WIAW #12: Black Bean Soup Recipe

Hey, heyyy everyone and a Happy Hump Day to ya!

After re-reading yesterday’s post, I realized I may have seemed a little blue. I didn’t mean it to come off that way, and instead wanted to share how life’s little imperfections are a wonderful thing. Embrace them!

Today is becoming quite a good day for me, and I have a lot of energy I am about to take with me to the gym. (Okay, it might be that ginormous cup of coffee I just downed… but I digress.)

First, I have a recipe to share and a WIAW post to get through. We’ll get to the recipe in a minute!

In case you’re like… what the heck is WIAW?

I now take part in What I Ate Wednesdays, hosted by Jenn over at Peas and Crayons. Each week I share a day of my eating habits, and explain the strategies of what I ate and why I ate it with with you! My goal is to inspire you to make colorful choices, get over dieting, and get on an overall healthy eating lifestyle.

June’s focus is on sensible snacking and boy, did I luck out here. Before even glancing over at this month’s topic, I just so happened to fill my fridge with produce top to bottom. When this happens, I am inspired to snack healthy and colorful, which is exactly what took place yesterday. If my subconscious-self can snack sensibly, I have a feeling you can do it too. Look how easy!

Here’s What I Ate Wednseday Tuesday.

Breakfast

Yesterday started similar to all my days… with something good to eat paired with a giant cup of coffee!

I call these “Heather Waffles.” I have been making them for a while, but somehow they have never made an appearance on the blog, so today is the day!

I start with two gluten-free, whole wheat, or whole grain waffles (these are Kashi Blueberry), top them with Greek yogurt (this is Chobani Non-fat Blueberry), then add fresh fruit (yup… you guessed it… blueberries!).

Just when I thought I was done with breakfast, I got a craving for bacon and heated up a few slices of Jennie-O Turkey Bacon in the microwave.

Easy. Yummy. Win!

Morning Sensible Snack

I have to give credit to Scott for this one. I have never really been a fan of cherries, and I actually used to despise them. Since marrying him, something happened to my taste buds and I have gone from tolerating them to loving them.

They are like candy, I tell you! So addicting.

Lunch

Lunch was nothing special, but delicious non-the-less. Since I had a busy day ahead, I wanted to make it easy and heated up an Amy’s Organic Gluten Free Cheddar Burrito.

Drizzled on top is a little bit of hot salsa, compliments from Tortillas Nuevo Leon. <-Still loving them, Olga. Thanks!

You might have seen me post a version of this before, and I am not ashamed to admit to having at least one a week. The good news is, I now have Scott on board to eating them too… and he doesn’t even realize how much better they are for him than “regular” burritos. #healthyhousewifeforthewin

Afternoon Sensible Snack

About two hours after lunch, my tummy was grumbling again. I went into the fridge and since prepped veggies were in front of me, veggies is what I put on my plate!

Favorite snack of all time = anything with hummus. I am completely obsessed. Yesterday’s veggies dipped into Sabra’s Roasted Red Pepper flavor. About an hour after that, I grabbed a mixed berry applesauce to enjoy at my desk.

I just love applesauce. Takes me back to memories of elementary school every time! 😉

Before I knew it, Scott got home from work and we had already planned to go for a run on the trails. He kicked my booty right into gear and helped me attack 4 miles at a 8:14 pace! Thanks for the push, hubs.

Pssssst. Happy National Running Day to all my fellow runners out there!

Dinner : 10 Minute Black Bean Soup

Dinner came together quickly with a ridiculously easy soup concoction!

Ingredients

2 cans black beans – rinsed and drained

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup salsa (I used Pace Picante Sauce)

1 Tbsp fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients. Transfer into a blender (or immersion blender) to puree into a smooth and creamy soup.

2. Transfer to a large pot and heat until soup is warm all the way through.

3. Garnish with fresh cilantro or other herbs (in addition to the amount already in soup), if desired.

Perfect dinner in just a few minutes time.

Both Scott and I go nuts for cilantro, but feel free to leave it out completely if you’re just not feeling it. Good either way!

We each enjoyed a big bowl of soup alongside a green salad which once again used my prepped veggies from the fridge:

In this salad was fresh spinach, romaine, avocado, cucumbers, red and green peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, tomatoes, green olives, and celery drizzled in salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, and grapeseed oil. Really, I should have just listed what wasn’t in this salad.

Dessert

We all learned yesterday that I am “not a robot” and that I do in fact enjoy the recent nightly routine of occasional bowl of ice cream. Yesterday’s pick is a new all-time winner of Breyer’s Girl Scout Thin Mints.

Sensible snacking + running + a healthy day of eating always = a treat in my eyes! Ain’t no shame in my game.

Okay lovelies, time for me to head out to the gym. Hope you all have a fantastic day!

• If you liked this WIAW post, head on over to Peas & Crayons to check out plenty others, or even link your own!

• Also, you can always find my latest What I Ate Wednesday posts by exploring the “WIAW” tag on the right hand sidebar.