3 of my Favorite Fat Burning Foods, Part 1
I know how challenging just getting a few fruits and veggies can be on a daily basis.
First, sometimes veggies can be a little more time consuming to prepare than some other foods. You’ve got to wash, chop, cut, steam, sauté or peal and many times this is a lot more than some people can fit into their busy schedules.
Second, there are a lot of different vegetables that are wonderful for our health and can really assist in burning off unwanted body fat, but people just don’t enjoy the taste.
I’m going to share 3 of my favorite foods (not necessarily all veggies) and how I’ve made them a delicious part of my healthy eating plan. We’ll begin with….
Super Healthy Food #1: KALE
Kale is “all the rave” these days. If there was an equivalent vegetable to the captain of the football team, kale would be it!
The good news is Kale is a health warrior like no other vegetable. It is jam packed with Vitamin C (for helping keep the immune system strong), loaded with beta carotene (to keep skin healthy and ward off skin cancer), and loaded with tons of calcium (which is wonderful especially for those who are worried they are not getting enough calcium when eliminating dairy products from their eating plan). Not to mention it is jam packed full of fiber, making you full faster and keep your bowels moving at a regular pace each day (2 very important components to weight loss).
With all these health benefits, what could be the bad news?
Unfortunately many people just don’t love the taste of kale. Now I’m not the right person to ask when it comes to the taste of veggies, because I am a diehard lover of all veggies (always was), but someone like my dear hubby who just does not appreciate many green things describes kale as “eating the grass in our backyard might be tastier”….you gotta love his honesty, right?
So here are 3 ways I, my hubby and my toddler all enjoy kale, not necessarily on a daily basis, but a minimum of 2-3 days per week.
1. Kale Chips
Making Kale Chips is easy. Tear the leaves into pieces and toss with olive oil, sea salt, and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 300 degrees F until crisp, 20 to 30 minutes. Make sure to monitor your chips while they are cooking so as not to burn them.
My son and I are happy to snack on these throughout the day. You can combine them with some raw nuts and they’ll really help you get that snacking “crunch” you may be missing in your eating plan.
2. Chicken Vegetable Soup with Kale
Ingredients:
· 2 teaspoons coconut oil
· 1/2 cup chopped onion
· 1/2 cup chopped carrot
· 1 teaspoon thyme
· 2 cloves garlic, minced
· 2 cups chicken broth or water
· 3/4 cup diced tomatoes
· 1 cup cooked chicken, skinned and cubed
· 1/2 cup cooked brown rice (optional)
· 1 cup chopped kale, stem removed (about one large leaf)
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add onion and carrot. Sauté until vegetables are tender, 5-8 minutes.
2. Add thyme and garlic. Sauté for one more minute.
3. Add chicken broth or water, tomatoes, cooked rice, chicken and kale.
4. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
I love to eat this soup just as it is described. My son, on the other hand, loves for me to put the soup in the blender and make a “creamy” soup instead. My hubby will eat this soup but will almost always eat around the kale. I figure he is still getting a lot of the benefits of the kale in the broth (you just can’t win them all, can you?), but he also enjoys the creamed version I make for my son.
3. Morning Green Drink
Ingredients
· 1/2 pear
· 4-5 green grapes
· 1/4 banana
· 1/2 cup kale
· 1/2 – 1 cup water
· 1 cup ice cubes
· Stevia or Raw Honey to taste
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a blender on High. Enjoy immediately.
You can vary the ingredients (adding more or less of each fruit or kale) to suit your taste. I am very good at making sure to eat breakfast each morning, but my husband tends to jump out of bed and want to race out the door, so this is a fast breakfast option you can take with you. This is a great way to start your morning along with a good serving of protein to go along with it (raw nuts, cottage cheese or some hard boiled eggs).
If veggies are still really not “your thing”, you may want to look into one of my favorite “greens drinks” to ensure you’re getting all of your recommended vitamins and nutrients each and every day. Not only do I love the taste, but the ingredients are all organic and minimally processed. This is the only greens drink I trust to take myself and give to my entire family.
Delicious Athletic Greens – a great way to get in all of your daily veggies
Enjoy your Kale!
Thanks for these creative receipes. I happen to love the taste of kale. I think it is sweet tasting. But I love your soup receipe and the creamed one too. I will pass it on to my family. Thanks for all your hard work. I am listening!!
Judy
thanks Isabel for all your great ideas and encouragement. Getting the information out there is what every one needs to hear to make better choices – cudos to you for all your doing to help us all – i luv it. I have learned lots
Thank you for these great Kale recipes. I love Kale and am always looking for new ways to use it. I am going to try those Kale chips – they sound great!
Question – are the Athletic Greens only available on line??
I love your letters. I have never had kale and I bought some and was so happy to see your recipes and the topic
of Apple Cider Vinegar
Thank you very much.
Hi Isabel, i really like my veggies either cooked sautéed or boiled I don’t like to eat them raw is that ok. And how much raw nuts is to much . Btw I luv the kale chips .thanks
These are great recipes I have added them to my TDS for future quick reference. Thank-you so much for them!
I see you use coconut oil, is using EVOO OK to substitute. We just got back from living in Italy and I brought back a ton of the olive oil. Thanks, Jill
Hello Isobel,
I tried your kale chips today and love them, my only concern is sharing them with my 3 year old daughter, I read that you share with your toddler so sure they must be fine but confused as am aware than she should have no more than 2g per day which she probably gets from foods eaten throughout the day (I don’t add salt in cooking, add it on the table or eat processed foods) advice please, many thanks
Tina
I make sure that my ginger is clean when I buy fresh and then wrap and keep in the freezer then I just grate fresh frozen ginger when every I need some. I this o.k. to do?
Isabel,
The Kale burning fat food has been amazing for me. I made a green smoothie tonight that consisted of 1 1/4 cup of kale, 1 banana and 1/2, 6 ice cubes, 9 green grapes, 1/2 green pear, 1 green apple, lemon zest, 1 lemon slice juice, 2 TBSPs of tupelo honey raw, 1 cup of water. This was filling and tasty. I had to freeze half of it because I made too much.
Thanks for sharing the fat fighting abdominal foods.
PS tried to order green athletic powder and there was an error in the website.
MB
I’m excited to try these new ways to eat kale! Thank you
Jill, extra virgin olive oil is very often a good substitute for coconut oil. When sauteeing vegetables and/or meat, however, the heat is usually too high for the olive oil. You would be better off using butter or ghee.
Isabel, all of your information is great. It’s difficult for my husband to make this transition but he is trying. Thank you for all you are doing to help us get healthy!!
Hi Lauren!
Kale chips are so yummy! And a raw green shake in the morning, even better. I am continually amazed by the amazing properties of kale.
Thank you for your support!
Isabel
hi isabel, thanks for the letters..by the way, i have lots of concern before i could start this diet..remember what you’ve email to me?the 3 easy rules for ecourse 1..actually i have occasional uric acid in my urine..so i figured it out if i can still eat more carbs than protein?cause im afraid that protein can increase my uric acid..then if there’s no available brown rice, what other foods that can be a substitue for it?cause we always eat white rice..can you help me?thanks