Homemade Chicken Soup

I love cooking a whole chicken in the oven, it takes longer but it’s juicer and then you can make soup afterwards! Pulling a whole chicken out of the oven and carving it up, makes dinner feel like an occasion, it’s a great one for company. Especially if you can tell them a few months ago the chicken was running around your yard, it’s something I can do for the first time.

I know at least four people who were vomiting for at least 24 hours last week. One of them was my partner who didn’t leave the couch for a whole day; he was begging for gingerale and chicken noodle soup when I got home from work. Lucky for him I’ve been keeping homemade chicken broth in the freezer.

Ever wonder why chicken noodle soup is what a lot of people want when they are feeling ill? I learned some of the energetics of food, when you consider the energy that is in your food as it grows and you are what you eat. Chickens are light, move quickly, and have a lot of bounce in their step. You want some of that energy when you’re feeling sick.

Chicken Soup

Broth:

After having a whole roasted chicken for dinner, put the carcass, bones, skin, and any meat you’re not going to eat into a slow cooker (or croc pot). Add enough water to cover the carcass, set it to cook over night for as long as the longest setting allows. Mine will cook for 10 hours. You will have the best chicken broth in the morning full of good healthy fat and nutrients. Once finished, with a slotted spoon remove all the bones.

Now you have concentrated chicken broth, if you are not going to make soup right away, put it into containers and freeze it until you want chicken soup.

Chicken Soup:

You can have whatever you like in chicken soup, if you want onions, I would saute them in a little olive oil before adding the broth. For plain chicken noodle soup, put the broth in a pot (frozen or not) add equal amount of water. Once the soup comes to a boil (if it’s frozen everything is melted) add your noodles of choice. I like egg noodles in chicken soup. Add salt and pepper, once the noodles are cooked it’s ready to enjoy.

For more great recipes get my Free Fatigue Fighting 3 Day Meal Plan. Click Below.

Beef Stew

This recipe will make you feel warm and powerful inside. I love a good hearty winter meal that is simple to make and requires no cooking!

Ingredients:

Stewing Beef (hormone and antibiotic free)

onion

mushroom

garlic

corn

cabbage

potatoes

Directions:

Place frozen stewing beef in the croc pot, turn croc pot on high heat for 6 hours. Chop up the onions and other veggies throw in on top. Add 2-3 cups of water add organic bouillon cube for more flavour and herbs. I like to throw in tyme and basil if I have it. Let it stew in the slow cooker for 6 hours and enjoy!

Tip: When it comes to bouillon cubes check the ingredients! Avoid Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), I’ve seen a lot of crap in bouillon cubes. I only get organic cubes now.

Want more good for you and delicious recipes? Click below to get my 3 day fatigue fighting meal plan!

 

Bacon Squash Stir-Fry

I will admit that bacon is not healthiest meat option, but everything in moderation. This is my partners favourite way to eat spaghetti squash, so I always just make sure to add as many veggies as I have and everything balances.

Ingredients:

bacon

onion

mushroom

garlic

ginger

red pepper

broccoli

hot pepper

Spaghetti Squash

Directions:

Turn your oven to 350 to bake the spaghetti squash. If it is really tough to cut in half, poke holes in it with a fork and put it in a pan with small amount of water that covers the bottom of the pan and put it into the oven as it’s heating for 5-10 minutes. Remove, cut in half, scoop out the seeds. Rub olive oil onto the squash, salt and pepper, place it face down on a baking sheet, bake for about 30-40 minutes or until it is soft. Cut your bacon in to bit size pieces and fry in a large frying pan on medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and ginger, mushrooms, then red peppers. Add the broccoli once everything else is mostly cooked. You can put whatever veggies you want or have into this. Once the broccoli is bright green, scrape the spaghetti squash into the pan. Pour some sauce over it if you want or eat it as it is, there will be loads of flavour with the bacon and veggies. Enjoy!

Want more tasty and healthy recipes! Check out my 3 Day Fatigue Fighting Meal Plan. HERE

Meal Worthy Smoothies To Go

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because it sets up your digestive system to burn calories or store them. If you skip breakfast your body will think it needs to store calories for a famine, instead of burn what you consume throughout the entire day. Your body will function on LOW and you’re going to feel tired.

Smoothies take 5 minutes to make and you can take them to go. I find even when my belly doesn’t feel like eating breakfast, because it’s too early and I’m too tired. I can still drink a smoothie, maybe even in the car on my way to work, or at work.

When you make smoothies, the most important part is for it to contain protein, to increase your energy. I always aim for a minimum of 10g of protein per person.

