My Mothers Secret Chicken Soup With Rice

Chicken Soup With Rice (or Pasta)

So this recipe is from making soup with my mom when I was a kid. It's still my favorite soup. The only change I made to this recipe is I don't use bullion anymore because it has partially hydrogenated oil in it and I use orzo instead of rice. I found out recently that I have an intolerance, but I used to eat this with rice all the time and orzo is a pretty good substitute. Because this recipe does not use chicken broth or chicken bullion, you will need to have the skin on and add more salt than normal. At the bottom of this recipe is a list of soup fixes cause with soup, sometimes the broth can be a little fickle, and with those fixes you can make the broth taste exactly how you want it to.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken                       1 Whole or 2 quarters

Carrots                        4-6 large

Celery                         1 stock

Onion                          2 Big

Garlic                          6-10 cloves to taste

Sea Salt                       2-3 tbs or to taste

Ground Pepper            1 tsp

Turmeric                      1 dash

Basil                            3 dashes

Bay Leaf                     2

Mustard Powder         3 dashes

DIRECTIONS

1. Have rice or pasta cooked separately.In my opinion, you shouldn't keep your starch with the soup as it is cooked because it then makes the soup starchy.
2. In one giant pot, put all spices, chopped veggies, and chicken in.
3. Add water till all ingredients are just covered.
4. Let boil for 30-40 min.
5. Take out chicken and de-skin it and pull meat off the bone in strips or bits. (the meat should be falling off the bone and done)
6. Put strips of chicken back in the soup. Add 4-6 cups more water. Keep at a boil till veggies are soft.
7. Serve over a half cup of rice or pasta in a bowl and enjoy.
8. You can refrigerate it for a few days and if preferred you can skim the fat off the top after it's been cooled down to make it less fatty. (although they say chicken fat is quite healthy for you) 

Soup fixes:

If the broth is too sweet, add more garlic and salt.

If the broth has too much garlic, add more water and salt.

If the broth is too salty, add more water and possibly garlic.

If the broth doesn't have as much flavor as expected, add more salt.

Hope you like this soup as much as I do. Many friends have tried it and I have always gotten rave reviews.

Major Fast Food Chains Getting Rid of Pink Slime

McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell are removing 'Pink Slime' from their menu!

What is Pink Slime you might ask? Well It's meat parts that are the "left overs" of the animal that no one uses and puts it through a process of pulverizing, grinding, and drenching the tissue with ammonia. Oh and it's in about 70% of all American ground beef. Yuck!

This is kind of a big deal! These fast food companies have decided to eliminate it after many years of  it being used. We are moving in the right direction! Even though we still must battle the many other things wrong with these giant food companies like soy stuffing and using mass produced meat, we are still moving in a better direction.
This is showing me that people are becoming more aware and companies are needing to move with the awareness!
Another fun thing I've been seeing in the press lately is mechanically separated poultry pictures.
Same concept as pink slime but with poultry and pork. Yeah, that pic isn't froyo, check it out!

Man that's gross! Makes anyone want to think twice before eating something without knowing what is actually in it, right?

5 Quick Tips for Eating Healthy to Help Lose Weight

5 Quick Tips For Eating Right

These tips are not only for losing weight but for a lifetime of food health. I'm giving you 5 tips on how to eat, but to lose weight, you also have to increase your exercise a bit more. Maybe that's walking a bit more than normal or going to the gym more frequently, but in some way you have to use the calories you are consuming for something! 

So here are my 5 quick tips on eating:

• 1. Fat and Carbs should stay away from each other as much as possible!  If you're planning to eat a lot of carbs in a meal, limit the fatty foods and stick to lean protein. If you're having fatty protein, limit the carbs. Carbs are any root vegetable like carrots and potatoes, fruits or breads of all sorts. Fats could be anything from butter to oil to animal skin. For example, I love  making small deli trays for a meal and I will have salami, avocado, and cheese with an apple or a small amount of whole wheat baquette. Lots of fat and protein, not many carbs. Or You could have toast with jam and some non fat greek yogurt with fruit. Lots of carbs and lean protein, but not fat.

• 2. Eat more protein! If your like me you probably need to double the amount of protein in your diet. That means lots of good animal protein like grass fed beef, Greek yogurt, lamb, organic chicken, buffalo, and plant protein like nuts, beans, peas, spinach, and broccoli.

• 3. Start making more meals at home! When you make your own food you know exactly what you're eating. Restaurants are nice but often don't have an ingredients list of what is actually in what you are eating. 

• 4. Eat cleanly! Try to stick to local and organic foods. Stay away from unfermented soy, partially hydrogenated oils, genetically modified corn, cured meat, added preservatives like nitrites, massed produced milk and mass produced animal protein. If it comes in a box or a bag be wary and look at the ingredients. If the item in the store you want to buy has an ingredients list that makes you tired to read it, put it down and walk away! It probably has been so over processed that a lab rat wouldn't eat it. 

