Amazing Souperman Detox Recipe

Here is the amazing Souperman recipe that I fell in love with during my 48 hour detox.  Wanted to share!  This lasted me 3 days and it worked!  NOT sure about adding the chicken broth and chicken as far as detoxing but it DID work for me in weight loss so I wanted to share.

 

 

To make exactly without the chicken broth or chicken here is recipe:

 

Ingredients
Makes 5 servings

2 red onions, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 fennel bulb, fronds and stalks included, roughly chopped
2 tsp caraway seeds
2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup sliced shitake caps
4 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 cabbage, roughly chopped
2 quarts water
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
8 sprigs parsley, chopped stems and leaves
1/2 cup parsley, chopped

Directions
Combine all ingredients, except for the chopped parsley, in a pot. Add 2 quarts of water.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Simmer covered for about 1 hour. Adjust seasoning.

Remove whole parsley sprigs and serve topped with some freshly chopped parsley.

Serve with a side of traditionally fermented sauerkraut and chopped apples (warm or room temperature).

 

 

 

I wasn't super excited about the flavor so I decided to cook a whole chicken in a separate pot.  Once cooked I combined both the vegetable broth and the chicken broth.  Half and half.  I shredded the chicken and added to the soup.  Much better!  Add Sea Salt for taste if desired.

 

 

Yummy!

 

 



Little Ballerina Girls and Chicken Soup for the Soul

Ivy and Ashley had pictures today for their upcoming recital.  So cute.  I had to wait in the mommy waiting area but I could hear Ashley shouting out "That's how you know!  That's how you know, he's in love!" from the movie Enchanted.  The ladies told me she was dancing and singing around the studio.  I guess she doesn't have stage fright.  Tee hee...

It can be fun sitting in the waiting area for two (Agggh!) long hours listening to the other moms.  I heard one mom say she goes to Starbucks every single morning for her drink.  I started adding it up in my head and it comes out to $210 a month!  Whoa!  Hey, if you got the bucks, you got the bucks.  LOL.  I think sometimes it's more than just the coffee because I love my Keurig at home.  Maybe it's the atmosphere that people would actually drive there every day just for a cup of joe.  Hmmm.... I don't know.  Haven't figured it out because it just tastes like burnt beans to me.

While I waited I also mentioned the frustration of my dieting.  I told them I lost 10lbs like nothing when I started but then it just stopped.  I guess I'm gonna have to hit the gym again and I seriously don't have the time.  I will have to MAKE the time.  Argh...  A lady mentioned that she does the Insanity workout and she lost 20lbs really fast.  It's a video she buys to do in her home.  I asked her if she ever tried to do aerobics in her house with kids everywhere trying to do it with you.  It's cute till you fling your hand and knock another kid across the room.  I always had to wait till they were sleeping.  She mentioned that on her diet you can eat whatever you want and just not go over 1,500 calories.  I told her I can't eat the carbs because it just makes me hungry again real fast.  I basically eat only meat and vegetables.  Here is one of my favorite meals.  Just chicken soup without the noodles.  So it's just chicken, keep the broth and add NO extra fake chicken flavoring.  That's basically just the broth from the chicken there.  I also added the celery and spinach leaves.  Sooooooo good and the bone broth is so good for you.

Learning How to Live Gluten-Free

Oh my goodness, life has been incredibly busy.  I don't mean to but I do tend to make my life harder.  I wish I could do it ALL but I just can't.  I decided that since I have an overload of non-food items from couponing, I'll only be couponing in the summer.  Seriously, I think my 40 deodorants will last me for a year or two that I've acquired over the summer.  Ya think?  Ha ha.  I don't want to be a hoarder.  Well, that frees up time for me to learn other important things.


