Chicken and White Bean Soup Recipe

So, I found this recipe today and wanted to share it. It sounds absolutely delicious! Of course, EVERYTHING sound delicious to me right now! LOL!!

Anyway, if anyone tries it, let me know what you think. I hope to make it in a couple of weeks when I am back on solid foods.

Chicken and White Bean Soup
From The Great American Eat-Right Cookbook

A store-bought rotisserie chicken offers incredible versatility at mealtime. Here it makes a quick and flavorful “homemade” chicken soup. Instead of traditional noodles, this soup is made with protein-packed beans. Choose a rotisserie chicken with mild seasoning—both plain and lemon-pepper work well. Adding the wings and some bones to the broth adds richer flavor. For a burst of green, add a few handfuls of baby spinach or 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley right before serving. For classic chicken noodle soup, substitute ½ cup of egg noodles for the beans.

Serves: 6 to 8

Prep time: 15 minutes or less
Total time: 1 hour or less

Ingredients

• 1 rotisserie chicken breast section or 3 cups chopped white chicken meat
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cups water
• 6 cups reduced–sodium chicken broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Remove wings from chicken and reserve. Remove skin from breast and discard. Shred the meat from the breast and break off breastbones.
2. In a stockpot over medium heat, add oil. Sauté the carrots, celery, onion, chicken wings, and breastbones for 8 to 10 minutes, or until vegetables soften.
3. Add water and chicken broth and bring to a boil, stirring to combine. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Add beans and chicken meat and cook for 5 minutes. If too thick, add additional broth or water. Discard bones and wings before serving. Season with salt and pepper.

Per Serving (for 6 servings)

Calories	235
Calories from Fat	45
Total Fat	5.0 g
Saturated Fat	1.0 g
Trans Fat	0.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat	1.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat	2.3 g
Cholesterol	60 mg
Sodium	675 mg
Total Carbohydrate	17 g
Dietary Fiber	5 g
Sugars	5 g
Protein	28 g

I used to LOVE weekends.....

Weekends at home are HARD!

So, as you know, I am less than a week away from my laproscopic adjustable gastric banding surgery and am still on the liquid only diet of Slim Fast High Protein shakes. I'm still not a fan of the taste, but it has gotten easier.

Monday through Friday is no problem. I have my shakes while I'm at work where I am busy and don't really have time to think about how hungry I am and how much I miss actual food. However, weekends are torture!!

For example, after church on Sunday, I thought I would catch up on my DVR. Since this week is the Fall Premier week, I was super excited!! I have so missed Modern Family, Hawaii Five-O, and Morgan from Criminal Minds!! Anyway, back on to my point. It simply amazes me how many commercials there are for food! No wonder Americans are becoming more and more obese!! Good gosh, people! Every single three minute break features at least two commercials for Wendy's, Applebees and a number of other restaurants. Food is everywhere! That's all we see!! Thank goodness it was recorded and I quickly skipped over them and their temptions.

But the torture doesn't stop there. Oh no! I swear everything I watched featured somebody eating something! Seriously?! Has it always been like this or do they somehow know that I can't have food now?! Prime example: Keeping Up with the Kardashians. I swear, every single second, either Kris, Kim or Khloe were eating the biggest salad ever known to man. I'd kill for a salad right now!!

You'd think that would be all the torture I had to endure, right? Nope. Even the radio people are out to test my limits! I assure you, ten days ago, I would not have ever noticed all the advertising for food on the radio waves. Oh, but it's there! Sonic is the worst!

Fortunately, I was strong and didn't sway from my diet at all. I want to make certain that my liver has shrunk for surgery in FOUR days!! Speaking of shrinking, did you notice the ticker at the top? Just last week alone, I lost 9.4 pounds!! This Slim Fast Shake only diet really is working!

Happy Monday everyone!!


Just for kicks, here is a picture of me with my little cousin who happend to win Homecoming Queen at Friday night's football game. I hope to look like a different person next year when she crowns the new Queen.

 

I miss chewing....

I literally mean I miss chewing..... FOOD!

