Weekend Happenings: Soups, Weddings, Family Time

Hello, hello! How was your weekend? Mine was FANTASTIC!

It started on Friday. I made myself a super nummy smoothie in my new Ninja Ultima.

In the smoothie (all frozen fruits and veggies):

  • Kale
  • Blueberries
  • Pineapple
  • Bananas
  • almond milk
  • peanut butter
  • flax-seed
  • cocoa powder

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I gave it a whirl in the Ninja…

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So far I have used the Ninja for smoothies and I also used it last night when I made a batch of soup! I love it. It is so efficient! I can’t wait to make nut butters in it. I am hoping the clean up is a lot easier than when I make nut butter in the food processor!

Friday morning I met up with my mom or our annual girl’s day. This year we decided to go to Whole Foods to do some shopping, have lunch at Panera, go for a walk with Abbie around the neighborhood, and just veg out together. It was so nice and so relaxing! I can’t wait for our next one!

Oh, and don’t act surprised when you hear I got the French Onion Soup once again at Panera. It is just my fav! Next time though I might have to try that squash soup, right Katie?

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On Saturday we attended my cousin’s wedding. It was fun getting all dolled up and hanging out with my family for the day.

carolyns wedding collage

On Sunday…more family time! We met up with Dana’s parents in the morning for a while and then went to my parent’s house to hang out with Scott and Nicole before they headed back home. No wonder my weekend was so fabulous, it was full of family time!

In the afternoon I whipped up a batch of veggie soup to eat throughout the week. It’s packed with bone broth, broccoli, green beans, zucchini, onion, carrots, celery and more. I am hoping it turned out well! If so, I will share the recipe!

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While the soup cooked, I heated up myself a bowl of four bean quinoa chili from the freezer and added some cheddar cheese to the top. Mmmmm mmmmm! The perfect meal on a cozy Sunday evening.

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I have been all about the soups lately. The fall weather has finally nestled in and the forecast is looking like 50’s this week! Bring out the sweaters, slippers, soup, pumpkin scented candles, and let’s get a fire going in the fireplace! Cozy city! LOVE.

What did you do this weekend? Have you been enjoying any soups yet this fall?

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Four Bean Quinoa Chili & GIVEAWAY WINNERS!

Well, hello there! Happy Friday!

Who wants some of this? four bean quinoa chili

I have LOTS of leftovers around here! This always winds up happening to me…I have the intention of making a small pot of chili, or soup, or anything really, and it turns into a humongo amount. Lucky for me soup freezes well and I have an extra freezer in the garage.

I know some of you out there probably think I’m totally crazy for making chili on a 95+ degree day, but it’s not like I slaved over it in kitchen. I let the crock pot do the majority of the work for me.

Here’s how I did it…

I chopped up the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic and lightly sautéed them in a small amount of olive oil on the stove top for 5-7 minutes (more detailed instructions below). I then transferred the veggies to the crock pot along with all other remaining ingredients except the beans. I used canned beans and I didn’t want them to get too soggy and/or mushy by adding them too early.

chili

I actually let this whole concoction sit together overnight only because I knew I wouldn’t have time to throw this together in the morning, but you could most definitely do this all the morning of.

Since I did let this mingle overnight, it allowed for my quinoa to soak for a long time before cooking, which can aid in digestion. Again, this is a step you can skip if you would like.

The next day I gave it all a stir and turned the crock pot on low at 12:00 pm (this is still without the beans and chiles). This mingled in the crock pot for four hours.

Then I added the beans and the chiles (you could add the chiles to the ingredients that were already in the crock pot, I just kind of forgot/got too lazy to open up the can I guess!

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Three hours later when we arrived home, I did some final taste testing, added some additional seasoning, and gave it one last stir.chlii

I chopped some cilantro and fresh avocado to top off the chili.

I got’er all served up!