My friend and I have spent HOURS learning about how to eat gluten-free.  I mean, we've spent HOURS.  While the kids went to their one-day-a-week school today, we went around looking for gluten-free bakeries and finding healthy stores.  Um, it's really expensive to have food made for you that's gluten-free.  It is so much better to learn how to make it all on your own.  I got a book awhile back from Future Horizons that is a recipe book for gluten-free cooking.  Special Diets for Special Kids.  Over 200 revised and new Gluten-free, casein-free recipes.  It's a fantastic book because the recipes are for kids in mind.  What can we make that's healthy, doesn't have a million ingredients, and kid will love?  Even better, it's not gonna hurt them if they have an allergy because substitutes were made.  Well, it's not nearly as hard as I thought.  Michele and I went to Whole Foods and had so much fun sampling everything.  I think I sampled the mangoes so much that it equaled just eating a whole mango.  So funny.  They had this machine that had peanuts in it and you can grind it.  Guess what comes out?  Peanut butter of course!  No yucky preservatives in it, just good ol' fashion peanuts.  Nothing needed to be added to it.  I'm in loooove with the store.

at least I try to convince myself... haha

Tonight Michele and I made Chicken Curry and some drink smoothies.  I called it Hulk Juice because it was tons of different fruit, kale leaves, and amazingly healthy for you.  The kids downed it.  We proved to them that great juice doesn't have to be about drinking Koolaid.  :D  Why does healthy food have to be more expensive?  Whyyyyy?  It's so much easier to go into Fry's (Kroger) and just snatch up $1 savings here and there but if it's bad for Chaz, My Aspergers son, and ADD son and daughter, I'll take that extra steps to help them.  I think Michele and I just have so much fun learning about all these interesting things and we tend to venture off into new things together.  I love having a friend like that.  Makes it so much more fun to explore when you're laughing half way through it.  :D

Here is the smoothie we made tonight.  See?  Not difficult at all!  Was yummy too.  :D

Click to enlarge picture

My Kind of Weight Loss

I started my diet one week ago and I'm relieved.  It's getting a little bit harder to lose weight since I had my 7th baby.  Okay, okay I know I hear comments like, "you aren't big."  I'm big to me so that's what counts.  If I feel uncomfortable then I need to do something.  I just want to be the size I was around baby number 5.  I usually won't drop weight till I'm done nursing and I quit nursing about a month ago.  I didn't want to, I didn't have a choice because I ran out of milk.  Phooey.  The doctor told me she thinks it's because I'm too active.  She mentioned I should sit down a lot more. Ummmm....I can't do that.  LOL.  I have a lovely family to play with!

Every time I diet I use Sparkpeople since it's always worked for me.  It's basically using portion control.  That's what I love about Sparkpeople.   After baby number 4 I just needed a booster to lose weight and it just stayed off after that using that method.  So I found this recipe that is actually Weight Watcher friendly and I made it that very day.  Oh my gosh... so good!  Unfortunately, I didn't have the mozzerella cheese so I used regular chedder cheese.  

Want to know how many calories you ate today? Use this quick search!

Food Search:

Chicken Parmesan MeatloafSource: adapted from What’s Cookin’ Chicago?

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs raw ground chicken breast (if you have trouble finding ground chicken that is breast meat only, do what I do and throw the same weight of boneless, skinless chicken breasts into the food processor and run until ground)
1 large egg
1 egg whites
6 T dried breadcrumbs
¾ t dried basil
¾ t dried thyme
¾ t oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ a small onion, chopped small or grated
¾ t salt
1/3 t black pepper
¾ cup Parmesan cheese
¾ cup pasta sauce
¾ cup 2% reduced fat shredded Mozzarella cheese
Optional: dried parsley, oregano or basil for garnish

  

Directions:
1.    Pre-heat the oven to 350. Lightly mist a muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
2.    In a large bowl, combine the ground chicken, egg, egg whites, breadcrumbs, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese and lightly mix together. Do not over handle.
3.    Form the meat mixture evenly into the 12 cups of your prepared muffin tin. Spread the pasta sauce evenly over the tops of each muffin. Bake for 20 minutes and remove from the oven. Top each muffin with about a tablespoon of shredded cheese and then return to the oven for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is melted. Garnish if desired. 

Yields 12 muffins. WW P+:  4 per muffin or 7 P+ for 2 muffins (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
Nutrition Information per muffin from myfitnesspal.com: 147 calories, 6 g carbs, 5 g fat, 18 g protein, 0 g fiber

What so awesome is the portion control factor.  I know when I get one exactly how many calories, fat, ect. that I'm eating.  Awesome, huh?  Yeahhhhh, was so good too.  My husband and kids loved them and devoured them.  Portion control was not exactly on their mind but it worked for me.  :D

How to Make Omelettes in a Bag

I learned about this from a friend who had a breakfast party at a house.  My husband is not an omelette fan at all till he had these and he loves them.  You don't have to worry about burning them either because these don't go in a frying pan.  The party was with adults though so there were more options for things to put in their omelette.  I just picked one item to add to it so my kids would like it.  Otherwise, I would have a bowl of chopped onions, another bowl of mushrooms, maybe a bowl of diced green peppers.  Then just let people pick.  It's better to use the freezer Ziplock or Hefty bags because they do better in boiling.

