She lost half of her body weight and kept it off!

So, I stumbled onto this blog this morning on Pinterest and this girl's story is AMAZING.

Andie Mitchell weighed 263lbs at age 20, and lost 135lbs (HALF OF HER BODY!).

She explains how she lost the weight and the unexpected issues she had after losing all the weight. I would have never thought that someone would have such a hard time after losing all of that weight, I would think that would be the best part.

She keeps a blog about food and life in general. Lots of recipes and interesting stories.

Check it out.... its awesome!

340 Calorie Chicken Parm!

This recipe is from "Eat This, Not This". A super awesome cookbook that gives lower calorie, lower fat versions of dishes you would get at restaurants. This recipe takes chicken parmesan (850 calories at Macaroni Grill) and turns it into 340 calorie amazingness!

The no details recipe: (go to the link for the full recipe)

• Heat oven to broil
• Dip thin chicken breasts in egg whites then in panko bread crumbs mixed with parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.
• In a hot pan with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, add the breaded chicken and cook for about 4 minutes, until the cooked side is golden brown and beautiful!
• Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes until both sides are cooked.
• Transfer cooked chicken to a baking dish, spoon enough spaghetti sauce to cover the top of each piece of chicken.
• Broil for 2-3 minutes.
• Add a slice of cheese to each chicken breast (I used provolone, but I think fresh mozzarella would be much better!
• Continue broiling until cheese just begins to bubble.

I served mine with green beans and salad...... ENJOY!

Kielbasa and Zucchini Stoup.... mmmmmmmm!

I'm baaaaaaaaack!

For my first post in FOREVER, I bring you Kielbasa and Zucchini Stoup!

This soup was inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe. My changes: no mushrooms, add kielbasa, nix the breadcrumbs, add garlic bread!

This soup is seriously, my FAVORITE soup! I. LOVE. IT.

I love that:

It has kielbasa, its a little spicy, it makes great leftovers, and its so easy/fast to make!

The instructions looks long, but I promise it wont take longer than 30mins.

So here it is!

Whatcha need:

Kielbasa (I get the turkey kind... don't tell Charlie!)

Zucchini (4 or 5)

White onion

Garlic (2-3 cloves)

grape tomatoes (1 pint)

Chicken stock (low fat, low sodium)

Thyme (dried or fresh)

Basil or Oregano (I used basil because I was out of oregano)

Parsley (dried or fresh)

Salt & Pepper

Hot Sauce or Chili powder

Watcha do:

- Cut kielbasa into 1/2 wide coins

- In a large soup pot add enough Olive Oil to well cover the bottom of the pot

- When the oil is hot, add the kielbasa

- While its cooking, stir every minute or two and cut the vegetables... cut zucchini in half, lengthwise then in 1/2 inch pieces. Cut the onion into large-ish pieces, whatever you would be happy eating in your soup. Cut up the garlic very small.

- When kielbasa is slightly browned, remove onto a plate. Leave the oil in the pot!

- Add all of the cut vegetables to the oil... stir, to coat everything. Add a pinch or two of salt, some pepper, thyme and oregano.

- Stir every so often until everything is slightly browned.

- Add tomatoes. Cover and leave it alone for about 5 minutes.

- Rachael says the the tomatoes will burst. Maybe I'm not patient enough, but I've never seen them burst. I pop them with a potato masher (careful, they splash sometimes).

- Now all you have to do is add the chicken stock and let it heat up. (I used a small carton and a half, it depends on how much zucchini you used.)

- Once its how, add chili powder or hot sauce to taste.

- Serve with grated parmesan and garlic bread!

Sorry about only the last picture... when I find my camera I'll add some more pictures.

Good Luck!

Serena Lynn.