Cozy Quinoa and Chicken Soup

Hi All,

I was so excited about my dinner creation last night, so today I spent all day telling anyone who would listen about it. But really it was sooooo yummy!!

Don't believe me? Try it your self and let me know.

Ingredients:

• 1 litre organic chicken stock
• 1 cup of water
• 1 Leek, cut into 1cm tick discs
• 1 large Carrot, diced
• 1 celery stick, diced
• 200g Canned Lentils, drained and rinsed 
• 1/4 cup Quinoa
• 2 Organic chicken brest
• 1Tbs Mrs. Dash - Southwest chipotle seasoning 
  
• 1/2 Tsp Coconut butter
• Salt & Pepper to tast 

Instructions:

1. Place half the Coconut butter into a pot together with the leek and sautay until the leek is caramelised
2. Add carrot, celery, chicken stock and water to the pot and bring it to the boil
3. Place Quinoa into a small pot with 2/4 cup water and bring to the boil. Cover and cook on low for 15 min and until the water has evaporated. 
4. Once the soup is boiling turn the heat down to let the soup simmer until the veggies are cooked to your liking. I like mine crispy so I leave it on for 5 min.
5. As the soup is simmering, clean your chicken and season it with Mrs. Dash. 
6. Add the rest of the coconut butter to a frying pan and fry the chicken brest until brown and cooked through. 
7. Take the chicken out and cut into strips 
   
   
8. Rinse Lentils under warm water and add to the simmering soup
9. Season soup with salt and pepper, be careful not to season too much as your chicken also has seasoning which will mix into the broth
10. To server spoon out the soup add 2 tablespoons of the cooked quinoa and top with chicken

Serves 3 

Calories 280 per serve

I ate the rest today for lunch 

Vanya

Me, my self and my saboteur

Hi all,

Have you noticed that as soon as you make a commitment to do something, that annoying inner voice pops up and instead of cheering you on does everything to deter you from your set goal?

Without going too much into the philosophy of the "Ego" and how that inner voice or yours is NEVER positive in attitude, I have been thinking that in order to progress in my mission I need to find a way to communicate back.

In the past, even when I was sky high with motivation to follow the diet/fitness plan of the day, my inner voice would always bring me right down to my knees. It was always a race against time, how long I'll endure the bulling before I succumb and give up?

Much like a school yard bully, if you get told enough times that you are not worth it you eventually begin to believe it. My inner voice however is smarter then your regular school yard bully. My voice uses reverse psychology on me.

"Have the cake you deserve it you have been sooooo good!" OR "Have the cupcake (or four) it's been a hard day" OR "You can afford to stay at home and relax today. You deserve the rest you went to the gym two days ago"

This time around I'm just as determined as any other time, but this time I have accepted the fact that I need a new approach to succeed. I need to outsmart my inner voice!

For that I have enlisted the help of my aunty, who by chance is a physiologist. And she told me three very interesting things:

1. Our life is a stage of many actors and personalities (and no, not the kind I loved in "Me, Myself and Irene" and "Fight Club")
2. What my inner voice tells me to do as "reward" is actually "punishment" 
3. In face of something that scares us the inner voice is the loudest screaming to STOP in order for self preservation.

I'll talk about point 2 and 3 in another post. Today it's all about my life stage and it's actors.

My aunty asked me "If you were a spectator in a theatre watching a play about the "day-in-your-life" what would you see?" 

Well I see me on a health kick and in constant battle with my inner voice. She had me describe the actor on stage that represents that inner voice and who else I can enlist to help me through the time of weakness.

Over time we have all give way too much power to that negative inner voice, the one that is so good at sabotaging every attempt we make at changing our self. And for the purpose of my play I call it The Saboteur.

So here are "me, my self (the motivator) and my saboteur." 

Now every time the saboteur enters the stage and tells me 

"Wee Wee Vanyaaa, ave zee cake you deserve it, you ave been so good, no?" I call on my motivator to run in and she tells me "You are what you eat so don't be fast, cheep, easy or fake and even if you loose 250g a week that is 13kgs this time next year.....just keep going!"

So every minute of my day is a battle of wills and hopefully it'll subside as time passes and the saboteur realises that he is NOT the the boss of me.

Try this out your self and you'll see that you will be able to manage your temptations better then before. I find my self pushing back on my self sabotage and choosing healthier choices more often during the day then I did before.

I know it's only early days, but it's working so far.

What does your saboteur look like?

Vanya

Ultimate meal planing for beginners

Hi all,

This post is about how I meal plan.

If you have never done meal planning before then this is the perfect how-to for you.

You will need four things to start (you can build on this later)

1. Calendar  
2. Note pad
3. Pen
4. Meal Planner template (to stick to your fridge)

STEP 1 - Review your week in advance

It will ensure your plan aligns with any social activity you have planned for the week.

You may have dinner at your parents, lunch with clients at work or a date with your partner. On those occasions you will not need a planned meal. This will also help eliminate money spent on food that will go off if not eaten, but also no food waist at the end of the week.  

STEP 2 - Review your stock

Take stock of all freezer, fridge and pantry food items. You need to do this once and then update every time you meal plan.

This activity will save you money at the check out counter!

Once you do this you will notice how many ingredients you already have at home for great recipes. The stock list gives me the ability to use up what I already have and only stock up on what is missing. 

Another fun way to do this is to get some printable templates to fill in and reprint every week.

I found a really fun one on "The Organised Housewife" site  -> Freezer inventory printable

STEP 3 - Pick the meals for the week

Considering your schedule/calendar this week and your kitchen stock, you can now create your menu.

Things to consider when planning:

• Will you have time to prepare a meal every night
• Do you have special recipes your family like on specific nights
• Are you counting calories
• Do you have a new recipe you'd like to try
• Are you planning for you or for the whole family
• Are you planning dinners only or all the meals and snacks

Based on my criteria I have decided on the following menu for the week:

• Breakfast - Overnight oats with strawberries and blueberries 
• Lunches - Asian inspired coleslaw salad; Tuna and Quinoa salad
• Dinners - butter chicken with veggies; beef steak with veggies

STEP 4 - Write shopping list

Once you have your plan and stock, this weeks shopping list should now only include the things you need.

Hopefully you are able to re-use some of the food already in your pantry.

STEP 5 - Display meal plan on fridge

You should write out your meal plan onto a piece of paper or the template pictured above. Once completed you need to stick it up in your kitchen.

By displaying the meal plan in your kitchen it will ensure that if you are running late from work and anyone in the family can get a head start with the recopies, even if you are running late.

STEP 6 -  Go Shopping

STEP 7 - OPTIONAL Meal Prep

Depending on my schedule for the week I usually prep food in advance. So at any given time I have frozen healthy meals ready to warm up and eat. This helps me with self control when I'm short on time to eat healthy and not opt for the take away menu.

I hope this helps you get started on your healthy life style journey.

Happy planning!!

Vanya