Anyway, I put on a pot of boiling water and put towards back of stove for safety.  Then I told the kids to put into their own bag 2 eggs, 2 spoonfuls of shredded cheese, and 2 spoonfuls of meat (it was Kielbasa).  That was an easy way for them to remember. Twos of everything.  After they zip it closed have them squish the bag to mix the ingredients.

Then they put their bag with their name written on it into the boiling water and then set timer for 10 minutes.  Sometimes it takes 12 minutes.

When its done they just open the bag over a plate and let it roll out.  Then they put shredded cheese on the top if they like.  My kids just gobble it up!

Each Day is an Adventure Around These Parts

Neighbor kid hanging out

There are some interesting stuff happening around here but I cannot tell you.  Nothing to do with my family but helping out a friend. Soooo, we've basically had about 4 adults and 12 kids hanging around and spending the night.  Lots and lots of food going into tummies.  :)  

***********

Anyway, today we ate Tortellini Soup and it's the only way my kids will eat spinach.  My sister showed this to me and it's sooo easy and is a family favorite.

-2 family size packages of fresh (cheese only) tortellini.  Usually in the cheese section of store.
-10 or 12 oz package of frozen spinach
-10 cans of chicken broth

Heat chicken broth and spinach (don't really have to drain juices first) to boiling.  Then add tortellini for 9 minutes (reduce heat to medium).  Done!  Then you add salt to taste and parmesan for topping.

********** 

I've been tired a lot. There has just been a lot of things happening from all different angles and I'm just trying to stay strong and figure out how to handle things from day to day.  Last week I was really down so I didn't do much cleaning for a whole week.  I've been really paying the price for it this week. Since there are a lot of people here on and off I figured I needed to stay on top of it.  The last two nights I stayed up till around 2:30am to clean.  It's just so much easier to clean while everyone is sleeping.  Besides, I don't want to just be cleaning and be there for a friend instead.  The good thing is this issue has kept my mind off the last week's issue.  Anyway, I'm super private about these kinds of things in my life so I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense.  LOL.  Caleb is such a light sleeper it's been hard for him to nap but today he just fell asleep in the middle of all the noise and I had to take a picture it was so cute.  I transferred him to my bed for some quiet.

Easy Strawberry Banana Milkshake

My friend showed this recipe on her page but without the sugar. I did try it without the sugar but my husband liked it added.  :) Be sure to check out her cooking blog because she's a fantastic cook and she cooks for her large family.

It's sooo good though.  The picture shows less bananas because in this house, strawberries and bananas go FAST.  I didn't make it in time but this is what you use.

*3 bananas
*Fill up to almost top with strawberries
*1/4 cup of sugar
*Fill up to top of strawberries with milk


Blend till smooth!

Soooo easy and super delicious.  It goes so fast we usually have to make two of these to be enough for all of us.

Why Does it Hurt The Wallet to Eat Healthy?

My family absolutely loves fish and especially squash to go with it.  My favorite way to shop in a grocery store is to ignore all the center aisles and just shop around the edges.  Where all the healthy and expensive stuff is.  You know why I hate coupons and I never use them?  One day I noticed that is was for all processed foods.  I rarely see coupons for healthy stuff. Grrrr....

The problem is that it hurts the wallet.  They say we have to eat healthy and stay away from all that processed stuff.  But then how can we when it's just not affordable?  I know, I do watch out for sale prices.  I don't always get lucky. I'm just annoyed how cheap it is to buy Twinkies that taste like cardboard.  Think about it.  You can go to Burger King or McDonalds and get a burger for only $1.  Those burgers are ridiculously high in calories and tons of other yucky stuff.  It's sooooo easy to grab rather than make a healthy meal and make dirty dishes.  But I have to fight the temptation and stop eating what's easiest.  It's not good on my waist, that's for sure.  (I don't make the fish in butter so I just sprinkle it with Cajun season to give it a good taste with a kick.)