I'm on Day 5 of 14 of my pre-op liquid diet before my surgery on Friday, October 4th and it is ROUGH!! On a good note, I've lost about 3 pounds since starting it.

The dietcian at my surgeon's office recommends either Slim Fast High Protein (180 calories, 20 grams protein) or Glucerna Hunger Smart Shakes (180 calories, 15 grams protein). Both are meal replacement shakes and both taste HORRIBLE! But, alas, I carry on. I have learned to just chug as much as I can and immediately chase it with something better flavored. This morning for "breakfast" I followed the Creamy Chocolate Slim Fast with Diet Pepsi. It helped.

To help with my missing chewing, I am chewing gum like a mad woman! I have found the sugar-free bubble gum ones to be the best. More chewing action with those than the spearmint or fruit flavored gums.

I had my final consult with my surgeon yesterday to answer any questions and go over tons of educational information with him and the bariatric nurse. They are really great about educating their patients before, during and after the procedures. They are also real sticklers to the program specifics. So when I left, I had a shopping list of things to get that I thought I'd share to see if any of your surgeons recommend the same or if you had further suggestions.

Shopping List:

1. Listerine Antiseptic -- because your mouth has a RIDICULOUS amount of germs and bacteria in it. It specifically had to be antiseptic to kill those and help prevent any nasties after surgery. I started swishing and gargling this morning.
2. Lip balm or chap stick for dry lips -- the nurse informed me that lips tend to dry out quite a bit following surgery. Who knew?!
3. Antibacterial soap like Dial or Safeguard -- for obvious reason. Kill as much bacteria as possible beforehand.
4. Vitamins -- as discussed with the dietician earlier, chewable of course.
5. Protein powder that can be mixed with both water and/or milk.
6. Liquids to have at home after discharge: Crystal Light, Gatorade, PowerAde, broth, Sugar-free popsicles, Sugar-free Jello, Propel Fitness water, Water, Sugar-free Kool-Aid, Juices such as apple, white grape or cranberry juice.

Any suggestions from veteran banders as to what else I should purchase to help post-op?

Many thanks!

And the journey begins.....

Well, hello blog world!

In true banded fashion, I thought I would start a blog to capture my weight loss journey. And since my pre-op liquid diet starts today, what better day to start?!

A little background on me: My name is Misty and am 33 years old. I started researching and seriously considering weight loss surgery in January 2013 at 247 pounds. At 5'7", that put my BMI at 38.7 which with the added conditions of Type II diabetes and Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) I was diagnosed with in 2009, I felt I should be a good candidate for lap band surgery. I for the most part, have always been a pretty active person despite my large size and I guess I'm a little different from other plus-size women in that I never felt as BIG as I actual am/was. I had plenty of energy, did lots of active things, and was okay with being a big girl until it was time for clothes shopping or other drastic reminders like that. Not fun.....

But I had started noticing my energy level was getting lower and lower and I was tired A LOT! Not to mention, I swear you start falling apart after 30! I had to have my gall bladder removed. I was diagnosed with diabetes. I had an iron deficiency. The list literally goes on and on. All of which either directly or indirectly stems from being obese.

So, I decided enough was enough and I was doing something about it! I visited my primary care physician and thank the Lord, she was a strong supporter of weight loss surgery, specifically lap band. My insurance at the time did not cover such procedures, but I knew in July I would be switching to a company that did. Fast forward six months and I'm at my surgeon's office for an informational seminar! Yay!! After several weeks of paperwork, various procedures, and a lot of waiting, I got the call yesterday that I was approved for surgery and I wanted it as soon as possible. So, I'm proud to report that exactly two weeks from today, on October 4th,  I'll be banded!

My two week liquid diet starts today. I'm kind of glad I didn't have several days to think about it because I know my wicked ways all too well. I would have planned a ridiculous "last supper" and overeat like none other! LOL!! But alas, it's high protein Slim Fast and protein shakes from me for the next fourteen days. Got to get that liver to shrink.

Wish me luck! I'll report back soon on the progress!