Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

This soup is so easy to make that even my husband can make it!! We originally found this recipe at ruledme, and now this is one of Doug's meals to make. He's been learning to cook, and he loves that he can help me out with dinners and give a break from the kitchen once in a while. Isn't he the best?! 

Click HERE for a printable version

5 servings

5 slices Bacon

12 oz. Ground Beef (80/20)

2 tbsp. Butter

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

1/2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

1 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Chili Powder

3 cups Beef Broth

2 1/2 tbsp. Tomato Paste

2 tsp. Brown Mustard

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 medium Dill Pickle, diced

3 oz. Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Directions:

1. Cook bacon in a large pot until crispy, then set aside.

2. Add ground beef in the bacon fat and cook until browned on one side, flip and brown on other side.

3. Move beef to the sides. Add butter and spices to the pan and let the spices sweat for 30-45 seconds.

4. Add beef broth, tomato paste, cheese, brown mustard, and pickles to the pot and let cook for a few minutes until melted.

5. Add cream cheese. 

6. Cover pot and turn to low heat. Cook for 20-30 minutes.

7. Turn stove off, then finish with heavy cream and crumbled bacon. Stir well and serve.

Nutrition info:

This makes a total of 5 servings of Bacon Cheeseburger Soup. Per serving, this comes out to be 572 Calories, 48.6g Fats, 3.4g Net Carbs, and 23.4g Protein.

Gumbo

I found this recipe in the ketogenic cookbook, and my family fell in love, and now they request it all the time! It takes a while to make, but it is so worth it! You can find a printable version here.










Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours
Servings: 12


Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup coconut oil, duck fat, or lard for frying
5 Tbsp bacon fat or duck fat (or unsalted butter if not dairy-sensitive)
1/3 cup chopped onion
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
2 tbsp coconut vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1 tsp stevia gycerite
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
4 cups beef bone broth or beef broth
1 (14 1/2 oz) can stewed tomatoes with juice
2 cups frozen sliced okra
1 lb smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 lb medium shrimp
4 green onions, white and green parts, sliced


Directions:
Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for about 8 minutes, until browned on all sides, and remove from the pan.
Turn the heat to low and melt the bacon fat in the pan. Add the onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook for 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, stevia, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, while stirring frequently, for 10 minutes.
Add the broth, whisking constantly. Return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Add the tomatoes and okra. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
About 10 minutes before the mixture is done simmering, place the sausage in a saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until browned on both sides. Remove from pan. Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes per side or until no longer translucent. Remove from heat.
Remove the chicken thighs from the pan. The chicken should be very tender. Shred the chicken and return to the pot.
Just before serving, add the shrimp and sausage.


Nutrition Information per serving:
Calories 330
Fat 25.3g
Protein 20.1g
Carbs 5.7g
Fiber 1.7g

Cutting out the Toxic People

Some people can suck the happiness right out of you. People are toxic in different ways, and some of them have multiple traits. Here are just a few of the top offenders:

• The Critic: Sure, constructive criticism can be a good thing, but some people feel the need to criticize everything/everyone around them. They choose not to be happy for others and cut others down instead. 
• The Victim: These people are experts at blaming their problems on everyone/everything else. They will not take ownership for their own choices or mistakes. Nothing is ever their fault. Other people or their upbringing are to blame. 
• Negative Nancy: These are the people who are always anxious, pessimistic, worried, and complain a lot. It's easy to get caught up in their rantings and be drawn into the negative spiral. There should be a vaccination for this one!
• The Short Fuse: This is that person that goes into an instant outburst or worse, they are looking for a fight all the time. You're always walking on egg shells hoping you don't set them off.
• The Guilt Trip: Some people lay on the guilt using it to manipulate you into doing something.

I've been through training from top motivational speakers, I read/listen to a lot of self improvement, and I know and follow a lot of successful people. One of the things they all insist on is eliminating toxic relationships. If someone is damaging you, it's time to take some protective measures. If someone was bullying, manipulating, or cutting down your child, would you allow it to continue? Of course not! Then why do you let others do that to YOU?! I know that many of us (me included) don't like confrontation, but when you cut out the toxic people from your life, a ginormous weight will be lifted! 

In some cases, it's really simple to cut out the toxic people. On Facebook, you can just unfriend or even block them! Did you realize that? It's YOUR wall. Make it a positive place to visit! Someone keeps making snide comments? Delete the comments! If it continues, block them! Bam!

