Soup season is here

 It is officially soup season here in the Midwest! Colder weather means I get to "acceptably" wear my sweaters and leggings & my all the warm comfy foods like soups, chili's and roasts. Don't get me wrong, grilling season is my jam as well.. but, there is something special about the aromatics that flow through the house when using the dutch oven to slow simmer a nice soup (pardon my drool). This evening I made a cream of chicken and gnocchi soup. This was my first time making it. I used the recipe from The Recipe Critic  as a starting point for my soup. While the recipe calls for a pre-cooked chicken, I chose to bake my own chicken breast in my Toshiba Toaster Oven, on 350 for 45 min, flipping half way through. I let it cool down a bit, then shredded it I chopped up the onions, spinach, garlic, celery and fresh thyme. Side note: I really need to order a food processor.. I spend SO much time chopping in this kitchen, it's nuts. The kitchen is legit the only place that I do not regularly use my all time motto "work smarter, not harder" & this needs to change. 

       

It's midterm week for this life-long student.. so I try to utilize any downtime to multitask and get some homework done. Therefore, I utilized simmering time as homework time. With coffee in hand, of course.  All in all.. I would give this a 7/10. I used less then the called-for amount of celery and shredded carrots because we are not huge fans in our house, and still I felt like there was too many. I also feel like the celery and carrots could've been cooked down a lot more if added in the beginning when cooking the onions and garlic, this would've left them a loft softer and less in-your-face. 

With the holidays just around the corner, school and sports in full swing, business adventures and much more, we are bound to be quite busy around here and I cannot wait to share all of our recipes, decor, crafts and activities with you all!