Chicken Pot Pie Soup

The taste of chicken pot pie, in a soup!

It's a blizzard here today and I'm snowed in! No worries, I have all the ingredients to make this soup and I thought I would share this popular recipe from the archives for those of you who are new followers. Hopefully you'll be inspired to make it this week for your family, trust me you'll be glad you did!

Chicken pot pie is ultimate comfort food and this creamy, chunky soup is loaded with chicken, potatoes, mushrooms, peas, carrots, corn, celery, onions and green beans in every bite. You can modify this with the vegetables you like to suit your taste. If you want to get fancy, you can serve this in hollowed out bread bowls or serve it with cut-out baked pie crust (extra points), but I often make them with these Easy Garlic Cheddar Biscuits.

This recipe requires cooked chicken breast. If you have raw chicken, poach 3 breasts in water for 15 minutes, then remove and dice into bite-sized pieces. This soup is super filling! One cup fills me up, but if you want a larger serving, I posted nutritional info for a larger bowl as well.

Leftovers make a great lunch!!

Blueberry Kale Smoothie

Don't be afraid by the color of this smoothie, I promise it tastes better than it looks! The dark color is from antioxidant rich blueberries and kale (one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet). Black is the new green!

Combined with almond milk, peanut butter, ripe banana and dates, this smoothie is naturally sweet, filling and so good for you!

For those of you on Weight Watchers, I never know if I should count the fruit in my smoothies. Some say no, others say yes. I've decided to count the dates, but not the banana and blueberries – your call!

Here's a helpful tip: When you're bananas are brown, freckled and look like they're ready to be thrown out – peel them, cut them and put them in your freezer, they are perfect in smoothies! Buy organic berries when they go on sale, and freeze them too!

Black eyed Pea Dip

Ring in the New Year with this quick and easy black-eyed pea dip!

Top 25 Most Popular Skinny Recipes 2013

 
Hope everyone's Holidays were filled with warmth, good food and great company. I spent my Holidays surrounded by family and friends and feel very blessed.

Santa was also really good to me and got me a Fitbit One which I'm now totally obsessed with, as well as some new workout clothes from Lululemon (I think you see where I'm going with this). I was cooking up a storm in 2013 testing recipes for both my upcoming cookbook while continuing to post new recipes on my blog each week. There were days I didn't think I would meet my deadline, but I did! The Skinnytaste Cookbook will be out in the Fall of 2014, in the weeks ahead I'll be involved with some of the more creative aspects of the cookbook – the photography, book design and cover designs which I'm so excited about.

As a Christmas gift to myself I also signed up for 10 weeks of personal training which I started last month to keep me in check during the Holidays. I love every minute of them and will probably continue doing it once my 10 sessions are up.

I want to express my gratitude to all of you for being such faithful followers and allowing me to do what I love on a daily basis. Your feedback, emails, comments, the food photos you share with me on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook all make my day and I couldn't imagine doing anything else so thank you!

And now, for the Top 25 Most Popular Skinnytaste Recipes from 2013:

1. Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese
2. Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
3. Cheeseburger Casserole
4. Spicy Cauliflower Buffalo Bites
5. Crock Pot Picadillo
6. Easiest Crock Pot Salsa Verde Chicken
7. Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna Rolls
8. Cauliflower Tots
9. Skinny Mini Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
10. Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Squash Boats with Grilled Chicken
11. Healthy Cookies
12. Crock Pot Turkey Breast with Gravy
13. Crock Pot Kid Friendly Chili
14. Crock Pot Creamy Tomato Soup
15. Taco Stuffed Zucchini Boats
16. Quinoa and Spinach Patties
17. Guacamole Deviled Eggs
18. Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
19. Superfood Triple Berry Chia Pudding
20. Crock Pot Picante Chicken and Black Bean Soup
21. Slow Cooker Jerk Pork with Caribbean Salsa
22. Fiesta Bean Salad
23. Crock Pot Italian Sloppy Joes
24. Crock Pot Sesame Honey Chicken
25. Butternut Squash Black Bean Enchiladas

And if you would like to see what recipes were most popular from the previous 3 years, here are the links:

Top 25 Skinnytaste Recipes 2012
Top 20 Skinnytaste Recipes 2011
Top 20 Skinnytaste Recipes 2010

As 2013 comes to an end I leave you with this: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that’s why they call it the present. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Have a happy, safe, healthy new year!

Chocolate Chip Clouds

Light, airy and chewy with chocolate chips in every bite. These cookies are a must for Santa, we've been making them for years and everyone loves them. Made with egg whites, sugar and chocolate, they are very light, gluten free and just melt in your mouth.

The perfect chocolate treat, and when you make them the night before, they are chewier the next day, which is just how I like them. Hope you enjoy and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Easy Garlic Broccolini

Broccolini, also known as baby broccoli, makes a fantastic, quick side dish and compliments just about anything from beef roasts, lamb, fish, turkey, chicken, lasagna and more. 

It's actually not a younger version of broccoli, but rather a natural hybrid between regular broccoli and a plant called Chinese broccoli. My family prefers it to broccoli and since it takes less time to cook, I make this at least once a week. It has longer, thin stalks with small florets and only needs a few minutes to cook. I make this side dish at least once a week – even my toddler eats it with no complaints!

The best part, it's healthy and ready in under 10 minutes so if you're cooking for the holidays or just a meal for your family and need an easy side dish, this is it! You can double it or halve it as you need.