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Curried Lentil Soup

I discovered lentils a few years ago, now I’m a big fan-This is a simple recipe that we make often. If you come to my house, chances are, you’ll find little bowls of this soup in the freezer, I send it in lunch boxes quite often, its easy to take and very filling, it keeps the boys full until they get home! This is a great dish for me to prepare, it only takes about 15 minutes for me to put together, then I just let it simmer all afternoon. This recipe leaves lots of trimmings from the vegetables, and I hate to waste anything-I keep peels and ends of the onions, carrots and celery in a big tub in my freezer, when it is full, I toss it all in a pot and make my own vegetable stock.

Curried Lentil Soup

2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Large Onion-diced

3 Cloves Garlic-minced

3 Carrots-peeled and diced

3 Celery Stalks-diced

1 Red Bell Pepper

3 Tomatoes-peeled, seeded and diced (or you can used canned or bottled tomatoes, but decrease the other liquids accordingly)

6 Cups Vegetable Stock

2 Cups Lentils-picked and rinsed

2 Tbsp Curry Powder (I put more than this in, but my family loves coriander)

1 tsp Coriander

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat, add diced onion, garlic, carrot, celery and bell pepper. Cook, stirring frequently until veggies are tender; it usually takes me 7-10 minutes to get my onions translucent. Add tomatoes, veggie stock, lentils, curry and coriander. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 hours, until lentils are soft; while the soup is simmering, continue to add water so the lentils can keep absorbing the fluid and getting softer and plumper. I usually puree it to serve it, because my kids prefer it that way, but if I’m just eating it myself I leave it as is and sometimes put a little plain greek yogurt or avocado in it.

Fix your thinking

FIX YOUR THINKING AND YOU FIX YOUR WEIGHT PROBLEMS. 

 If asked which is the biggest problem for addicts to overcome, physical addiction or false and destructive thinking, any therapist would go with the thinking.  The same is true for people with weight problems.  Fix your insane thinking and you solve your weight problem.  Here are some of the most common thinking lies we buy into.

1. “ Something is wrong with me because I have tried over and over to lose weight and failed.”  The truth:  There are very few people who have legitimate physical reasons which keep them from losing weight.  For 99 percent of us, it is simply not knowing how to effectively deal with our food addictions combined with a bunch of bad habits, which includes erroneous thinking.  With a good system, accountability, and determination you absolutely can change the way you think and behave, and lose your weight.  
2. “I must have that cheese cake, warm bread, chocolate, or whatever fattening or unhealthy food you are craving.”  No you don’t.  You don’t have to do any such thing.  You just need to discover and apply a different way of thinking about that food.  Many can do this on their own, and many need coaching and training to learn to do it.  Figure out which is you and go to work on it.  With some effort, you can become one of those people who can say “no” and mean it.
3. “This gimmick diet, potion, pill, or surgery might be the one that will work for me.”  I have some bad news.  There is no gimmick, potion, pill, or surgery that will solve your problem.  What you are trying to do is turn responsibility over to someone or something else.  Healthy weight loss and management is not a mystery.  It is calories in/calories out, combined with changes to a healthier diet---plus some exercise.  Change takes effort and commitment, and for most of us food addicts, some coaching and accountability.
4. “Food is the enemy.”  I guess it would be accurate to say that unhealthy food is the enemy, but healthy food is absolutely not, and you can eat lots of it and get to a healthy weight---and you should.  The fact is, it’s almost impossible to eat enough green vegetables to keep from losing weight.  You can eat an awful lot of whole fruit---and you should.  The problem is not food itself, but unhealthy foods or “bummer foods”, as we choose to call them.  The key is to find ways to replace the foods that are making you sick and fat, such as sugary foods, processed foods, simple carbohydrates, and cheese, with blueberries, almonds, and salad greens.  If you will, over time, you can change your tastes so that your favorites become the ones that make you thin, fit, healthy, and eliminate diseases.

These are a few of the more common thinking lies many people buy into.  There are more.  Finding your fallacious thinking, and changing these fallacies to healthy reality is one of the biggest keys to succeeding at weight loss and becoming healthy.  You can do it.

Take time

If you cannot take time for your health today, 

you will most certainly have to take time to be sick later.

Exercise may be the secret

REGULAR EXERCISE MAY BE THE SECRET INGREDIENT TO YOUR SUCCESS AT CONTROLLING YOUR WEIGHT.  

