Simpleton

 Yesterday was grocery shopping day and I had enough discipline to not buy any ice cream. I, however, caved when it came to Cadbury mini eggs. I stuffed the bag in the back of the cabinet for, um, "emergency" purposes. I was pleased to look down and see our carriage full of veggies, fruits, steaks, humus and yogurt. The steaks are smaller breakfast types steaks. We did buy a bag of rice cake things but that bag remains unopened as well. I'm trying not to snack at all, but when I do, I want to reach for something decent.

I've been having an issue with acid reflux. I've had it for many years but it's getting worse so I'm trying to narrow down what foods are triggering it. Unfortunately for me, white bread seems to be a major culprit. I shouldn't be eating white bread anyhow so it's not a huge deal. I love to bake bread though. I don't know of many things that are better than fresh-from-the-oven bread smeared with sweet butter. I purchased a bag of whole wheat flour and I'm going to bake some bread with that to see if I still get the reflux. 

Another food I seem to be having issues with, and this is a problem, is white rice. Rice is a good substitute for taters. I can't give up rice. I read a few articles that suggested brown rice because it's less processed. I bought a box of instant brown rice and we'll give it a go. I've never been big on brown rice, but if it's all that I can have, so be it. 

Most of my eating, like so many people, stems from habit and boredom. If I keep busy I eat less. I know this. If I get the urge to snack, I have to stop and ask myself if I'm truly hungry or just bored. True hunger is very often never the case. I know I can conquer this speed bump. I know I can lose the weight that I need to  and get back to lifting and working out. I know these things. If I know I can, then I have to act on it. It's just that simple. Simple in theory, not in practice. I'm a simple person though so this is right up my alley.

Super Soup

 I love soup. It's probably one of my favorite things to make. First because it's a one pot wonder, second because it's an inexpensive meal, and third because they fill you up with good nutrition. Let's walk down memory lane and take a look back at some of my super soups.

Italian Meat & Veggie Soup

This first soup was supposed to be a stuffed pepper soup that I had seen the recipe for. I ended up not having all the ingredients so I made it a hybrid. It had spinach and green beans and tomatoes and Italian sausage. It was marvelous.

Panera Copy Cat Creamy Chicken Soup

Next we have a favorite of mine, albeit not the healthiest option. This is a copy cat recipe of Panera Bread's creamy chicken soup. The first time I made it was about 6 years ago. Frank was feeling under the weather and I thought some soup would make him perk up a little. He loved it and it's stayed in my recipe box ever since. I switched up the recipe a bit by using chicken thighs and sweet potatoes. The thighs are always on sale and much less expensive than the breasts. Plus I think they taste better. I also used sweet potatoes. I found (totally by accident) that because they break down more than regular potatoes, they actually help to make the soup a little thicker.  I've also used roasted butternut squash in the same way. In fact, I just did that with some chicken & rice soup that I made.

New Bedford Kale Soup

I can't make a blog post about soup without including kale soup! Kale is one of my all-time favorite veggies. I used to have an issue with bruising on my legs. You could just look at me cross-eyed and I'd bruise. It was awful. I started eating more kale and the bruises didn't happen nearly as much. Not scientific evidence by any means, but good enough for me. If I don't want to bruise, I eat kale. It's that simple. This soup is a great way to get in a lot of the veggie!

Italian Everything Soup

Similar to the Italian meat and veggie soup above, this one is kind of like a minestrone, I guess. There's every veggie known to man and some hamburger thrown in. This is a great soup to make when you need to clean out the vegetable drawer in the fridge because it's OK if the vegetables are a little past their peak. Just trim off any blemishes or weird bits and throw the rest into the pot. 

Lentil Soup

Packed with protein and fiber Lentils are a health power-house! You can't get much easier than lentils, stock, onions and carrots. Hell, some people don't even use the carrots! Pea soup is along the same lines - loads of protein and fiber. Have ham? Add it in! Both soups are easy and also very inexpensive. There's no excuse to not add this into your diet.

Turkey Soup

Thanksgiving to me is not only the roasted turkey on Thursday, it's also the turkey soup on Saturday. Using every bit of that bird is a major win for the budget. Here's a secret I use with both my turkey soup and chicken soup - I use the leftover stuffing (if there is any) when I boil the bones for the stock, and then in the soup itself, I add some of the leftover gravy. Flavor added everywhere!

So there you have it. By no means every soup possible, but some of my usual suspects. And it's so easy to change soups up to fit what you have on hand. You can use whatever veggies you have, basically any meat and some stock. Throw in some rice or noodles to make it different. I'm a stickler, in general, for using recipes to cook meals for fear of screwing it up and wasting good food. But even I throw caution to the wind when I make soup. Anything goes - it's craziness in the kitchen when it's soup day! 

Now I'll bid you adieu because I'm hungry and need to eat breakfast. I kid you not, I'm having chicken and rice soup.  

 

Every Book Has An Ending

 The Facebook has reached it's final pages in its final chapter. I'm all set with it. It really has become less than pointless. So I'm moving back to a strictly personal blog format. Not only for my fitness page, but my writing and crating as well. I'll probably keep my personal Facebook page just because it's convenient to keep in touch with people I don't see. But as for health and fitness, I'm moving it back home to it's happy place - blog land. 

I've down loaded a bunch of the photos I had up there, so over the coming days (and weeks if we're going to be honest) I'll be mashing them together for some new posts. I can't say I'm going to have new training logs because I've placed myself in a slump that I'm having a hard time crawling out of. Same story, different day. So until the physicality comes back into my life, I'll focus on the mentality of health and the spirituality of well being. Sounds good, right?

Anyhow, if you've found your way here from Facebook, thanks for stopping by. I hate feeling like I'm talking to myself, but it's never stopped me from doing it! Please comment. About anything, really. Conversation and discussion are welcome here even if we don't see eye to eye. I'd like to think that because this isn't quite as "instant" as Facebook, discussions will be much more level-headed.

With all that being said. Let's start a new book!