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And I devoured.  chili

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You can add any other toppings you like—cheese, sour cream, Greek yogurt, green onions, etc!

So pretty, right? Call me crazy but I can eat chili any time of the year no matter how hot it is. Now, if I didn’t have air conditioning, we would be talking a whole different ball game.

Four Bean Quinoa Chili
Print
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup celery, chopped
  • 1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
  • 3 cup chicken broth**
  • 2½ Tbsp chili powder
  • 1 Tbsp cumin
  • 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1½ tsp smoky paprika
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • sprinkle of garlic powder
  • **you could substitute vegetable stock and make this recipe 100% vegan
  • sprinkle of onion powder
  • 1-15 oz can black beans
  • 1-15 oz can chili beans
  • 1-15 oz can red kidney beans
  • 1-15 oz can white kidney beans
  • 1-4 oz can of diced green chiles
  • cilantro (optional topping)
  • avocado (optional topping)
Instructions
  1. Lightly saute onions, garlic, carrots, and celery on the stove top for 5-7 minutes.
  2. In a large crockpot, add the sautéed vegetables, quinoa, broth, and all spices. Stir, cover, and turn crockpot on low. Let this go for 4 hours.
  3. After 4 hours add in the beans and chiles and stir. Recover and let cook for another 2-3 hours.
  4. Give it one last stir and taste test to make sure seasonings are spot on. Add additional seasonings if desired.
  5. Serve in pretty bowls and top with cilantro and avocado!
  6. Enjoy!

 

What do you think? Am I crazy for making hot chili on a super hot summer day? Do you ever eat soup in the summer?

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Now, to those of you hanging around to find out if you are the winner of the Dara Torres meet and greet, spin class, and free ear buds, your wait ends here.

The two winners are:

1. Katie @ Daily Cup of Kate

2. Stacy Elling

Congrats you two! I will get an email out to both of you with the details of the event!! Thank you all of you who entered!

HApppppppppyyyy Friday!!

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Guest Post: Favorite Soup & Chili Recipes

Hello, hello to all of Melanie’s awesome readers!

My name is Courtney and I write the blog Sweet Tooth, Sweet Life. I’m 28, a former elementary school teacher (you can read about that here if you’d like) and currently running my own online personal training business, Courtney’s Total Body Wellness.

I live up in Upstate, NY with my husband Jay and my kitty, Cody. Most of the time, if I’m not working on creating personal training plans, you’ll most likely find me blogging, baking goodies in the kitchen, or spending time with some of my favorite friends and family.

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I was so honored when Melanie asked me to guest post for her while she’s away in Colombia (how fun is THAT?!) that I couldn’t resist.

I know that Melanie tends to stick with mostly gluten-free choices when it comes to food, so I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite soup and chili recipes with you all today. Not only are they perfect for the fall (and quickly approaching, winter) weather, but they’re also gluten free. Win-win, right? Right!

First is my Pumpkin Black Bean Soup. I made this for the first time last year and have made it quite a few times ever since.

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I actually just bought all of the ingredients to make it again…I’m just waiting for the leftovers in my fridge to clear out so I have room. Oy vey.

Another favorite of mine is this Light ‘n Easy Cincinnati Chili. I LOVE this chili because it’s slightly different from most other chili’s I’ve had, thanks to a subtly sweet flavor from the cinnamon in the recipe.

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I serve it on top of spaghetti squash for a lightened up version of the real thing (which is usually served on pasta).

Last up is my Spinach Lentil Soup. It may not photograph well, but I promise you…it’s delicious.

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I actually really enjoy scooping up this soup with some crackers or tortilla chip “scoops” since it’s a little thicker. Either way, it’s awesome, and it makes a huge batch too, so you’ll have plenty of leftovers.

Hopefully you’ve found something that sparked your interest here, so feel free to check out the recipes, and I hope you love them all as much as I do!

Thanks again to the lovely Melanie for allowing me to invade her space today. clip_image005

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