Sunday Southern Days

Talk about a creamy chicken salad! Simple and tasty, just the way I like it.   Ingredients:   2 c Shredded Chicken 1/2 c 0% Plain Fage Greek Yogurt 1/2 Avocado 3 T Crumbled Bleu Cheese Salt & Pepper Optional add ins: 1 T chopped Cilantro and squeeze in a Lime wedge   Mash all ingredients together. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste.   Serves: 2   Weight Watchers Points: 4 points per serving I like to serve this on a Sandwich Thin or Good Thins crackers. Enjoy!   

I hid ALL the veggies in this "cheddar soup" tonight and the whole family devoured it!  Make at home: 2 T butter 3 celery ribs, chopped 2 potatoes, cubed 12 asparagus stalks, sliced 12 baby carrots, sliced 1 yellow onion, chopped 2 c mushrooms, sliced 1 T flour 1 t paprika 1 t salt 1/2 t black pepper  3 c beef broth 2 c skim milk 1 lb. sharp cheddar, reduced fat, grated Sautéed butter, asparagus, mushrooms, onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes, and sauté for 20 minutes. Add a sprinkle of flour, 3 c beef broth and 2 c skim milk, blend with the immersion blender, and finish with paprika, salt, pepper and 1 lb. shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar. Summer 10-15 minutes to melt the cheese well.  5 Points per serving, pot yields 8 servings

Like everyone else, I’m back on the wagon today -- eating better and trying to detox the 482 lbs. of fudge and 1,793 Christmas cookies I consumed over the last month. I put this Buffalo Chicken Salad together for lunch this week. I don’t love taking a sandwich and I’m fresh out of leftovers, so here we are: Buffalo Chicken Salad 2 c cooked shredded chicken 1 c Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt 1 T Franks Red Hot Sauce 2 ounces (1/4 c) blue cheese crumbles 2 celery stalks, cut lengthwise then sliced thin 1/2 t garlic powder TIP: If you are starting with raw chicken, I cooked a few chicken breasts in my Instant Pot earlier today (4 chicken breasts and 1 c water on "poultry" for 25 minutes), then place them in a glass bowl and use my electric beaters to shred the chicken. I’ll use that chicken throughout the week, including in this recipe. Mix all ingredients well and add more hot sauce to taste. I serve this with a few celery stalks and some Good Thins corn crackers for...

Quick and easy recipe for Vegetable Soup this winter: 1 can Progresso Light Vegetable Soup 2 c low-sodium Chicken Broth 1 can Green Beans, drained 1/2 c (or a small can) of Golden Corn Kernels, drained 1 c Tomato Sauce or Crushed Tomatoes (do not strain) 1 c fresh spinach, chopped 1 T Better than Boullion Chicken Base 2 oz (1/2 c) uncooked Orzo pasta Add everything to a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes, allowing the orzo to cook fully.  Serves 6 portions 2 WW SmartPoints per portion

Well, talk about easy. This makes a great side dish for so many entrees, especially butter chicken or the Asian spare ribs. Ingredients: 1 c dry jasmine rice 1 can coconut milk 1 pinch salt 1 c water or broth  Instructions: Mix all ingredients into the Instant Pot.  Lock the lid and set to “Rice” for 12 minutes.  At the end of cooking, turn off/unplug the device and allow to natural pressure release for 10 minutes.  Manually release any residual pressure after 10 minutes.  Remove the lid and fluff with a fork.  Tip: If you are reheating rice in the microwave, cover the rice with a damp paper towel while it cooks so it doesn’t harden.

Bread. Bread, y’all. In the Instant Pot. And I couldn’t have figure out a greeker lineup of ingredients, like olive oil and Greek yogurt, among others. Note: This is not a rising bread. This recipe will yield a dense, tender, moist bread. Ingredients: 2 c all-purpose flour 2 t olive oil, divided  1/2 t salt 1/2 t baking soda (NOT baking powder) 1.5 c plain Greek yogurt (any fat content is fine) -- CLICK HERE for my Instant Pot Thick Greek Yogurt Recipe Water  Other stuff you’ll need: Electric pressure cooker Wire rack insert  29 ounce aluminum can, clean and no wrapper (I used a leftover diced tomatoes can)  Piece of aluminum foil  Instructions: Rub 1 t of the olive oil inside the can In a glass bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt with a fork Stir in the Greek yogurt. It should be a sticky ball. If not, add in a splash of water at a time, kneading for a minute after each soash until a sticky ball is formed....

