Taco Soup

This week's Seasoning Lent theme is Simple Practice, and tonight's Taco Soup recipe fits that perfectly. It was just a matter of cooking some ground turkey, garlic, and onions, mixing in all the other ingredients and then letting it simmer. I love it when there aren't a lot of dishes to clean up after preparing a meal! The soup was delicious! It was very thick and filling.

After we ate, Carmen and I went and ran the course for the next 5k we are running.

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

Last night's recipe was for a healthy alternative version of one of my favorite foods: chicken and dumplings. This was the most involved recipe we've had to cook so far for Seasoning Lent, but it was definitely worth the effort.

I'm really seeing the results of our commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Not only have I lost some weight, but I have more energy, I'm sleeping better at night, and I've generally just been in a better mood.

Pumpkin-Black Bean Soup

Today was Joey's first day back at work after Spring Break. It was nice to have dinner planned to help us get back into a routine. Tonight we cooked the Pumpkin-Black Bean Soup. As with most of the Seasoning Lent recipes, this was quick and easy to make. It definitely had a southwestern flavor. Delicious!

Joey has gotten into the habit of running in the evenings. I haven't been disciplined about exercise at all. Now that I have cooking and eating under control, I hope to make regular exercise my next goal. I am running in the Help for Hope House 5k on Friday. It should be a great way to kick start an exercise routine.

Thai Coconut Soup

I love a recipe that is as simple as putting everything in a pot and simmering...especially when it turns out this good! This was definitely the easiest meal we have prepared since we started Seasoning Lent. We decided to thicken the soup up a little by serving it over brown rice. Thai food is one of our favorites and something we often crave and go out to get, so it will be helpful to add this to our cooking repertoire.

Our commitment is not just to healthy eating but to our overall health. One aspect of that is exercise. To help encourage us to get active, we signed up to run the Help for Hope House 5k. The race is Friday, but we went today to pick up our t-shirts and race packets. There were five shirts to pick from, and they are all really cool. This is one of my favorite race shirts I've ever gotten! Now I just have to get out there and keep running.

Lentils, Barley, and Spinach...Oh My!

Tonight we made Lentil, Barley, and Spinach Soup. We substituted the chicken broth for vegetable broth and of course did not add any salt. It was really good and perfect to have on this cold, rainy evening. It was easy to prepare and very filling. We will have more for lunch tomorrow.

I'm glad this week's devotional discussed temptation. I have been having a crazy sweet tooth. I guess my body is realizing that I've been forgoing sugar for a week now. Not completely but drastically less than usual. For the past few days I've had serious cravings. For "dessert" I've been having a Dove dark chocolate, a spoon of peanut butter, or a few spoons of low fat ice cream. Over the next week, I would like to give all of those things up. Not because I feel that they are bad, but because I have so much trouble resisting them. After reading this week's devotional, I would like to spend some time focusing on the good things I CAN enjoy instead of obsessing over these few things I can't have. Starting tomorrow, no more sweets until Easter!

Marvelous Minestrone Soup

We had minestrone soup last night. It was delicious! I'm glad, because the recipe made a lot, so we'll be having leftovers of it for a while.

I've never had minestrone soup before so I did a little reading to find out more about it. Apparently, it is almost as common as pasta in Italian cuisine. It is also typically made using whatever vegetables are in season, so I'm looking forward to making it again with fresh vegetables from the farmer's market once they open back up!