Tomato Roasted Red Pepper Vegetable Soup

This soup is sooo easy you just everything together and let it cook. Its super healthy for you and soo yummy to eat on cold winter rainy days. My family made little quesadillas on corn tortillas with pepper jack almond cheese inside. We also really like these vegeterian meatballs from Trader Joes. We heated some of those and dropped them in the soup. Delicious!!!! 

Ingredients

1 Box Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup (I get this from Sprouts)
1 Box Vegetable Broth (Low Sodium)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Eggplant
Onion
Bell Pepper
Red Potatoes
1 Can White Beans
Zuccini
Minced Garlic

Instructions 

1. In large skillet saute onion, peppers, garlic and diced up potatoes. Cook until soft.
2. In a medium sauce pan blanch all other veggies until almost soft because they will continue to cook some in the soup and you don't want mushy veggies.
3. In a large crockpot on medium heat mix together all the veggies, beans, broth, and soup mix. Stir to combine and let simmer until veggies are cooked and soup is heated through.

Banana Walnut Pancakes

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour ( I used rice/oat flour)
1 cup quick or rolled oats ( I used oat bran instead because it has less calories)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg ( I used all egg whites)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon honey
1 to 1 1/2 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or skim milk) (depending on whether you like thin or thick pancakes)
1 banana, diced
Cooking spray for pan
1/4 cup almonds

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, egg, cinnamon, and honey. Stir in the soy milk to the desired consistency. I like my pancakes to be neither too thin nor too thick, so I added 1 1/4 cups of soy milk. Stir in the bananas.
2. Place a skillet on medium heat (I use a square-shaped griddle). After spraying the pan, pour batter into 4-inch diameter circles (using about 1/4 cup of batter).
3. While the pancakes are cooking, hand chop the almonds on a cutting board with a sharp knife.
4. Once the pancakes begin to bubble, flip them and cook for another minute or so on the other side until golden brown.
5. Serve three pancakes with sliced bananas and chopped almonds. They're delicious like this, or for a sweeter breakfast, pour on two tablespoons of real maple syrup.

Makes 12 pancakes (four servings).

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I LOVE pizza, it is one of my favorite foods ever!! When I switched over to healthier eating, well pizza is something I thought I had to completely give up.........that is until I came across this recipe. It was sooo yummy and more importantly satisfies your pizza cravings. Enjoy!

Source: greatist.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Califlower Puree

Source: daydreamkitchen.com via Jane on Pinterest

Of course I leave out the heavy cream and I use non fat greek yogurt instead. I also just leave out the butter or you can use a non fat no cholesterol, no sodium butter spread. Since I have cut completely back on my carbs this is an awesome alternative for mashed potatoes for any party or holiday meal!

Out with the Old In with the New

For those of you who follow this blog of mine called the Recipe Box, you start to notice a change in the coming days and months. My entire life style and eating habits have done a complete 180 turn. I happy to say that I am never ever going back to the way I used to live and eat. I have had such a change of heart in the last 4 months and my perspective on life and the importance of being healthy has completely changed. 

I used to be the girl who made fun of her mom when she would be super picky about what she ate, and who had to get up early every morning to get her daily workout routine in. We her example has slowly but surely rubbed off on me and I am proud to claim that I am now the weird obsessed health girl that I used to make fun of. In the past I have eaten whatever I want, whenever I want. I was the girl who worked out in the summer just to get into enough shape to be able to wear a bathing suit for a few months. Ever since middle school I have constantly struggled with my weight and never could seem to maintain a healthy lifestyle growing up. I defenitely gained the freshman 15 and all throughout college, with different relationships and poor sleeping habits my weight increased more and more. Since recently graduating from college a year ago I now have the time, discipline, and means to begin to habitually live a healthy, balanced lifestyle. 

My workout routine consists of going to the gym 5 times a week and taking 2 rest days to recover. I enjoy going to better at a decent time so that I can wake up early and get my workout in before the day kicks into full gear. This eliminates excuses of being to busy or the day just getting away from you. I love lifting heavy weight and that is what the majority of my routines look like with the normal cardio mixed in for fat loss, and ab work to keep a strong core. 

I dont like calling my meal plan a diet but rather just that a meal plan. I have strictly cut out any kind of sodium, salt, and carbs from my food intake. When I say carbs I am referring to bread and pasta, on the other hand I do eat good carbs that your body gleans nutrients from such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, and potatoes. I eat tons of fruits and veggies, and nuts. I switched over to dairy products made out of almonds such as cheese and milk. I will still eat fat free greek yogurt and monzerrela since these are very good for you in moderation. Since dairy products have a huge connection to belly fat I can certainly go with out it, especially since I love the taste of almond cheese and milk. YUM!!!! My eating habits also contain high amounts of protein since this is what supports lean muscle growth, I get the majority of my protein from a supplement as well as fat free turkey, chicken and white fish. 

The reason I have been able to adapt to this way of eating is because the taste of the food I get to eat is delicious! It makes it so much easier to stick to something when it fits into your life and you are not depriving yourself of things you want or need. The best way I have found to stick to eating clean as I call it, is finding substitutes for those foods that are bad for you so that you can still feel like you are satisfied. Also with the high intakes of protein as well as eating controlled portions every 3 hours of the day ensure that you don't over eat or eat unhealthy fast food which is where most of peoples weight problems come from. 

With all that said I bet you are on info over load.........I know I was when i first heard about this whole plan. I wont be posting blan boring recipes on my blog now that I have gone health freak but I will be posting recipes and then explaining the diffferent ingredients I would swap out to make the dish way less calories and actually healthy for you. The choice is up to you but I can speak for myself, in just the past few months Iv made these changes I have lost over 10lbs and I feel the best I have ever felt in my whole life. Give it a try you cant go wrong. 

Please feel free to comment with any questions, comments or concerns you may have. I would be happy to be help you see yourself to the best you!! Blessings 

Broccoli Bacon Salad

This is a easy really yummy salad that my pastors wife made as a side dish for dinner one night!! My Aunt used to make a broccoli salad like this but it had way more mayo in it, which i am not a fan of!! On the other hand this one is amazing!! 

 Ingredients: 

1 bunch broccoli

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

12 strips bacon, fried until crispy, then crumbled

1 cup roasted sunflower seeds

½ cup raisins

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise

½ cup sugar (i use stevia)

2 tablespoons vinegar

Chop broccoli into bite-size pieces. Add onions, bacon, sunflower seeds and raisins.

Mix dressing ingredients and add to vegetables and mix thoroughly. 

Food Blogging Website

So here is a blog/website that I found while browsing the internet the other day. This is a family of 4, and the website is all about frugal eating and working on a budget. Not only does it help give you ideas to save money but it also just has delicious recipes that I would make even if I was a millionaire!!
http://frugalfoodiefamily.com