Paleo Enchilada soup

Being a wife, full-time mom, and student, and taking care of the house can turn into a busy day. I always want to make sure my husband has warm food by the time he arrives home. Now that I have a lot on my plate, sometimes I don’t have time to spend endless hours in the kitchen in order to make him a delicious meal. This is where my slow cooker/ “life savor” comes along. I have been following a paleo blog and on a journey to losing weight. One recipe that caught my eye was chicken enchilada soup.  When I made it this morning, it was simple and time-consuming. By the time I came home from school, there was an amazing aroma that was coming from my kitchen, so I had to make sure it tasted good (;

Also, I did not add 2 lbs of chicken, but instead just added four chicken breasts and also added half of a can of kidney beans. Let me know how you like it (:

http://paleomg.com/enchilada-chicken-stew/

Recipe:

• 2lbs chicken breasts
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 (4oz) can of chopped jalapenos
• 1 (4oz) can of chopped green chiles
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 (14oz) can of diced tomatoes
• 1 (7 oz) can tomato sauce
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste
• bundle of cilantro, to garnish
• avocado, to garnish

Instructions

1. Pull out your handy dandy crockpot.
2. Add your chicken breasts.
3. Then add the rest of the ingredients on top, in any order.
4. Put on low for 8-10 hours or high for 6-8.
5. After it’s done cooking, use tongs to pick at the chicken to shred it in with all the ingredients.
6. Top with cilantro and some avocado.
7. Eat up!!

Ingredients

Who would have ever thought to bake with zucchini? I was introduced to paleo brownies from my friend Faith and it was DELICIOUS! I told my husband about it and he was a bit iffy about dessert made with vegetables. I had to prove him wrong. He was surprised with how “fudgy” and moist the brownies were. The Paleo recipe is not only sweet, but healthy due to no refined ingredients and no grains or gluten. If I’m ever craving brownies in the future, I will definitely make this recipe.

• 1 cup almond butter
• 1 1/2 cup grated zucchini
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda
• i tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Pour into a greased 9×9 baking pan.
4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This actually makes 16 nice sized brownies.
I picked a few zucchini this morning, so this was a great way to use it.
I was skeptical that this would bake firm enough without any almond flour, but it turned out great. Really moist.

recipe from http://fastpaleo.com/recipe/zucchini-brownies/

Related articles

• Flourless Zucchini Brownies (healthyholisticme.wordpress.com)
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• http://prettyheartssmile.wordpress.com

102 days old

Already wearing 6 month onesies!!!!

14 wks and 4 days old. Why is time going by so fast? Another doctor told me today that I should sell my milk. She said she’s surprise with how big he is and that my milk will def help premies. I trained in NICU for a couple days and would love to do that. I remember my first baby that I took care of and how extremely fragile he was. I was pregnant at the time and I remember how much love I gave to that newborn baby. He was the first baby that I fed, changed a diaper, bathed and was the first time I got attached to a patient. I will never forget him and how jealous I got when his parents came to see him.  I just got so attached and wanted that precious little boy all to myself lol. Little did I know, he was actually training me to be a mom to my own precious son.

It works

 

call/ text me for details 5309060557 or visit my website http://www.startlivingnow.myitworks.com

There’s no fear…

There’s no fear in love. Instead complete love drives out fear 1John4:18

Before I was pregnant, I had my life figured out. I’m the type of person who had a plan a, b, c,… and so on. I joined the Air Force in order to help my mom. My dad passed away and I decided to join guard instead of active. I didn’t want her to be alone and that is why I made that decision. At the time, I was torn in either being a nurse or an optometrist. I worked for an optometrist for about two years and loved it; however, I always wanted to help people. How awesome would it be to save someone’s life? When I saw the position opened in Fort Worth as a medic for the Air Force, I fought for it. My goal was to go to training and if I liked it, immediately go to school to be a nurse. I already took all the perquisites, took the exam to apply for nursing school, but never submitted my application. I just didn’t feel that in my heart I was good enough and at the time didn’t know if that was my passion. So, I go to tech school and all of the sudden I meet this guy who was so FULLLLLL of himself. Def not the type that I would go for.  I didn’t believe in love and was AGAINST a tech school relationship.  The relationship was doomed to fail from the start. Especially, since he was in the Navy and I was in the Airforce and this was just tech school. We heard so many stories about relationships, people getting married in tech school, getting a divorce, blah blah blah… But, date after date, that guy from class turned out to be everything I always wanted. I was scared and everything felt soo rushed; yet, at the same time felt right. After Joey left to California, I found out I was pregnant during my second phase. I was scared and I remember laying awake thinking wth I was going to do. Two hours later, I texted Joey letting him know that the test turned out positive. Instead of acting scared, he was noble and told me that he will be there for me every step of the way. I believed every word of it. We were planning to get married anyways, just not that soon. Now, here I am… In California, happily married to my best friend, a new mom, and own a Dalmatian. The one thing that I wanted most in my life was a family, and now I have one. I wouldn’t trade my life for anything else. I’m glad for the decision I made and I thank God every day for what he blessed me with.

Asparagus stuffed chicken

Asparagus stuffed chicken is a family favorite. I usually make it once a week because it is that good! Just last week, I started putting cream cheese in the chicken because I didn’t have mozzarella. Turns out my husband likes that a lot better and he’s not a big fan of cream cheese. Weird right? For those who think cream cheese  won’t  work for you, leave it out. In fact, you can put whatever cheese you have that’s in your fridge. I took a picture of a shredded cheese as an example, but I didn’t put that in the chicken.