In real life, it's not quite so easy. There are some people we have to deal with on a regular basis such as co-workers, family, etc. Set boundaries for what you'll accept and what you won't accept. If they step over the boundary, explain to them how you feel. Some people might not even realize they're being negative, using guilt trips, or even hurtful! Also, find ways that you can spend less time near that person.

Just the opposite: surround yourself with positive, inspirational people that lift you up and push you to be better! When you surround yourself with these people, your whole outlook on life changes, you feel like you can do anything, and you learn to follow your dreams! And when your life is filled with so much positive energy, it's easier to block out the negative.

And keep in mind, that by setting boundaries, learning to say no, cutting out the negative, and surrounding yourself with positive people, you are also teaching your children to do the same.

Putting the "die" in Diet.

We've been told through media and socially that cutting out the regular soda and replacing it with diet is the right thing to do. I know I did! But, you’d be wrong just as I learned the hard way. Here’s how diet soda makes you fat and causes damage to our bodies.

The soda/pop manufacturers want us to believe that simply by cutting calories, they’ve fixed the problem. But, the truth is that drinking diet soda is actually worse than drinking regular! 

Many studies have shown the following:

• Artificial sweeteners are sweeter and more addictive than regular sugar causing diet soda drinkers to consume twice as much as regular soda drinkers. 
• Diet sodas actually raised the risk of diabetes MORE than regular soda. Those who drank a 12 ounce diet soda increased their risk by about 33 percent. Yikes!
• In other population studies, diet soda drinkers face a 200 percent increased risk of obesity. That's a huge percentage! 

So, how does diet soda make you fat?

• Since the artificial sweeteners are much sweeter than regular sugar (hundreds to thousands of times more), we crave it even more. Been there. I swear I couldn't get enough! How many sodas do you go through per day? 
• Your body can’t tell the difference between real sugar and the artifical crap, so it increases production of insulin and you get more belly fat. Woohoo! Isn't that what we all want? Ummm..no.
• Fake sugar confuses your body and causes your metabolism to slow down and you burn less calories. Wrong direction people! We want to create fat-burning machines!
• It also makes you hungrier, but you won’t crave veggies…you’ll crave more sugar and starchy carbs. Things like pop & pizza seems to go hand in hand. Not so much with asparagus. 

On top of that, aspartame and sucralose (NutraSweet, Equal & Splenda) can cause some SERIOUS health problems! Unfortunately I learned this the hard way, and now I have chronic migraines. 

Why are acid reflux meds one of the fastest growing groups of meds in the US? Do you use them? Even if you don't, I bet you know at least one person that does!

Why is poor bone health so high in the US?

Check out this video. It explains how the "normal" American diet, including the highly consumed diet soda, is very acidic and what those high acidity levels are doing to our bodies and how they are causing us to deplete our calcium resources and slow our metabolisms.

Drink water and focus on eating whole foods, including fruits and veggies…and, SKIP THE SODA, diet or otherwise!

I know water can be boring. Especially when you've been drinking soda for so long! Here are a couple things you can do to give it a boost:

• Slice of lemon or lime
• Frozen fruit
• Mint, basil, peppermint leaves
• Sparkling water when you need that fizz! Just make sure you read the ingredients!

**Hydration tip: Most people aren't drinking enough water. Try to aim for 1/2 your body weight in ounces. For example: A person weighs 160lbs. 160/2 = 80 ounces of water per day. 

And, consider doing the Ultimate Reset, which not only helps create healthy new eating habits over 21 days, but also resets your body to optimal alkalinity, and can help you kick that nasty soda habit (among other bad habits) to the curb! 

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ULTIMATE RESET HERE

Cash for Christmas

WANT TO EARN SOME $$ for Christmas??

I can’t believe its already holiday shopping time! I haven't even started yet! Eek! I love Christmas. I love giving presents and seeing people's faces light up! It's not always easy to figure out what people want or need, but it's fun! The hard part is having to budget. How amazing to be able to pay cash for everything and not rack up the credit cards!! Then I realized that EVERYONE would like to earn a little extra income for the holidays.

So, when I started coaching I wanted to help other people with their fitness and nutrition. I just wanted other people to feel the exact same way that I did: full of energy, more confident, happier, and ready to tackle the day! And being able to fit into 4 sizes smaller is awfully nice!! I love to help people get results, experience the awesome support of our challenge groups, teach them about nutrition and help them to be accountable. These groups are what helped get me results. I didn't want to get another gym membership that I wasn't going to use, but I still needed some support. Over time I also realized that helping people as a coach can really help provide financial security for my family so this year that means paying CASH for Christmas.

