crockpot curry chicken soup

This winter has been hard on all of us but especially me. Most days, I'm on fire and motivated by my goals and others I just want to stay in pjs all day. One thing that has started to become a staple of our weeks is soup sundays. Soup fills that warmth in me I'm usually lacking on lazy days. The kids rarely partake in soup eating (eyeroll emoji...), so don't feel bad if your kids don't eat soup cause mine won't either. 

• 6 cups chicken broth

• 1 cup canned coconut milk

• 2 frozen chicken breasts

• 4 tb of butter

• 1 can of garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained

• 1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed & drained

• 1 onion diced

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 Tb curry powder

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1 cup orzo pasta, can be substituted with rice or lentils

• salt & pepper to taste

step 1: Pour chicken broth & coconut milk in crockpot and place frozen chicken breasts in the liquid. Turn crockpot on high for 2-4 hours or on low for 4-6 hours. 

step 2: Place butter in pan to melt on med-high. Put chopped onions & garbanzo beans in pan to brown after butter has melted. Once those have browned (4-6 minutes) add in the garlic and spices. Spices bloom when they are heated, especially curry. Once the garlic is translucent and lightly browned, remove pan from heat and scrape into the crockpot. Pour in cannellini beans at this time and add additional salt & pepper to taste. 

step 3: Once half way cooked, the chicken should be pulled out to shred or chop. Put chicken back in after and now pour in the orzo or substituted grain. When the orzo puffs up from soaking up the broth the soup is ready. enjoy & devour. 

-This can be frozen but I suggest leaving out the orzo or other grain until it is reheating. Pastas and grains in soups do not freeze well. 

Pintertest : Loaded Baked Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole

I saw this recipe a few weeks ago after bringing home Zach and knew I wanted to make it. I swear its a fact that every nursing mama wants comfort food that first month and I just so happened to pick up that dip a few weeks before having to stock my pantry up with snacks and such. 

Mine

the pin

Loaded Baked Potato and Buffalo Chicken Casserole

Recipe source

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (roughly 2 lbs)

2-3 large potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (or 6-8 small/med potatoes)

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 t. salt

1 T. fresh ground pepper

1 T. paprika

1 1/2 T

. garlic powder (I used half McCormicks Garlic & Herb Grill mates) 

3 T. buffalo wing sauce (I used 6 T. I like sauce)

3 T. Loaded Baked Potato Dip*

*

You could use Ranch dip or salad dressing in the place of the dip I used

Topping:

1 3/4 cups cheese 

of choice

 (

I used 1 cup sharp cheddar, 1/2 cup Monterey Jill and 1/4 cup blue cheese)

1/2-3/4

 cup real bacon bits (I like the pepper kind)

1/2 cup

 diced green onion

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, buffalo sauce and dip/dressing (I added the dip after to remaining sauce to coat the chicken only). Add the cubed potatoes and stir to coat.  Pour potatoes into a sprayed 9 x 13 baking dish, reserving as much sauce as possible for the chicken. Bake the potatoes at 500 degrees for 45-50 mins, stirring every 10-15 mins (I did every 15 and only took mine about 35-40 minutes to cook), until potatoes are cooked through and crispy & browned on the outside.  While the potatoes are cooking, add the chicken to the bowl with the remaining sauce.  Stir to coat.  Once potatoes are done, remove from oven and lower oven temp to 400 degrees. Add the chicken to the top of the cooked potatoes.  (I know, raw chicken on top of cooked potatoes seems a little weird, but it all heats back up and cooks through.)  Cover raw chicken with cheese, bacon bits and green onions in an even layer.  Place assembled casserole in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

You can serve this with extra hot sauce, ranch or blue cheese dressing if desired.

My Verdict:

Winner! I could eat this everyday if it was healthy but its not, so I will save this for special events.

Linked up to: 

menus & goals this week

menu plans for this week:

Dinner

• No plans set this week because mama is tired, that is why this post is super late but I have decided to post menu plans on Friday instead from now on.

Recap:

We had Philly Cheesesteak Peppers on Monday w/ Alexia onion rings from the freezer aisle, our first time trying any of their products and mmm they were good.

I made

Focaccia

with the intention of making pizza on it but we kinda devoured it before that could happen.

Also made

Jalapeño & Cheese Pretzel Rolls

, these are quick and easy to make and also were devoured.

All bread doughs are mixed in my bread machine cause lets be honest I don't have time or patience to stand there and knead dough. We unfortunately might have a bread/carb addiction...

goals:

My brain hurts too much to think of things to do... but here are a couple things based off of last weeks goals.

