Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup (21 Day Fix Approved)

With cold weather coming to the south finally, I find myself wanting to make more soups:) This has always been one of my favorites! I love how yummy this soup is and it is just a little bit spicy!

Chipotle Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
Total Time:
Prep: 25 min  Cook: 30 min
Makes 10 servings(2 cups a serving by 21 Day Fix Standards)
Ingredients:
2 cups diced peeled butternut squash
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups vegetable broth, divided
1 can(14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
3 oz cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup minced fresh basil
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 can (15oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (11oz) Mexicorn, drained
2 cups fresh baby spinach

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, saute the squash, carrot, onion, and cumin in oil for 10 min. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add 1-1/2 cups broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10-12 min. or until vegetables are tender; cool slightly.

2. Transfer mixture to a blender; add the tomatoes, cream cheese, basil, chipotle pepper and remaining broth. Cover and process for 1-2 minutes or until smooth.

3. Return to the saucepan; stir in the beans, corn, and spinach. Cook and stir until spinach is wilted and soup is heated through. If desired, sprinkle with fresh sage.
Yield: 10 Servings
Notes: 21 Day Fix Breakdown per serving: 1 Green, 1/2 Yellow, 0.15 Red
Side note: you can always add ham or some other meat to it if you want, just make sure you add to your container count.
This recipe is originally from a Taste of Home Recipe.

21 Day Fix Chicken Salad Recipe

So I have come to realize that I am not a big salad eater. I feel like a rabbit when all I eat is salad. I have, however, come to understand what my body needs and how I can best fulfill those needs, salads have begun to grow on me. 

One of the ways I love to get my salad in, is by throwing some chicken salad on top. This recipe from Autumn Calabreze's book Fixate, has been my go to lunch food for a while now! 

I love how it is there every day in the fridge the chicken salad is there waiting to be scooped out and there is not a lot of prep. I am a mama, and it is hard enough to get both the kids fed and happy let alone myself.

Chicken Salad with Grapes and Green Apples

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Author: Autumn Calabreze, 

(From the Fixate Cookbook)

Revised: by Jules Kaminski

Serves: 4 ( 3 1/4 Cups each)

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked whole chicken, skin removed 
• 1/3 cup almonds
• 1/4 cup Honey Mustard Dressing(See recipe below) 
• 1 Green Apple, cut up small
• 2 green onions, cut up real small
• 1/2 cup of red grapes, halved

Instructions

1. Pull all of the cooked chicken off of the bones and place into a large mixing bowl.
2. Add in honey mustard dressing and mix well.
3. Mix in the cut apple, green onion and grapes.
4. Throw on salad for extra greens: serving with 2 containers of lettuce greens: 2 green, 1/2 purple, 1 Red, 1/2 Blue, 1/2 orange
5. or put on a lettace leaf for more of a wrap feel: 1 cup of chicken salad to each romaine leaf: 1 green, 1/4 purple, 1/2 red, 1/8 blue, 1/8 orange
6.  or put it in a 8 inch sprouted whole-grain tortilla w/ two cups of shredded romaine lettuce: 2 green,  1 1/2 Yellow, 1/2 purple, 1 red, 1/2 blue, 1/2 orange.

Notes

I can't usually eat more than one cup's worth of this stuff. I get full to quickly. So my suggestion, simply subtract from your containers what you don't eat. Don't stuff yourself if you feel full. The point is to train your body to be satisfied not stuffed full.

Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

Prep time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

 

Author: Autumn Calabreze

(From the Fixate Cookbook)

Serves: 8 (2 Tbsp. each)

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup reduced fat (2%) Plain greek yogurt
• 3 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard, gluten free
• 3 Tbsp. Raw honey
• 3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Sea salt to taste(optional)

Instructions

1. Combine yogurt, mustard, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl; mix well.
2. Slowly add oil, whisking constantly until well blended; season with salt(if desired)

Fear Not For I am With You

My mom and I have been working on a children's story for several years now. The idea started when my mom was going through a difficult season in her life. She was struggling with figuring out what her future was going to look like. Her kids has all moved out and gotten married, and her life was changing.
Out of that change, she felt the Lord asking her, "Do you trust me?"
Her replay was, "I am fearful you will not lead me. What about when I am old? Or in want? What about this, or that?"
Out of all of these questions, this story about a little lamb and a kind shepherd jumped into her head.
I remember the first time I heard the story. I was sitting on the edge of my mother-in-law's guest bed as my mom read me her story. My heart broke.

