Chicken Soup (without noodles)

We've been running into some resistance dressing our toddler lately. Juliette has developed her own opinions about clothing and accessories and they are strong. One thing we do to try to alleviate some of this is to pick out clothes the night before, to help her mentally prepare.

The other night, we picked out some purple leggings together, and when I asked if she wanted to wear a particular shirt with it, she replied, "yeah, that would be cool."

Oh me. A teenager of a toddler.


In other news, Jonathan and I are giving up bread this week (and other similar carbs like rice, pasta, corn, etc). I am not the best at meal-planning (as I've mentioned 23902394 times), so when I was thinking of a dinner to start the week off, this is what came to mind since I just made it week before last.

The first time I didn't use kale (because we were out), but tonight when I made it again, I added kale since we had some on hand for a little boost, and it was a wonderful addition.

I found this recipe from one of my favorite blogs of late, Lesley Graham. In it, she uses a rotisserie chicken for a bit of a shortcut (yea, shortcuts!). Queen of shortcuts, allow me to take this one a step further.

Over the holidays, my sisters-in-law and I were making ourselves dinner of leftovers one night--leftovers including some barbecue pulled chicken from my favorite local barbecue restaurant, Central BBQ. We ended up making a fantastic salad with the chicken, some leftover "Texas caviar," fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, I can't remember what else. But anyway, that experience gave me the idea of just ordering just a pound of Central's pulled chicken to use in a regular recipe at home. This soup is the perfect occasion for such an order.

This recipe is easy to put together after I get home from work, though I can't get it ready in time for Molly (I only have about 20-25 minutes), though she did like munching on some of the chicken. Jules enjoyed a little bowl after their bath (full disclosure, she handed Jonathan her carrots).

Simple No-Noodle Chicken Soup
adapted from here

you need:

2-ish cups chicken (I used not quite 1 lb chopped pulled chicken from our local bbq restaurant)
olive oil or butter
1 chopped onion (I used my favorite frozen chopped onions, no judgment here)
1 T minced garlic
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/4 t dried thyme
1/2 c dry white wine (or chicken broth/stock if you're out)
6-8 cups chicken stock
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup chopped kale
salt and pepper

Cook onions and garlic in about 1 T olive oil or butter. Stir in the thyme and cook about 5-7 minutes. Add the wine and cook another few minutes. Then add the stock, bouillon cube, chicken, celery, and carrots. Simmer until veggies are soft, about 25 minutes. Throw in the kale about halfway through, and add freshly ground pepper and a little salt before serving.


So simple, healthy, and SO delicious! Maybe I will have time someday to roast garlic bulbs like the original recipe calls for (sounds so good!), but it is perfectly yummy without it if you don't have time. Depending on how fast you can chop, this is easy to get on the stove and have on the table within an hour, easy! If you wanted to make it a little more filling, brown rice would be a good addition.


PS - If you have any great carb-free dinner ideas, feel free to send them our way!