Beef & Barley Soup

I ya'll haven't heard it is freaking COLD here! There was "supposedly" going to be snow in Savannah last night but instead we got ICE! So so so cold... like our heater is frozen and not working so we have the oven propped open and a space heater going. Anyway cold days are SOUP days! Tonight I made some beef and barley *I used brown rice* soup and it was SO yummy. Here is the recipe...

Beef and Barley Soup

Ingredients:

- 1 tsp oil *I use coconut oil*

- 1 1/2 lb lean stew meat

- 1 cup chopped carrots

- 1 cup chopped onions

- 1/2 cup chopped celery

- 2 cloves chopped garlic

- 6 cups water

- 1-2 tsp salt *I left this out*

- 2 bay leaves

- 2/3 cup barley *I used 1 cup of brown rice*

- fresh ground black pepper

**- I added 1 can of no salt added diced tomatoes**

What to do...... 

- Brown the meat in a large pot with 1 tsp oil

- when meat is done browning add the chopped carrots, onions, garlic and celery. stir together and let cook for a few minutes

- now add the water, bay leaves, diced tomatoes and salt/pepper if you're going to use it. once it starts boiling put lid on it and let simmer for an hour stirring occasionally

- add barley *in my case brown rice* cook 30-35 more minutes

Hope you enjoy! 

XOXO

Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe

Last night I wanted to make something new and yummy... After looking in my refrigerator I decided I would find a good stuffed bell pepper recipe. Since we are not eating red meat I needed to find something with ground turkey or chicken. I looked on www.skinnytaste.com and WOALAAA I found it. So here it is...

Turkey Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

- 1lb 95% ground turkey meat

- 1 minced garlic

- 1/4 minced onion

- 1tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

- 1tsp garlic powder

- 1tsp cumin powder

- salt to taste *I left this out*

- 3 large sweet bell peppers, washed and with seeds out *mine were small peppers*

- 1 cup fat free chicken broth *I used water*

- 1/4 cup tomato sauce

- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice *I used brown rice*

- olive oil spray *I used coconut oil*

- 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese *Rob used it not me*

Here is what I did...

-I put about 1tbsp of coconut oil in a large pan and added the minced garlic, cilantro and onions let it cook until onions are soft, about 2 minutes. 

-Add the ground turkey, cumin and garlic powder, brown meat several minutes until cooked.

-Add tomato sauce and broth *water* stir together and let it simmer about 5 minutes. Then add the cooked rice.

-After it has simmered a couple minutes spoon it into the bell peppers that you have already cut in half, lengthwise and de-seeded. 

***Rob likes his for with a kick so for his I added chopped jalapeno peppers***

-Place the stuffed halves into a baking dish *whatever left over mix and sauce you have pour over peppers* and cover it tight with aluminum foil then bake at 350 for 35 minutes.

This was super yummy and is one I will definitely make again!!! 

Hope you enjoy!

XOXO

OH Happy Day!

It is OFFICIAL... we belong to the Army for another three years *and hopefully more after this!*

Which also means we WILL be Hawaii bound in just a few more months. I know I know I already said we knew that is where we would be going but the funny thing about the Army is the curve balls and the timing of them. Literally as I posted my blog about my Hawaiian bucket list my dear sweet man texted me asking this,

"if they say Germany is available do you want to go?"

Now yes as you can imagine my head spun completely around on my shoulders and I did NOT text back I called because I wanted to tell my husband 

"ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY!!!!"

What actually came out was closer to

"why are you doing this to me? I just posted a Hawaiian bucket list!" 

After discussing it more we decided YES if Germany were available we would go. So he went into the meeting and Germany WAS available IF he waited to re enlist until after going to the board and IF he got his promotable status... A LOT of IF's! Mama does not like IF's. But we decided to wait a bit and then we decided, after some pushing to re enlist from the Army happened, that we would stick with our original orders and head to Hawaii. 

So there it is. Robs ceremony was today at 1400 and I am so proud of him. He is such an amazing husband and daddy and also an amazing Soldier. He has so much pride in what he does for the country he serves and I could not be more proud to call him mine.

These next several months will be jam packed with craziness and on top of that I will working on getting healthy! I have decided to try a 24 day challenge with AdvoCare and if I like what I see I may go on to do more. BUT where this is going is I will be posting healthy recipes I am trying at home so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

XOXO

O'Ahu Hawaii Bucket List

As I sit here looking at my tracker on my phone it says I have 274 days until HAWAII! That is crazy to me. It still does not feel real that in just 9 months, 39 weeks.... 274 days I will be on island time for three years! It is all so bitter sweet. So I started thinking about things I wish we would have done while in Savannah that we never did because we just kept putting them off, thinking we had more time. Well our time is coming to an end and we only did a handful of fun things that Savannah has to offer.

I want to go to Hawaii with a list. A list that we can have and see and check off as we complete. What better place to share that list then here?!? :) 

So here is my list and with each thing I will tell a little about what makes it sound so cool to me!

1. Hike up the Ha'iku stairs.

Ok so yes I did see this when Instagram posted a picture of it yesterday but then I looked it up and thought wow I think I really would like to do that! Back in 1942 the stairs were installed to enable antenna cables to be strung from one side of the valley to the other. There are 3,922 steps.

2. Attend a Luau/ eat Hawaiian cuisine.

I have been to a Luau before but it was when I was much younger and I want to go to one again with my family <3

3. Go to North Shore and watch surfers do Banzai Pipeline.

It is know for its massive waves and surfer competitions and I think it would be really awesome to see.

4. Hike to Makapu'u Point.

It is about a mile each way to a point the is 647ft above the sea.

5. Visit Pearl Harbor and USS Arizona.

USS Arizona is the resting place of 1,102 of our fallen Heroes. Our men and women fight daily for the freedoms we have and I just want to pay tribute to the ones who gave their lives for us.

6. Hike Diamond Head.

It is a 0.75mile hike to the top of the craters edge. It is one of O'Ahus most known attractions.

7. Visit Kualoa Ranch.

During World War II the US Military used it as shelter, protection and defense. It is 4000 acres of sacred ground today. We will be able to horse back ride and ride ATVs as well as hike the area.

8. Take a picture on the Leeward Coast.

The hiking is amazing and Ka'ena Point is beautiful and it has the highest number of nearshore humpback whale sightings.

9. Tour the Dole Plantation.

Who doesn't like pineapple?!?

10. Skydive!!!

Something I have always wanted to do and can you imagine the views!

11. Visit Queen Emmas Summer Palace.

This caught my eye first because of course I have a little Princess Emma that will someday be a Queen! It served as a retreat for Queen Emma of Hawaii from 1857 to 1885.

12. Jump off the rocks at Waimea Bay.

Cause who doesn't want to jump off a big rock into the beautiful water!?