Hope all has been well! I have been doing good! Just busy busy busy with work and my side gigs lol!
This week I changed things up with my meals. I also up'd my cardio and workouts. I am going for 6 days a week! Woop!
I added more veggies to my meals and kept it pretty standard. I do get bored with having the same thing usually but this week has been actually pretty good with the food. I have made green smoothies every morning for breakfast which are better than you think a "green" drink would be. I always put in plain greek yogurt for protein, flaxseed and water but I have changed the greens up by doing only spinach or doing spinach and some kale with various fruits like bluberries, pineapples, kiwi with the skin on (don't know it until you try it plus many nutrients in the skin) and strawberries ( I only pick two fruits for each smoothie)! Furthermore, I have pretty much done a gallon of water a day which isn't easy but keep a large drink container at my desk so drink that and down some water bottles at the house.
For lunch, I have only had my veggie soup that I made with some fruit and it has been good everyday! Who would of thought, right? Not me but I am pretty happy with that. It also made my prep really easy this week! I actually added turkey sausage to up the protein and whole wheat pasta to give me those complex carbs that give me energy through the day. I am going to give you the recipe in just a minute!!!!!!
For dinner, I have only had salads and omitted carbs at night which helps with the sugar in your system late at night. My greens usually consist of spinach and romaine lettuce...THE GREENER THE BETTER! Plus I like making colorful salads because like my big sis and lots of healthy people say eat a RAINBOW because lots of nutrients in colorful foods! BREAKING NEWS..........I tried soy meat called MOCK Chicken Salad in regular and buffalo from WHOLE FOODS and it is a must get...find your local whole foods and give it a whirl! So awesome, OK back to regularly scheduled blogging lol.................I like to add things that are tangy or have a flavor because I haven't been putting any dressing so I used Tabasco spicy pickled okra, peppadew peppers (sweet and spicy), the mock chicken salad, banana peppers, kalmata olives and things like that. It has been filling and yummy! You should try it. My co-worker does Meatless Mondays so why not give it a try once a week!!!! You may like it!
My snacks were fruit, almonds, Buffalo jerky and coconut chips which were very light and tasty! I have been mainly shopping at Trader Joes but if you don't have one I know you can find these items at most stores, except for the Coconut flakes probably! If you really want some I would mail you some though! :) They are that good!
OK TO WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR...............THE RECIPE...
I would like to call this dish Turkey Sausage and Veggie Pasta Soup lol! Long name huh??? Maybe I could call it Deliciousness! Yep that would be short and sweet!
Anyway here it is....
1 Can of 32 fl. oz Vegetable Broth (I had organic)
4 Cups Diced Tomatoes in Tomato Sauce or Juice
1/2 cup Diced Shallots
1/2 Cup Diced onions
3 Handfuls of Kale, chopped
1/4 Cup Diced Garlic
1 Cup Chopped String Green Beans
1 Cup Carrots, chopped
1 Cup Edamame (found frozen and de-shelled)
1 Cup Mushrooms, any kind, chopped
1 Cup Celery, chopped
1 and 1/2 t Sea Salt (or to taste)
1 Cup Turkey Sausage, cooked, drained and chopped up
2 Cups Whole Wheat Fusilli Pasta(not spaghetti though or thin noodles)
1 T Italian Seasoning
Pepper to taste
Directions:
Cook sausage and set aside.
Chop all the veggies and put in pot with the vegetable broth and diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce/juice it came in. Cook on low until the veggies are tender. For me that was about 45 minutes If you use a crock pot on low it would probably take about 6 hours but I didn't do it that way since my crock pot was too small! When the veggies were tender enough to how I would eat it, I added the pasta and the pasta was al dente in about 10 minutes. Don't let them get mushy especially if you plan to eat it for the rest of the week like me, it is also a great family meal!
Modifications for next time...
I loved the pasta but wanted more sauce so I plan to only do 1 cup of pasta and probably add more vegetable broth and diced tomatoes to make it more soupy and not as thick and soupy. Don't get me wrong, it came out good and was delicious. It was enough broth for the first 4 days but towards me prepping it became more of a pasta dish since it wasn't too much broth left! Let me know if you try it and what you add or omit and how you liked it! My friend loved it so it wasn't just me!
Also try to portion it out nicely. I had prepped for the whole work week with mine!
Have a good healthy rest of the week!
