Chicken Noodle Soup

Well hello there! It's been far too long since my last post.

So first, a little update about the blog. As you may have noticed under the recipes section of my site there appears to be no recipes! I just about flipped when I saw this, with thoughts running through my head thinking, "how long has my website been like this?", and "why is this happening, why is there a blank page where all my recipes should reside in one big collection?". Well it turns out the culprit was the implementation of SSL to make my site more secure. Without getting too technical, it basically decided that the bit of code I use to load and log all my recipes from a website called ReciPage was insecure and it is now blocking it from loading. 

This has been a huge headache for me, I even received a nasty email from someone telling me that my site was horrible. Ugh. I am very sorry for any inconvenience this has been, but please be kind. This is my own little corner of the internet and sometimes things go wrong when it comes to technology. 

I'm working diligently on collecting, categorizing, and rebuilding all my recipes on a new dedicated Recipes section for the blog. It wont be fast, but it will be reliable. And in the meantime you can go to the current recipes section and get the recipes to show by clicking on the green lock in the upper left corner of your browser right beside the url bar. A small window will open that looks like this:

Once you have that showing you then click on the little arrow you can see to the far right of that small window. Next you want to click on the button that says, "Disable Protection For Now". This should allow you to view my recipes while I work on getting the page up and running. Of course you can also use the search bar in the right sidebar at the top of every page.

Thank you so much for all patience. If you ever have any questions or suggestions please contact me. Your support means a lot to me! You guys are what helps me keep this blog going. 

Now let's get down to the goods.

This soup. It was so good!!!

Fall and wintry foods have really been speaking to me lately. They're so comforting, easy to prepare, and simple.

This chicken noodle soup is no exception either.

Whether its a case of the sniffles or just another weekday night, there's something magical about chicken soup.

There are so many variations on chicken soup: white chicken chilli, spicy chicken gumbo, chicken minestrone. But a good classic chicken noodle is my favourite. It's perfect for these cold winter months and it comes together quickly. It would be great idea to make it ahead of time and freeze some for busy or lazy weeknights.

This hearty soup is practically a meal in itself.

Chicken Noodle Soup

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 4 cups no-salt added chicken broth
• 2 cups diced russet or baking potato, about 1 large
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 8 ounces cooked chicken, sliced
• 2 ounces uncooked large egg noodles

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic clove; sauté 5 minutes.
2. Sprinkle oregano and thyme over vegetables, and cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, potato, and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, 25 minutes or until potato is tender.
3. Add cooked chicken and egg noodles, and cook 10 minutes or until noodles are tender.

Nutrition Facts

Makes 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups approx.): 208 calories, 1.2g of fat, 0.1g saturated fat, 25.5g of carbs, 4.5g fiber, 4.6g sugar, 463mg sodium, 22.5g of protein

Bonus Nutritional Benefits: Vitamin A 47.5%, Vitamin C 28%, Iron 9.4%

Percentage values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Happy New Year everyone!

Cheesy Snack Crackers

Oh hey there - it's Fall!! Officially on the calendar and physically, temperature wise. It's still mid August in my mind though. I love fall, but we all know what comes after it... and I'm not ready.

Anywho, after receiving a request from a blog reader last week for some healthy savory snacks, I decided to share this cheesy cracker recipe that I've had in the back of mind for some time. I have to wonder why I don't have more savory snacks + things in my recipe archive, because I really do love them. It's something that I will be adding to that's for sure.

The awesome thing about this recipe is that it doesn't take a ton of ingredients (honestly it's under 10) and it's also quick and considerably easy to make!

If you love the flavour of parmesan cheese then go ahead and add it to the recipe like I have. If you don't, or you'd like to make these vegan then it's ok to leave it out entirely. It won't harm the crackers if you do decide to omit it. 

Instead of going for butter I used olive oil to make these crackers healthier and the nutritional yeast is what gives them the slight tinge of orange colour + cheesy taste.

A tasty snack all on their own or maybe with a nice helping of hummus on the side. Either way I hope you enjoy these little crackers! 

Cheesy Snack Crackers

by Jennifer Trennum

Cook Time: 18-22 minutes

Keywords: bake appetizer snack soy-free vegan option spelt flour nutritional yeast

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Ingredients (about 60 small crackers)

• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 Tbsp spelt flour
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup well grated parmesan cheese (I used Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Stir in parmesan. Stir in the olive oil and 1/4 cup of water and mix until dough is combined. If the dough is too dry add 2 more tablespoons of water.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface, dust the top with flour, and roll to 1/8-1/4 inch thickness with a lightly floured rolling pin. Use a knife, pizza cutter or small cut cookie cutter shape to cut the dough into crackers. Gently move each cracker and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until dough is used up, rolling it out again between batches.

Bake for 18-22 minutes, depending on thickness, until crackers are light golden brown. Be sure to keep an eye on them for timing so they don't burn.

Place on a rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

• These crackers freeze well.
• You can either wrap the dough in plastic and place it in the fridge until ready to use, or roll it out immediately.