Loaded Chicken and Veggie Soup!

Oh boy did I create a winning recipe yesterday!  I've been dying for homemade chicken noodle soup, you know... the kind that mom makes.  Well, I prefer easy crock-pot recipes, so I did a little online "pinning" on Pinterest and came across many different variations.  Nothing seemed to strike my fancy, so I decided to just wing it and create my own. 

Normally I would have taken photographs as I was chopping veggies, but I was under a time crunch (It was about 11:40am on Sunday when I decided to use the crock-pot and I know chicken recipes take between 6-8 hours if cooked on low.  I wanted to eat at 6, so time of was the essence!

After I chopped up 4 carrots, 3 celery stalks, 3 parsnips, and almost a whole yellow onion, I searched the herbs and spice rack.  I decided on just 2 - garlic powder and thyme.  I swear, thyme makes everything yummy. 

I threw the chopped veggies into the crock-pot, added 5 cups of chicken stock (unsalted since I'm so anti-salt), 1 cup of water, a few "dashes" of garlic powder, and 2 teaspoons of thyme.  Oh yes, and a ridiculous amount of black pepper.  There's just something about black pepper in chicken noodle soup!  Forget the salt - just hand me the pepper shaker and I'm good to go! :) 

After I gave it a quick stir, I threw in three chicken breasts that my wonderful husband prepared.  By prepared I mean he cut the fat off.  You all know I don't do raw chicken.  Yuck. Ew. Gross. Blech!

I then stirred the pot up, turned it on low and set the timer for 6 hours.  After about hour 4, our placed smelled amazing!!! 

I paired the chicken soup with some beer bread from a mix that I bought from Home Goods.  I am obsessed with Home Goods! :)  I always walk out of there with a few mixes for baked goods and coffee mugs.  Just ask Shaun how many "mugs" we have....  we rotated them based on the season! :)

Here's some pictures of dinner that I managed to snap before we all stuffed our faces!

 After 6 hours, carefully pull out the chicken breasts and shred them with 2 forks.  Oh yes, and give the chicken a little taste-test.  Delish! :)

 Put the chicken back in the pot and STIR BABY STIR! :)

Here's the finished produced along with some beer bread!

 Yummy meal for a chilly Fall day! :)

This recipe doesn't call for noodles, FYI! :) But feel free to add them! :)

I am so glad to be back with this blog!  I'll actually be switching websites in a few weeks.  While working on a project for one of my grad classes, I came across a better website program that is much easier to navigate around!  No worries though, this one will remain up and running until I make the switch!

Now I'm off to relax for the evening.  I had quite a long day, plus my head is pounding!  Thank goodness I was able to come home this evening and eat the leftover chicken soup and beer bread! :)

Catch you all later this week with some new recipes.... tomorrow's dinner is chicken meatloaf and Wednesday's Halloweenie dinner will be spooky sloppy joes! :)  Both recipes are already on here, so I won't be posting them.... Well, maybe some pictures of them! :)

Lots of love!

Lauren

XOXO

I'm Back! :)

It's been a ridiculous amount of time since I last posted.  My life is still as hectic as ever, but I've been dying to get back to my blog, for the one person who reads it.  Thanks mom! :) Ha!

I supposed I should do an update on what's been going on in my life the past few months!  Hold on tight - it's been a crazy ride! :)

First, I married the love of my life on July 21, 2012.  It was a beautiful summer Saturday morning for our wedding.  I couldn't have asked for a better day!

My dad walking me down the aisle! 

Here's some other pictures from the big day! :)

 After our wedding, we set off on our Honeymoon, which was a cruise!  It was absolutely amazing.  I was worried I'd feel seasick, but I actually found the rocking of the boat to be soothing!  We went to Grand Cayman and Cozumel (Carnival Cruise Line).  Here's a photo re-cap!

Let's not forget some of the amazing food we shoved in our faces....

 

Yep... the food started off healthy.

 But that didn't last....  Pizza buffet every night!?!?!

The food was just amazing.  I packed on a solid 5 pounds! Ha! :)  I enjoyed every morsel of the delicious food that was available to us! :)

Now back to reality....

The school year is off and running and we're already into the second marking period!  I have a wonderful class full of eager and energetic first graders.... They definitely keep me on my toes!  

In addition to the school year being well under way, I'm also in my first semester of round 2 of grad school!  I'm in the Educational Leadership program at The University of South Florida and I am ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT!  This is by far, one of the best decisions I've ever made.  After being in the program for about 9 weeks now, I have come to the realization that my passion for education just doesn't seem to stop growing.  After every paper that I write, or class session that I sit through, I constantly reflect on myself as an educator and how I can work towards improving education for the students that I teach.  At times, I may begrudgingly complain about reading hundreds of pages of articles for my classes, I just find myself to be whole-heartedly dedicated towards the field of teaching.  Only now, that passion is leaning towards more of a leadership role.  Who knows where I'll end up in a few years, but all I know is, we still are a "Nation at Risk" and have been for far too long.  Maybe I can have an impact on education and help create ways to improve it! :) 

Well, with all of that being said, I'm off to do some reading for tomorrow's Saturday class!  After I read a few articles, we're off to PDQ, a new restaurant that opened by our apartment a few months ago!  A trip to Yogurt Mountain is in the works too!

I'm so excited to be back!  Look for a new recipe as well as some oldies to be posted in the coming days.  I may have not posted on here, but I have been taking photographs as well as trying out tons of new recipes!  Here's a teaser:

Catch ya later this weekend! 

Lots of Love,
Lauren
XOXO