CREATE YOUR OWN SMOOTHIE RECIPE

Ingredients:
frozen strawberries frozen blueberries
frozen mixed berries celery
kale or any leafy green
unsweetened coconut milk
unsweetened almond milk cinnamon
lemon
any fruit

Most Important Ingredients contain protein:
chia seeds
pumpkin seeds
hemp hearts
soft tofu (non GMO)
almond butter any nuts or nut butter
walnuts
plant based protein powder

Strawberry Almond Smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted almond butter
3/4 cup light unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup frozen organic strawberries
2 tablespoon hemp hearts
2 tablespoon chia seeds

Directions:
With a blender mix everything together until smooth. Enjoy!

Mixed Berry Green Smoothie
Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 cup of Kale
1/2 cup of mixed berried
1/2 banana
1/2 lime wedge (peeled)
1 cup almond milk
small hand full of walnuts

Directions:
Mix everything together with a blender until smooth. Enjoy!

Want more easy and good for you recipes? You will love my 3 day fatigue fighting meal plan. Click Below.

3 Ways to Cook Kale

When I first decided to clean up my diet I knew I had to add more greens. Kale has built up a reputation of being a “super” green. So I knew I should start eating kale.

I was most intrigued by kale chips, which is now my favourite way to eat kale, but there are many ways to eat kale.

Boiled or Steamed

Wash it, tear it from the stem and throw it in a pot of boiling water. This is the simplest way to eat kale. I will do this with pasta or throw it in with rice as it’s boiling. The kale will take about 5 minutes to cook to be soft and edible. Don’t bother with the stems, they are extremely tough. It’s also good on its own as a side. Cover the bottom of a frying pan with water, bring it to a boil and fill the pan with kale, let it steam until soft, add salt and pepper or any desired seasoning.

Raw

You have probably noticed how tough kale is, and maybe you’ve tried to eat it raw and thought this doesn’t seem edible. The secret to eating raw kale is once you have rinsed it clean, torn it away from the stem into bite size pieces and put into a bowl, pour a table spoon or so of olive oil and squeeze half a lemon over it. Massage the oil in with your hands, this actually takes the toughness away. You can than add more salad ingredients to it or just eat it on its own.

Baked

This is my favourite, crispy kale chips. A great snack or side dish.

Kale Chips

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale
1 table spoons of coconut oil
1 table spoon of sea salt

Preheat oven to 350. Spoon 1 table spoon of coconut oil on a baking sheet and put in oven to melt. Rinse kale and tear into chip size pieces avoiding the hard stem. Bake for 10 minutes, check chips and stir. Bake for 2-5 more minutes. It’s a very fine line between great crispy kale chips and burnt kale chips, watch carefully when returning to the oven.

For more healthy recipes try my fatigue fighting meal plan!

Zucchini Noodle Stir fry with Peanut Sauce

If you haven’t had peanut sauce and you like peanut butter, you HAVE to try this. It’s delicious (I get specific cravings for it) and surprisingly easy to make. It was first made for me by family and then I started to get cravings for it and learned to make it on my own.

PEANUT SAUCE
serves 4

Ingredients
1 1″ piece of ginger peeled and chopped roughly (doesn’t need to be fine, it’s all going into a blender)
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Direction
In a blender or food processor blend ginger and garlic together to start until it is finely chopped. Add all other ingredients and 1/3 cup of water. Blend together. If the sauce seems too thick add 2 tablespoons of water, beware of adding too much water. Can be stored in the fridge for a few days, serve at room temperature.

Zucchini Noodle Stir fry

Ingredients:
2 zucchini
1 onion
mushrooms
peppers
broccoli

Directions:
You can use any vegetables you want. The key to good zucchini noodles is using a spiralizer. I’ve tried for the same effect using a cheese grater and it’s weird. Ask around to borrow one, you will fall in love with it. Ask Santa for one, it’s a kitchen tool I wouldn’t give up. Spiralize your zucchini first so you are prepared when the frying begins. Start with your onions in a pan with your oil of choice, I always use coconut oil for frying. As your onions are getting soft chop your other veggies how you like. You can use any vegetables you want or have in your fridge for this, don’t get caught up in the ingredients. Add the zucchini noodles last once everything else is cooked, they don’t take long. Once the zucchini noodles are soft toss in the peanut sauce. Beware not to over do the zucchini noodles, they will become mush. They will be cooked in under 5 minutes.

For more great healthy recipes check out my fatigue fighting 3 day meal plan

Hot Bacon Slaw

This is a really great side to any dish, who am I kidding. Bacon makes everything delicious. This is quick and easy, it’s a go to of mine when I have loads of cabbage growing in my garden. It also happens to be sugar, dairy, and wheat free.

