Man oh man is it COLD out! Every morning when I turn on Good Morning America one of the first stories covered has to do with how much of the country is being bombarded with record breaking snow and freezing temperatures. I live in Seattle and although we (thankfully!!!) have not been plagued with this type of winter storm, it is pretty chilly and nothing warms my soul like a comforting pot of homemade soup.
The recipe I wanted to share today is super easy and so comforting. It is a recipe for Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup that I stumbled on years ago while perusing the internet for a yummy and easy chicken soup. The original recipe can be found here, however I have made some changes over the years to make it a bit healthier and tastier, in my opinion. I love to start the soup with a healthy dose of veggies that I like to put in a food processor so that my boys will actually eat the soup and not question everything. You will also notice that I have a bit of an odd flavoring addition which is noted as packets of Ramen flavoring. I know – very weird, but I can’t explain how good that salt in those little packets make this soup! I also like to use either corn starch or potato starch to help make this a gluten free soup and I substituted half and half for the cream in the original recipe as well.
I hope you try this recipe out and let me know what you think. This has become one of our family favorites and hopefully will become one for your family as well.
Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
Ingredients
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
3 T. oil
3 T. corn starch or potato starch
4 c. chicken broth
2 c. water
1 package Rice a Roni Wild Rice Mix
2 packets Ramen Soup Mix (I prefer beef flavored for this recipe)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1-2 cups Half & Half
Directions
Over medium-high heat in a large stock pot warm 3 T. olive oil.
Place onions, carrots, celery and garlic into a food processor and pulse until all vegetables come to a very, fine chop. Place vegetable mixture into soup pot and sauté until veggies are lightly golden, about 6-8 minutes. Add starch (potato or corn) and cook for 2 minutes.
Add stock, water, rice mix and ramen packets to the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer, cover pot and cook for 25 minutes over low heat.
After 25 minutes, add chicken breasts and half and half. Warm for another ten minutes and serve.
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I LOVE chocolate, sugar, candy, sweets, and all sorts of amazing, yummy treats. I have tried to give up sugar at times but was so miserable that I will no longer attempt to deprive myself. However, I have promised to be a bit healthier while I embrace my love of sugary sweetness. This is where my delectable Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding Parfait comes in.
Chia seeds are amazing for you and are such a versatile ingredient. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, high in protein, fiber and anti-oxidant rich to boot! These magical seeds naturally thicken in liquid making them the perfect way to create a healthy pudding. My favorite way to enjoy this pudding is to add granola (for crunch) and fresh fruit (in this case raspberries) for a burst of freshness.
I enjoy this pudding for breakfast or it can be eaten as a snack or dessert. This is such a tasty and healthy dish that you can enjoy it guilt-free any time of day. Please let me know of any healthy dessert swaps that you might have!
Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding Parfait
Ingredients
1 cup milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)
1/4 cup chia seeds
2 T. cocoa powder
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt
Granola
Fruit/Berries
Directions
Whisk milk, chia seeds, cocoa powder, brown sugar, white sugar, coffee granules, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl until pudding is smooth. Let sit for 5 minutes; stir. Repeat sitting and stirring process at least 2 times.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate, 8 hours to overnight. Pour mixture into blender and blend until smooth. Spoon into bowls and top with granola and berries.
I am a coffee junkie. I love my morning cup so much, it is one of the only things that actually gets me out of bed (willingly) in the morning. Since I love coffee so much I heard about freezing ice cubes and instantly fell in love with the idea.
I still take my morning cup of Jo warm, however this is an ingenious way to not let anything go to waste. Also, this is one of my favorite mid-morning snacks. Simply take the extra coffee and pour into ice cube trays (I found some here, in the event you don’t have any.) Freeze. Enjoy. My favorite is to pour milk over them with a bit of sweetener and a dash of cinnamon. Voila! Delicious and ready in seconds!
I love lip gloss and am always up for trying a new one. New brands, old brands, expensive or inexpensive I will give almost anything a go. So when I saw that Revlon had a new lip gloss I just had to try some of them out.
The official name of these glosses is the Revlon Ultra HD Lip Lacquer and can be found here at drugstore.com for about $8 Online they are described as the following, “Lip lacquer goes HD with our innovative wax-free get technology. Get true color clarity, vivid high-impact shine and a bouncy, lightweight feel.” Now, I am not sure about HD, but the rest is pretty true to form. They feature a brush as opposed to a sponge tip applicator and are a comparable in size and form factor to the NARS Larger Than Life lip glosses. The colors I got were #525 Pink Diamond, #540 Petalite, #520 Pink Saphire and #555 Amber. All were moisturizing and not sticky at all. As far as color payoff, they are all fairly opaque and provide a nice shine and pop of color. In order to get the best color payoff I prep my lips with a dab of concealer to ensure that I am getting maximum color payoff. These would also work great on top of a lipstick. All of the lip glosses I purchased offer a bit of sparkle so if you prefer a matte look or lip products without sparkle, these would not be a good option.
Drugstore products can be a bit of a guessing game since most drug stores don’t offer testers. As for these glosses I would recommend any of these colors and am glad that I purchased these as I plan on getting quite a bit of use out of all of these.
I am a YouTube junkie. I became addicted about a year ago and absolutely love all videos, but my favorites are those done by beauty guru’s. Videos covered range from what are called “hauls” (basically stuff purchased) to tutorials and everything you can imagine in between. One of my favorite types of videos is called “empties” that I am obsessed with! This is where gurus will go through products they have used up and tell you whether or not they would repurchase them in the future.
Now, I am not going to a video on my “empties”, but I do have some good ones so I thought I would share some of the recent products I have used up and let you know if I would repurchase them in the future.
NYX HD Concealer in Porcelain, $4.99: I can’t say enough great things about this concealer. It is an awesome buy at $4.99 and is perfect to give the under eye a bright, creaseless glow. It also covers like nobody’s business. I have already repurchased this item.
MAC Cremesheen Glass in Right Image, $20.00: I love this color and the formula, which is very moisturizing. While this is a pigmented gloss it is one that you need to touch up during the day. Although the price on this is a little steep at $20, I think it is worth it and have repurchased this.
MAC Liquidfast Liner in Point Black, $20.00: I hate this eyeliner . It comes with a tiny brush that is difficult to work with and the tube is super tiny so it doesn’t last long at all. Needless to say I will not be repurchasing this one.
Milani EyeTech Extreme Liquid Eyeliner in Black, $8.49: I love this eyeliner and have already repurchased. It is department store quality at a drug store price. Whether you want to do a thin line or a dramatic cat eye, the fine tip on this pigmented pen is a keeper. I will definitely be repurchasing after I work through some of my other eyeliners.
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly, $21.00: This product is awesome! I have used this item religiously as an eyeshadow base or just on its own daily for at least a year and I decided it was finally time to get a new one. This is the perfect primer providing a flawless finish on your eyelids. I purchased a new one already.
Dior Airflash Foundation in Light Beige, $62.00: I really like this foundation, however for $62 I need to LOVE a foundation and this one was just ok. Coverage was OK and it didn’t break me out so that was a plus. I will not be repurchasing this item.
Healthy Sexy Hair Tri Wheat Leave In Conditioner, $12.00: This was an amazing leave in conditioner that left my thin hair shiny and voluminous. Since my hair is so thin I am careful to not use too many products and immediately stop using anything that weighs my hair down. If you have super thick, coarse hair I don’t know that this would be moisturizing enough, but if you have thin to medium hair thickness I would give this a try. I will definitely be repurchasing this.
So….do you have any products (empties) you have used up recently? I would love to hear what they are!
