Ode to the tomato and other things...

Lunch time today turned out to be all about the tomato. Not on purpose... It just sort of happened. I'm ok with that.

My daughter LOVES tomato soup. She asks for it frequently. Until recently I was so-so about that. I mean, it is tomatoes which is great, but the canned stuff is full of sugar and other such villains. I hit Google and found a version of homemade tomato soup with basil. This turned into so much more! This version (I'm not sure why) had butter and cream and sugar but the base was solid so... Heatzification!

2 C crushed tomatoes
1 C chicken broth
Basil to taste ( I used roughly 2 T dried)
Stevia again to taste (I used about a tablespoon... My daughter's appeal to the canned stuff is the sweetness so this helps find the happy medium for her)

That's it. Heat and serve! My daughter asked for this today and grilled cheese. Keeping with the tomato theme I went caprese with mine. Yum! Did you know the Lycopene in tomatoes can help fight cancer? Oh yes it's true..

 Now what I love so much about this is that this base can be used for more than soup!
As much as my daughter loves her soup, multiply that by 1000 and that's my husband's love for pizza! Omit the broth and add in preferred spices (crushed red pepper, onion, garlic, etc) boil down to desired thickness... Bam! The freshest tasting pizza sauce!

You could do much the same and turn it into a pasta sauce. (Mushrooms... Spinach perhaps?) Oooh just thought! Add pesto and use it as a spread for sandwiches. Just have fun with it. It's good for you! Haha ;) It freezes well too. If you try this let me know what you think!

Next order of business... Sweating! I adore a great sweat session. It makes me feel tough and all bad ass lol. I've been down (but mind you...not taken out) by this bout of Shingles. I had to take a break from the physical to let my body heal. Now... It's back to business! I thought I'd share today's workout with you.

Lately (along with circuits) I have been into splitting my strength sessions. Upper body/lower body. Today is upper body! Everyone talks about leg day, but I feel my tris just as much! Arm day is no joke! I like to do a low number of reps with high weight
 It's all about strength and muscle for me. I'm trying to build back what I lost. Plus muscle burns fat so...hey!

Today's exercises:
Bench press
Kettle bell rows
Incline press
Lat pull down
Lat raises
Tri pushdown
And DB curls

Depending on scheduling I will turn that into a circuit for incorporated cardio or do straight cardio after.

Woo! Where's my protein shake? ;).
What is your workout routine like? Do you love it or just power through? What motivates you? I want to put together a playlist so feel free to leave some of your favorite jams in the comments! :D thanks for reading. Much love <3 br="" nbsp="">

No fuss Friday

It's been a bit since I promised blogging and so here we are. I have a bit of a confession to make... Whenever I feel "under the weather" I have a bad habit of going MIA. I don't like to Facebook, blog, text, make calls. I just go kind of blank. Are any of you like that? I don't mean to be this way... I just tend to feel blah and want to just stare into space ha-ha.

Well the past week I have been dealing with Shingles. Thaaaaaat's right. That thing they talk about on the commercial. Get your shot ha-ha. Mines a bit of a different circumstance with the leukemia and all,  but I am here to tell you... PAIN!

So my confession is that it's been a rather lazy past few days. Especially with the medicine making me sleepy.

One thing that makes me feel better is chicken soup. So I made a big batch. BUT this isn't your typical chicken soup. I love olive garden's chicken and gnocchi spinach soup. Tons of flavor. However I like to lighten things up and easier if possible so I made my own "heatzified" version.

The pictures don't do it justice and I froze the left overs for no fuss meals for whenever I don't feel like cooking!

This recipe is your basic chicken broth with veggies recipe.

I started with 2 1/2 cups water and 2 chicken bouillon cubes and 4 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast. Once beware us cooked through I shredded it and added back to the pot with half a small chopped onion 4 garlic cloves minced and a whole carrot chopped. Onion and garlic amounts are to taste. We love onion and garlic around here. I also as poultry seasoning. It as such a great flavor.  Add 1 c spinach. Boil for about 10 min. Then it's time for the gnocchi. Well except this time no gnocchi. I haven't mastered making gnocchi yet and my family loves dumplings. So...mini dumplings! Healthy easy fast. 1/6 c wheat flour 1/6c heart healthy Bisquick, 1/3 c milk

Seasonings to taste 

Add these to the soup a few at a time. Added benefit... This thickens the soup for you! No additional cornstarch or flour:)

Let me know what you think. What do you like to do when you feel crummy ?

On to the rest of my fuss free Friday ..a movie with my daughter<3 p="">