French Lentil Soup

I Wish You Could Smell This Blog Post...

I found this soup online somewhere when I was first introduced to lentils. Whenever you find a new recipe, it's always a risk. You never know how it's going to turn out. It could sound great and end up a dud or it can sound a little strange and end up changing your life. This recipe changed my life. 15 minutes into cooking it, I was engulfed in an aroma that made me melt. I stood at the stove stirring the onions and carrots and spices and I could hardly believe what I was smelling. Seriously, if it smelled this good, I couldn't imagine how it tasted. 
Since then I have made this soup seven or eight times, usually when I have friends over for dinner. This time, I made it for Shereen. Shereen is one of my great friends. Her wardrobe is impeccable. She has a fantastic fashion sense and every piece in her closet is a "statement piece". We work well together because she can be just as sarcastic as I can and can handle my weird side. I don't know that we have ever taken each other seriously. 

Here it is...as always, I have adapted the recipe to fit me a little better. I REALLY hope that you enjoy this!

French Lentil Soup

What You Will Need:

1/8 Cup Olive Oil (I have also used Coconut Oil and it works just as well)

1 Large Onion, Diced

4 Carrots, Diced

1 Green Pepper, Diced

1 Cup Celery, Diced (Or 1 Tbsp Celery Seeds)

8-10 Sprigs of Thyme (Remove the leaves from the stem. I use fresh thyme as it is cheap and you can find it anywhere. You can use the left over to season chicken. And with any fresh herbs, you can always dry your left overs)

1 Tbsp Dried Tarragon

1 Tsp Paprika 

5 Cloves Garlic, Minced (I have also added shallots and it's just as delicious)

2 14.5oz Cans of Diced Tomatoes

1 1/3 Cup of French Lentils (Rinsed and drained. If you tend to have "issues" with beans, soak the lentils for 12 hours in water before and it should help significantly)

7 Cups of Low Sodium Chicken Stock (Substitute vegetable stock to make this soup vegan)

Begin with heating the oil in a large soup pan. When oil is hot, add onions. Make sure the heat is turned down low at this point. You will want to cook the onions like this for 10 minutes or until they are translucent. When they are ready, add the tarragon, thyme and paprika. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes. Next add the garlic, celery (or celery seeds), green peppers, and carrots and cook until all vegetables are soft. At this point, add your canned tomatoes. Stir until mixture is covered and let this cook for 5 minutes. When you're ready, add the drained lentils. Stir again so everything is coated and mixed well. If your mixture is dry at this point, add a little bit of stock. When it is all good and mixed, add the remaining stock and bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn down the heat to bring the soup to a simmer. Put a lid on it and let it cook for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are soft. 

There are several ways you can serve this soup. I served it with brussel sprouts this time. You can also dice baked sweet potatoes, butternut squash or acorn squash and pour the soup over that. It goes perfectly with a good crusty sourdough bread. But I ALWAYS buy a block of Parmesan and grate it on top of the hot soup. Another idea, serve it garnished with pistachios.

However you serve it, it will be amazing. It's not a recipe that you can mess up easily. It's one that allows you to be creative and change out ingredients to fit your pallet. But most of all, it is hearty, filling and one of the most aromatic, delicious soups I have ever had. ENJOY!

-RB Xx

Seriously, This Chicken Recipe.

It's KILLER...

When eating healthy for the purposes of fueling your body to reach a fitness goal, it can get REALLY monotonous. It's all; brown rice, plain chicken breast and steamed broccoli...
BORING. Friggen shoot me now. I had raw spinach for my lunch today and forgot my balsamic dressing at home...I almost died. I had to eat it plain and it was torture...and I like raw spinach. 
I don't think it needs to be this way. 
I love flavor and food, and flavor and food together. Make sense? So I have been looking  for some ways to add really great flavor to really healthy foods that don't add a lot of salt, sugar, fat or calories to it. And it's got to be easy. This is really easy! 

