Mexican Chicken Tortilla Soup

Clean, Yummy and Gluten Free Soup 

I wish it were not still SO cold here but it is. It's the end of May and I am still wearing my winter clothes and making soup. This past weekend we were rained in our house so we resorted to a warm pot of soup Sunday afternoon. I was nervous that it might be too spicy for my little guy but he gave it two thumbs up and loved it. This recipe is from the fixate cookbook. It's healthy, yummy and gluten free!!! Let me know if you try it! You can also purchase the fixate cookbook by clicking here. 

Ingredients 

• 2 teaspoons olive oil

• 8 (6") tortillas, divided use

• 1/2 cup onion, chopped

• 2 cups celery, sliced (about 4 medium stalks)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped

• 6 cups low-sodium organic chicken broth

• 3 cups chopped and/or shredded rotisserie chicken, boneless/skinless

• 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots (about 3 medium)
• I cup of sweet corn

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• ½ teaspoon sea salt + more to taste

• ½ teaspoon pepper + more to taste

• optional garnish: chopped avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, crumbled Cotija (or Feta) cheese

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 F.
 
2) Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3) Place tortillas on baking sheet.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until toasted and crispy.  Remove from oven.  When cool, break into pieces.  Set aside. 
4) Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped onion and celery; cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes and until veggies are soft. Add garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for about 1 minute. Add in the sweet corn and tomatoes; cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes and until tomatoes are soft. Set aside.
5) Add onion mixture, 2 cups broth and half of the toasted tortilla pieces to high-speed blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
6) Transfer blended mixture back to saucepan and add remaining 4 cups broth, chicken, carrots and seasonings. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
7) Top each serving with preferred toppings such as avocado, cilantro, feta, and remaining tortilla chips.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Just In Time For Thanksgiving - Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins 

To this day I still get excited when Starbucks has the pumpkin cream cheese muffins on hand. I LOVE THEM. I'd be lying if I didn't say I treated myself to one earlier in the season. But you see the thing about them is they are not so good for you. It packs a punch with 420 calories. Thats a lot for one serving. What's almost as worse is that it has 47 grams of sugar in it. YIKES. This recipe only has 161 calories per muffin and 3 grams of sugar. Much better in my book. This one isn't as sweet as the Starbucks muffins but it won't give you a muffin top like the Starbucks one will either. 

Here is what you will need:

2 oz of cream cheese 

1 tbsp pure maple syrup 

1 large egg, lightly beaten 

1 cup canned pumpkin puree 

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon 

1 1/2 cups of almond flour 

3/4 tsp of baking soda 

1 dash of pink himalayan salt 

Instructions 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 

Prepare nine muffin cups with muffin liners

Combine cream cheese and maple syrup in a small bowl. Mix well then set aside 

Combine egg, pumpkin and vanilla in a medium bowl. Mix well then set aside. 

Combine almond flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in another bowl. Mix well 

Add almond meal mixture to egg mixture, mix until blended. 

Spoon batter into each prepared muffin tin cup, filing a little less than 1/2 full 

Spoon 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin. Evenly fill muffin cups with the remaining batter. 

Bake 16 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. 

Cool on a baking rack. 

Overeating On Healthy Foods - Yep It's Possible

21 Day Fix - How Six Tiny Little Containers Helped Me Finally Lose My Baby Weight 

Today I want to get real with you about what the 21 day fix did for me aside from just helping me lose weight and learn to love exercise. It helped me to learn what a correct portion of food should look like. Let me start from the beginning. I was not a terrible eater before, but what I was terrible at was portion control. I used to eat healthy but WAY too much of those healthy foods and sometimes way too much of unhealthy foods too. ;) For example in a day I would sometimes have four different servings of fruit. While it was great that I was eating "healthy foods," I was eating too much of it. I couldn't figure out why I was not able to drop my baby weight. Once I started the 21 day fix, I realized my habits were half the problem. I was lacking in veggie and protein servings and overdoing it on carbs, fruits and healthy fats. While my body was getting nutrients it needed it was not going to be enough to help me "strip down" and lose the weight. When you get down to those last 5 or 10 lbs it takes some serious effort and focus and that was what I was needing and missing.

