Easy Chicken Soup (For The Twenty-Something Soul)

I have been down for the count with bronchitis for the past week. And while my sweet Hubs would get me anything I ever wanted to eat, all I was really craving was homemade soup. Something without weird, processed chicken and without 1 million grams of sodium. I also had no energy and very little ambition to do anything tedious. So, I made this up!

Chicken Soup, serves 6-8

Meat from 1 rotisserie chicken, skin removed
1 red onion, chopped
Baby carrots (to liking, I added half of a large bag)
6 stalked celery, sliced
2 potatos, peeled and diced
4 qts. low sodium chicken broth
1-2 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp evoo
Salt/Pepper to taste

1. In stock pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil on med-high and add garlic and onions. Cook until fragrant (or translucent if you are sick, like me, lacking the ability to smell)
2. Add the rest of your ingredients and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to simmer for at least 30 minutes. Could simmer for 45-90 minutes if you needed and/or wanted to.

Optional
1. This would be great served over noodles or rice. I used potato to bulk this up since Hubs is GF, rather than using noodles, but I think that would have tasted great!
2. Add avocado once plated.

YOU. ARE. DONE.
Feel accomplished.
You made soup.
In under an hour.
Bam.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend! More posts coming soon!

Easy Asian Turkey Meatballs {Low Carb & GF}

These meatballs were born from a Pinterest recipe mixed with the fact that i already had 6 out of 8 of the ingredients in my kitchen.

Asian Turkey Meatballs, makes 19
2.5 lbs ground turkey
1 cup cilantro, chopped
6 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp Tamari (GF soy sauce)
3 clove garlic, minced
3 eggs
2 tbsp ginger power (fresh would be better)
2 tbsp sesame oil

Stats: 106 cals | 6g fat | .5g carb | .2g sugar | 13g protein each

These turned out pretty good - but I would leave out the sesame oil! It's an extra source of not-needed fat. Also, next time I would incorporate the Jasmine rice instead of serving it on the side - I think it would have made the texture more similar to my other meatballs (which I add oats to) and therefore would have liked them even more!

I served three meatballs with 1/2 cup jasmine rice and stir fried bok choy for my lunch this week! YUM. Loved adding a little Sriracha for some kick!

Roasted Artichokes

I remember it being such a treat when my mom would make artichokes. From time to time she would boil them and serve them with melted butter for dipping, yumm.  I randomly bought a 4 pack from Sam's (at a great price!) which prompted me to look up how to cook them... then I saw this. I knew I had to roast them - roasted veggies are my favorite, favorite thing!

Roasted Artichokes, serves 4

4 artichokes

4 garlic cloves

2 lemons

Olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 and line baking sheet or baking dish with foil. 

2. Cut off the artichoke stem (the bottom) and cut off the top 1/4 of the artichoke (which kind of "opens" the top). 

3. Wedge garlic clove in the middle of the artichoke. Squeeze half of a lemons juice all over and inside the artichoke. 

4. Place artichoke on foil and drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil around the artichoke, making sure to seal it as best you can. Repeat this process with as many artichokes as you have. 

5. Place all artichokes, right side up, on baking sheet and roast for 1 hour, 1 hour and 15 minutes for extra large artichokes. 

This was so easy, so delicious and made my kitchen smell so good! 

TIP: Could be left wrapped in foil and reheated in the oven the next day for 20 minutes at 350. Could even be taken out of the foil and reheated in microwave! 

Rotisserie Chicken Tortilla Soup {Easy/GF!}

I always make this off the top of my head, going off what I know about mexican food, what I have had in my tortilla soups before and what I have already in my pantry. This time, I had a little time to prep, so I looked up a recipe to see how my version stacked against it. Nearly the same!