Hot & Sweet Chicken

What you will need:

1 Green Pepper
1 Onion (I prefer Vidalia or "Sweet Onions")
1/2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
3 Chicken Breast Cubed
1/2 Tbsp Cumin
1/2 Tbsp Onion Powder
1/2 Tbsp Garlic Powder
Cayenne Pepper ("grow some" and add a lot!)
5 Tbsp Trader Joe's Hot & Sweet Mustard (If you can't get this, honey mustard works too!)
1/2 Cup Pineapple Chunks (Trader Joe's has frozen tidbits but you can always use fresh)


***Cooking Tip: You don't need to add salt to this recipe. If you add salt, I will magically show up in your kitchen and slap the salt shaker out of your hand. Test me.

To start, cut your onion and green pepper and sautee in a pan with the coconut oil. Coconut oil is AMAZING. And it's a miracle ingredient because it doesn't take much. Always use less than what you think you need.

**Cooking Tip: When cooking onions and peppers together, I always start with the peppers first. They take a about 3-4 minutes longer to cook than the onions. But like with most of my vegetables, I never cook them until they're limp. Who wants wimpy, limpy, soggy vegetables? Cook them less than what you think they need. The more you cook veggies, the more you remove the nutrients. My rule is this; the more they keep their color, the more they keep their minerals and vitamins and all that snazzy stuff. They should still have their shape and crispiness when you're done cooking them.

Next, take the onions and peppers out of the pan but leave the liquid that appeared during the cooking process in it. Add your cubed chicken and season it with your cumin, cayenne pepper (however much your little taste buds can handle), onion & garlic powder. Cook the chicken on medium heat until it's cooked through. This should take about 7-8 minutes. At that point add your hot & sweet mustard. Let this cook for another 3-4 minutes or so. You will want to cook the extra liquid off. The mustard may caramelize a little bit as it cooks. Near the end of this process, add your pineapple and cook for a minute more. Make sure not to add the pineapple until the chicken is cooked completely.


You're done! Congratulations, I know you did a really good job!

Side Recommendations:
Sweet Potato
Baked Purple Potato
Brown Rice
Black Rice AKA: Forbidden Rice
Broccoli
Acorn Squash 
Black Beans
Sauteed Spinach

You're going to thank me for this recipe.
You're welcome:)

-RB Xx

Breakfast is Served.

Ah, breakfast. 

It's how you start your day. It sets the tone for your day. It's what gets your energy up or brings it down (depending on what you eat). It's what kick starts your metabolism. It's one of the most important meals of the day. 

DO NOT be that person who skips breakfast. If you don't eat breakfast your chances of gaining weight increase drastically. Start your day off right by eating something to fuel your body. Your body does a considerable amount of work repairing and rebuilding during those hours while you're sleeping. Replenish the nutrients it burns while you're dreaming with a solid breakfast. Your mood will be better, you will last longer and be be able to keep your concentration at work, you will work harder during the day and you will lose more weight.

My breakfast usually takes about 15 minutes top to prep, cook and eat. If you're not eating breakfast now, you don't need to get up hours early to add it to your day. For my breakfast I will usually eat a protein, vegetable and a healthy carbohydrate. And of course, the most important part of my morning meal: COFFEE. I have recently changed my coffee up. I used to drink 1/4 mug of Coffee Mate Hazelnut Creamer and 3/4 mug of dark roast coffee. I did this even when I cut all other sugar out of my diet. And even though the creamer was the only sugar I allowed my self, it was adding around 25 grams of sugar and about 175 unneeded calories into my diet. In addition to that, it was setting the tone for my day. When I started my morning with that much sugar, it made it harder to say no to all the other sweets I was trying not to eat. I knew for a while that I wanted to stop using the creamer but I couldn't bring myself to do it. 