So I’m going to return the favor to you! I feel very confident that I have a system in place that could help you earn at least $250-500 towards your holiday this year! I want to help a select group of interested people earn extra income through Beachbody Coaching.

We will do this together as a team with my full support. I will be in charge of running the groups, you will invite people you know and I will teach you everything that I know! You don’t have to be a health and fitness expert, you just have to be willing to help others start their path to a healthy lifestyle by showing them you are living a healthy lifestyle too. You also have to be a product of the product which means that you do a Beachbody workout regularly and you drink Shakeology as one superfood meal per day. How can you teach other people if you don’t lead by example….RIGHT?? 

I will be taking just 5 people for this so that I can give you 1:1 mentoring. I will teach you how to get started and exactly what to do!!!  Are you interested???  Are you a motivated, driven, and compassionate person?  If so then this would be a good fit for you!  The good thing is that Beachbody coaching is the gift that keeps on giving!  Long after the holidays are over you can continue to grow your business to whatever extent you see fit!  I will always be your mentor and sponsor to be here to support you.  Complete the application below and I will get in touch with you right away!

Apply to be a Beachbody Coach on my team

Team Beachbody Coach Ranks & Requirements

There are many different Coach Ranks. Each level earns new perks and compensations each week. Ranks are calculated every Wednesday at 12pm Eastern Time, and commission paychecks are sent out every Thursday. Your rank is determined by your personal volume and what's going on with your right and left legs at that time.

Coaching has changed our lives. We were able to pay off our truck four years early, and we just purchased a car with cash, leaving us with only our mortgage, and that's getting paid down quickly! We have also been able to go on trips to Disney World, Las Vegas, Arizona, and a cruise! Next month we're going on our first Disney cruise PLUS time at Disney World before and after! Can you tell that I love Disney? My husband is working on his coaching business from home, and my goal is to work from home too. I want to be home when my daughter gets off the bus from school, be there with her during summer vacation, take her to the beach, have more time with my family, pay off my mortgage and be DEBT FREE, go on more family vacations, help my team reach their goals, and so much more! You gotta dream BIG! What would you do with the extra income?

The Different Team Beachbody Coach Ranks

An INACTIVE Coach (the white circle) has not sold or purchased 50PV (appx $55 worth of product) in the past 5 weeks. They do not receive bonuses, and they will not receive a paycheck because they haven't sold anything.

An ACTIVE Coach (the blue circle) has sold or purchased 50PV ($55) or more in the past 5 weeks. If the Coach has sold any products to a client, he/she will earn a paycheck totaling his/her commissions on Thursday!

Both ACTIVE AND INACTIVE Coaches still receive the 25% discount on ALL Beachbody products!

An EMERALD Coach (the green circle) is an active Coach that has two personally sponsored (PS) Coaches. (One Coach on EACH leg.) A PS Coach is someone that signs up under you. As an Emerald Coach, you will receive commission paychecks for any products sold, you have the chance to earn FREE customer leads, PLUS Team Bonuses ($14 each). Your team bonus is calculated by what your downline coaches do, so it's important to help them learn to be a successful coach. Watch the video below explaining how to earn Team Bonuses.

A RUBY Coach (the red circle) has sold or purchased 75PV or more in the last 5 weeks, and has an EMERALD Coach on each leg plus two more PS Coaches. As a RUBY, you earn commissions, free leads, the team bonus goes up to $16 each, and you receive a weekly matching bonus of 5% of whatever your Emerald Coaches earn in team bonuses! 

A DIAMOND Coach (the gold circle) has sold or purchased 100PV in the last 5 weeks, and they have 2 EMERALD Coaches and 6 more PS coaches (of any level) = 4 coaches on each leg. As a Diamond, you earn commissions, free customer leads, the team bonus goes up to $18 each, and you receive a 10% matching bonus!

Reaching for the Stars!

Each "Star" represents one of your PS coaches that has reached Diamond Rank. When you reach 2-Star status, you start earning bonuses from the Star Diamond Pool! A Beachbody Coach ranked at 15-Star Diamond could earn 6-figures just from bonuses!! That's crazy, right?!

I know it can be a little (or a LOT) confusing. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to send me an email at ml.williamson@hotmail.com or contact me on Facebook.

Are you ready to sign up as a Coach?

My husband, Doug, and I would love to help you get started and reach your goals! You don't have to be a fitness guru or nutritionist, and you don't even need to be at your goal weight! You just need the desire to help others reach their finess, health, and/or financial goals!

If you're ready to change your life, click HERE: I want to be a Beachbody Coach!