As I prep for the 80 Day Obsession, I wanted to find a tracker to log my food that would make my life a bit easier and still let me pre-plan my meals and workouts. Coming up with a few printables online that never had enough room to write or type in my meals, I decided to create my own that would work better for my purposes. I created this for Excel/Google Sheets. You can save it and type right into it, logging your numbers of containers, details on the food, and at the bottom, you can edit the color container numbers to work with your bracket. Happy Planning! Click here for a FREE 21 Day Fix Planning Calendar Click here for PDF Download

Raise your hand if you LOVE washing dishes? Yes? Then this recipe isn't for you. Because dinner is done in one pot. Set it and forget it while you change into something more comfortable after a long day. Ingredients: 1 lb. ground beef 1/2 onion, diced 2 c broth or water 3 c (24 ounces) pasta sauce (marinara or tomato sauce recommended) 1 lb. any pasta (I used whole wheat high protein spaghetti) 2 T Italian Seasoning 1 t Onion Powder 1 t Garlic Powder 1/2 t salt 1/4 t black pepper Instructions: Set your pot to "Saute" and cook the ground beef, breaking up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Add the onion to the ground beef and they will cook together. Once it is cooked through (about 4-5 min), do not drain out the fat. **If you prefer to use frozen meatballs, skip the above steps, start with the meatballs in the bottom of your pot, then go from here:  Mix in all seasoning (Italian seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper) Layer in ...

Another fun discovery today — 6 minute eggs in the Instant Pot/Crock-Pot Express!! If you are like me and “resolutioning” to better health this new year, eggs are likely part of that new eating plan, whether it’s Weight Watchers, 21 Day Fix, or a plethora of others. And I just can’t do scrambled eggs every day. I do, however, love hard-boiled eggs — plain, in egg salad, on a lettuce salad, and the list goes on. Yet somehow in adulthood, I’d become an egg-peeling failure, often losing half the egg white stick into the shell as I attempt to peel the egg. With the addition of the Crock-Pot Express to our home this Christmas, I knew it was time to pressure cook some eggs. Ingredients: 1 c water Eggs (I used 4, but I think you could fit 8-9 in the pot in a single layer of you want to) Instructions: Pour 1 cup of water in your pot Add the wire rack Place the raw eggs on the wire rack Close the lid and the rotate the steam valve to the closed position Set the device to ...

We are Greek, yet I have never attempted to make my own Greek yogurt (I know, *gasp*). We are Fage faithful purchasers, since this is what my husband and I both grew up and deem "the real stuff." But since our Crock-Pot Express joined out family at Christmas, I decided it was time to try it out. Worst case, I was out a half gallon of milk. This recipe was a huge (good) surprise though! Perfect tart taste and thick, creamy consistency. Ingredients: 1 half gallon of milk (use can use any fat level, I used 2%) 3 T of Fage Plain Greek Yogurt (be sure it says "Live Cultures" on the container) Instant Pot or Crock-Pot Express Cheesecloth Mesh Strainer or Colander Digital Thermometer Large Bowl Hel pful Tip: O nce you start making your own yogurt, save 3T of your last batch to add to the new one as your “starter”.  I like to freeze it as a yogurt cube, then I never have to worry about saving some. Instructions: Starting with a...