Rotisserie Chicken Tortilla Soup, serves 6

• Meat from 1 rotisserie chicken
• 14.5 oz can fire-roasted tomatoes
• 14.5 oz can black beans, rinsed
• 8 c low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 packet of Mrs. Dash Taco Seasoning (salt-free!)
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 c cilantro, chopped (or 1-2 bushels)
• 1-2 jalapeño, diced (optional)
• 2 limes, juiced

TOPPINGS:

• Tortilla chips/baked corn tortilla strips
• Shredded Monterrey Jack cheese to top
• Avocado, sliced
• Lime wedge

Stats: (No toppings) 224 cal | 2g fat | 25g carb | 6g fiber | 5g sugar | 28g protein

1. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of EVOO in soup/stock/dutch oven, add onion and cook until translucent. Then add garlic and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes, if using jalapeño add it now.
2. Add chicken broth, tomatoes, taco seasoning and bring to boil. Next add chicken and beans and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Add cilantro last (with maybe 5 minutes left to simmer), making sure to incorporate it into the soup.
4. Ladle soup into bowls and top with avocado slices, tortilla strips, cheese and lime wedge (or whatever you want!)

TIPS:
1. Use gloves when handling/dicing jalapeños! I put my non-cutting hand into a quart-sized ziplock bag to protect it.
2. Use a fork to shred or kitchen shears to cut your chicken meat.
3. Use kitchen shears to cut your cilantro, much easier than chopping!
4. Check the sodium on your "Low-Sodium" Chicken broth! I picked up one with over 550g of sodium per cup then found one with 60g of sodium per cup! Read food labels!
5. You could also add whatever you like to this - corn, sliced carrots, sliced poblanos, different spices. Work with what you have and what your family likes!
6. I like to portion these into tupperware containers for easy meals later! Heat and then add whatever toppings you like!

Egg Muffins // Low Carb & GF// 3 Ingredients!

Meal prep is the best. It fills my fridge with healthy meals and it takes all the guess work out of eating well. It is my number one weight loss tip. It is the best thing I do for myself, health wise. I love it.

But sometimes, its gross. Like making 5 days worth of scrambled eggs. Have you seen a five day old egg white veggie scramble? Not appetizing. So this week, when I was chopping up my veggies I thought I would make little 'egg muffins' in my cupcake tray. Maybe they would be drier, less soggy. Maybe they would be delicious. Maybe they require less time of me standing over the skillet.

P.S. They are less soggy and more delicious. Winning.

EGG MUFFINS 

• Chopped veggies
• Liquid egg whites (or real ones if you aren't lazy like me)
• Oregano, pepper, or whatever seasoning you prefer

1. Preheat oven to 350. Chop all veggies as fine as you can. 

2. Transfer all veggies into large bowl, add seasoning, toss to combine. 

3. Spray cupcake tin with oil and fill each hole with chopped veggies. 

4. Add 1/4 cup of egg white to each hole. 

5. Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes (watch your muffins! you want brown edges)

*I used red, orange and yellow bell pepper, red onion, green onion and this yielded 18 muffins

Per serving (3 muffins)

114 cal | 0g fat | 3g carb | 21g protein

I put them into a large tupperware container, take out 3 each morning, heat for 90 seconds and top with salsa. My favorite low carb breakfast so far!

80th Birthday Party & Decor

My family and I recently threw a party for my grandmother's 80th birthday! To create our festive atmosphere we were inspired by Pinterest and her favorite color, purple. It all turned out pretty cute and everyone had a great time. Success!

Purple tissue pom-pons from Martha Stewart at Michaels//80 traced and cut from purple poster then used spray adhesive and glitter. 

Vanilla and Buttercream purple ombre cake ordered from Carrie Made the Cake! 15 chocolate and 15 vanilla cupcakes from the Sam's bakery - great taste, low price! 

How cute is my sweet grandmother?! 

We were Pin-spired to make these app cups. Clear cups, fill 1/4 with ranch dressing and add sliced veggies! Such a pretty way to incorporate healthy snacks into the mix. 

Hope this gives you some inspiration for your next party. A little planning goes a long way to make things look and feel festive and fun!