Watch this video to learn how Team Bonuses work:

Recharging My Battery

Just three weeks ago, I was worn down, suffering from anxiety attacks and depression, I couldn't focus on anything, I ached all over, I was waking up a lot during the night and had times I couldn't get back to sleep, my coffee intake was through the roof, my digestion was terrible, I was bloated, and I was having major sugar binges. I wasn't feeling like myself and I was miserable and making my family miserable. It was time for a Reset.

The Ultimate Reset is a combination of healthy foods and supplements over 21 days to clean out the toxins, get the body back in balance, and help with digestion, restore energy, boost the metabolism, etc. It's supposed to make you feel better by eating good food and getting rid of the crap. (at times, literally)

My mom had just come back for the summer, so we decided to do this together! Before we started I was really nervous. I hate salads! Give me meat and potatoes and I'm happy. With the Reset, I couldn't have any of that! What was I thinking?! I of course had a fantastic "last meal" the day before we started; pizza, dessert, etc. All those yummy things I couldn't have for 21 days. Oh, and I couldn't do my workouts! You're not supposed to do intense workouts during the Reset so the body can focus on the internal work, so I had to cut down to only light yoga and walking. And then it began...

Over the three weeks, we cut out sugar, caffeine, meat, dairy, grains, and legumes. The first four days, I had a migraine. I'm sure it's from cutting out all the sugar and caffeine. After that passed, I was much better though. The rest of that week and the second week were a breeze! The third week was torture for lunch! During the first two weeks, we had different kinds of salads with quinoa, we had rice and beans, etc., but the 3rd week was my nightmare: salads every.single.day for lunch. Are they freaking kidding me?! I have to admit that it kinda grew on me though. Well, a teensy bit. The salad we ate most days had a TON of different veggies, and I love the Creamy Garlic Dressing! Oh, and have you had toasted pumpkin seeds in your salad?? Yumm!! (I just have to hide them from my daughter before she eats the all.) I will actually try to add salads in a few times a week from now on, but I still don't want to see it ALL THE TIME. I might add some quinoa, hard boiled egg or something else though.

Other than the salad, I actually enjoyed the food! There was quite a bit to eat, and the recipes were great! My mom and I could live on the Zucchini-Cashew Soup and the stir-frys! Definitely going in my recipe app! I made it a little easier on myself the last week too and chose the baked sweet potato for a side. That gave me something to look forward too.

By the way, you know you have a food problem when you start dreaming about french fries and ice cream at night! lol! Apparently the addiction to those foods was trying to make me stray.

So, how did the Reset help me? After 21 Days, this is how I'm feeling:

• I have ENERGY!! I actually wake up and I'm ready to go! No more pre-workout drink or coffee needed to get a jump-start! 
• I'm focused again! I don't have the "squirrel" syndrome going on!
• My digestion is fantastic! Sorry if TMI, but we all have problems sometimes.
• I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and I'm OUT for the night!
• The inflammation is GONE! No more joint or back and neck pain! 
• I haven't had any anxiety attacks since I started, and I feel happy!! 
• I lost 10 1/2 lbs in 21 days!! I'm having a hard time keeping my pants up! 
• I actually like asparagus now! 
• Proud of myself for making it through 21 Days and NO cheats!! 
• Happy that I was able to do this with my mom and spend that extra time with her. By the way, she's feeling fantastic too! She can even eat citrus for the first time in many, many years! It used to cause canker sores and horrible jaw pain. We had citrus almost daily during the Reset, and she didn't have a problem! She lost 9 1/2 lbs! 

ALL this from eating super healthy and cleaning out my body, and we did not starve! There were even times that we couldn't finish all the food! 

Today was the first day after. I'm slowly introducing foods back in. They recommend adding grains the first week after, but I honestly don't miss them. Instead, my daughter (10) surprised me with her amazing scrambled eggs this morning. I also had a hard boiled egg on my salad (yep, still gotta stick with those for a bit), and I made an omelette for dinner full of veggies. Next I'll start adding in different meats, dairy, grains, and legumes one at a time to see which ones affect my digestion, my sleep, cause the inflammation, etc., so I know what I need to avoid from now on. I want to continue feel this amazing! It's really crazy how changing foods can make such an impact on your life! 

If you want to learn more about the Ultimate Reset, click HERE.

I also started another round of the 21 Day Fix workout program this morning! It felt so good to be back to it! And it was a great workout! They recommend holding back and only going 50% for the first few days to a week, but I had a hard time holding back! I just had so much energy and wanted to MOVE! It's 21 days until our trip to Nashville, and I can't wait to see what this next 21 brings!