If you're like me and the holidays delivered a few (hundred) too many delicious goodies, we're getting back on the healthy-living train in the new year (and whoa, how many years have we been off that train?) After looking at many options for a structured program for both nutrition and exercise, I was about to jump back on a successful old standby, the 21 Day Fix, when I came to learn about the new 80 Day Obsession, the new program from Beachbody trainer Autumn Calabrese that launches on January 15. With the addition of the Crock-Pot Express instant pot to our family, meal planning and preparations have begun to maximize success. If you aren't familiar with the 80 Day Obsession (or Beachbody/21 Day Fix in general), I’ve added a link at the bottom of this post. I'm not a coach, nor do I profit off the promotion of this program. Just sharing some great info. If you are interested in one of these programs, I am happy to put you in touch with my own amazing coach, ...

Day two with my Crock-Pot Express (CPE), aka Instant Pot. Tonight, we are making Chicken Marsala, one of The Captain's favorites. Since I'm preparing to get back into the 21 Day Fix starting on January 15 (with the new 80 Day Obsession plan!), I'm going to enjoy the chicken and green beans only, while the rest of the family will have egg noodles with their chicken. I found a simple enough recipe on Pinterest that I'm going to adapt to work for our family's tastes a little bit better. Here is the plan: Ingredients: - 2 lbs chicken thighs, boneless, skinless - 1 T olive oil - 1/2 t garlic powder - 1/2 t salt - 1/4 t black pepper - 1/2 yellow onion, diced - 1 pint sliced baby Bella portobello mushrooms - 1 c Marsala wine - 1/4 c chicken stock or broth - 1 T minced garlic Instructions: - Set device to “Sauté” and add oil. Allow to heat for 1 minute. - Season chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder - Add chicken to pot and sear meat for 3 ...

Santa was VERY generous this year, and, among many other special gifts, I received a CrockPot Express Multi Cooker and am already obsessed after only one day together. If you don't know what this is, it is a multi-function kitchen appliance, that can fill a host of roles, including steamer, saute pan, yogurt maker, slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, popcorn popper, and more. The brand I received is a CrockPot, and there is also the popular Instant Pot on the market -- they do the same thing for the most part. Last night, I tried it out and make Portobello and Gorgonzola Risotto in less than 15 minutes, 12 of which I didn't even need to stand there. Here is my quickie recipe for Portobello and Gorgonzola Risotto (which reheated beautifully for lunch today too!): Ingredients: 1/2 diced yellow onion 1 T minced garlic 1 c sliced baby bellas 1 T olive oil 1 c dried Arborio rice 1/2 c white wine 1 1/2 c chicken broth 1/2 c crumbled Gorgonzola cheese ...

While there are still, like, six weeks to go before Halloween, we are in the early prep stages at our house. Toula has selected both Elsa and Elena of Avalor costumes (We'll see who wins out in the 11th hour) and I've ordered her adorable little Trick-Or-Treating bag (and it was on sale for only $8.40)! Score yours here:  https://www.mythirtyone.com/kyrap/product/8330 You can also add embroidery personalization on the Cinch Sac backpacks, which I think are great for older kids to Trick-Or-Treat. For now, we'll stick with the Carry All Caddy for T's little hands. Happy Fall, Y'all!

Everyone has their preferred libations, but if you're like me, wine is your game. It takes me back to Dr. Brett Horton's Wine Tasting class at James Madison University (Go Dukes!), sitting in the second floor banquet room of a downtown Harrisonburg brew-pub. Since the JMU campus is dry, we had to shift off-campus to effectively learn about wine (before you laugh, this was an actual course open only to Hospitality and Tourism Management majors). We learned to swirl, sniff, tilt the glass to check for color and opacity, swish, and had the option of spitting it out. But we were 21. Seriously, who wastes wine like that? No me, I tell you. In the (just a few) years since sitting in that class, I've come to love wine more and more, and appreciate the importance of selecting *just* the right wine for the occasion. Then came parenthood. And an entirely new gamut of drinking events came about, lending the opportunity to explore new wines and find perfect fits for every parentin...

So excited about many of the new products in our 2017 Summer Style Guide ! Don't take my word for it -- check out the great new products we're showcasing this season. Shop here:  https://www.mythirtyone.com/kyrap I'm your personal consultant for Thirty-One and can be reached at kyrapoulos@gmail.com Happy Shopping!