I do cook the sliced squash in I Can't Believe it's Not Butter rather than regular butter just because we love it that way.  I don't like to cook it alone without the butter flavor on it.

I know this might sound odd but we no longer use those large dinner plates in our house.  Except for holidays (wink).  We use the salad plates instead to keep our portions under control.  So the picture above is the fish and squash on a salad plate.  I try to tell my husband that it doesn't count when you pile it as high as you can without the tower falling over.  Tee hee....  

DedeMed's Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Spices Review

I was able to make a delicious meal to try the Seven Spice sent to me.  I had never even heard of this spice so I had no idea where to begin making it and where to find the ingredients.  Because I was short on time I couldn't search to the specialty stores to find some ingredients a recipe called for.  Well, I went onto the website which is just amazing because not only does she give you tons of Mediterranean recipes, but she includes a video on how to make it.  Since I could not find  a couple of the ingredients this recipe called for, I had to do without. You'll be able to tell by my picture.  Here is the recipe I would be trying from her site.  I'll include my own pictures of it.

Dede's Mediterranean Kefta Burger Recipe

Serves: 4-6
Difficulty: easy
Prep and Cook time: 20 minutes

Flat leaf parsley

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef (or any meat you like)
1 cup flat leaf parsley (Store did not offer flat leaf which has a stronger taste so I had to use the curly parsley)
1 cup onion
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp 7 spices
Burger buns
Kabees and tomatoes for garnish (I had to do without the Kabees also)

Tahini Mayonnaise Sauce

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1 clove minced garlic
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs tahini paste 
1/4 tsp paprika (optional)

Onion Parsley Garnish

1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 tbs sumac (Could not get Sumac either)
1/2 tsp salt

In a food processor blend the onion and parsley until well blended, then add the ground meat, salt and 7 spices and blend until well combined.  

Form meat into 4 or 6 burgers and cook on grill or in a pan for 7-8 minutes.  

For the tahini mayonnaise sauce in a bowl combine the mayonnaise, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and paprika and set aside for topping. 

For onion parsley garnish in a bowl combine the onions, parsley, salt and sumac.  To assemble the burgers, toast the buns and top both sides with tahini mayonnaise, add burger and top with onion/parsley then top with the other bun. Serve with kabeese and tomatoes.

Remember, I had to use regular parsley instead of flat leaf,

didn't have the Sumac needed for the garnish on top and

didn't use Kabees with tomatoes.

 Read more: http://www.dedemed.com/index.php/Mediterranean-Americana/Dede-s-Mediterranean-Kefta-Burger-Recipe.html#ixzz1McXqn8NN

Product Description 

DedeMed Spice blends are manufactured using the highest quality, premium spices sourced from all over the world.  They are expertly blended to provide a balanced, authentic flavor true to their heritage.  All of the spice material is fresh, vibrant; and has been cleaned and treated for microbiological contamination.  DedeMed Spice Blends are manufactured in a facility that uses Good Manufacturing Practices and currently has a “Superior” Food Safety Rating from the American Institute of Baking.

*I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com created by WebBizIdeas.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions 16 CFR, Part 255 Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Tomoson Product review & giveaway Disclosure.

What Do You Consider Authentic Mexican Food?

Finally, Blogger is back up and running!  Ohhh, how I missed you. Sniff....

Anyway!  I was right in the middle of blogging about something a couple of days ago when it went down.  So, I'll try again.  Was blogging about Melanie turning 30.  :D

It was my husband's sister's birthday so we enjoyed getting together for a mexican meal.  Well, as good as us white people could make it.  Tee hee.... It's like Taco Bell.  They call themselves mexican food but we all knooooow, it's not.  Haha.  Maybe we should just call them Western tacos or maybe Westican food.  That would really help me a lot in choosing a restaurant if it would just clarify whether it's Mexican food or Westican food.

Melanie and Juan.  They have two kids.  Which means I'm an auntie to 8.  Whoot!

