Rustic Tuscan Soup with Sausage and Kale

I have made this soup a couple of times now and Pete loves it! You could substitute crumbled "chicken" for the sausage and use vegetable broth instead of chicken bouillon to make it vegetarian. 

I buy my sausage at Clark's here in Southern California, it's "happy" sausage from a company called Mulay's Sausage Corporation in Longmont, Colorado. They don't use gmo's, nitrates, preservatives, etc, and the pigs roam free until they have that one bad day.

Ingredients

1/2 pound Mulay's Italian mild sausage (ground, no casing)

1 potato, peeled and cubed

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 bunch of Tuscan kale, shredded into bite sized pieces (you could use more if you like)

1 can of cannellini beans, drained

2 cloves of garlic

4 cups of chicken broth

2 Bay leaves, take out when soup is done 

Cook sausage in a soup pot, stirring to break it up. When cooked add potato, carrot, onion, and garlic; stir to mix. Add broth, cannellini beans, and kale. Cook for about 45 minutes. If you can make it a day ahead it taste even better the next day.

Serve with a dash of parmesan cheese grated on top with sourdough bread on the side. 

Guesstimate on calories is 350 for a cup serving with 25 grams of protein. 

Serves 5

Scallops and Veggies Over Pasta

If you throw out the bowling alley meal last night (local peeps: I would highly recommend Boomshakalaka), I've had eleven straight days of eating healthy. I'm using the myfitnesspal app on my phone to track exercise and calories so I can even show you a "paper" trail of my progress. 

When I weighed myself on Friday morning I was so very bummed to see I had actually gained a pound, but I didn't give in and rush out to buy a Sara Lee coconut layer cake and eat it straight out the box (which I have been known to do when happy/sad/mad/etc). 

For those of you looking for a low cal meal, but still tasty and satisfying here is an easy recipe. I've been making this on and off for years using whatever veggies I have in the fridge. I prefer the onion/bell pepper combo the best though. Pete adds red pepper flakes to his to spice it up. 

Ingredients

1 Orca Bay bag of scallops (1 lb)

4 ounces of protein fortified spaghetti (or whatever pasta you like)

1 TBL olive oil

1 cup sliced onion

1 cup sliced bell pepper

1 tsp sesame oil

2 TBL Bragg's liquid amino acid (or tamari/soy sauce)

Cooking Instructions

Boil water for pasta and cook according to directions.

Place olive oil in large skillet or wok and sauté veggies. Remove when tender and set aside. 

Put scallops in wok and cook for three minutes, stirring constantly.

Add veggies to scallops and pour sesame oil and Bragg's on top, mix to coat. 

Serve the scallops and veggies over the pasta. 

Makes two servings with 350 calories per serving. 

Pain Is Not Optional

You know those people in the grocery check out line that will share intimate details of their lives with whomever is standing near and willing to listen? That's how I grew up. My mother is that person and from her I inherited this penchant for unhealthy boundaries.

When I realized I had this habit I was embarrassed.

I found it ugly, weak. Strong, healthy people don't need to share their pain with strangers.

I've worked for years on being more mindful and through self-introspection I've changed some of my habits. What I've recently learned though is that I work through my pain by sharing and there's nothing wrong with that. It's not ugly or weak, it's who I am and I'm strong. I share while teaching as a story organically unfolds that relates to where the class is in that moment, through my writing, or talking to friends. It's how I process and move through painful shit that life throws at me. My need to share too much still arises occasionally, thank God I have good friends who gently call me out (sometimes unknowingly) when I'm seeking attention inappropriately.

What do I do with my pain?

I write, I cry, I rage, and eventually I move through it.

It's what I do.

I believe we all have the ability to choose, holding with a vice-like grip to our pain or to face it and, when it's time, loosen the grip. Pain, suffering, it's going to reach each of us, it's part of our human existence, but I don't want that pain to define me. Ultimately I want love to define me and for that to happen I need to move through the darkness and into the light.