You can season the chicken however you like. I go with the regular salt & pepper. I mix garlic salt powder, crushed red peppers, and basil in the cream cheese.

Be sure to pound the chicken thin and even with a meat mallet. That way it’ll cook evenly and you will be able to easily roll the chicken around the asparagus.

I roll the chicken and place it seam side down onto a baking dish. I mix parmesan cheese, panko bread, and italian bread crumbs together and sprinkle it on top of the chicken. I’ve done this recipe so much that I don’t measure anymore. That’s how you now I’m starting to get comfortable around the kitchen 😉 For those who wants the exact measurement, I posted the ingredients and recipe from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asparagus-and-mozzarella-stuffed-chicken-breasts/ enjoy 🙂

INGREDIENTS:

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breast halves salt and black pepper to taste 8 asparagus spears, trimmed – divided

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided 1/4 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease an 8×8-inch baking dish.
2.	Place each chicken breast between two sheets of heavy plastic (resealable freezer bags work well) on a solid, level surface. Firmly pound the chicken with the smooth side of a meat mallet to an even thickness of about 1/4 inch. Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.
3.	Place 4 spears of asparagus down the center of a chicken breast, and spread about 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese over the asparagus. Repeat with the other chicken breast, and roll the chicken around the asparagus and cheese to make a tidy, compact roll. Place the rolls seam sides down in the prepared baking dish, and sprinkle each with about 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs.
4.	Bake in the preheated oven until the juices run clear when pricked with a fork, about 25 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Banana bread

I am absolutely ADDICTED to watching $10 dollar meal from Melissa d’Arabian. As a new mom, I’m always looking on ways to save money and watching this show has helped soo much with keeping our meals on a budget. On one episode, she made banana bread and was craving them for the longest time! Here’s a tip, don’t throw away your bananas if its getting too riped or turning brown. All you have to do is bake or freeze them. Why waste your money? Baking from scratch is such a cheap way to make dessert for your family and you’ll be surprise how much stuff you can make with the food in your pantry. Back to the banana bread… This recipe was delicious! Even with my husband being sick, he said it was the best banana bread he ever had! The recipe said to add chocolate chip cookies, but I decided to skip on that and just add 1/4 cup of walnuts. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED! Plus, if you have some left, just eat them for breakfast.  I know that’s what I’m going to do tomorrow 😉

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 eggs, slightly beaten
Juice of 1/2 orange (about 3 tablespoons)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), plus extra for greasing the pan, at room temperature
3 ripe bananas, mashed
3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Special equipment: 1 1/2-quart glass loaf pan
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Mix together the vanilla, eggs and orange juice in a measuring cup or small bowl. Cream the sugar and butter in a medium bowl until pale yellow and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in the egg mixture and beat until creamy. Mix in the bananas until smooth. Pour the flour in 2 batches into the batter and mix on low speed until incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake 1 hour, covering lightly with foil if the top gets too brown. Cool, remove from the pan and slice. Serve dusted with the confectioners’ sugar

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/moms-banana-bread-with-chocolate-chips-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Chicken Sopas

Whenever I was sick, my mom used to make me Filipino soup in order to feel better. Late last night, my husband wasn’t feeling well and got worse today. He’s a corpsman  and deal with a lot of sick people at the clinic. A few of the Marines had the same thing and his boss sent him home. As usual, he always request chicken sopas, which is soup with shredded or diced chicken and pasta shells. You can also make it with ground pork. I made it with italian sausage before and it tasted like the soup from Olive Garden.   I got this recipe from http://panlasangpinoy.com/2010/06/23/chicken-sopas-soup-recipe/. I’m still a fairly new cook and still need to measure my food.  I also made a couple of  changes in my soup, instead of 2 c ups of shells, I added only one. For a little bit more flavor, I added a small drop of fish sauce.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
• 32 ounces chicken broth (about 4 cups)
• 2 cups elbow macaroni or shells
• 3/4 cup celery stalk, chopped
• 3/4 cup carrots, diced
• 3/4 cup cabbage; shredded
• 3/4 cup fresh or evaporated milk
• 1 cup water
• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Cooking Procedure

1. Heat a cooking pot and put-in the butter. Allow the butter to melt.
2. Add onions and cook until the texture becomes soft.
3. Put-in the boneless chicken breasts and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Sprinkle some salt and ground black pepper and stir.
5. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
6. Pour-in water and milk and wait to re-boil. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
7. Add the elbow macaroni and cook for 8 minutes while stirring once in a while.
8. Put-in the carrots and celery and simmer for 3 minutes.
9. Add the cabbage and cook for 2 minutes more.
10. Turn-off the heat and transfer to a serving plate.
11. Serve hot. Share and enjoy!

http://panlasangpinoy.com/2010/06/23/chicken-sopas-soup-recipe/

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98 days old

I’m currently sleeping in the nursery. Milly decided to take up the entire bed and there was no way that I was able to fit. But, I think I like it better this way because I still dont like pets on the furniture… What can I do now though 😦 I know it’s awful to sleep w the baby, but it’s the best feeling cuddling next to them while they sleep. Pretty soon, I need to learn to let go and put him in his crib! Lately, every time I set him down he fusses and immediately stops crying when I pick him up. Lol such a mama’s boy! I’m just worried when I start leaving to go to drill 😦 he’s just used to me being around and I don’t even want to think about being away for two days. I don’t know how single moms do it! I’m just glad I’m blessed to enjoy every waking moment with my baby Joseph.