Slow Cooker Chicken Vegetable Soup

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So one of my goals now that we are in the new house is to start making more smart decisions on food.  While building the house and moving we ate like crap.  We ate out more than in, we didn't pay any attention to what we were eating and we both have gained some weight from that and just feel terrible.I found this recipe on Facebook for Chicken Vegetable Soup the other day, it was originally from the Simple Nourished Living website and it sounded pretty good so I decided to make it with just a few changes.We followed the recipe as written except I replaced the Cole Slaw with Wheat Egg Noodles and I used a frozen mixed vegetables instead of just frozen peas.Ingredients:

  • 1½ pounds raw boneless skinless lean chicken breasts
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup finely diced onion
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 3 cups egg noodles (wheat)
  • 2 cans (14 to 15 ounces each) low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 can (14 to 15 ounces) Cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (14 to 15 ounces) stewed tomatoes, not drained
  • 1 cup frozen veggies
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Evenly season chicken with ¼ teaspoon salt and the pepper. Place all ingredients in the crock pot and stir. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or on LOW for 6 - 8 hours, until chicken is fully cooked and the vegetables are tender.
  • Remove and discard the bay leaf. Remove the chicken and place in a bowl. Shred each piece using two forks -- one to hold the chicken in place and the other to scrape across the meat and shred it. Return the shredded chicken to the crock pot and stir into the soup.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • According to the original post (linked above) the nutrient value is as follows:Per Serving (1 cup): 150 calories, 1g fat, 15g carbs, 4 g fiber, 20.g protein and 3 Weight Watchers Points Plus.

Since I replaced the Cole slaw mix with Egg Noodles the calorie count of course went up a bit but not so much it is not worth doing :)

Pinterest Compare #2 Master Bathroom Shower

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I fell in love with this idea early on in the designing process and never wavered from wanting to have it in our new master bathroom. We knew all along we were not going to have any type of bathtub installed and we wanted to have a huge double shower as that had proven necessary in the past (after a few medical surgeries and knowing more were coming up). Here is the very popular Pin I designed after:

and our take when completed. You can't see the 2nd shower head on the far right but it is there

2016-01-10 19.27.27edit

2016-01-10 19.27.27edit

I can't say this was easy to get done.  The builder hated the idea and really couldn't grasp what I wanted no matter how many times I showed him the picture from Pinterest but eventually he got it and the shower was framed in but then it was very hard to find the glass that would fit the insert and pass code.  As it was already framed we had to go for it and pay the higher cost of glass but still I would do it again..  

We both really love this shower and the openness really lightens up the room and makes it feel larger. This was a Pinterest design win for us :) 

Christmas 2015, Part II (photo heavy)

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The second part of the holiday was held at our new home.  I put a great deal of pressure on myself offering to host the holiday for the entire family.  Guy and a few friends thought I was crazy to do it but what the heck.  It forced me to get unpacked and the house settled and in doing so we were able to enjoy the day and the rest of the season without that craziness to deal with. We weren't able to do as much decorating as I would like to have done but we were able to at least get the tree up and a few things out mostly in the dining room.

The best part of the day of course was the fact that it was Avery's first Christmas.  It was so fun watching her get all excited over the packages and colors although she had no idea what was happening. We followed gifts up with a yummy meal (at least Avery thought it was) It was such a wonderful day with both my mom and brothers home for the holiday.  So glad we remembered to snap this photo before everyone left.  I don't have many with just us kids, the spouses and mom.

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2015-12-25 18.31.52

2015-12-25 18.31.52