This is one of my favorite moments in the book, because the
shepherd bends down and tells the lamb that he understands his
worries, and that he has nothing to fear.

This lamb continually comes to the shepherd worried about his life. He keeps asking if the shepherd will take care of him in different circumstances. I don't remember what was going on in our lives at the time, but I just cried as I heard this little lamb's cries.Those cries were my heart too!
For the next year after my mom gave me the story, I tried to draw lambs. Having never really had a visual to draw from or life experience with sheep, I found myself getting frustrated and unsure how to make them come to life on the page.
Almost two years ago, I felt the Lord begin to work in my heart and pick at the fear and uncertainty I was feeling about my future. At the time, it was because we were pregnant with our second and I was afraid of what it was going to look like as a mom of two. At that time I began to see the lamb was starting to come to life in me.
That shift in my heart and my beginning to relate to the lamb was only the beginning though. A couple of months before January of last year, Ty got the news that his company was going to have layoffs after the new year. My heart was nervous and unsure what that all meant. I felt like the lamb. I felt the Lord leading me to start painting, so I did. I poured my worries and heart ache into my paintings. But that was only the beginning.

This is one of the scenes where he realizes he hasn't asked the shepherd
about a certain circumstance.

The day did come when my husband did get the layoff. That was a hard day. Those were hard days that followed. Those days my paintings came out dark and sad.
As the months have gone by, as my heart has ached and struggled with God's goodness and his divine purpose, I have begun to see him work in extraordinary ways.
I never really understood before hard times in my life, how a artist could pour their life into their paintings, until these hard times in my own life. There have been very few things in my life that have made my soul truly sing with joy. Painting my heart in worship before the Lord has become a new and beautiful experience for me.
I have been raw, hurt, felt forgotten, and discouraged, and with each day wondered what the Lord is doing. I have poured those thoughts and feelings into my lamb pictures. I have poured my pain, my hurt, and my disappointments at His feet. And He has returned His love for me ten fold.
My fingers, brain and soul have truly sung like they have never sung before. I have watched a painting come to life as never before in my life. There are times I feel like the Lord is directing my hands to paint, not myself.
The Lord has used my painting to remind me of his plan. Of his perfection. I think of what Mordecai told Esther when she asked why God had put her in the circumstances he had put her in.
"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14
Who knows, Jules, perhaps you are in these circumstances for such a time as this. Perhaps you are in these circumstances so as to see the Lord through new eyes and a new heart. Perhaps this book needed such a hard time like this for you to truly see God's heart.
I am continuing to read the book " Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch. In chapter 8, she suggests the family read and memorize Psalm 23. This is where it all started for my mom those 3 or more years ago when the idea of this story started.
"The Lord is my shepherd:
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and staff
protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever."

The kind shepherd laughs at the days to come! He knows what is to come and he takes care of his children-(is picture is in progress, but I love the shepherd's embrace for his little lamb and the lamb's smile of contentment.)

I have need of nothing! He leads me into rest and peace. He renews my strength. He guides me for his glory! I fear not because my God is right beside me even in hard times. He protects and comforts. He has provided for my every need. I lack nothing. His goodness and love will be with me and pursue me for the rest of my days!
Praise in the midst of the storm is that the Lord is good! He has used this hard time in my life for his glory and fame! Praise him!

Praying for your husband

With each day that my husband is without a job, I have felt more and more burdened to lift my husband up in prayer. This has been a hard season for us, but it also has been extremely good for us as well.
We have learned so much our relationship with each other, about our relationship with God and even areas we need to grow in.
I have seen us grow in our communication. I have learned alot about not only what I say but how I say it. My words effect my husband to either motivate him or discourage him.
 I have seen us grow up. When life is normal I feel like there are moments that we can get away with being selfish kind of with out really acknowledging it, but God putting us in this hard circumstance, I have seen my sinful, selfish attitude rear its ugly head.
I am so thankful that the Lord doesn't leave us where we are at! Though this has been the hardest season of my life, I am so thankful for the discipline and the growth that has come from it.
My advice for other wives out there, don't wait till your circumstances are hard to really start praying for you husband!  They need you interceding on their behalf. They are leading your family! They have such a huge responsibility to lead your family well and they are held accountable before God for how they lead.
Let's stop being our husband's conscience and corrector. Lets stop pointing out their flaws. Let's begin praying for them, looking at what they do well and lifting them up with our words and our actions.
What do you think is your biggest stumbling block when it comes to being a prayer warrior/encourager for your husband?

