Easy Chili

So I made this in my Instant Pot. I was nervous about making it in my Instant Pot because my Mom always cooked it for hours on the stove or in the slow cooker to get those awesome flavors.

Yes, I am a “Pothead” (what they call us in the Instant Pot cult lol) through and through, but this is one I’ve never tried. Until now, and it is delicious! I’m so thankful to the Instant Pot Community on Facebook because they post such awesome stuff and give me courage to try things like this!

You all unfortunate people that don’t use an Instant Pot can do this one too, it’ll just take 6 to 8 hours longer 🙂 I’ve definitely modified it to be more Weight Watcher friendly, and it makes about 12 cups and is 4 Smartpoints a cup. Not bad!

I’ve written this recipe a little different because all the ingredients can make it seem overwhelming. It’s not, I promise! My Mom was always adamant about following the steps on this one, and like most Moms she was always right!

Oh and the little hot dog fingers were put in for my little nephew – points not counted for those 🙂 I have Halloween on the brain! I also made this with children in mind, so if you like your chili spicy double your cumin and add a tablespoon of crushed red pepper 🙂

Sep 08

How I Went from a Fat Hooker to a Happy Garden Fairy

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So I am going to do a give-a-way worth over $200 for all my faithful followers! More on that at the end of the post!

Halloween is coming.

Forgive me but I’ve been catching up on Game of Thrones.

What a difference a year makes, eh?

Anyway, I love Halloween.

Like I really love Halloween…

A LOT

As I’ve gotten older my love for Halloween has increased. Probably because I was raised by her:

Now that I’m older and don’t take any littles trick-or-treating I do what any adult with no responsibilities would do.

Sep 08

Pork Roast Marinated with Maple and Coffee

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This is a recipe I used to make all the time but it used molasses. You don’t even want to know how many points are in molasses, it’s truly frightening. So I switched it up with some sugar free maple syrup, said a hail Mary, and it actually worked! It’s delicious!

The roast is 4 Smartpoints for 3 ounces.

Sep 05

A 30 Point Day + 6

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So I lost weight last week, but I didn’t use all my weekly points so I’m going to stay with the 36 Smartpoint target and eat all my weekly points and see what happens. It is hard to find that sweet spot where you don’t gain or lose, but I’ll find it!

Breakfast: 11 Smartpoints

Please don’t fall out of your chairs in shock. You peeps that read my blog a lot know how I loves me some overnight oats for breakfast and eat it almost every day. When I get that rare day off I like to do up breakfast, and I had Kodiak pancakes with sugar free syrup, a fried egg, and turkey sausage links.

It was delicious and worth every. single. point.

I also had a Premier Protein in my coffee for 2 Smartpoints.

Sep 03

Weigh In 9-2-17 Lifetime #3

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So this is what losing 62 pounds looks like on a 5’8″ woman. It’s funny because most days I don’t feel like I look any different than before. Then I see pictures like this side by side and think “holy crap”.

I mean how can you look this different but not see it yourself until you see your former self next to your new self.

That’s kind of messed up. I’ll need to think on that one a bit….

Sep 01

Tools – Instant Pot

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Losing a good amount of weight requires time, dedication, will power, and a whole lot of help. I write a lot about different tools that have helped me on my journey to losing 60 pounds, and this one is NUMBER ONE.

I remember a scary incident when I was little with a pressure cooker. It blew up and left beef stuck to my Grandma’s ceiling…lol I never thought about using one before, probably because of that, and then I starting seeing those infomercials with that crazy annoying dude and I started getting curious.

So I started researching and decided to go with the Instant Pot. It was love at first site, and after I realized how flippin’ easy it was to use I was hooked.

It is a new way of cooking, so there was a learning curve, but once you get the basics down the possibilities are endless.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind: You might see all these “5 minute chicken!” and “10 minute Pork Roast!” things flying all over Pinterest. I hate when bloggers do that because people get discouraged when it isn’t just 5 minutes.