While it is true that exercise alone is usually not enough to manage weight without changing to healthier eating, so for many of us struggling with compulsive eating, daily exercise, especially with other people, often gives us the additional momentum needed to succeed. 

It is possible to lose weight without exercising much.  I had to lose some weight before I could do most kinds of exercise because of back and joint problems.  Still, if you are struggling with compulsive eating and bad habits, here is another mighty weapon, which might just get you sailing along.  Healthy diet, exercise, and overall successful weight management usually go together. 

Exercise and diet changes combined can create enough endorphins and rhythm to get many people over the hump and out of their negative thinking patterns and ruts.  We can never be completely on top of our game emotionally until we get out and get exercising.

Some good suggestions:

1.        Set exercise goals such as running in a pre-determined 5-K race, four-nights-a-week of Zumba, or      taking an exciting cycling trip.

2.       Start where you are.  If all you can do is 10 minutes of stairs, walking, or exercise bike two times a day, start there.  Even that much exercise will make a huge difference over time.

3.       Be sure and have a physical exam before starting if you have been sedentary for a long time, or if you are significantly over weight or over 40.

4.       Partner up or form a group.  This will keep you going and make it more fun.

5.       Don’t over-do or over-expect, especially in the beginning.  Setting your expectations too high, especially if you are comparing yourself with others, could push you back into an, “I’m a failure” thinking rut.  Be realistic about what you can do, but do it, and find a way to make it fun.

If you have struggled with weight loss before, you need to use all the weapons at your disposal.  This one, especially, may be the difference.

***By the way, when I exercise 200 minutes per week consistently, I have found that my body uses 100-150 calories more per day, which I can choose to use however I want-eating more or losing weight faster.

digging

“If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”  

-Will Rogers

Zucchini Lasagna

My family loves lasagna, but lets face it, when you're trying to fuel your body with whole foods, traditional lasagna leaves a lot to be desired.  So, we worked on substitutions and found this option.  It is very tasty and satisfying, even my picky eaters love it!

Zucchini Lasagna

3 Medium Zucchinis

1-1.25 lb ground turkey breast (sometimes I can even find some with Italian spices in it, I have been known to substitute chick peas or white beans for the ground turkey if I want a meatless meal)

1 Large Onion, chopped

1 tsp Garlic Powder

24 Oz Fat Free Cottage Cheese (you can use ricotta if you prefer)

1-24 oz jar of Marinara Sauce-with the least sodium you can find, or, better yet, make your own!

1 Cup Shredded Low Fat Mozzarella Cheese

¼ Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Peel zucchini (this step is unnecessary, I peel my zucchini because I’m trying not to draw attention to the fact that my children are eating vegetables, my life is much easier if they don’t notice that fact!).  Use a sharp knife or a mandolin slicer to slice zucchini the long way to make thin “noodles.”  Place zucchini noodles in a salt water bath (a large bowl of cool water and about ¼-1/2 cup of salt added) and let soak for about 30 minutes- if you are watching your salt intake then skip this step, it just draws some of the water out of the zucchini so that your lasagna is not quite as soupy.  Preheat oven to 350.  While zucchini is bathing, use a large non stick skillet and begin to brown the turkey meat.  Add onions and garlic powder (I puree the onions before I add them to the meat-again, dinner time goes smoother if the wee ones don’t know they’re eating veggies and I'm sneaky like that).  Cook meat mixture until browned.  Drain and rinse zucchini then use about half of zucchini to layer in the bottom of the dish, overlapping a little, just like you would regular lasagna noodles, so that the bottom of the dish is completely covered.  Next sprinkle half of the meat mixture over zucchini.  Spread half of the cottage cheese over meat and pour half of the marinara sauce over cottage cheese.  Repeat the layering, zucchini, meat, cottage cheese and marinara then top with mozzarella and Parmesan.  Cover and bake at 350 for 60-90 minutes, until zucchini is tender.  Keep in mind, this lasagna is quite soupy when it first comes out of the oven, as it cools it will thicken, though ours doesn't usually last until then!  When cut into 12 slices this is 185 calories, 7.1 grams of fat, 10.5 grams of carbohydrates and 19.9 grams of protein per serving*.

*I have done these calculations based on the specific brands of ingredients I used, individual results may vary.