Chicken Soup for the Soul

Well I think I have figured out that its my shoes that’s been causing my foot problem.  Over the weekend I wore my beloved flip flops.  My right foot pain was really driving me crazy, and I wasn’t even sure I would be able to work out at lunch.  But I wore my Born shoes to work yesterday, and the more I walked in those shoes, the better my foot felt!

And by the end of the day, my foot pain was almost non-existent.  I know Lori, you’ve said the doctors you transcribe for always chastise their patients who wear flip flops all the time, and I think I am ready to listen!

Breakfast yesterday?  Delicious, but fugly.  I didn’t have any Pam yesterday morning so didn’t spray my pan, but I thought “it’s a non-stick, my eggs won’t stick!”  So my leftover beef roast, spinach, cheese and egg white omelet looks like it took a dive to the plate – at least I put it on a pretty plate though!  And Mom and I split a cantaloupe from the farm stand we went to Monday – holy cow, best I’ve had all summer.

I decided to do the exercise bike at lunch so I didn’t put too much stress on my foot.  I watched The Chew while I biked 9 miles in 40 minutes.  I did “random” but made sure that my RPM’s never went below 95 no matter what level I was on – it was tough!

I love making chicken noodle soup with leftover grilled chicken.  It gives the soup a slightly smokey flavor that you otherwise wouldn’t get.  Like most people and their chicken soup, I don’t really have a particular recipe, but I’ll give you my tips.

1. Put the whole carcass, skin and all in a stock pot.  Using a 1 cup measuring spoon, add enough water to cover the chicken by about an inch.
2. However many cups of water you added, add a bouillon cube – this last time I used 8 cups of water, so I used 8 bouillon cubes.
3. The last time I made soup my carrots never cooked through – even after 2 hours of simmering on the stove, so I cooked those separately and added them at the end.
4. After about an hour of simmering the carcass, take it out, making sure there are no bones or skin and let it cool.
5. Add 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning, pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Turn the soup over medium high heat and  once it starts to boil, add 3 cups of dry egg noodles – cook according to package directions.
7. Remove the soup from the heat, add the carrots and chicken back in and taste again for any added salt.  I usually add celery to this too, but I was out.
8. I never, ever put onions in mine.

There is just something about chicken noodle soup that is so comforting.  My Mom tried some when she was here and gave it thumbs up, although she thought it would be better with onions.

Work was busy so I was happy that it went by fast.  Although all day long it felt like Monday.  I had pasta with grilled Italian sausage on the menu last night.  I decided to make alfredo sauce for Tony, and added 1 teaspoon of basil pesto I made with some basil we got at the farm stand.  Tony doesn’t like basil pesto, or any pesto for that matter – I don’t add nuts in mine either, it’s just basil, olive oil, garlic salt and pepper.

I used my alfredo sauce for two, and I had 1 cup of cooked pasta, 3 ounces of the Italian sausage, 1/2 a cup of leftover grilled zucchini with the added basil pesto to mine.

Um, look who came to dinner while I was taking my photos – Kyle!  Didn’t seem to mind me taking pictures enough to interrupt her eating though!

I can’t even remember the last time that I cooked wagon wheel pasta – maybe when Hannah was little?  I knew I was going to have an hour Insanity later after dinner, so I only took 4 units of insulin since this is a carb heavy dinner.  I didn’t test my blood sugar before I worked out, but 30 minutes after it was 121 – perfect!

Taking a couple days off I have to admit Insanity started out really hard – amazing how refreshed I can feel after I rest my body and how much I feel I’ve slipped in my endurance in just a couple days.  I kicked Shaun T and Tania’s butts though.

It’s funny but I was thinking the same thing about doing well during the week and then thinking to myself “it’s the weekend!” and thinking I don’t need to be as strict and as on track as during the week – Mari was saying the same thing on Instagram last weekend – why should we treat the weekend any different than during the week.  I think that’s why I’ve maintained my weight before this summer because all the good I do during the week gets offset by all the extra tastes, licks and wine I have over the weekend.  I need to break that cycle if I want to continue to see results.

The website that I enter my food in is down this morning, so I’ll update my stats later on.  It felt good to move again, and I’ll be wearing my comfy, supportive shoes today!

Question of the Day:  How do you treat your weekends?  Food frenzy, or just an occasional extra treat?

Make it a great day!

Oh, and my brother thought it would be funny to put this on Facebook – he’s always trying to be Mom’s favorite!