Tortilla Soup and Ice Cream

I have been diligently working on a user-friendly version of my Cooler 1 and Cooler 2 checklists so that I can post them for everyone to use. I finally finished them tonight and will hopefully post them in the morning. Today's eats were very clean and I am proud of myself!

Meal 1 - 1/2 c egg whites, 2 Tb red peppers, 1 chicken sausage, 1 slice of cinnamon raisin Ezekiel Bread

Meal 2 - Vita-mix of 1/2 c Kefir, 2 TB hemp protein powder, 2 cupped handfuls spinach, 1 cupped handful strawberries/mango, 1 date, water and ice

Meal 3 - leftover Turkey and Veggies from Sunday night

Meal 4 - Protein Bars inspired by Tracey's Cooler 1 Protein Bars from the forum (I will be posting my version of this recipe later tonight or tomorrow morning)

Meal 5 - My own version of Tortilla Soup (inspired by the Tortilla Soup recipe from the winter '08 issue of Clean Eating Magazine)

Here is the recipe for my Tortilla Soup:

Tortilla Soup

1 TB Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, minced

3 Carrots, diced

2 stalks Celery, diced

8 cups of homemade Turkey Broth (from CE Mag, using bones from Sunday night)

3 cups Turkey Breast, shredded

1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes (14.5 oz)

1 tsp Parsley

2 tsp Oregano

1 TB Cumin

1 TB Chili Powder

1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper

dash of Salt

dash of Pepper

Juice of 1 lime

Pre-heat olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven. Add garlic and onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add carrots and celery and saute another 3 to 4 minutes. Add Turkey Broth, Turkey, Tomatoes, and Spices. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

Top with lime juice and serve. 

Possible Toppings:

Dash of Green Tobasco

Clean Whole Grain Chips (You can make these in the oven with WW Tortillas)

Cooler 1 Substitutions:

• Substitute additional Celery for the Carrots in this recipe to make it Cooler 1 approved
• Portion: 1 Vegetable Serving and 1 Lean Meat Serving

One of my biggest downfalls is that I LOVE sweets. Every night I get cravings for yummy desserts. Some nights a cup of Tazo Passion tea will do, but other nights that is not the case. Many times I end up reaching for a small square of Endangered Species 88% cocoa chocolate. Tonight I made my own Strawberry Banana "Ice Cream" in the Vita-Mix, here is the recipe

Strawberry Banana Ice Cream

2 cupped handfuls Strawberries, frozen

1 cupped handful Banana, frozen

2 Dates

1/2 C Kefir

1/4 C Almond Milk

Splash of Orange Juice

2 handfuls ice

Put all ingredients into the Vita-Mix container in the order listed and secure lid with tamper. Set the Vita-Mix to VARIABLE speed #1 and turn on the machine. Quickly increase speed to #10 and turn to HIGH. Use tamper to push ingredients into the blades until all ingredients have been mixed together. YUMM-O!