Chicken Soup

Lemon Dill Chicken Orzo Soup

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I am going through a soup season in life right now. I have always been partial to soup but lately I have really been craving warmth. Fuzzy slippers, flannel pants, seat heaters, you name it. I’ve never been big on hot tubs (aesthetically or hygienically) but I’ve recently found myself day dreaming about them on more than one occasion. This can maybe be attributed to the fact that after replacing our hot water heater upon moving in, our shower, much to my dismay, just doesn’t get very hot 😦 Is there anything worse than a ‘warm’ shower? The answer to this is of course yes, there are about a million worse things and this is a total first world problem…I know…. but when I’m standing under that less-than-hot spray, the burn your feet off jacuzzi day dreams come on STRONG.

Veggies

So, if I can’t have a hot shower, at least I can have hot soup, right? Or perhaps I can use the hot soup to bribe my husband into calling the plumber again. You reading this babe? I think I’m on to something.

This soup is loosely based on a recipe my mom clipped out of the newspaper and became obsessed with a few years back. Hers was delicious, but I think mine is heartier. If you aren’t into orzo you could use rice (or pearl cous cous) and it would still be equally as yummy. The feta is also optional but adds a little something something I would hate to see go.

Soup with Feta
Beautiful? No. Delicious? Yes.

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The Easiest Way to Shred Chicken EVER & Musings on Life

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Happy Belated President’s Day! I celebrated the under appreciated holiday by attending a Professional Development Day at school. Sitting through seminars isn’t really much of a celebration at all so if you were lucky enough to be off I sure hope you enjoyed it!

Even though my holiday was less than, I have had a pretty enjoyable last couple of weeks. I got to catch up with my girlfriends from graduate school at a speech convention. Then Robert and I attended the lovely wedding of a family friend complete with an Elvis impersonator which was pretty entertaining to say the least.

After that I got to spend a few days in Charleston visiting and volunteering with my Aunt Vanessa. She is my decorating guru and we have very similar interests in cooking and healthy eating so time spent with her is always lots of fun (and tasty!). We shopped, enjoyed a lot of delicious meals out, a few delicious meals in (including these delectable overnight oats topped with agave, fresh fruit and freshly ground nutmeg…drool!)

oats

*Has anyone ever seen a nutmeg grinder? This was new to me and I think I need one…

AND last but not least, milkshakes from a magical milkshake machine!

You choose your flavor, pop the top off and the machine sucks your cup up and returns a perfectly thick milkshake to you. So. Good. Thankfully I don’t know where one of these exists in Hilton Head or otherwise I’d be in trouble.

We did do more than just eat (hard to believe, I know). We also spent Friday evening volunteering at an event at Vanessa’s church called Night to Shine. Night to Shine is sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation and is an amazing prom night experience for individuals with special needs. There’s dinner, dancing, a red carpet, limo rides, paparazzi photos, make up and shoe shines, literally everything you can imagine to make the attendees feel like Kings and Queens. Vanessa and I were food servers which was wonderful since we got to interact with many of the adults as we served them their meal. It was truly a magical night and I can’t wait to volunteer again next year. If you hear of this event taking place in your area and you have a heart for people with differing abilities I HIGHLY encourage you to find a way to help out. You will not regret it!

I came back from that trip to Charleston with a renewed desire to cook! I love to cook, but after a sad December and thus a few weeks feeling awful mentally and physically and doing minimal cooking, I really hadn’t had a huge drive to get back in the kitchen. It was exciting to finally be feeling like myself again. My immediate thoughts were, ‘Oh hello old friend! I’ve missed you! Let’s make something!’ But then the age old question, what exactly to make?

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