Easiest, Cheapest Most Delicious Creamy Tomato Soup! Paleo & Daniel Fast Approved!

After searching a million different tomato soup recipes I decided to just come up with my own variation! It was surprisingly yummy and it only cost $5 for an entire HUGE pot of soup! Actually more soup than we will likely eat!  Its Paleo, Clean & Daniel Fast Approved!
I made a huge pot so be warned you might wanna half ha!

Creamy Tomato Soup -Paleo, Clean & Daniel Fast Approved
1 6lb Can of Crushed Tomatoes (I buy the big ole cans at Sams because its only $2!)  but you could also use 4-6 normal size cans
1 1/2 cans of full fat coconut milk
2 TBS Basil
4-6 Garlic Cloves (minced)
Dash of Red Pepper Flakes
2 tsp of Oregano

Pour coconut milk in pan mix while heating (If you use full fat the water and the milk are separate and it helps to premix it them together before mixing in rest of ingredients)
Mix in rest of ingredients and cook for 10 mins (longer to bring our more flavor)

ENJOY!!!!

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Crispy Baked Cauliflower Bites

Well week 1 on the Daniel Fast is in the books! I learned a lot and did great for the first 5 days then had a lil slip up cheat meal in a pinch when we were out and about and gave in boo! And I paid profusely for it all night long! Tmi I know... But 1 bad meal doesn't mean I gave up.. Still trucking along, getting tired of veggies and fruit and kinda annoyed that I am eating things that I wouldn't normally eat, like potatoes and whole wheat stuff! On a normal day I try to stay away from those things but for the Daniel Fast since it's so limited I am trying to embrace a few other options for some variety.
The headaches were gone by day 5 and this past week I have made a few good recipes!

Today we had baked cauliflower bites! Oh Yum! It was so easy and actually tasted really good!

Crispy Baked Cauliflower Bites
1 head of cauliflower
1/4 cup Coconut Oil (melted)
Season to your liking - my new fav seasoning mix is Dill, Basil & Garlic

Preheat oven to 425
Break cauliflower up into pieces and pot into a bowl, in a separate bowl mix coconut oil and spices - then drizzle over cauliflower and mix all up and dump on baking dish!  (try to lay flat so all the pieces cook!

I baked mine for 40 mins turning 3x - the crispier pieces were the best!  Next time I will prob cook a little longer!

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Quick Daniel Fast Recipe - Asian Style

Yesterday was a great day one!  There were some temptations that came and I had to make choices to stop and pray through those temptations and find my strength in Jesus to just say no to my need for soda and chocolate!  I'm proud I made it through day one with no cheats but I only was able to do it because I stopped and prayed through and shifted my focus form I want, I need, I think I deserve to prayer and relied on the holy spirit to give me strength to make the right choices.  

Today's lunch was pretty yummy and I wanted to share the simple quick recipe with you! and yes I ate them with chopsticks! It makes me feel cool!

I call it... Veggie Inside Out Eggrolls... or something like that! ha

1 Onion (sliced, diced or however you like em)

1 tbs coconut oil (for sauteing onions and mushrooms) 

1 head of cabbage or 1 large bag of cabbage or cole slaw mix

Coconut Aminos to taste

Seasonings to taste - I used about 1 tsp of turmeric! 

First I sliced up some onion and sauteed them it with mushrooms in a lil bit of coconut oil and turmeric!

Then added cabbage and aminos and stir fried until cabbage was slightly softened.

Normally this is how I make eggrolls - just add meat and wrap up but being on the fast this was a yummy great way to have one of my favs

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Day 1 - Avocado & Tomato Salad with Homemade Italian Dressing - Clean, Paleo & Daniel Fast Approved!

Today is the official day 1 of my 21 day Daniel Fast! I wanted to share a yummy recipe with you and what I'm learning so far!

Breakfast was a simple yummy smoothie!
1c water
1/2c blueberries
1/2c strawberries
1/2 frozen banana
Yum! My kids even had smoothies with milk added in! (no they are not on the fast dont freak out! they just LOVE smoothies)


Lunch was delish! Tomato & Avocado Salad drizzled with homemade (clean, paleo & daniel fast approved) Italian dressing!

Clean-Paleo & Daniel Fast Approved Italian Dressing
1/2 cup of Olive Oil
3 tbs of Lemon Juice
1 tsp of Basil
1 tsp of Oregano
1/2 tsp of garlic

I put in a container, shake it up and store in fridge since this obviously makes several servings!

