything You Do...

     In a recent conversation with a very close friend, she said "I would never do everything you do. My kid would just itch and have eczema." But she was wrong, I told her that. Because I'm honest, I also told her that if it was her kid, her love for that kid would be what drove her to make it better. That is how I got here…I just spent almost two hours answering questions and typing up my sons health history with a synopsis of the last 5 years of his life. Boy have those been fun: digestive issues from birth, eczema, atopic dermatitis, leaky gut, ER trips, ear tubes, food allergy and delayed hypersensitivity reaction. Just reliving, and thinking of it all is exhausting. Did I ever sleep? No, not for a few years I sure didn't.

     Before him, I didn't care much about eating "healthy". I thought all of the healthy eating trend was more annoying then anything. I got tired of being TOLD whatever I was doing was wrong or bad for me. I didn't see how these things could be bad if they are being sold at the store and how they could possibly have anything to do with many of my own medical issues. No way.  Then this life changing event happened: I had a tiny human. One who needed more, who needed BETTER then I ever gave myself, one I love more then I had ever loved myself.

     When you have this tiny human who is in distress, and YOU are the person they rely on to make it all better, you do what you "gotta" do. You loose sleep finding any information you can. Because you have faith and hope that the answer is out there. So you learn, everything you can learn.

     I am a firm believer now that the food you eat GREATLY effects your health, not b/c someone told me that, but, because I see it in my son. If you have different "medical" issues, some of those could be controlled with what you stuff in your pie hole. Eczema and Psoriasis are both signs of a food sensitivity. Covering them with steroid creams is only masking and pushing the issue deeper into the body. Once you stop the cream, it will come back 100 fold worse. Find the real route of the issue. It's likely it will be food. If you are ok with just covering these issues with creams for the rest of your life and suffering, that's up to you. You have a choice as an adult. But this wasn't about an adult, this was about a child. One who relied on ME to make the choice for him, and I had NO RIGHT to sit back and allow it to happen that way. I needed to know if there was another way and or a reason, something in the situation that I could control for him that would give him relief.

     Do you think I wanted to have to make almost everything from scratch? NO. I sure didn't. I'm talking about the convenience foods kids get, they are inconvenience foods for me. Have a carrot and call it a day child! Pop-tarts have nothing in them that should be consumed by a child. I know this now, but boy, did I eat them up before I had my son!
   Do I want to make homemade laundry soap, body wash and creams? NOPE.
   Do I want to make loaf after loaf of bread to cut and freeze? NOPE. (Before we realized he needed Gluten and Diary free, he was just soy free and I would make 3-4 loaves some days that I would freeze for later).
   Do I want to make food that matches the food at every birthday party we go to? NOPE. That's actually a pretty big annoyance in my life.
   Going to dinner or a party at just about anyone's house, while a nice gesture, is actually something that makes our lives more difficult. I still need to cook, just come to my house!
     I could list 100 things I have to make from scratch or homemade and allergy free that are all done, not out of my love of doing them but, for the necessity of my child's health.

    Much of my life is consumed with and complicated by my sons internal/digestive/skin issues. After the Elisa LRA/ACT testing I had done on him, in December of 2103, we are FINALLY in a good place, and hoping to start therapies to heal his gut very soon.  After everything we've done, tried, researched or failed at in healing him over the last 5 years the most important lesson I've learned is this:  the leverage I needed to lead a healthier life, was the love for my child and the healing of him.  In healing him, we have all gained a healthier lifestyle as a family.

Here's to no longer having itchy skin my boy, Mommy is here, and she will do everything in her abilities to heal you. Because, that is leverage, that is love.