Meals of the day!

So today for lunch I made a chicken and cabbage coconut curry soup! It was FABULOUS and I actually measured today because I wanted an accurate calorie count.

1 cup of light coconut milk - 150 calories 2 cups of chicken broth- 20 calories 1 chicken breast - 260 calories 1 cup chopped carrot - 52 1 cup chopped cabbage - 22 1/4 of a chopped onion - 30 2 tbs green curry paste - 20 1/2 tsp Coconut Oil- 20 Salt Pepper Curry Powder *pinch of cilantro optional Makes 4 servings Total calories for the whole pot - 574 That is 143 calories for a bowl of AWESOME! So first chop the chicken breast into chunks

Then put into a medium pot on high heat with 1/2 tsp coconut oil and season with salt, pepper, and curry powder and brown

Next add chopped veggies and cook down until the veggies are soft

Once its brown and delicious and your veggies are soft add in the coconut milk and the green curry paste. These items are found in the asian section at every grocery store I have been to in my small east texas town so I know you can find these items. Green curry paste is awesome it has lemongrass, ginger, and kafir lime in it so the flavors are EXPLOSIVO!

I love making coconut curry I make it a lot. When you are at this point you can stop and serve this over rice its AWESOME that way. I wanted soup today because soup is filling and as you can see this was very low calorie which is another reason to make soups! I also do several variations on the coconut curry change up your protein and veggies and also I love to use the red curry paste as a different flavor as well!

TODAY add the chicken broth. THEN simmer for about 15 minutes so flavors meld and everything is nice and tender. Measure yourself 1 1/2 cups and top with cilantro. Serve with ginger water and you are DONE-SKO

For a snack before my workout I had half of a wheat english muffin with a tbsp of reduced fat peanut butter. I did a lot of research on the whole pre workout snack and found that it can be beneficial for some but not all. I tend to find myself feeling worn out before I am even half way through my routine. I read that the best thing is to eat about 20 minutes prior a very SMALL amount of food with both complex carbs and protein. My favorite and the easiest sounding was toast and peanut butter.

I don't know if it was the snack but OMG I had a ton of energy today. I ran... wait for it... WAIT FOR IT... 5 minutes straight. That is the longest I have ever been able to run. I wanted to stop at 3 minutes but I KEPT ON GOING because I told myself I couldn't stop yet. I know to some thats nothing but I used to run for one minute and feel like I was going to pass out. I wanted to keep working out and was doing my stuff when Chris came over and told me he was done and ready when I was. I could have kept going even though I was finished with my routine I was planning on adding more just for FUN... FUN? haha WOW

When I got home it was time for dinner. I decided to make the jalapeno chicken sausages and southwestern quinoa.

Rinse the quinoa off - I didn't have a fine mesh strainer so I put paper towel in my colander. I boiled it with water, salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne pepper. THEN my secret ingredient to make it even more flavorful???

Roasted red pepper chipotle sandwich spread - find it by the mayo. Its basically roasted red pepper and chipotle puree. OMG it made it SO good.

Once its done fluff with a fork and add corn and black beans. UMMM yummy For the sausage I cooked it in a skillet with 2 cups of chicken broth FIRST then once it was fully cooked my husband put it on the grill.

YES it was as delicious as it looks. Now for my night time dessert. I don't know why but I have to end my night with a little sweet. Tonight its a cup of hot green tea and some prunes!

These little purple black gems are deliciously sweet and even though we mostly think of them as a laxative they are a great low calorie high fiber way to eat something that tastes like candy and has super fruit goodness! MMM ALSO check this out - I am going to try it soon. For real fat-fighting success, puree eight ounces of pitted prunes and six tablespoons of hot water in a food processor for a great fat substitute to use in baked goods. Replace butter, margarine, shortening, or oil in your baked good recipes with half the amount of the prune puree. SO I am eating away!