White Bean Soup

White Bean Soup

This soup is another one of our family favorites that we've been making for years. It's not real pretty but it's so delicious! It is nice and thick and full of great flavors. I've made so many different variations of this recipe but the simple base is really just good on its own. I like this soup as an alternative to chili because the tomato juice and spices are hard on my stomach. Sometimes I will make this with some ground turkey or turkey sausage in it and crumbled cornbread on top. Yum!

This is an easy vegetarian/vegan recipe, hello "meatless Monday". The beans are a great source of iron, fiber, protein and potassium. It is also a very cheap recipe if you are looking to make your grocery budget go farther. You can easily make a larger batch of this soup for a crowd by using 1 cup of liquid per can of beans. Also feel free to use a little water in place of the stock to reduce sodium. Lots of options, people.

Sausage Potato and Kale Soup

Sausage Potato and Kale Soup

Fall is definitely my favorite season and it’s finally fall here in Kansas City. Two of our son's birthdays are in the fall as well as our wedding anniversary, which we will celebrate 10 years this year. I love the change in weather, the color change of the leaves and the change in my regular menu. We love some delicious soup at our house, with cornbread of course. Soups are easy, versatile, can pack in a lot of great nutrition and make great leftovers. I can't wait to share with you 3 of our favorites over the next few posts.

This first one, sausage potato and kale soup, is one we definitely all agree on but our 8 y/o goes nuts for it. He will eat 3 full-sized bowls in one sitting, no problem. Leftovers are double delish, btw!

Funny story... I was making this soup at my Mom's a few years ago and made it early enough to let it sit for a while before dinner. I gave my son a small bowl to "taste test" since it's his fave. My Mom asked him how the soup was and he said "this is damn good soup". He was probably 4 years old and I have never laughed so hard, of course, while trying to tell him not to say that word. My Mom still talks about that story and we now call sausage, potato and kale soup the "damn good soup". I think you will too!

Sleep Well, Be Well

Sleep Well, Be Well

It's wellness Wednesday. At least that's what I'm calling today for the sake of this post. Wellness can be defined many ways but it is basically the overall state of physical, mental and social well-being. It includes more than just eating eggs, drinking green smoothies and building muscles. It is your overall health and wellbeing.

A lot of us are working really hard on our wellness but one area that may get overlooked is our sleep. Sleep is so important for many aspects of our health and wellbeing.

I recently had many days in a row where I didn't sleep well, and that is very unusual for me. I would either toss and turn all night or wake up way too early and couldn't go back to sleep. I couldn't believe how bad I felt when it started to catch up with me. It was hard for me to focus, I had zero patience, and was just really moody. Don't ever go on a 3rd grade field trip when you haven't slept for days!

Real Talk

Real Talk

I have been into listening to podcasts lately, mostly nutrition and health related with some motivational ones thrown in there, and I love them! It's hard for me to sit down to read because I get bored and fall asleep quickly. Truth! I can listen to podcasts while I'm driving, cooking, walking or getting ready, which works great for me. I listened to one today called RealTalk RD, which gave me the idea for this post. She broke down articles and other topics with another RD. I will probably be doing more like this because I have a few RealTalk topics I'd like to put out there.

So, can we talk about diet, diets and dieting? I haven't really talked about this on the blog yet but I've been suffering from disordered eating for a while now. My disordered eating includes constantly thinking/obsessing about food, falling victim to dieting, and considering self-worth based on my weight and body size. I really don't know when all of this started but it has gradually gotten worse the last few years and I am so ready to deal with it so I can live my life again.

Cinnamon Energy Bites

Cinnamon Energy Bites

Energy balls or energy bites or protein balls or whatever you want to call them. These damn delicious little things are the best to have around for a quick snack, sweet treat or to take them on the go instead of a bar.

My son loves all things cinnamon like ice cream, bagels and of course snickerdoodle cookies. So, I used cinnamon for the inspiration for this recipe hoping he would like them. Are all kids this hard to please? Really, I made these for his baseball tournament last weekend and they ended up being a big hit in the dugout. Don’t freak out, I asked about allergies before passing them around.

These bites only require a few steps and they have lots of goodness inside. I used chia seeds, which you can find out more on their nutrition benefits here and they contain dates for a natural sweetener. I made 2 versions, one with protein powder and one without. I use Vega Organic Proteins and Greens powder, which has stevia making the bites have a bit of sweetener aftertaste. Both are good, just a little different.