Eating Healthy

As I write this I am recovering from a terrible cold. You know the kind that lingers for about two weeks and leaves you feeling like you have an elephant standing on your chest so that you have to sleep sitting up otherwise the coughing keeps you awake all night. Really not a lot of fun! Thankfully, my freezer and pantry/refrigerator were prepared for me to take some time off from the kitchen while I was trying to get better. The following is a list of the pantry/freezer items and how they were used to feed my family even when I didn't feel like getting off the couch.

Freezer Items:
1 Whole Roasting Chicken (bought on sale a while back)
4 cps Homemade Chicken Broth
2 cps Frozen Corn

Refrigerator Items:
4 Celery stalks
6 Carrots

Pantry Items:
3 cans Cannelini Beans (aka White Kidney Beans)
1 can Chopped Tomatoes
1 sm can Chipotles in Adobo
1 tbs Organo, dried
2 lge sprigs fresh Rosemary (from the garden)
2 sm Onions
4 cloves Garlic

Ok, now I know that sounds like a lot of things, but you will be able to make two wonderful and completely different meals with these ingredients that will feed a family of four easily. The first night you will eat Slow-cooked Chicken with Vegetables and Rosemary and the second night you will eat Chipotle Chicken and Corn Soup

Slow-cooked Chicken with Vegetables and Rosemary
1 Whole Roasting Chicken
4 cps Homemade Chicken Broth (store bought is OK too!)
4 Celery stalks
6 Carrots
2 lge sprigs fresh Rosemary (1 tsp dried)
2 sm Onions
4 cloves Garlic

Rinse the chicken under cold water and remove any extra items from inside the cavity; place in crock pot. Cut celery and carrots into 2-inch segments; slice onions into large segments; chop garlic cloves; place in crock pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste; pour in chicken broth; toss in fresh rosemary. Set crock pot to cook for 8 hours.

Serve with Rice or warm French Bread.

Note: Don't throw away the bones and left over broth! You will need those for the second recipe! Store the bones and broth in a container in the fridge until the day you want to eat the next recipe.

Chipotle Chicken and Corn Soup
Step 1:
Place chicken bones and any broth in a stock pot. Add 6-8 cups of water then allow to simmer for 1 to 2 hours. (This may seem like a lot of work, but it's really not, because you don't have to watch over this at all. The best part is that you end up with the best tasting chicken broth you will ever taste!)

Step 2:
After the broth has simmered for a couple of hours you will want to strain it. I use a metal strainer and then go back with a glass fat separator to remove any excess fat and impurities off the broth. (Fat separators are extremely handy to have around the holidays for making gravies!)

Step 3:
Place the broth back on the stove and add...
2 cps leftover Chicken pulled into bite sized pieces
2 cps Frozen Corn
3-15oz cans Cannelini Beans, drained and rinsed
1-15oz can Chopped Tomatoes
1 sm can Chipotles in Adobo (Use as much or as little as you would like, but beware these are extremely hot! I only use a couple of spoonfuls of the adobo/sauce.)
1 tbs Organo, dried

Allow to simmer for 15-30 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Serve with crumbled tortilla chips, shredded cheese and slices of avocado.

There you go, two extremely healthy and flavorful meals for days when you don't feel like being in the kitchen!

First steps to weight loss, the balanced way.

Everyone knows that diets are a dime a dozen. You can't step foot in any store, watch any TV, or talk to anyone and not see or hear something about dieting. It's January 2009 and I bet you know at least one other person who has started a diet. Is it you? Did you make the New Years resolution to loose weight this year? I promise you can loose weight, but you won't do it with a diet. Let me let you in on a secret... dieting doesn't work!

In my experience as a Personal Chef, people will try the craziest diets!! I think I've seen most of them and honestly have tried some myself. All diets have one thing in common. They start with a list of things you are no longer allowed to eat. In one diet I picked up recently the author actually said you were not allowed to eat zucchini! That's crazy! When the first thing you do is start depriving yourself you will fall into the diet trap. "All diets will make you hungry, which in turn makes you tired, which in turn makes you cranky!" That doesn't sound like a good time to me! That's not balance. Period.

If you truly want to loose weight the first thing you have to do is begin to appreciate who you are. Did you know the Bible says you are made in God's image? That sounds good to me. So take a deep breath and meditate on you being made in God's image. The next thing I want you to do is consider this... Acts 17:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Wow! God has made plans for you to prosper! He wants to give you hope! If you want to loose weight, you can do it! But it's going to require you asking for the Lord's help and grace as you begin a journey of finding balance.

In this weight loss section of the Living In Balance Blog I'm going to present you with what I believe are some of the most important things you can do to succeed at losing weight. We are going to focus on making healthy life changes that over time will add up to a healthier you. We are going to focus on one thing at a time.

This first step will not give you an immediate decrease in pounds, but is something that will over time dramatically help your body. It is really simple. Add two glasses of water each day. You will drink one 16 ounce glass as soon as your feet hit the floor in the morning. Then add a second 16 ounce glass right before you turn in. Your body needs this water because it becomes dehydrated overnight. When your body is dehydrated it actually retains water leaving you bloated and not feeling good.

Simple. You can do it.