When the challenge pack arrived at my house I remember unboxing everything and thinking "what the hell?" Seriously those containers are so small. I am going to starve for the next 21 days. That was until I learned how much I could stuff into those plastic containers. You see the fix gives you color coded containers and instead of counting calories you count containers. If it fits in it you can have it. There is a formula that you use to determine how many containers you get in a day. It came with a meal plan guide book that told me what I could put in each of the containers. In addition to all of those containers, I also had to drink half of weight in ounces of water a day and commit to doing the 30 minute exercises each day for 21 days.

Here was my breakdown for my body weight:

    4 protein servings (red containers) Shakeology counted as one of my reds! Thank goodness because this was my most difficult container to get in each day. I was glad to have one that was easy to make and tasted great!
    3 vegetable servings (green containers)
    2 fruit servings (purple containers)
    2 carb servings (yellow containers)
    1 healthy fat container (blue)
    1 seeds/ nuts (orange)

My favorite way to get in my red containers - usually my go to breakfast but some days my late afternoon snack before dinner. 

What I learned during my initial round of the fix was that when I ate according to the allotted containers each day, I really wasn't hungry.  I didn't even want the junk food that I used to crave all the time. The first few days I think it was more of a mind game not cheating and going back to my old ways, but after I got the hang of it, it became really easy. On thing I noticed in a big way was that protein was my friend. The more I ate of it, the more lean and fit I looked. Now to this day, I still actually eat according to that plan. While I don't use the containers anymore for my portions, I do still try to make a conscious effort to eat all of my needed containers each day. It wasn't a diet for me rather a lifestyle change. The best part was it was easy to incorporate this into what my family was already eating for dinners. (I only had to tweak a few things) and this allowed me to have a few cheats. I was allowed to trade out a yellow container three times a week for some tortilla chips, chocolate or wine. There were other options for trades but those were the ones I went with and I didn't do it every week just when I thought I needed it. That was nice because I really didn't feel deprived then. Below is an example of what one of my meal plans looked like. As you can see I ate pretty often.

Meal planning was my saving grace - it took me a little to get the hang of it but it really helped me to stay on track. 

It took me two rounds to get the results I was wanting. The first round it got me on track and got rid of the bloat and pounds I wanted to drop. The second round was where I leaned out and toned up and actually started to see muscles pop. I did three rounds before I moved on to a new program but I will say that I used the container system still as I did other programs.

If you think portion control is something you struggle with and think the container system would be helpful for you, I encourage you to consider joining my upcoming challenge group that I have starting on October 19th. You have nothing to lose except the weight you have been carrying around and everything to gain. I promise it was a game changer for me.

Please click here to purchase your 21 day fix challenge pack. Or contact me for more information before getting started.

If you would like to share more with me about yourself and the habits you currently have please fill out the application below and I will be in touch.

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Peanut Butter Bars - Fixate Cookbook Style

This is healthy? Seriously? Stop.... 

Everything you need to whip up a pretty darn good dessert! 

Here's the deal I HATE TO BAKE. Like hate it. I can cook you anything but if you put me in charge of desserts you would have been better to send me to the grocery store. Ask my husband if you don't believe me. That's why when I got the fixate cookbook, I pretty much just skipped right over the dessert section. Well this past week I was craving some sweets but didn't want to ruin all the hard work I had been putting in with T25. (That's the program I am currently working out with. 3 weeks in, no stopping me now.) I pulled out the cookbook and decided to see if I had anything on hand that I could somehow turn into a treat. The peanut butter bars looked easy and appealing so I went for it. What a win! I loved it and what I loved even more was that it really wasn't all that unhealthy. They were very moist and had a nice after taste. I will absolutely be making these again. Check out the recipe below to see how I made them.

Ingredients 
2 eggs
Pure vanilla extract - 2 tsp.
Maple syrup - 1/2 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp.
All natural creamy peanut butter - 1 1/2 cups

Directions 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Spray a glass 8x8 pan - I used coconut oil
Combine all ingredients using a mixer
Layer into the pan using a spatula
Cook for 20 - 25 minutes
Allow to cool before cutting into squares
ENJOY!!!