• 5. Eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full! Simple, but at times of social gatherings like thanksgiving, holiday meals, or restaurant dates,  it's hard to realize when to stop. Sometimes I walk away being so full, I feel like a whale. Try to avoid this. 

So there it is! This is what any good trainer would tell you and it's all free from me. Enjoy and good luck with all those new years resolutions for 2012!

Life Without a Microwave

Life Without a Microwave

So when my husband and I moved in together we made the conscious decision to not have a microwave. We didn't want a microwave because it took up a bunch of counter space, it demolished any nutrients of food once you nuke it and it usually made the texture of food very odd. But...

Little did I know that it would make eating healthier so much easier!

When I had a microwave, I would use it a lot to make junk food and I barely cooked from scratch. For my dinner, I would either have a non cooked meal like a sandwich, or just get those horrible pizza rolls and microwave them.

Eliminating the possibility of using a microwave forced me to avoid microwavable food, make dinner from scratch, and inevitably know all the ingredients of what I'm eating. I find that I'm more involved with my food than I used to be and I have to make cooking meals part of my daily routine because I got rid of that crutch. 

So here is a challenge if it applies, put your microwave somewhere you can't see for two weeks to see how it changes your daily routine and/or possibly your health. If it's changed for the better, keep it out of your sight or donate it!

Just another way to have a healthier lifestyle.

The Myth on Saturated Fat

Are Saturated Fats Good For You?

Many would believe that eating saturated fat will cause weight gain, high cholesterol and heart disease.

But what if I were to tell you that omnivores are meant to eat animal fat. A lot of it even. Why do you think breast milk is over 50% saturated fat? Countries that have a higher saturated fat consumption have less heart disease than countries that have developed a low fat diet.It's shown that humans who eat more animal fat and less carbohydrates are more fit and heart healthy.

Why do studies show that it's bad then?

Have you ever considered those test studies have been done on Herbivores? Herbivores who aren't meant to eat meat anyway. Tests done on omnivores and carnivores are fine.

Lets also remember that cholesterol medication is a 25 billion dollar industry. So it's in the country's best interest that we tell lies about health to U.S citizens...

There are good vs not so good saturated fats though...

Eggs, milk, and meat that are pastured and grass fed have higher nutrient rich fatty acids than animals that have been confined. So buying at a farmers market or going organic will give you the better option.

Let's not confuse Saturated fat with trans fat!

Trans fat is something made from vegetable oil to make it solid at room temp and is super un-natural and not meant for human consumption. (Crisco, margarine, partially or fully hydrogenated oil)

So stay away from trans fats and enjoy those saturated fats!

Use real butter and don't worry about eating the whole egg with the yolk. Just start shopping at  your local farmers market to make sure you are getting the best nutrient rich saturated fats you can and if a farmers market isn't an option Organic is a good second choice.

If you need to be more convinced, here is an article written by a cardiac surgeon and professor of surgery at the U.W. Medical Center.

The Best "On the Go" Bar

Lara Bars!

So Lara bars are one of the only energy/ snack bar on the market that isn't loaded with crap!

Every other bar, like Quaker oats, cliff, kashi, special k, generic cereal or granola bars, are typically packed with corn syrup, sugar, and soy!

Lara bars are just fruit and nuts and they come in a wide variety of flavors like apple pie, pecan pie, and other ones with chocolate (that don't contain soy lecithin!!!!). It's gmo free and usually contains 5 or less wholesome ingredients.

You can get these bars at almost any grocery store, even costco sells a variety pack.

Way to go Lara Bars!

Get Fresh Local Organic Produce Delivered to You!

Here's a great way to support the Pacific Northwest and Washington farmers!

So I've been telling people about this and it's seems to me like many are unaware of this great service here in the northwest.

 You can have fresh local organic food delivered to you for a reasonable price either weekly or bi monthly.

There are two sites that I know of that do this. 

One is Full Circle Farms, which is a local farm here in Washington that teams up with other organic farmers in the region to bring you the best crops around. This company has a vast delivery area around and out of Seattle, plus this company allows you to select certain foods you don't like to leave out of your box and put more of something else you do like. There boxes come in standard or family sized with a variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs. This site also has an online grocery store, so you can have organic artisan crafted cheese and bread, as well as organic goods like meat, eggs, pantry food, pasta, and grains delivered to you as well. Price range for the fruit and vegetable boxes are  regular 37$- family size 58$ for delivery and 34$-54$ for pick up. They have pick up sites all over the pacific northwest.

The other site is Pacific Coast Harvest. This company uses organic farms around the region as well to give you organic produce. They have three sizes of boxes (single, regular, family) and three different styles of boxes ( all vegetable, the Washington box i.e. all fruit,  or half and half). The delivery range is mostly just in Seattle and immediately around Seattle. The price range for boxes is single 22$ regular 32$ and family 42$. 

So There you go people! Another great way to stock your place with local organic produce and support our local economy!

As always,

 KNOW WHAT YOU ARE EATING 

and read your labels.