Chipotle Chicken Stew

I apologize if you are reading this from somewhere other than the Northern West Coast-- I realize that for most of America soup is not exactly something you want to contemplate. To you I say file this away until Fall. Here in Seattle where we are lucky if we top 68 degrees and see the sun at all so far this summer, it feels more like September. I have been thinking about making this soup for a couple of weeks, but didn't have the energy until now (fair warning, there is a lot of chopping involved). This soup is adapted from this recipe at Nourishing Meals. Ali does an amazing job of coming up with delicious recipes with whole food ingredients-- I also have her cookbook and absolutely every recipe I've tried of hers has been delicious. However, while gluten free, her recipes are not at all paleo, in fact this recipe started out as a vegetarian stew-- I started adding chicken and kale to it long ago, but this is the first time I also omitted the beans and it was just as yummy.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (I used 1 Tablespoon of fresh oregano since I had it handy)
3/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 Tablespoon sea salt
2 medium yams, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 pounds chicken breasts or thighs, diced into bite sized pieces
1 head kale, de-stemmed and chopped small
other veggies as desired (I used a couple chopped zucchini)
6 cups water or chicken stock
1 medium red bell pepper, diced


Heat a large 6 or 8-quart pot over medium heat. Add olive oil then add onions and saute for 5 to 7 minutes.

Then add the chicken and continue to cook until chicken starts to brown. Add spices, and vegetables and saute a minute or two more. Add the water/chicken stock (I used half and half of each). Simmer covered for 20 to 30 minutes or until yams are tender and chicken is fully cooked.


Top with Cabbage-Slaw (this recipe is fully Ali's except I use parsley instead of cilantro)

Cilantro-Cabbage Slaw

4 to 5 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage
2 cups chopped cilantro
2 to 3 green onions, sliced into thin rounds
the juice of one lime
1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place all ingredients into a medium-sized mixing bowl and toss together. Be sure to make only what you will eat with you meal. Otherwise it will become soggy and unappealing for your next bowl of stew. (The stew gets better as it ages, this doesn't).

Days 20 & 21: Mini Treats, carb increase and sleep

The end of this week I was tired and and really not very hungry due to poor sleep. Last night I both upped my magnesium and took a little melatonin (.5mg). I slept a lot better, only waking up once instead of 4 or 5 times. Often Melatonin makes me kind of hung over the next day but I woke up feeling like I'd really slept for the first time in awhile. I've still been tired and cranky today though, perhaps from residual fatigue not being totally caught up, but even more than that I woke up STARVING. I haven't been all that hungry this whole time, given how few carbs I've been eating and I kind of like it. I also slept in and didn't get breakfast in until 11am-- today I've been an eating machine! I've had probably twice the carbs I usually do, and a bit of sugar (in the form of dark chocolate as pictured above-- it's pretty low sugar chocolate, but it has some). I've also kind of gone to town on carrots and sunflower seed butter. I figure I was probably behind on calories and needed to catch up. The extra carbs left me feeling less satiety though-- even when I'm full I still kind of feel like eating, a sensation I don't get when I keep the carbs lower, so I don't think I'll make a habit of this.

Yesterday I ate:
B: leftover ground beef stir-fry
L: 2-3 eggs cooked in coconut oil with salsa, coffee with coconut milk, dark chocolate
S: more leftover ground beef stir-fry
D: baked cod, 1/2 a small yam, broccoli with olive oil

Today:

B: Rainbow chicken soup (recipe below), 1 cup frozen berries with coconut milk
S: still hungry, had the last of the ground beef stir-fry and broccoli, then 1 cup carrots and 2 T sunflower seed butter
L: More soup, more carrots and seed butter, dark chocolate
D: planning lamb, which I've never made before-- I don't think I've even ever eaten it before, other than in Indian food with a lot of sauce, with broccoli or greens.

Today worked out to about 100 grams carbs instead of my usual 50 ish. Tomorrow I'm going to try specifically targeting more carbs (yams) after crossfit and see how that goes.



Rainbow Chicken Soup:

8 cups chicken stock + 4 cups water
4 lbs chicken thighs, diced into bite sized pieces
a whole lot of veggies! I used
4 Zucchini, 3 summer squash, 1 head chard, 4 small golden beets (peeled), handful of baby carrots-- all diced (see pic)
1 T Thyme
1/2 T Tarragon
4 cloves garlic, crushed
Salt to taste (probably 3-4 Tablespoons)

I threw all of the above in a giant stockpot and simmered it for an hour or so.

This soup tastes good, but if I made it again I'd alter the ratio of veggies to meat-- there are so many veggies that I'm hungry again an hour after I eat it because I get full on veggies and broth, but only get a couple oz of chicken. I might add extra protein to this as I eat it-- I made a ton of it and was thinking I would eat it for breakfast this week.

I'm trying to shift my perspective to what amount of nutrients makes me FEEL the best and stop thinking so much about losing body fat. I think the body fat thing will happen slowly over time-- I have maybe 10 pounds max to lose, and am likely gaining muscle, so I don't expect to see much scale action. I don't like that hungry/cravings feeling though, so will not continue with the higher carbs all day scenario.