Get Well Soup Recipe

Tis the season for sniffles and sneezes and flus. Sometimes all you need is a nice big bowl of soup to start feeling a bit better. This is a chicken noodle soup that is easy and great at any time, but can really help turn a cold around. It's hearty, but not heavy and there's a little kick of cayenne which can help a stuffy nose to unblock. My boyfriend was home sick for a week with a particularly nasty cold and I made this soup for him and he was able to heat up a bowl as needed, quickly and easily and much better than the stuff from a can. You can double or half the recipe or adjust it as you like very easily. I use boneless, skinless chicken breast because I find it easier to prepare, but my mom uses thighs since she finds them more flavorful. If you are using a bone in meat you may want a little bit more by weight.

~ 2 pounds of chicken, cleaned
2 tbps canola oil
1 small or 1/2 a large yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 boxes chicken broth (you can use any variety you like, low or no sodium, organic, etc.)
Salt and pepper
Ground cayenne pepper, to taste (I use about 1-2 tsp)
Egg noodles

You want to make sure your chicken is cleaned, fat, cartilage and blood vessels removed. Season liberally on both sides with salt and pepper. I sprinkle a little cayenne on only one side, start with just a teaspoon, otherwise it can be overwhelming. You can always add a little to the broth later on.

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a LARGE pot. I cook about 3 breasts at a time so as to not overcrowd the pot. You want them to be golden brown on each side and cooked through. Once cooked remove to a cutting board.

While the chicken is cooking you'll want to prepare the vegetables for the mirepoix (onion, celery and carrot.) If you like more vegetables in your soup, feel free to add more.

Once all the chicken is cooked, add only the onions to the remaining oil in the pan. You don't want to overcook them, just let them sweat a bit and lose some of that bitterness. You can lower the heat to medium low.

In the meantime you want to dice or shred your chicken, it's all about preference. I personally like mine diced.Set the chicken aside.

Next add the celery and carrots to the pot and let them cook for a few minutes, you don't want them super cooked, you just want them to build some flavor.

Add the chicken back in to the pot and then add the broth. Turn the heat back to medium/medium high.

I realized a little too late that my pot was too small for the second box of broth and had to switch, that's why that last picture looks like very little broth.

Let this simmer on medium for about 20 minutes. If you will be serving the entire batch you can then add the noodles and cook for about 7 minutes. However, I don't recommend adding the noodles if you aren't eating it all right away. The noodles will absorb the liquid and end up soggy and the soup will lose a lot of broth.

Here's what I do:

Measure out a serving of noodles into a sauce pan.

Ladle in the desired amount of soup (don't forget your veggies!)

Boil for about 7 minutes (follow package recommendation on the noodles) and serve while still hot.

Enjoy and feel better soon!

FabFitFun VIP Winter 2013

The UPS guy just knocked on the door and had my first FabFitFun Box in hand. I have to say I didn't expect any deliveries on Christmas Eve, but I'm excited! I've been looking at the FabFitFun box for a while, but was apprehensive because of the price. However I ended up signing up for a year (4 boxes) for $179.99. A big deciding factor was one of the items in this box. They had leaked a couple of items to entice people and it worked. I've been following the Giving Keys on Instagram for a while and I love their product and message. The necklaces retail at $55 so that already made this first box worth it. Everything in the box is new to me so I'm really excited. I've heard of some of the brands, but never tried these particular products so I feel like I got my money's worth.

Check out the photos below.

Each quarter is usually $49.99, but with the promotion I signed up with, it's equivalent to $45 per month. The value of this month's box is $271.47!

Sign up for yours today!

Snowed In

Hope everyone in the NorthEast is doing okay. My house is one of the few in my city that still has power and I am really grateful, because in my house, no power means no heat. My family’s house unfortunately doesn’t have any power and they are heating up their food as much as they can by the fireplace and are still waiting to find out when power will be restored. During the blizzard I actually went outside to play with some friends (yes, I am 6 years old) and started getting some snowboarding lessons. Despite the cold and horrendous wind, we actually had a blast.

Now I’m tasked with digging my car out of the pile it was plowed into plus the 2+ feet of snow that came down. Once the car is free though, Greg and I are going out to play. As adults we never get snow days, so we have to take advantage of the only one we have.

In other news, I got to finally try my Oatifix mask from Lush and my face feels very soft and much less dry. My skin had definitely taken a beating from the cold wind and feels much better now. The fact that it smells like banana bread certainly doesn’t hurt.

Hope everyone is safe and that if you lost power, it gets restored soon.

Have fun in the snow!

I’m off to build an igloo.

*Edit: So I just realized that this didn't post when I wanted it to. My power ended up going off and on a few times so it didn't post. Also stay safe this weekend. In the NorthEast we are supposed to get snow again Thursday, Saturday and Sunday