1. Finally order photos for Hayden's album & Project Life album

2. Post Feminine Appeal review

3. Finish new book

4. Work out 2-4x this week

5. Focus on getting my cleaning routines down

6. List items to sell at Jbf Pleasanton

7. Menu plan all of May out

8. Enlist some sous chefs to help me with freezer meals to prep

9. Wash couch covers

10. Wash baby boys clothes

Recap:

1. Work on Hayden's baby album - organize & print - Big fat fail... every time I sit down to try and decide what pictures to print I get overwhelmed by the whole process, possibly due to the fact that I like to get Instagram pics printed from a different place than my other prints and I actually used to do all my printing at home but do not love the quality I was getting from my printer anymore.

2. Catch up on Project life album - print photos, upload/edit new photos once a week - Once again printing is overwhelming me.

3. Read 2.5 chapters left of Feminine Appeal & move on to next book - One goal down

4. Work out 2-4x this week - Elliptical & lots of dancing with Hayden

5. Get back to decluttering & purging our home based on the 52 Weeks to an Organized Home Schedule - Took lots of stuff to Goodwill, so I will count this as half done

6. List items to sell at Jbf Pleasanton - must do asap

7. 3 blog posts - nope

8. Organize garage storage - Done yay

9. Finish washing couch covers - not done

10. Cook Hayden freezer meals from Survive Before 5: Toddler Meals for Your Busy Days eCookbook - not done

to get this week:

• Color & Black cartridges for printing Project Life cards & printing tags for Jbf sale items... still to be done.

menus and goals this week

First round of homemade tortillas are delish, might never buy them again.

menu plans for this week:

Dinner

• Bulk Taco Meat made with ground turkey for Taco Salads
• Chili Dog Casserole, made with Homemade Tortillas & Garlicky Sweet Potato Fries
• Philly Cheesesteak Peppers
• Mexican Chicken Lime Soup with Quesadillas
• Creamy Slow Cooker Thyme Chicken with Asparagus

goals:

1.  Work on Hayden's baby album
2.  Catch up on Project life album
3.  Read 1 chapter a day of Feminine Appeal - almost done & move on to next book
4.  Work out 2-4x this week
5.  Start going to bed before or when Patrick does
6.  List items to sell at Jbf Pleasanton
7.  3 blog posts
8.  Organize garage storage
9.  Finish washing couch covers
10.  Cook Hayden freezer meals from Survive Before 5: Toddler Meals for Your Busy Days eCookbook

Linking up here

Pintertest: Peanut Butter & Jelly Bread Pudding

I've been saving bread crust all this week... kinda sounds weird when you read it. 

Well at least its to make bread pudding

Had you met me 2 and a half years ago, I would never have done this. Certain desserts just freak me out a little (i.e. rice pudding & formerly bread pudding). So I would not have touched bread pudding with a ten foot pole, but then I had the most delicious bread pudding on our cruise and was converted as a bread pudding lover. 

A new personal fave is the Croissant Bread Pudding at La Boulange Cafes

Photo from Foodgawker

For August I pinned

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bread Pudding

Looks pretty awesome but I think mine looks better! 

Recipe is modified by me

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract

• dash of salt

• 1/2 cup of your favorite jelly, jam, or preserves (I used mixed berry)

• 4 cups coarsely chopped bread crust, from 1 loaf white bread (or the same amount of day-old bread)

• Unsalted butter, for greasing pan

• brown sugar for sprinkling on top

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter a 8 by-8-inch baking pan.

Put 1 cup milk, the eggs, peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt into a bowl and mix until smooth, taking care that the peanut butter is thoroughly emulsified into the mixture. Then whisk in the remaining 1 cup of milk. Stir in the bread and set aside to soak for about 10 minutes. Pour this mixture into the prepared baking pan. Place spoonfuls of your favorite jelly, jam, or preserves around the bread mixture, pushing them in a bit with your spoon. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the pudding is browned, puffed, and a little firm. Halfway through sprinkle brown sugar on top. Broil for about one minute before pulling it out of oven. Let cool. Cut into squares to serve & enjoy!

-xo emily

Go link up your Pintertests too!

Hayden's First Birthday Party: Part 2

Back again today with some more recap & how I planned out Hayden's first birthday.

Missed the first part on how the theme was inspired, read it HERE.

Next step... Plan Menu:

I wanted to take a little inspiration from the theme of the party, so most of the food choices are apple inspired.

Waffle sticks: cinnamon apple & jalapeno cheddar, Caramel dipping sauce, Veggies + ranch, PB/Apple butter sandwiches, Pretzels, Turkey Club wraps, Peanut Butter dip, Fruit to dip, Cole slaw, Italian Pasta salad, Baked Mac & Cheese Bites, Dwarf Dogs (mini corn dogs) and Caramel Apple cupcakes

All prepped and ready

Peanut butter dip & PB/Apple butter sandwiches

Cupcake smash cake - I made white pound cake from a box ;)

Almost all the food I was able to prep the night before plus some help from my sister-in-law.

Part 3 coming later this week...


-xo emily