Chicken and Kale Soup

Soup is one of those things that are so comforting on a cold winter day. It's one of my favourite things to eat too. I received my Clean Eating Magazine in the mail this week, there was a recipe for Italian Turkey soup that looked delicious. There was some ingredients in the soup that I didn't like or have so I based this recipe off of that one and made it so that it suited my tastes!

1 tbsp olive oil divided
1 large or 2 small chicken breasts or 1lb ground chicken
1 rutabaga, peeled, cut into bite size pieces
2 carrots, peeled, cut into bite size pieces
1 bunch kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
1 onion chopped
4 garlic minced
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tsp salt and pepper
1 carton of chicken stock
1 big can of diced tomatoes
more salt and pepper to taste

If your using Chicken breasts, cut them in chunks, pulse in the food processor in batches, until ground but not made into a paste. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a pot, brown the ground meat. remove to a bowl. Heat the rest of the oil in the pan, add the onion and garlic, saute until softened, add the meat and juices back into the pot. Add all the spices in and  1/2 tsp salt and pepper. Stir for a couple of minutes. Add in the stock, tomatoes, and rutabaga and carrots. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add in the kale, cover and simmer for another 20 minutes or until all the veggies are tender. Taste and add more salt and pepper if you like. I like alot of pepper.

I was able to get seven servings of this, I kept  three for the week and froze the other 4 in freezer jam jars

What I Ate Wednesday #18

It's the new year and lots of people are trying to be healthier. I was in a bit of a health slump for the months of November and December. I didn't go to the gym most of November, I think I may have gone twice, and I joined a boot camp at Healthy You Studios. The boot camp was 3x/week. I wanted to make myself go to the gym two of the other days during the week, I never made it. I did wake myself up and get to the boot camp. So January is here and I need to get back in the swing of things. I always feel healthier, physically and mentally and happier when I'm eating well and exercising. I'm not in to making resolutions, they are usually broken, then you feel guilty and disappointed in yourself and that's just not okay. So I'm getting back on track, i have been making it to the gym at least 4 days a week and planning and preparing my meals again. So here's what I ate yesterday, don't mind the horrible pictures, they are all cell phone pictures

Breakfast

One English muffin, with homemade strawberry jam on one side and natural almond butter and cinnamon on the other, two over easy eggs, two slices of nitrate free bacon and 1/4 avocado and coffee

Lunch

A spring salad with sweet onion dressing and chicken and kale soup (I'll put the recipe up when I take a better picture!)

Then I had a coffee and should have brought a snack to work but I didn't

Supper

 Baked salmon with lemon pepper seasoning and salt, creamy Parmesan sidekick, green beans sauteed in a little butter, lemon pepper seasoning and Maggi seasoning

Then I had a decaf coffee

 Snack

1/2 pear with 1 tsp walnut pieces, 1 tiny square of blue cheese crumbled, 1 tsp honey and 1/4 vanilla fat free greek yogurt with 1/4 cup blueberries and a little bit of granola

I would have only had one of these for a snack but I was so hungry, I think because I skipped the earlier snack, so I had both.

Check out some other WIAW's here!

It's been a While...

It's been quite a while since I have posted anything on here! December was crazy with the kids wrapping up school before Christmas and having every weekend in December busy. I was also sick every weekend in December. I have been trying out some recipes from Pinterest and thought that I would share some that I have really loved

Here are some of the recipes I've tried

-The Pioneer Woman's Potato Salad, I don't even like potato salad, but this I loved!

-The Pioneer Woman's Onion Blue-Cheese Sauce, this was everything I hoped it was going to be! We had steaks from the BBQ, this sauce, lobster tail, mushrooms and the mentioned above potato salad, oh and this focaccia! The focaccia is so quick and easy, the kids ate it up in no time. I don't have a stand mixer so I put in my food processor.

- I also tried this homemade artisan bread, again it was so simple to make

- Rachael Rays Swedish sailors beef is another delicious recipe. I use eye of round steaks that I halve.

- This shrimp enchilada recipe is to die for! There are a lot of steps, but it's totally worth it!

I have also made some cheese potatoes recently but forgot to take a picture. They are a recipe that my dad used to make whenever he made BBQ chicken. It was recently his birthday and in his memory, we had these potatoes with BBQ chicken, the artisan bread mentioned above and lemon meringue pie.

Cheese Potatoes

8-10 large potatoes, peeled and slices thin

1 can Campbells cheese and broccoli soup

1 can or Campbells cheddar soup

1 empty can of soup filled with milk

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1/2 tsp salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350. Mix everything, except for 1 cup of cheese, in a roasting pan or large casserole dish. Top the potatoes with the remaining cheese. Cover the potatoes and cook for 1 hour. Stir. Cover again and cook for 30 min-1 hour depending on how soft the potatoes are. Take the lid off for the last 30 min of cooking. Let it sit for 15 ish minutes before eating.