Ingredients:

1 cabbage

1/2 pound of bacon

1-2 cloves of garlic diced

1 inch chunk (give or take) of ginger diced

Directions:

Chop the bacon into bite size pieces and fry in a pan over medium high heat. While it is cooking stir as needed and chop the cabbage into long thin slices. Cut the cabbage in half and then slice as thinly as you can length wise. Once the bacon is mostly cooked add the cabbage. Finely chop the garlic and peel and finely chop the ginger. Once the cabbage is soft add garlic and ginger to pan. Stir everything together, once the cabbage is soft and tastes good it’s ready. Enjoy!

Want more delicious healthy recipes, click below:

Roasted Nuts & Sugar Cravings

This is one of my favourite snack recipes that I found while doing the 10 day sugar detox. I keep it handy when thinking about cutting back or giving up sugar for a while, like the 72 Hour Sugar Free Challenge starting this Monday.

When I crave sugar I find it helpful to deal with cravings by eating good fat and drinking water or herbal tea.

A craving means our body needs something, 90% of the time it’s water. We will also get cravings when our body needs vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Sugar has totally changed the game, we have been brainwashed by sugar. Our brains get addicted to sugar and instead of craving what we really need, the brain just wants sugar. Which makes cravings very confusing.

So try some water or herbal tea first. If that craving is not going away a good fat snack will give your body the energy it might be craving. If it’s still there try something naturally sweet like fruit. If the craving still does not go away, and you made a good effort, satisfy the craving with something sweet. Ice cream or chocolate are my go to’s, be aware of how much does it take to feel satisfied? This is something to experiment with and bring your awareness towards.

I really do love this easy to make roasted nut recipe.

Roasted Mixed Nuts

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups of mixed nuts
3 table spoons of coconut oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. In  large bowl combine coconut oil and spices, if the coconut oil is not a liquid microwave for 30 sec until it is. Pour the mixed nuts  into the bowl to coat in the oil and spices. Spread the nuts in an even layer on the baking sheet. Bake for 20-30 min, stirring and tossing occasionally until lightly toasted. Cool and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Nutritional Analysis per serving (1/4 cup nuts): Calories 206; Fat 19g, Saturated Fat 4 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Fiber 3 g; Protein 5g; Carbohydrates 8g; Sodium 66 mg

If you want to shed some unwanted weight and feel energized, join my free challenge. 72 HOUR SUGAR FREE CHALLENGE. Starts Monday. Sign up below.

Tomato Soup – Best I Ever Had

Homemade soup is so easy to make and good for you. Are you a ingredient checker? Next time your in the grocery store look at the ingredients in the soup before you buy it, do you know what they all are? If you don’t know what the ingredient is, it’s likely a chemical to preserve the food and it’s cause inflation and bloating in your body.

This recipe is from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cook book It’s All Easy. It is easy and delicious!

EASY TOMATO SOUP
serves 4

Ingredients:
2 table spoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
5 large fresh basil leaves
1 can of whole tomatoes with their juice
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
On medium heat in a heavy bottom pot melt the butter, add the olive oil, saute the onions with salt. Once opinions are soft after about 10 minutes add garlic, tomato paste, and basil leaves, saute for about two minutes. Add can of tomatoes with the juice from the can, break up the tomatoes a bit, add the chicken stock, bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce to a simmer, cook for 20 minutes. Take of heat and using a hand blender blend the soup to make it smooth. Salt and Pepper to taste, stir in the cream. Enjoy!

Want more fresh and healthy recipes? Get my 3 day meal plan, click below.

Where to Start? Add Greens.

Want to feel better than you do now? Thinking of using nutrition to improve your health? Wondering how to get started?

Add Greens to everyday. Before I became a Health Coach and I was on my own discovery journey to better nutrition I learned the way to start is to add more greens to your life before taking anything away. This alone will make a difference in your energy level. 

So I bought some kale, because everyone was talking about how great it is for you. A SUPER green.

You can cook just about any veggie by baking it, boiling it, steaming it, or frying it. Pick a way give it a try. 

My first time trying to cook kale was baking it into kale chips, now I’m hooked and LOVE kale chips.

Add some greens to normal everyday food: By greens the best ones are kale, spinach, collards and swiss chard, but also any green vegetable!

Throw some greens into the pasta water.

Throw some spinach is my favourite to have with fried eggs.

Throw some greens into your rice as it’s boiling.

Saute greens on their own in butter to have on the side of what you normally eat.

Keep it simple, just get some greens and add them into everything you normally eat.

Try my kale chips:

Want more energy for your busy life? Try my Free Fatigue Fighting 3 Day Meal Plan