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March 15th, 2011:

Pumpkin Chili

Mar 15th, 2011
by Ashlee.
4 comments

Good Evening!

We have had a pretty good evening in our household. This afternoon we played and did laundry which is always fun. Smile 

I also prepared tonight’s dinner early and stuck it in the crock pot to cook all afternoon.

Spicy Pumpkin Chili

  • 1 pound lean ground turkey
  • 1/2  large onion; chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper; chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 2 cans (14oz) diced no salt added tomatoes
  • 1 can (14oz) tomato sauce
  • 1 can (15oz) pumpkin
  • 1 can (4oz) chopped green chiles
  • 1 can (15oz) kidney beans; drained
  • 1tbs chili powder
  • 1tsp cumin
  • 1/8tsp black pepper

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  1. In a hot skillet cook the pepper, onion and garlic for 5-7 minutes.
  2. Add turkey and cook until done.
  3. Add all ingredients in crockpot and cook on high for a couple hours.
  4. You could also just add ingredients into the pot with the turkey and cook for 30 minutes.

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I figured out the nutritional facts on this dish and one serving is about 250 calories. This recipe made 8-10 servings. Topped with a little sharp cheddar and 1 tbs. of sour cream and organic tortilla chips this meal was less than 500 calories.

Have you ever tried pumpkin in your chili?

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Meal Planning and Weight Loss

Mar 15th, 2011
by Ashlee.
6 comments

Good Afternoon! I hope you are all having a great morning. I feel exceptionally blessed this morning. With all the tragedy in the world today all I can think is how blessed I am to live in a safe place, have good health and have a healthy family. As I watched LB walk across the room and Daisy dance to the music her toys make tears came to my eyes and I thought of how blessed I am.

Last night I had two separate conversations about weight loss. One with my husband, Lew and one with a good friend of mine. Both conversations focused on how the three of us are so interested in losing weight but feel like we have sort of “fallen off the wagon” or even can’t figure out how to get on the real weight loss wagon. The frustrating thing is that I know how to lose weight, I have done it before, but it is different now. I know what it feels like to be at my happy weight and I am getting a little frustrated not being at that weight. With all of that being said, the focus of my future posts is not going to be weight loss. I have decided to not journal everything I eat on the blog. Instead I have a small white board in the kitchen that I am journaling meals and calorie intake for Lew and I. It is definitely easier for Lew to lose weight when I am trying with him so it will also help him in his journey. For the first three months of this year I haven’t really been trying to lose weight but now I officially am. But, like I said this will not be the focus of the blog.

What I am planning on doing is journaling my workouts and what I eat for breakfast and lunch. For dinner I will have a recipe for everyday during Lent that we have chosen to “give up” eating out.

This morning I made smoothies for Lew and I. Our smoothies were about 250 calories each. For lunch I warmed up leftovers from last night’s Creamy Chicken and Rice and served it atop a bed of fresh spinach.

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Meal Planning

The key to eating three meals at home for forty days is definitely planning ahead. On Sunday I sat down with some of my favorite cookbooks and a calendar. I wrote in meals that I knew we would be eating at church and small group and started filling in the rest. Here is the plan for the week.

Tuesday: Dinner: Spicy Pumpkin Chili

Wednesday: Lunch: Apple and Grape Chicken Salad

Dinner: @ Church

Thursday: Lunch: leftovers Dinner: Baked Spaghetti (which I am making and taking to our new small group)

Friday: Lunch: Leftovers Dinner: Fish Tacos

Saturday: Dinner: Steak Fajitas

Sunday: Lunch Beer/Cheese Soup

This will be the first time we have ever went a whole week without eating out! This is definitely taking some self control!

 

 

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