Unplanned Rest Week, Soup Lovin, & Homemade Quinoa Wedding Soup!

April 13, 2015 -
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What’s up everyone! Yes, I have been MIA. I got hit last weekend with a stomach virus that totally wiped me out for the whole entire week.

Sunday morning (last weekend) I woke up with a weird stomach feeling, took one look at Sunday brunch, & boom – lost my appetite. 

Spent the rest of Easter in my bed and was extremely fatigued for about 5 days afterwards. I went to the Doctor Wednesday of last week because I had never been so tired after being sick and basically I found out a virus can take up to 10 days or so for your body to get back to normal.

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I am happy to say (while simultaneously knocking on wood) that I feel human again! My appetite is almost 100% from days of only being able to stomach apples & PB, crackers, & soup.

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I unfortunately had to postpone some fun events last week BUT I am all about putting my 100% self into something and since I was only feeling about 45% of myself until Saturday, it was the best idea to postpone.

With that being said, there was no gym time happening for this girl. My body was truly in REST MODE (aka an unplanned #restweek) & I knew that if I really wanted to get over this thing for good, I had to listen. (plus, the thought of training made me nauseous…for real. That’s when you know I’m sick.)

Although last week wasn’t the highlight of my life…I did end up rekindling an old love.

Wedding Soup – you are soo good.

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I actually should’ve titled this post “a week of soups” because I’m pretty sure I tried them all last week.

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Panera Bread Broth Bowl with Chicken, Lentils, & Quinoa – my go to!

The other night I ordered a few Wedding Soups to go from a local restaurant and instantly was inspired to go make my own to have for a few days.

I looked up a bunch of recipes on Pinterest & ended up putting my own twist on one.

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So simple & great to have on hand for meals! This made well over 12-15 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 64 oz of Stock (I used Organic Chicken Stock but veggie & half beef/half chicken would work as well)
  • A Bunch of Carrots (A literal “bunch” at Whole Foods was about 6-8 carrots)
  • 1 Large Sweet Onion
  • 1 Bag Of Greens (You can use spinach but I used a mixed green)
  • 1 Bag of Frozen Organic Turkey Meatballs (I found these at Whole Foods in the freezer section. They did not have small meatballs so I got the large ones and then cut them in half.)
  • 1 Cup Of Dry Quinoa (rinsed if the bag calls for you to do that)
  • 2 Tablespoons of Oil (I used Avocado Oil but Olive works too!)
  • 1 TB Onion Powder
  • 1/2 TB Garlic Powder
  • 1.5 TB Minced Garlic
  • Salt & Pepper To Taste

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Directions:

  1. Cook your meatballs however your directions tell you. Mine were to be in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350.
  2. Once meatballs were cooked, I removed them from the oven and cut them into halves & set to the side.
  3. In a large soup pan, heat 2 TB of oil on medium heat and add your minced garlic.
  4. While that heats up, chop your onion & carrots into small chunks.
  5. Add your onions & carrots to the soup pan & cook on medium-high heat until onions are translucent.
  6. Once cooked through, add your chicken stock, onion powder, garlic powder, salt & pepper (to taste), & meatballs.
  7. Let cook for about 15-20 minutes before adding in your dry quinoa and greens.
  8. Once quinoa & greens are added, your soup is good to go! I let mine simmer for about an hour as I was cleaning & it was perfecto.

Soups are so easy & I can definitely see myself making them often once Corey & I are living together. Even on the first beautiful day around 70 degrees yesterday, I still was craving my soup!

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I also had a delicious glass of Steaz green tea with raspberries to wash it down in between cleaning my car & cleaning out closets (oh the beauty of moving) and finding all of your old high school pictures!

With the warmer weather starting & now feeling better, I’m all about those good vibes.  Isn’t that glass adorable? I found it at Target!

I’m off to get some work done before I teach later – have a great start to your week guys!

Be true to you,

xo Kasey

 

 

What’s your favorite soup??

Growing up, my Grandparents made amazing homemade soup and would store it in the freezer for when we came over for dinner. Veggie, barley, potato – you name it.