I finally got brave and stopped cold turkey. It has been the hardest cut I have made to date. Out of all the fats, white flours, refined sugars, salts, mash potatoes, and processed foods...the coffee creamer caused the biggest uproar in my mind and body. For several days after the removal of the liquid gold poured down from Heaven like Manna, my appetite became insatiable. No matter how much food I ate, I was ravenous immediately after. My body wanted that sugar back in the most obnoxious way. 

Sugar is just as addictive as drugs people. I was going through withdrawals. 

Now I'm back on track. As far as coffee goes, I still drink my dark roast every morning but it looks like this: 1/4 of my mug is filled with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and the other 3/4's, dark roast coffee. Took a bit to get used to, but it works. The monster inside of me has calmed. 

As far as food is concerned, here are a few examples of what my breakfast usually looks like: 

Scrambled Egg Whites & Salsa Served with Vanilla Scented Oatmeal & Steamed Brussel Sprouts

Brussel Sprouts: Clean brussel sprouts (cut about 1 cm of the bottom off. Do not cut too much off as it will take the leaves with it). Cut in half. Add to a pan with 1/2 inch of water. Cook covered for 3 minutes. 

Eggs:  Add 2 Tbsp of salsa to 3 egg whites and scramble with a fork. Spray a small frying pan with coconut oil spray (Trader Joe's) and heat to medium. Add eggs and use a spatula to stir until all liquid is gone. 

Oatmeal: Add 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats, 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk to a pot. Heat on medium high and boil. Stir occasionally. When it boils, turn down heat and cook until it looks like what oatmeal looks like when it's done.  

Basted Eggs Served with Sweet Potato Cakes

Eggs: Heat a small pan with about 1/2 inch of water in it on high heat. When water boils, which happens very quickly, crack two eggs into it. Cover the pan with a lid. It will take the eggs about two minutes to cook to over-medium (slightly runny yolks but cooked whites). You will need to watch the pan because the water tends to want to overflow and push the lid off. If that happens, just turn the heat down. When done, use a flat spatula to remove from pan and serve.

Sweet Potato Cakes: I take already baked sweet potatoes and add an egg. Depending on how many you need, I would add one egg to every two potatoes. As an additional binder, I add about 1 Tbsp of buckwheat flour per two potatoes. You can season it any way you want. I like them with cinnamon but you can make them savory by adding garlic powder and onion powder instead. When you have all ingredients together in a bowl, mix. Heat 1 tsp coconut oil in a pan on medium heat. Spoon the potato mixture into the pan in small piles. Flatten the pile down with the spoon to make a pancake shape. When cake is golden brown on one side, flip and cook until golden brown on the other. If you make them with cinnamon, drizzle with honey or pure maple syrup when served. If you make them the more savory way, serve with salsa and a small dollop pf plain greek yogurt on top (greek yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream in ANY dish. Make the switch). 

Vegetable & Egg White Frittata with Vanilla Scented Oatmeal

Vegetable & Egg Frittata: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8 inch cake pan with non-stick spray and add whatever diced vegetables you want. I added my vegetables in raw. The only thing I pre-cooked was the spinach. In this frittata I added: onions, green peppers, tomatoes, spinach, broccoli and feta cheese. In a separate bowl, add 8 egg whites and 2 whole eggs. Scramble. Pour egg mixture over top of the vegetables in the cake pan. Bake for 18 minutes.

Scrambled Egg Whites & Salsa Served with Steamed Broccoli. 

Broccoli: Cut broccoli into desired sized pieces. Add 1/2 inch of water into a frying pan. Add broccoli and cover pan with lid. Cook for 4 minutes. When done, broccoli should be crisp, not limp, and bright green, not dark green. Do not overcook your veggies. The more it cooks, the more nutrients you loose. And if you're daring, you can do what I do. Pour the liquid left from cooking into a glass, let it cool and drink up!

Hope this gave you some great ideas! And no, broccoli and brussel sprouts are not weird breakfast foods. I promise! Now go and EAT!

-RB Xx