Dinner is in the crock pot! Veggie Chili! (recipe coming tomorrow)

Today James 1 is continuing to unfold to me in new ways... and strangely enough it was the verse focus of  today's Made to Crave Devotion called 'Consider It'

James 1:2-4 msg Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
another version says 'Consider it a pure joy whenever you face trials...'
5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.
12 Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

In the devotion it said (my paraphrase) you may not feel like its a gift or feel like what you are dealing with is something you should be joyful about and when we are in the middle of facing temptations we have to stop and take time to consider it!
Think about it, dwell on the end result not just the right now good feeling that the big fat Dr. Pepper or cookie or whatever it is will bring but look past that to the end of the test!

Its refreshing to know that I can stand in the middle of my trial and stop and consider it a gift and a joy, not because the moment is joyful because certainly in the middle of a stressful bad day it doesn't feel like a joyous gift but not giving in comes with reward - Putting my faith to the test is painful but is also what builds my faith and makes me stronger.  Not giving in, not trying to get out of it early allows faith to grow, allows self control to become stronger, allows me to be come mature and well developed in my faith and reliance in Jesus.  I can't conquer this crappy eating cycle alone and I definitely can't make it through this 21 days alone! There are going to be a lot of times that it is anything but joyful but learning to rely on Jesus, growing my faith and letting the Holy Spirit guide me and help me can be a very joyous special gift!  I can not wait to see my faith grow over this next 3 weeks and to see my negative eating patterns defeated and to grow closer to Jesus as he helps me through this challenge!

One of the best quotes from today's devotional said this
'There are no quick fixes. There will be good days and bad days. But most importantly, I've realized this isn't as much about losing the weight as it is gaining truth - through of who I am in Christ and how I am made for more than this constant self-defeating struggle'
Source: Made To Crave 60 day Devotional by Lysa Terkeurst  Pg 25

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A new outlook - A fresh start

Have you ever read something dozens even hundreds of times and then one day read it again and got a whole new meaning? This morning when I got my daily email from www.daniel-fast.com (if you are planning to do the Daniel fast I highly suggest signing up for the daily emails because they are great) this verse was the first thing in this mornings email...

I know throughout my Christian life I have probably read this verse several hundred times but today I read it in a whole new way.  As I prepare for the 21 day Daniel Fast I am taking a new approach to my health and weight loss by setting aside 21 days to deny my flesh certain things in order to learn to trust Jesus and rely on his strength to make the right choices.  Every effort over the past 2 years has failed because I have had the wrong focus and today this verse reassured the purpose of the fast to me and reassured me of God's pure goodness! Delight yourself in the Lord - over the next 21 days I am doing just that - instead of taking delight in food, instead of finding stress relief in food, instead of comforting a crazy day with food I am going to be learning to delight myself in Him and find my fulfillment in my relationship with Jesus again! Then He will give you the desires of your heart - the desire of my heart is to conquer negative eating and get healthy and learn to rely on Him in a new way.

Wow!  I mean seriously this verse has a whole new level of depth to me!  I keep reading it over and over again slowly and love that each time God is renewing in me the fact that I can do this with His help!  I am going to be healthy, I am going to learn to conquer negative food choices, I am going to lose the weight because I am going to delight myself in Him and learn to rely on Him.  As I said yesterday, I can NOT do this alone.  I have tried and tried and tired for the past 2 years and its has been a roller coaster that ended right back where I started.  This time is different and I am excited to share the honest real journey with you over the next 21 days!  Stay tuned for recipes, insights and exciting things! Here are a few key verses that I am meditating on to help me through this time!

Yesterday in my quiet time I also found new revelation in James 1 - the entire chapter is amazing but these verses really stuck out to me!

2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

5-8 If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.

12 Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.

13-15 Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.

16-18 So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures

 

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I simply can not do this alone

Here it is January 11th and my confession is simply this... I can not do this alone.  

