No 2 soups are the same...

When I look in my fridge on Saturday morning I see a lot of almost empty tupperware.  Ground turkey/beef meals never leave leftovers but chicken does.  My mother in law calls it "manners". If there is one left of something and nobody eats it, "manners" get it.

With that in mind, maybe I should start calling this "Manners Soup" because all I do is take the 2 or 3 pieces of leftover chicken and add any remaining containers of rice or pasta into a pot on the stove, cover & simmer on low into a soup.  Sometimes there is enough to have for a whole dinner, sometimes it is only enough for my growing 7 year old's lunch. Adding some frozen vegetables adds flavor & content all the while not wasting any food and cleaning out your fridge.

Basically, I don't see how you can't start doing this.
     It's healthy, easy, cleaning out the fridge and not wasting money or time.  And if you're the type of family that cleans on Saturdays and splits chores, ANYONE can do this.  I "okay" or "nix" anything my future chef wants to add to the pot.  Once he's done with the food, I add the water, bouillon if needed and turn it on so he isn't burned.

Wraps

Quick lunches can often lead to missteps in nutrition.  Bringing your lunch can save you from splurges and binge eating.

Tortilla wraps are an easy way to wrap up some veggies and protein into a healthy, portable lunch.

But.....Did you guess that was coming?  I feel like you were waiting for it.....

Have you ever tried a lettuce wrap?  Those big beautiful leafy green romaine leaves aren't just for salads.  They can make a wonderfully crunchy house for your lunch.  Add some tuna (packed in water), add some deli meat, use that leftover chicken from last night.  Use mustard, hummus, salsa, or hot sauce as a condiment and flavor booster.  You will save so many calories by switching to a lettuce wrap vs the tortilla wraps.

Check out some of the pictures:

Completely wrapped

More of a lettuce boat

Eggs

When I buy eggs, the cashiers often ask if I'm doing some baking.  When you walk up with a crate of eggs people begin to stare.

Between the 3 of us, we go through about 2 1/2 dozen of eggs every 7-10 days.  I hard boil them, we scramble them, we make omelettes but I don't usually bake with them.  I make a deliciously moist cake but if I keep cake in my house the cake will soon find itself a resting spot on my inner thighs.  I don't care how delicious it is, it doesn't look good in a swim suit.

Victoria's Secret
Get your mind off cake and remember you want a screamin' healthy bod!

I harp on breakfast in so many of my posts.  You'd probably laugh to know that breakfast is my least favorite time of day.  I rush around to get ready and I even used to be one that had a cup of coffee for breakfast. I have found (and science agrees) eating breakfast wakes up your metabolism from starvation mode and will help you ultimately lose weight.

I hard boil eggs for quick breakfasts.  I also make mini-quiches with eggs, egg whites, cheese and spinach.  I usually put in too much spinach then I have to choke down the remaining 15 over the next week.  (Have I mentioned I love hot sauce and how thankful I am for it?!)

Scrambling eggs is quick, easy and has a ton of flavor options.  On my prep day, I usually fry up 1/2lb of sausage (turkey or pork) but I make it in to little crumbles.  At the same time I'm baking a 1/2 pack of bacon on a baking rack on top of a baking sheet on 350 for about 30 minutes.  These are the meaty, flavor additives for my morning rushed eggs.  Having these pre-cooked and at my disposal has made mornings run so much more smoothly.

Also, these help tremendously.

My routine: 

1. Break eggs & egg whites into mason jar
2. Add frozen vegetables
3. Add sausage crumbles
4. Add a little cottage cheese (for extra protein)
5. Add lid
6. Shake it like a salt shaker or a polaroid picture, depending on whether you are more Ying Yang Twins or OutKast.
7. Pour in hot pan and scramble.
   (If I opted for bacon instead of sausage I would skip step #3 and add the bacon strips to the pan once my egg mixture reached a less runny consistency.)

I also like to scramble eggs with cottage cheese, throw the bacon in to heat and make a wrap out of it with some added avocado.... like this:

Don't let breakfast be boring or unhealthy.  It is the start to your day!!!  Start strong, delicious & healthy!