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  • Essential Oils
  • Ditch The Toxins
  • The Non Toxic Family

Tex-Mex Veggie Soup w/ Rice

2/24/2019

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Picture
 ( This soup was a huge hit with my family! I made it on a Saturday and we had it for two meals which meant less cooking over the weekend but we also avoided eating out or grabbing whatever.  My family was eating something yummy AND good for them!  It was easy to make and didn't take much time to put together either. 

Here are the ingredients:
3-6 C Distilled or Filtered Water
2 cartons of Organic Vegetable (or Chicken) Broth)  My cartons are 32 oz each
Tomatoes, Canned, 2 large

Kale, 8 leaves chopped
Zucchini, 2 medium, diced
Cilantro, 1 bunch, chopped
Avocado, 3-5, sliced
Red Bell Pepper, 2,  diced
Yellow Bell Pepper, 2, diced
Yellow Onion, 2 medium, diced

Ground Beef, 3 lbs
OR
Chicken Breast, 3 lbs, shredded (Cook in the Instant Pot and shred once done!)

White Rice, 5 C, cooked
I cooked this ahead of time in my smaller Instant Pot and then set it aside in another pot, covered,  to keep warm.  

Spices:
Garlic, 2 TBSP
Chili Spice, 2 TBSP (or more to taste)
Salt, 2 TBSP, or more to taste, this may seem like a lot, but this makes a large batch of soup
Pepper, 4 tsp
Basil Leaves, 4-6 whole leaves

Cook the meat of your choice,  with the chopped onion. ahead of time and set aside.  I season with salt, pepper and a bit of chili spice.  You don't want the meat to be bland.  You could half the spices listed and use half with the meat and the other half for the broth.  I did adjust after cooking and doing some taste testing! 

Drain the ground beef if needed.  This is not necessary with chicken breast.  

Once the meat is cooked, add all the other ingredients and the rest of your spices to a large pot or to your Instant Pot. Add the Basil leaves LAST and leave on top while simmering, this makes it easier to remove them once done.   I will warn you that I used BOTH of my IP's to make this!  I have an 8 quart and a 6 quart IP and I had both full of this soup, so make sure you have a large pot!  You can always freeze the leftovers!   Simmer until hot.  Serve over the rice and top with Avocado and freshly chopped Cilantro!

Enjoy!  I'd love to know if you try it and if your family likes it!

​



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Getting Started & Making Healthy Choices

2/24/2019

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I believe what we eat should be healthy, delicious and easy to prepare!  Food does not have to be fancy to be good.  Having a healthy diet does not have to be expensive either!  When I first began changing my family's diet I made a lot of mistakes by opting for expensive replacements for "convenience" foods that I thought were healthier options of some of our favorites; I was wrong!  They weren't healthier, they were just more expensive.  I have learned a lot since that time over 15 years ago. We now eat delicious foods that I prepare for my family of 8 and it doesn't mean I have to take out a loan to feed us all nutrient dense foods!  I also don't have to spend hours and hours in the kitchen either. 

There are some very simple steps to take in order to make the switch to a whole foods way of eating.  You don't have to do it all at once if that is overwhelming to you either!  Some like to go "cold turkey", others prefer baby steps.  Either is fine; The important part is to make the change so you are supporting your systems and not creating more symptoms. 

Step 1 is to simply make the decision that you want to eat foods that are right for the human body and leave the processed, chemical laden foods behind!  If you are reading this then I'm guessing you may already have made that decision or are very close to doing so!  Good for you!

Next, it's time to clean out the kitchen!  Again, some people do this all at once while other clean out only the things that have to do with one meal of the day.   So, for instance, one might throw out all of the breakfast options that are not good for them and start replacing them with whole, nutrient dense choices.  Someone else might decide that lunch is their major struggle so they start there; neither are wrong, or right, it just depends on individual needs.  

After you've done some cleaning out, then a meal plan is next.   I like to plan out 7 days at a time of each meal of the day plus snacks.   It can be time consuming at first, but you get faster at it pretty quickly!  

After the meal plan is done, it is time to make a list to prepare for the trip to the grocery store.  

Once the list is made, it's time to go shopping!  Label reading is a must and there will be information regarding that on this site soon, but this is the basic break down of how to start making a lifestyle change for health!  You can get more details and one on one help by signing up for my coaching services under 'Getting Started'
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    Lori Culbertson is a wife, mother of 6 and Certified Health Coach in Southern Indiana.  

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