Simply Filling Lentil & Ham Soup, 4 points+

Happy Monday All!  All night long I was dreaming about muffins and baked oatmeal cookies.  I totally blame it on the fact that I put a batch of Simply Filling Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats with Peaches on last night so we would have a delicious, warm breakfast as soon as we got up today.

The peeps at John McCann Steel Cut Oatmeal Company know I have a thing for the real deal steel cut oats and asked if I’d like to give their oats a try.

Fantastic stats…..

And nothing but 100% PURE & Natural Irish Oats aka Steel Cut Oats.

I love steel cut oats because of they are groats in their whole state and they have a delicious chewy texture that will keep you full for hours.  McCann’s Steel Cut Irish Oats have a rich nutty taste – there is no processing, no additions, nothing artificial.

I skipped the toppers on today’s oats and ate them straight from the slow cooker with peaches, blueberries, a little vanilla and cinnamon.  100% Simply Filling & Simply Delicious. (4 points+)

5 hours later my stomach told me it was lunchtime.  Last night we bought a rotisserie chicken just so I could make up a batch of this Cooking Light Rosemary Chicken Salad.  I followed the recipe but added celery and a handful of quartered grapes for a nice sweet crunch.

I love this recipe because the smoked almonds make the chicken taste like it’s smoked and honestly, who doesn’t love having crunchy almonds in their sandwich! (SF + 1 WPA) – 7 points+

Served up with a side of “healthy” crunch and light ranch. (SF + 2 WPA) – 2 points+

Crunch time snacks ~ grapes and a Sargento Lite String Cheese. (SF) – 1 points+

Yesterday The Husband and I both fell in love with the Lentil Ham Soup we tried at Rio City Café.  In fact, we stopped at the store just to pick up the ingredients I had in mind so I could recreate it for our dinner tonight. 

The secret to making this lentil soup rich and hearty is to use a smoky ham shank, beef broth and fresh herbs if you have them on hand.  I like having a lot of different textures and crunch in my soups so I bulked up this lentil soup with veggies.  Combine everything into one pot, then, cook it slow and low letting all the flavors blend together.

LENTIL & HAM SOUP (print it!)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 smoked ham shank
• 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
• 32 oz beef broth
• 15 oz diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary and thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• sea salt & black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.  In a large soup pot, heat olive oil and add onion, garlic, celery and carrots.  Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add ham shank, lentils, broth, diced tomatoes, rosemary, thyme and bay leaves.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 45 –60 minutes or until lentils have softened.  You may need to add up to 1 cup water if the broth evaporates below the ham bone while cooking.

2.  Season to taste sea salt, black pepper and hot sauce, optional.  Divide into 8 bowls and enjoy!

NOTE: Make it VEGAN by using vegetable broth, omitting the ham shank and adding a little liquid smoke to capture that smoky “bacon” flavor.

Makes 8 heaping 1 cup servings, 4 points+, 100% Simply Filling

Nutritional information per serving calculated at caloriecount.com

I served ours up with some delicious rosemary focaccia bread from Trader Joe’s (SF + 2 WPA) – 2 points+.

I swapped my running days to Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday this week since I needed to go into the office early today.  I am pretty sure AL is going to tell me to move it move it

STATS:

• AL 40%, 0 Activity points
• 5 WPA used, 33 WPA remaining, (21 daily points+)

Night all!