Want to learn more about what the fixate cookbook is? Check out my video below! 

Click here to get your hands on a copy of the cookbook! 

The final product. Not too fancy looking but sure tastes great! 

Apple Banana Gluten Free Muffins

Back To School Breakfast Idea

As I gear up for the school year I am getting back into the habit of packing lunches again. I not only have to pack lunches for my son and I but also breakfast since we are running out the door so quickly in the mornings. He eats his packed breakfast at school and I drink a Shakeology on the way. A few hours later I usually have my "breakfast" for the day. This week we are going to be enjoying these apple banana muffins. They were too healthy and yummy not to share! This recipe is actually out of the Fixate Cookbook! There are lots of other great recipes in there to check out! This cookbook is totally worth getting! Check out my site to get your own copy of this!

Ingredients
2 large organic brown eggs
2 ripe bananas mashed
1 tablespoon of organic butter
1 dash of pink Himalayan sea salt
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of almond flour
1 medium organic apple chopped into small bites
3/4 tsp of baking soda

Directions 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Line muffin tins - Mine made 10 muffins
Combine eggs, banana, vanilla and butter in a bowl and set aside
Comine almond flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in another bowl - set aside
Begin to combine the two mixtures together
Once combined add in apple pieces
I used a cookie scoop to portion the mixture out.
Cook for 18 minutes. Allow muffins to cook before enjoying

Chicken Noodle Soup - The Best I Ever Made

Fixate Cookbook - A Girls Best Friend

This past week I got to finally try some new recipes from the much anticipated fixate cookbook. All the ones that we tried last week were amazing but my favorite was the chicken noodle soup recipe. In fact, this is the best chicken noodle soup I have EVER had. My little one was actually the one who picked it from the cookbook to try. He's a die hard soup fan so I was not surprised he picked this one! 

Here are the ingredients you are going to need:

Ingredients 

2 tsp - olive oil 

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cups chopped celery

5 cups of organic chicken broth

2 cups of organic vegetable broth 

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 

1 1/2 cups sliced organic carrots 

1 tsp dried oregano 

1/2 tsp of pink himalayan sea salt 

1 tsp black pepper

1 1/4 cups of dry whole wheat pasta 

2 chicken bullion cubes 

Directions 

In a stock pot place chicken breasts and broth as well as olive oil - bring to a rolling boil 

Add remaining ingredients and cook until vegetables are tender 

Add pasta, reduce to a lower heat and gently boil for 10 minutes. 

Remove from heat and enjoy! 

He was over the moon excited about his yummy soup!

* Recipe found in the Fixate cookbook and modified slightly* 

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21 Day Fix & 21 Day Fix Extreme Cookbook Coming Soon

Introducing Fixate - The Newest Addition To The Beachbody Family 

Genius is the only thing I can say when I think about the new cook book fixate that will be launching on July 14th! I am over the top excited because this is something that some of my challengers needed desperately! I have seen so many of my clients get success with programs like the 21 day fix and the 21 day fix extreme but what seems to hang them up the most is the meal planning and deciding how to "count the containers" for recipes. I always try my best to help them but sometimes it is more of a guessing game. 

Now cue this new cookbook - Autumn took the guess work out of it! She has included 101 of her favorite clean healthy recipes and does the break down for you. She has plenty of options for those who are paleo, gluten free, vegan and vegetarian. There is something for everyone for all kinds of meals each day - breakfast, lunch,  dinner, shakeology and even cocktails!

I can see this being a lifesaver for many of my challengers who struggle with the meal planning part! 

Personally I absolutely love to cook so this is going to be right up my alley! Typically I am a Pinterest girl when it comes to finding recipes while doing the fix but I have a feeling the Griffith house is going to be enjoying lots of fun 21 day fix approved dinners shortly after this launches!!

For my July challenge group that I am hosting I am planning to focus on the family not just moms! I decided I will give away copy of the cookbook to one lucky person who purchases the 21 day fix or 21 day fix extreme challenge pack from me. I will do the drawling to see who the winner is right before the group starts! 

If you think you might be interested in my next challenge group and the opportunity to learn more about the fixate cookbook please fill out the application below. I will be in touch shortly. Click here to sign up to have me as your coach!

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