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Archive for the 'Wise Words' Category

6 Good Things + Some Soup for your Soul

Since I can’t watch the news or look at my Facebook feed without seeing everyone scream at everyone else, I figured maybe we could all use a political breather and a heaping spoonful of goodness. Here are a few things that made my day:

1. Um let’s start with the best and happiest people on the planet who spread unbridled joy to everyone around them: goldens.

Lest I forget my own 4-legged 1st born… probably best to click here for the Insta videos of him hamming it up and sitting in strangers’ laps. He doesn’t care who you voted for; he just cares if you’ve got snacks.

2. This might be the cutest happiest old man I’ve ever seen. I hope I still smile that big when I have no teeth left.

3. Joanna Goddard – the soulful lady behind Cup of Jo (one of the few blogs still in my rotation) – posts these #cupofjoquotes on her Instagram every couple of days and they’re so so good. Here are a few of my faves:

(Caution when reading if you’re PMS-ing.)

(You better believe I’ll be doing this when I have muffins.)

4. The Crest is a gastropub that was down the street from my house in Clintonville when I lived in Columbus. They posted this the other day, and I thought to myself, BLESS – there are still good people in the universe to temper all of this insanity. In a similar fashion, I saw a friend of mine in LA post during the wildfires a few months ago that anyone displaced was welcome to stay with her and her family. Hearts & stars.

5. This quote… which is more a sage reminder than a lotta sunshine & rainbows, but a good one.

And this reminder that we could probably all always use a little extra empathy.

6. This video of a fast food employee in Brazil who saw a disabled man struggling to eat his dinner, and came to sit with him and fed him. I cried.

7. THE EASIEST, HEALTHIEST & MOST DELICIOUS WHITE CHILI RECIPE!

I adapted this last night from a Crockpot White Chicken Chili recipe on Well Plated (that’s Erin’s photo, not mine)… Whenever I think about doing something in the crockpot, it’s usually Sunday afternoon at 2pm aka too late to start something that has to cook for several hours, so I did some tweaking…

  • Subbed out her slow roasted (and prob insanely delicious) crockpot chicken for ground turkey.
  • Dumped half a can of Frontera’s Tomatillo Salsa in instead of chiles cuz I was neck-deep in a marathon round of The Assassination of Gianni Versace on Netflix and way too lazy to go get green chiles.

PS: This broth tastes INSANE – it is so flavorful and so delicious, and took maybe 1.5-2 hours total:

Crockpot White Turkey Chili

yield6 SERVINGS | prep time: 15 MINS | cook time: 2 HRS

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound ground turkey — (I use 93% lean)
  • 2 Tbs salted butter (my addition, because buttah makes everything bettah)
  • 4 cups (32 ounces) Better Than Boullion chicken stock 
  • 1 can butter beans — (15-ounce cans), rinsed and drained
  • 1 can Great Northern Beans — (15-ounce cans), rinsed and drained
  • About 1/2 a jar (8 oz) of Frontera Tomatillo Salsa
  • 3 cloves garlic — minced
  • 1 large shallot or 1 small yellow onion — finely diced
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 3 carrots, sliced paper thin (I use a mandolin)
  • 1/2 bag of fresh spinach
  • Fresh lime wedges
  • For serving — the toppings add important flavor, so LOAD IT UP!: diced jalapeno, diced avocado, nonfat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt, shredded cheese, homemade tortilla chips

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Place ground turkey in the bottom of a crock pot with 2 tablespoons butter. Set to cook on the 4 hr setting (the fastest). Mine always cooks it SUPER fast – e.g., in 1-2 hours.  Check turkey after about an hour, and break apart / mix up so it cooks evenly.
  2. While turkey is cooking, boil water for the boullion / chicken broth.  Then slice your carrots, and run the garlic cloves & shallot thru the food processor.
  3. Once turkey in crock pot is cooked through, top with boullion, carrots, garlic & shallot mixture, white beans, salsa, cumin, oregano, salt, and cayenne. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on medium low for about 20 minutes, until flavors have combined.
  4. Before serving, fold about half a bag of fresh spinach and a cup of cilantro into soup.
  5. Portion into bowls and top with a squeeze of fresh lime juice. I also had sour cream, sliced fresh jalapeños, shredded cheese (habanero would be good, but I like spicy… sharp cheddar works too) and homemade tortilla chips (all you do is quarter fresh corn tortillas, slap on cookie sheet, brush with melted butter and cook at about 375 for 20 minutes until they start to get golden).

Go make yourself some chili and do something nice to help someone.

xoxo,

Wise Words

“Happiness did not feel like I thought it would. It did not find me in a tearful exchange with my mother, or in a sunrise painted with colors so vibrant and exquisite that they seemed to be dancing across the horizon. There was no moment that transcended time and space in which I finally felt that all of my troubles had faded away into the background. Happiness was not an event. It was not a moment. It was a taxing and heartbreaking and pitiful process, but ultimately, it was magnificent, not in the sense of a Hollywood-worthy scene complete with the perfect soundtrack, but in the sense that for the first time in almost three years, I felt as if my life was getting better. In the end, happiness was not a moment or an experience or even an emotion. Happiness was hope.”

Live.to.the.point.of.tears via nearlyglitches via thoughtsforbees