Comparison Is A Thief

Contentment has been a struggle for me lately. I look at the people around me and I see all that they have and I wonder, why don't I have...x, y, or z? Our country has set this really hard standard of what is considered living a happy life. We consider having the right cars, the right home, the right amount of children, the right kind of clothing, the right schools, etc. There is this mad dash to get more than everyone else, to be better than everyone else, and to just be the best. 

   My struggle has been with the lie that I need to have a home to feel settled and a job for my husband to feel secure. Both those things are good, but they will not satisfy me or bring me joy ultimately. Nor will they bring me the things I crave: belonging and feeling secure.

I had a friend yesterday ask me what I was learning about my time that the Lord has me in, and it dawned on me. The Lord has been teaching me that HE is enough. I don't need anything but HIM! I don't need a home, I don't need my husband to have a job, or any of the other things I crave. I just need him. 

Paul's verse to the Philippians has continually come to mind as I have walked this hard journey.

Philippians 4:11-13 

  "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. 
  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength."

We have by no means been hungry or felt true need, but the Lord has provided every step of the way. I have wanted for nothing. There have been some things I have wanted, but the Lord has given me what I need and I have found extreme contentment and joy in that. 

Banana Oat Pancakes

I wanted to take a moment and share with you one of my favorite breakfasts in the Fixate Cookbook done by Autumn Calabrese. I love this recipe because it makes about 5 days worth of breakfasts. As a mom I need simplicity in the morning because I seriously can't handle mornings. I am a zombi till I have my coffee!

Banana Oat Pancakes (Pg 95)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 large eggs
1 large ripe banana
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 dash sea salt
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 tsp extra virgin organic coconut oil
3 cups fresh mixed berries

*If you’d like to make this recipe gluten-free, purchase gluten-free oats and baking powder.

– Place almond milk, eggs, banana, extract, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and oats in blender; cover. Blend until smooth.

-Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-low heat.

-Pour 1/4 cup batter onto the skillet; cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until bubbles form around the edges of the pancake. Flip with a spatula; cook for an additional 90 seconds.

– Continue with remaining batter.

-Serve with fresh berries.

Each serving is 2 pancakes. In the 21 Day Fix system, it is 1 yellow, and 1/2 of the purple container for the fruit.

Planning on trying this recipe? Let me know! I’d love to see your pictures!

Pictures brought to you by:  https://leahcrompton.wordpress.com/2015/07/27/banana-oat-pancakes-fixate-week-2/

One Of Those Moms

Most days, I feel like "that mom". You know the one who looks tired and half crazed going through the grocery line. That mom who every five minutes tells her child to stop grabbing food from the shelves...to stop licking their brother... to stop licking the cheese I just put in the basket?...What? Some days I just step back from my frazzled self, almost as if I was in the third person watching myself, and ask, "Who is that person? And what is her problem?"
I know I signed on to be a mommy, and in fact I really always wanted to be a mommy. No amount of other moms telling me would ever prepared me for the daily grind though. Some days I feel like I am just barely surviving. Like someone pushed me into the water and I forgot to swim, so I just keep holding my breath.
Today was one of "those" days. I got a late start since my phone was on silent and my alarm went off and of course I couldn't hear it. So I was a hour and a half behind( You know that feeling like you're playing catch up, but you never really catch up?)
Did some work and headed out to do some chores around town. I don't know why but I always put way too much on my list...Like way more than we could possibly get done with two little boys in tow. Some of my errands took longer than I thought they would, so we finally get home at 1 pm. I think at this point my nose is barely above water. I am starving and so are my kids and my groceries are every where. So as I am putting away groceries, I am throwing food at my kids, longing for the moment to sit myself and eat.
I get what you call hangry...hungry and angry...when I don't have food. I need it like the air that I breath. When my blood sugar drops, I get very grumpy. I am grumbling under my breath and just wanting to run away from the groceries, responsibility, my kids, pressure, you name it...and suddenly a verse comes to mind.
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

I start singing the old Steve Green's version I remember as a kid. As I sang, I felt the Lord changing my heart about my day. So what if I got to eat my lunch around 2 pm. So what if the kids were hard today. Where does my strength come from? It comes from God! There is no mistake he gave me my two little boys. Yes they are rambunctious and some times a little crazy, but God has given me the ability to be their Mamma.
The truth is in of myself, I can not be the godly mamma they need. I am a sinner saved by grace. It's through Christ that I am clean. And it is through Christ that he begins to change and grow me into who He wants me to be. Today I was empty. I was trying to fill myself with being a productive mom. I need to fill myself with Christ. Only then can I find the strength on even the hard days to be patient, kind and loving toward my little men.