MMM: Chicken Enchilada Soup from Skinnytaste

Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I picked this recipe for two reasons: I needed to make dinner in my crockpot because I knew my schedule was crazy, and I had 93% of the ingredients on hand.

Typically, a big hesitation for me when cooking healthy food is that a lot of it isn’t food I would regularly have on hand, but Gina Homolka of Skinnytaste is great about creating recipes with pantry staples.

This recipe calls for some leg work to be done before everything goes in the crockpot, which I took care of the night before. This made throwing everything into the pot before work a 5 minutes process. As much as I love cooking, I’m happy with any weeknight recipe that has only about 20 minutes of active prep time.

One of my favorite things about cooking in a Crockpot is that when you let it cook all day while you’re gone, you are guaranteed to be welcomed home by an amazing smell. This recipe more than delivered on that promise.

Overly excited about the smell, I dove in and burned my tongue. My first impression of the soup, other than the burning sensation,  was that it was full-flavored and delicious, but it was more like a vegetable soup with chicken than a chicken enchilada soup. That all changed when I added the sour cream, cheese, and scallions. It’s amazing was three simple ingredients can do to change the entire flavor profile. The mixed in sour cream also gave it a slightly creamy flavor, which was very comforting.

In addition to testing out a recipe I’m guaranteed to make again, I got the base for a delicious vegetable soup. I’ll play around with some idea and get back to you with a recipe.

Recipe modifications**:

• Left out the beans because I hate beans (it’s a texture thing)
• Left out the cilantro because I think it tastes like soap (it’s a genetic thing)
• Used canned corn because it’s all I had
• Added a bell pepper because it was going to go to waste if I hadn’t
• Cooked it in the crockpot on low or 10+ hours because I have a job and my boyfriend was late coming over for dinner

*MMM = Make More Monday – a weekly recipe or recipe review

**I realize that modifications can skew the results of a recipe, but the only modification I made that I think could have changed the flavor significantly was my omission of cilantro. If I had made this recipe and felt it was missing something, I would opt for parsley next time because it’s much less offensive to my taste buds. Also, I could be wrong about the beans not changing the flavor, but I have no real idea what beans taste like because I can’t get passed the texture. Bottom line on beans: I’m not going to cook them into any recipe, ever. If the extra cooking time did anything, it made it more flavorful.

How this is going to work & this week’s goals

In my opinion, this is going to be all about learning balance – being healthy without completely giving up things I love.

It’s about taking all of the resources available and figuring out which ones work best for me. Fortunately, I already have a few that I’ve paid for in Tone It Up, a local YMCA membership, and my copy of The EveryGirl’s Guide to Fitness and Health – you’ll hear me references these a lot. The rest, at least for now, will be ones I  find online that come in all shapes as sizes. These could be anything from a gym workout for beginners from Bodybuilding.com, or a daily health and fitness email from Popsugar.

Whether it’s testing out new recipes, taking up a week of “Bootycalls,” or just cutting out soda – I’m going to pick goals every week to try to stick to. The one’s that work for me (prediction: morning workouts will never work for me) I’ll keep and the one’s that don’t I’ll toss.

This will not the quickest route to the finish line, but after reading Maria Menounos’ story (and countless others) I truly believe that the best way to make a lasting lifestyle change is slowly. After all, it’s the tortoise that wins the race, not the hare.

Speaking of Maria Menounos, my first weekly goal is coming directly from her book:

Write down what you eat, down to every last breath mint.

No calorie counting, no obsessing over its health benefits – just a day by day log of what you eat. She said that when she was first starting out, her initial food journal served as an eye opening catalyst for change. I’ve already had my catalyst for change, but I expect that I’ll still be surprised by what I’m putting into my body.

Question of the day: Have you ever kept a food journal and, if so, what surprised you about it?

Catalyst

I recently stepped on a scale and learned that I am 23 pounds over what is considered healthy for my 5’7 height. 

Don’t get me wrong, I knew I had gained weight. I have a full length mirror and a closet full of clothes that are just a little too small to remind me everyday, but I never considered the number. I didn’t want to, and the only reason I found out was a required weight check at the doctor. However, now that I do know, I’m choosing to believe that it’s not the number that matters but instead it’s what I do with the knowledge.

I’m going to change that number and write about it, because at this point it’s not about getting a bikini body. It’s about being healthy and those 23 pounds are not simply healthy. 

I’m not looking for a quick change, as you’ll read over time I’ve tried a lot of options that promise results quickly. I’m looking to update my lifestyle to one where I can enjoy the things I love like pizza and beer (in moderation, of course), but maintain my health on a daily basis.

Those 30 seconds on the scale served as a catalyst for this journey, and this blog is my way of exploring the best way to reach that goal.