Charles told me I was awfully quiet why they were all sharing stories at the dinner table.  Why would I want to interrupt?  It was soooo great to hear how Charles tortured his two sisters.  I need to retain all that information.  Like how he'd jump on their cabbage patch dolls and make the heads fly off.  Or he'd hang them in a noose by their neck so the girls could run into them.  After the dinner, the next day, he was telling the kids to stop fighting.  I said "Well, at least their not hanging the girls' dolls in a noose to freak them out."  haha.

Okay, so I brought these beans and JUAN (who is from Mexico) said these were fantastic beans.  He even took the leftovers home. He said, if a mexican is complimenting your beans, that is a real compliment.  So I guess these aren't Westican Beans.  They're Mexican!  Whoo hoo!

Beans

(according to Juan)

1 lb of beans (soaked overnight first)

6 cups of water

1 whole onion

2 garlic cloves

1/2 package of bacon

2 cups of shredded cheese

Make sure you soak your beans overnight.  Then add everything but the cheese and cook for 2 hours.  Drain most of water before mashing.  You do NOT have to chop the onion, garlic, and bacon because it will mash real easy into the beans after cooking.  After you've mashed beans well then add the cheese.  Super delicious and always a hit!

Fabulous Homemade Bread

I KNOW I post a lot of different bread recipes.  I'm just always in search of my favorite. :D  Ha!  This bread is mostly white and can make 6 loaves at a time for you big family people.  I only have 6 kids so I make 3 loaves at a time.  Usually last about a day and a half.  With this recipe, I make 3 of the loaves right away and save the other half of the dough to make another time.  I even stayed up till 2 in the morning to make this since we were out of bread.  Ohh, this bread is moist and doesn't crumble.  It's fantastic.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup bread flour
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 2 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 10 cups bread flour

Directions

1. In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, stir together 1/2 cup warm water, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1/4 cup bread flour, and yeast. Let grow for about 5 minutes. It will bubble almost immediately.
2. Measure oats, 4 1/2 cups warm water, whole wheat flour, salt, 2/3 cup sugar, and 2/3 cup oil into the mixing bowl. Mix on low speed with a dough hook for 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed slightly, and begin adding bread flour 1/2 to 1 cup at a time until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Humidity determines how much flour you need before the bread pulls away from the edge of the bowl. It is normal for the dough to be sticky.
3. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
4. Divide dough into 6 pieces. Shape loaves, and place in greased 8 x 4 inch pans. Let rise until dough is 1 inch above rim of pans, usually 1 hour.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C) for 35 minutes, or until tops are browned. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes, and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Chicken Enchiladas

I'm worried I won't remember how I threw everything together but it turned out delicious so I'm gonna write it down real fast. 

Chicken Enchiladas

• 1 (10.75 ounce) can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 (4.5) can chopped green chiles, undrained
• 1 (8 ounce) package Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 1/4 cup of ranch
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken, cooked and shredded
• 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
• Chopped cilantro
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained
• 1 can of refried beans
• 10 flour tortillas
• Enchilada sauce (can or homemade version)

1. Stir together mushroom soup and green chiles, spoon 1/2 cup mixture in bottom of 13x9 baking dishing coated with cooking spray.
2. Beat cream cheese, sour cream, ranch until smooth. Stir in chicken, 1 cup cheese, cilantro and chiles.
3. Spoon 2 TBS of beans, 1/3 cup of mixture down center of each tortilla. Roll up tortillas, and place seam side down in baking dish. Pour remaining soup mixture over enchiladas and top with remaining Monterey cheese and then chedder cheese on top of that. Sprinkle cilantro over it.
4. Poor enchilada sauce over it.  (In picture you can see I didn't use a lot.  Some of my kids are picky of how much).
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with cilantro.

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 5 tsp hot chili powder
• 4 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon of cocoa
• 5-7 tablespoons of sugar (depending on taste desired)
• 1 can of tomato sauce

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high high heat. Saute onion until tender. Stir in garlic, oregano, cumin and cinnamon, paprika; saute for a few minutes.
2. Stir in tomato sauce, flour and chili powder, stirring until sauce thickens. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and sugar; reduce until sauce reaches desired consistency. 

Remember, keep adding the sugar till the sauce doesn't have a bitter taste. So add to your liking.  I think I added 7 tablespoons but I can't remember.  I'm still tweaking this so if you have any good ideas for the sauce after you try it, please let me know!  :)