Clean Italian Chicken Stew

It's getting cold around here!! In preparation for the week (and the cold, brrr...), I decided to modify a recipe that I found on Pinterest. I wanted to add a little more substance and to clean it up a bit. Enjoy!

Clean Italian Chicken Stew
Adapted from: Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients: 
1 sweet onion (diced)
2 celery stalks (diced)
3 carrots (diced)
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of chopped basil
1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
2 cans (BPA free) stewed Italian tomatoes
1 can (BPA free) cannelloni beans
2-3 chicken breasts (shredded)
2 cups of chicken broth
1 package of boil-in-a-bag brown rice

Directions:

1. Saute the onion, celery, garlic and carrots in the bottom of a large pot with a little olive oil. (This is called a mirepois. Go figure.)

2. Once soft, add in all the other ingredients, except for the rice. Let it boil.

3. Once boiling, add in the bag of rice. Give the rice the 10 minutes to cook, and then remove from the bag into the soup.

4. Simmer on the stove until the carrots are completely cooked.

Adapted from: Gimme Some Oven

New Challenges

A couple of friends are starting a weight-loss challenge at my doctor's office that started Monday, and a few more of us are restarting the He and She Eat Clean She Sweats 12 Week Workout at the same time! Get your copy here. As part of both challenges, we have to take before pictures, both to be eligible for the prizes ($1000 prize at the Dr.'s and a $300 prize pack from He and She) and to see the transformation working on our bodies! To help me stay even more accountable, I thought I would share my transformation in pictures here... this is nervewreckin' y'all, be kind, please!! Even though these are technically before AND after pictures (see my starting story here), I am still not where I want to be (see my goals here.) Alright, here goes nothing! 

Before pictures:

What's Eating Clean?

Source

Just a few months ago, I had no clue about eating clean! After lots of research, I've realized that "clean eating" is somewhat subjective and everyone has created their own meanings. To be honest, I am still learning and figuring out what works for me!

Basically, to me, eating clean is about:

• eliminating/reducing processed foods
• drinking a lot of water (like a gallon a day)
• eating 5-6 small meals every 2-4 hours
• meals consist of a lean protein + a complex carb + veggies (green, colorful ones) 
• eliminating sugar (<30 grams of naturally occurring sugars a day)

I try to eat organic, non-GMO fruits and vegetables when we can afford to- it stinks that it's not in budget sometimes!

 I have some exceptions: 

• I use Stevia or Truvia as a regular sweetener (what Southern girl lives without sweet tea?) 
• Greek yogurt is my breakfast super pal
• I treat myself to avoid binges on junk food; For example, I like to keep dark chocolate in my freezer.
• I've recently removed "Whole Wheat" ingredients in the house that are considered clean- mainly whole wheat pasta, tortillas, etc. I realized that I never stay within serving size for those, and they tend to lead to binges on bad foods. 

Here are some great resources that I've used and/or had recommended to me: 

• www.heandsheeatclean.com
• Jamie Eason's 12 Week Trainer
• Tosca Reno's books (all of them :) ) 
• TLS Weightloss Solution (I hope to be a coach within the year) 

Keep a look out for more posts about what I eat! 

Burrito Bowls

Chipotle is my all time favorite "restaurant" since I've made the clean eating switch, but I live in the boonies in a little town that is LITERALLY named Between. Needless to say, Between doesn't have a Chipotle. The closest one is about 35 minutes away, and that's just too far most days. When I'm jonesin' for a burrito bowl, I make create one of these precious combos at the house. The great part of these is that you can create it however it works for you!

Ingredients:

Pulled Pork
Grilled Veggies (bell peppers, onions, mushrooms)
Brown Rice
Corn Salsa 
1 tsp. Plain Greek Yogurt (substitiution for sour cream)
Lettuce

Add the ingredients into a delicious deep bowl.

Hint: Lettuce first, rice next, grilled veggies, salsa, and then a tsp. of yogurt.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork: 
2 lb. lean pork loin
1 large jar of Salsa Verde (make sure no sugar is not an ingredient)
Steak seasoning

Put all ingredients in a crock pot and cook for 6-8 hours on low. Pull apart with forks when done.

Corn Salsa: 
2-4 ears of local corn  or 1 cup of frozen non-GMO corn
1 small jalapeno
cilantro (diced amount- a tablespoon or two)
1 small onion
lime

Dice onion, jalapeno and cilantro finely, making sure to remove the seeds and veins. Don't pull a Meggie and touch your eyes for several hours! It burns, oh how it burns!! 

Slice the kernels off the cobb into a storage bowl, and with the back of your knife, scrape some milk off the cobb into the bowl as well (you won't need much, just enough to keep everything moist.) Add in the onion and cilantro. Then add the jalapeno- based on the spicy level you like- and the juice from a lime.

Hint: If you don't want to bite into a piece of jalapeno, you can always throw in a half of the pepper undiced, and remove it when you're ready to use the salsa.

Pictures to come later :) I really stink at taking pictures, y'all. My belly wants food right away.

Yogurt Mix-ins

I have a confession. I can't eat my greek yogurt plain. I just can't do it, y'all. I like the way it tastes with the fruit mixed in! But unfortunately, the sugar added in is just too much for this gal. Enter: Yogurt Mix-Ins.

Yogurt Fruit Mix-Ins

3 cups of frozen fruit

1/3 cup of Truvia
1 tsp. of vanilla extract (avoid HFCS)
1 tsp. of Xanthan Gum powder

Boil fruit until thawed and mushy (Stir constantly to avoid burning.) Add in the other ingredients until completely mixed in and remove from heat. At this point, you can add to a food processor if you don't want fruit pieces, or strain through a fine metal strainer if you don't like seeds.

Spoon into a glass jar and let cool. Once cool, keep in the fridge. Add to your plain greek yogurt or steel cut oats as needed... yum!

I cooked two different versions today: mixed berry, which I left alone; and mango, which weren't getting mushy enough in the pan, so I processed in the food processor.

New Years Beans

In honor of New Years, and to get rid of the Christmas ham bone in the fridge, I was going to make black eyed peas, but alas, I didn't have any! Not wanting to start the year spending money, I shopped my pantry and found some Great Northern Beans. I make these beans in a pressure cooker instead of soaking beans or boiling the beans all day, but it certainly can be done that way.

New Years Beans

1 package of dried black eyed peas, soaked (I used 2 cans of Northern Beans this time)
1 ham bone or 1/4 lb. of ham cooked
1 onion roughly chopped
1 cup of water (or broth)
1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes
2 tsp. of black pepper
salt to taste (a lot of hams are preserved with salt)

Pressure Cooker Method:
Add all ingredients, except for salt, into the pressure cooker. Set on high pressure and cook for 1 hour. Follow your machines directions to open machine, and taste. If you need to add salt, start slow!

Tip: If you forget to soak your beans, don't fret! Add 1 1/2 cups of water to your pressure cooker and adjust cooking time by 30 more minutes. Sigh a breathe of relief, and thank Jesus for pressure cookers :)

Old School Method:
Add all ingredients into a large pot and set to simmer. Check throughout the day, adding water when you need to.