Ingredients

6-7 chicken legs
1 tsp. each of sea salt and black pepper
1 16 oz. bag of frozen mixed vegetables
2 cups of frozen, chopped okra
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium size garlic cloves, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
¼ cup of brown rice or 1 medium white potato, diced (optional)
1 tbs. each of dry oregano, cumin, basil, sage, rosemary, and thyme
1 tsp. red pepper flakes, optional
1 tbs. turmeric, optional
1 tbs. chili powder (optional)
1 8oz can ‘no added salt’ tomato paste
6-8 cups of water (additional water will come from your frozen vegetables)

Note: Click here to see the recipe for oven fried chicken regarding the FDA’s (Food and Drug Administration’s) recommendation on why chicken should not be rinsed.

Directions
Remove the skin from the chicken legs, rinse and place chicken legs in soup pot. Add the salt, black pepper, onion, garlic, and bell pepper. Can also add red pepper flakes if you desire at this time. If you use red pepper flakes, reduce your black pepper to ½ tsp. Toss chicken around in pot to incorporate the ingredients. Add water. Bring to a boil.

Add the tomato paste and rice if you are using rice. Cover and continue to cook on medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you are using potatoes, add at the end with the other ingredients.

After 30 min. of cooking, add the dry ingredients, the frozen vegetables, okra and diced potato if you are using potatoes. Cook an additional 20 minutes until the vegetables are done and the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the chicken from the pot, let it cool. Once cooled, remove the chicken from the bone, almost shredding it. Return chicken to pot. You can adjust seasons to taste.

You can play with this recipe by adding turmeric if you want a Middle Eastern flare. If you want a Southwestern flavor, add a tablespoon of chili powder! Have fun and enjoy! It is a meal in a pot and it is good to have on those days when you want to have just soup, a half sandwich and a salad for example. Welcome to your new world of discarding the past and embracing your future!

This recipe works well for beef soup. If you make beef soup, use the same ingredients, cube the beef or buy the beef already cubed, removing excess fat, and cook for 45 minutes before you add the remaining 11 ingredients. Occasionally skim foam from top. Grass fed beef is ideal because it is leaner. You can purchase it at any Wholefoods Market or Trader Joe in the Chicago area. It is a bit pricey but you are buying for value and not price. Believe God that if He is calling you to a higher place in your eating habits, He has already made the provisions. Sometimes it is a matter of looking at what we already have and making a few adjustments like eating out less to make the purchases that you need to eat well and live healthy.

Annie's Advice: 
I usually eat a bowl of this delicious soup with a small piece of cornbread made with 100% whole wheat flour. If I do eat cornbread, I usually eat 1 small piece per day, and only for 2-3 days maximum (it freezes well). The reason I limit my intake of this wonderful piece of bread? In my book, I talk about Red Flag Foods-foods that will send me under the table. Too much of it will send my affections down a wrong path. Jesus learned obedience through His suffering. I have suffered enough to now know what works for me and I don’t lie to myself anymore. My success depends on my being open and honest with myself. No more lies!! Also, I have learned that my body responds better to lean protein and complex carbohydrates than to the refined carbohydrates that are in the cornmeal. Refined carbs leaves me hungery and not satisfied. When I eat lean protein or nonmeat protein and complex carbohydrates, raw nuts, fruits and vegetables, I am more satisfied and therefore, eat less.

The moral of this story is: Know your body type. Know what works for you. What works for me might not work for you. Know what satisfies you and causes you to succeed in weight loss and learn what you have to let go of or handle in small amounts. It is a matter of practice and it will not happen overnight. Give yourself some time and don’t be hard on yourself, but at same time, you don’t want to give yourself permission to stay where you’re at. Concentrate on making small changes that you know you can maintain. Overtime, you will learn to do what’s right for your body and you will begin to move closer and closer to your place of victory!