Your pressure cooker has to come to pressure, which honestly can take 10 minutes sometimes. Some recipes need to come down from pressure on their own, which can take 15 minutes.

No, this is no time traveling wonder that will always have your dinner on the table in 5 minutes, but it will make making dinner much, much easier.

And more delicious. The flavors are infused by the cooking method making things taste better. Also once you have your prep done you can just walk away and let it do it’s thing, like a slow cooker but your dinner will be done in a half hour instead of 4 hours.

Aug 26

Chicken Lemon Rice Soup

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So who doesn’t love Chicken Lemon Rice Soup? It’s comforting and delicious. Most people don’t have this unless they are at a restaurant, but that would change if they realized how easy it is to make at home!

It is even easier if you have an Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker! I use the 6 Quart Instant Pot religiously. I seriously do not think I would have been half as successful with my weight loss without it!

This soup is so good. I took some to work (with extra for the coming days) and after smelling it everyone in my office had ate it up. I guess I need to get to planning more lunches for the week!

Before I go into the recipe I want to show you what type of bulgar I use:

It is important to get the larger grain Bulgar. I’m sure it would work with the smaller kernels, but I haven’t tried it and don’t know what kind of mouth feel you will get with it. I talk about my love affair with Bulgar here: Smart Swap – A Love Letter to Bulgar Wheat

It doesn’t matter the brand, just try and get the largest kernel you can. You usually find this in the International Isle at your grocery store, or you can buy in bulk at Whole Foods and stores like that.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Uncooked Bulgar Wheat
6 Cups Chicken Stock (I use Wildtree Chicken Bouillon)
2 Lemons
2 Eggs

Chicken: Marinate these ingredients in refrigerator for at least a half hour.

1 Pound Chicken (Two small breast, not one big honking one for cook time)
1 Tablespoon Wildtree California Style Garlic and Pepper Blend (Or 2 Tsp Garlic powder 1/4 teaspoon black pepper)
2 Teaspoons Wildtree Garlic Infused Grapeseed Oil (or your favorite oil)

Aug 23

Food Find – Bread! Yes!

Weigh In 8-19-17: Lifetime WI #1

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So….This staying the same weight is a bit harder than I expected.

Even after my Weigh In 8-12-17: What Kelly Learned post you’d think I just have it all together, right?

Wrong.

I have to admit to you all that I fell into some bad habits last week. It is scary how fast I turned to them.

You see, I talked about how that scale is a tool that sometimes doesn’t tell the truth – that you can’t be to hung up on it.

So when I checked my weight Thursday and I was up 3 pounds….THREE POUNDS…I freaked out.

Now did I think about how I had super salty food for lunch that day and how I know I’m sensitive to salt? Nope.

I freaked.

I mean I went from 30 points to 36 for maintenance. At 30 points I was losing an average of 2 pounds per week. Mathematically it was impossible for 6 extra points a day to cause me to gain 3 pounds.

Yes, logically I should have shrugged it off and thought if the water weight didn’t fall off by weigh in it would have fell off by the next week.

But I wasn’t logical. I was irrational, and ate very little Friday, following the old Kelly plan. I drank and drank water.

I weighed in at exactly the same, which yay?

No.

I was a slave to that scale, I didn’t think rationally, and I didn’t behave properly.

But I own it. I did it, it’s over, and I’m moving on.

In a lot of ways the Weight Watcher program is meant for people like me….People that like to win. It is a double edged sword though, because it can bite you in the butt when you are not winning.

All or nothing.

Now I really realize that I have much work to do, and I’m willing to do it.

Aug 20

Spicy Sausage and Potato Soup

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I can’t believe we are heading towards the end of summer, and my attention is turning to more fall like recipes. This spicy sausage and potato soup is comfort food at it’s finest. It’s also incredibly easy and only 4 Smartpoints a cup!

This can either be cooked in the Instant Pot, or slow cooker.