I didn't make any 'resolutions' this year because for me resolutions are to often filled with disappointment and regret.  Actually this post No Resolutions Only Decisions from Danette over at All My Love for All My Days perfectly describes what has been on my heart for the past few weeks!  This past year was filled with ups and downs in every area of my life, not just weight loss! At the end of the year I was actually worse off than I was at the beginning.  But the simple truth of it is I fail because I try to do it alone and I count on my own willpower or self control which never wins!  In a text to a friend the other day I said 'I really really really want to do the Daniel Fast - I have a lot of food issues I need to pray though and shift my focus to letting God be my strength in this bc I'm tired of failing over and over and over again.'  That's the cold hard honest truth I fail over and over and over and I'm tired of it.  The Daniel Fast is one thing that has been going through my mind over and over and over again and I have put it off for the fear of failing again. 

I have tried so many things and failed, my flesh and my want for ice cream and pizza and chips has always won because I rely on my own strength.  I decided to do the Daniel Fast, not for weight loss though it will certainly be a side effect, but purely for spiritual purposes.  No scales & no measuring!  I have got to get to the point where when temptation comes I don't spend 30 mins trying to rationalize why its okay or not okay to eat it and come to the place where I can pray through and rely on God's strength to resist and have true breakthrough in the area of my health.  This weekend is all about preparing, I have actually been preparing for the past several days as well.  Monday starts my 21 days - I will be sharing some recipes and insights throughout the 21 days and am seriously looking forward to serious real change!  No resolutions just decisions to learn to rely on God again! 

I also be going through the Made To Crave devotional and I joined an upcoming Proverbs 31 Online Bible Study of Made to Crave! 

The Daniel Fast is simply All Fruits & Veggies & Water to drink!  Check out my 21 Day Daniel Fast board on Pinterest for some awesome ideas! Here are some other resources I found!

http://danielfast.wordpress.com/

http://www.daniel-fast.com/ - I signed up for the daily emails which are great so far!

http://www.ultimatedanielfast.com/

http://www.crossroadsfast.com/recipes.html - Tons of recieps

“So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting.” – Daniel 9:3

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I need more than chocolate

Dang you chocolate!  As I sit at my desk at work I am staring at a LARGE bowl of Hersey's kisses!  But I am made for more than Chocolate! Right?!!! 

Today at home there were lots of temptations! Graham crackers even just the turkey was mouthwatering but every time I was tempted I reminded myself that I really do love God more than food and I said a simple but serious prayer: God you mean more to me than food, I love you more than food! Give me strength to kick temptation and keep on track! 

Today’s Made To Crave Devotional was simply amazing! I can’t tell you how much this thing speaks right to the core of me, it’s like this devotional was written exactly for me and I am so thankful

 

This stuck out the most to me today.. “It is so tempting to quit the health struggle entirely and pretend it doesn’t really matter spiritually. But it does matter and not just for the physical or emotional setbacks. It’s the denial of a fundamental spiritual truth. What is this truth?”

Taken from the Made To Crave Devotional day 3 on Youversion.com

 

I was made for more!

 Wow I was made for more than chocolate? What? More than chips? Ha!

The devotional said it the best… Today, your heavenly Father is telling you the same truth: “You were made for more!” More than this failure . . . more than this cycle of defeat . . . more than being ruled by taste buds, body image, rationalizations, guilt, and shame. You were made for victory!

Taken from the Made To Crave Devotional Day 3

 

Ephesians 1:18 – 19 says: “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which [God] has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

 

If you have any kind of struggle with weight, eating right or whatever on any level I challenge you to start this 21 day devotional… It will rock your world!  And really it can be applied to any area of our lives that we need to refocus.

 

Since tomorrow is Fit Friday I wanted to direct this post to our link up and say a few things about my goals…

As I said on my post “I love food more than God” I am not weighing at all through this 21 days!  Not because I don’t want to lose weight because God knows I do! But that’s not my focus during this time.  My focus is to get in control and to strengthen myself spiritually and learn to put God first again.  Building my relationship with Jesus it what its all about!

 

Long term I want to get down to 150-160 lbs! That was my goal at the beginning of last year! I lost 40 lbs and did great until the last 3 months of the year where I was on a vicious yoyo roller coaster of losing and gaining the same 20 pounds over and over again! 

 

Short term: from this week till next, is just to stay the course, continue the Daniel Fast and stick to it.  To keep putting Jesus first and my taste buds, my selfish fleshly desires and what my body thinks I want on the back burner!

 

I hope you join me tomorrow for Fit Friday! Link up and share your stories, your challenges, your struggles, your successes, your goals etc!  Cant wait to see what this year holds and I love the life I am living today, knowing that I am going to have a great story to tell tomorrow!

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