Chicken Enchilada Soup Recipe

12 Nov By Leave a Comment

I’m probably going to say this a million times in this post, but this chicken enchilada soup is amazing. It’s filling too. I’m not sure where you live, but here in Michigan, it feels like winter. With the windchill, it was 24 degrees today. So total soup weather. This chicken enchilada soup is filling and the best part is, if you are following Weight Watchers (WW), it is zero SmartPoints for one serving.

*This post may contain affiliate links*

chicken enchilada soup

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Chicken Enchilada Soup

Delicious recipe for chicken enchilada soup. Can be made in your slow cooker or on the stovetop. 0 SmartPoints on Weight Watchers!

Course Main Course, Soup
Keyword chicken enchilada soup, crockpot, slow cooker
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 12 People

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast
  • 10 oz Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce, Hot
  • 11 oz Canned Corn
  • 4 1/2 oz Old El Paso Green Chilies, mild, chopped
  • 29 oz No Salt Added Diced Tomatoes (2 14.5 oz cans)
  • 15 oz Black Beans drained and rinsed
  • 1 med Onion chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp Minced Garlic
  • 3 tsp Taco Seasoning
  • 1 cup Fat Free Chicken Broth
  • 1 cup Plain Fat Free Greek Yogurt

Instructions

  1. You have the option of using either the stovetop or your slow cooker. Place your chicken breasts (raw) in the slow cooker or stock pot.

  2. Add ALL of the other ingredients, but the plain fat free Greek yogurt. Stir.

  3. If you are using the stovetop, bring your soup to a slow boil and then turn on low. I used the "simmer select" option on my stove. Allow it to simmer for about 65 minutes. 

    If you are using your slow cooker, cook on high for 4 hours or low for about 8 hours.

  4. Check to make sure your chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken from the stock pot or slow cooker and shred. Add it back to the pot/slow cooker.

  5. Stir in your plain fat free Greek yogurt and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

*Each serving is 1 cup.

You guys…it’s so good. I was texting my cousin and she asked me if I thought it would be good without the greek yogurt (she likes more brothy type soups). To be honest, it was good, and I would eat it either way, but it was WAY better with the Greek yogurt. If you are thinking, “ew, I don’t want to use Greek yogurt”, I think you could totally use heavy whipping cream. I use that in my Chorizo Chicken Soup Recipe and it’s amazing too.

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This Chicken Enchilada Soup is 0 pts on WW

For my Weight Watchers people, this chicken enchilada soup is 0 SmartPoints for 1 serving. With that said, if you choose to eat 2 servings (so 2 cups), and I can’t blame you…it’s that good, then it is 1 point. So technically, this recipe works out to 1/2 a point. But even at 1 point for 2 cups, that’s a good deal! This soup is super filling!

This chicken enchilada soup is definitely a recipe that you want to keep the ingredients on hand. I made it today and everyone in my house had a bowl of it and there is not much left. That makes me very sad! I think what I will do next time is double the recipe and freeze some of it. This is an excellent freezer soup recipe!

Other WW Recipes You May Like

I love making WW friendly recipes. Other recipes you will want to check out are:


Helpful Tips for Kids with Braces

9 Nov By Leave a Comment

When parents hear the words, “you may want to consider getting your child an appoint with an orthodontist”, they probably cringe. Not only is it a TON of money for orthodontic work, but lets face it, it’s a pain in the butt having to hound your kids to follow the braces directions. I’ve already been through braces with my son, now we are embarking on that journey with my daughter. Here are some helpful tips for kids with braces.

*This post may contain affiliate links*

kids with braces

Image via Pexels by Pietro Jeng

Did You Get Multiple Quotes?

If you’re like me, you got many different quotes for braces for your kids. Your quotes probably ranged from $3500 to $6500. Lucky me, my sons braces cost us over $6000. The frustrating part…you pay all this money to fix the teeth in their mouth, yet it does nothing for the actual teenage mouth! I’d totally pay extra to fix that teenage mouth! All joking aside, get multiple quotes.

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Agree with the Treatment Plan

This probably seems obvious, but you wouldn’t believe how some people just go with everything and don’t ask questions. My son had a very narrow jaw and barely any room in his mouth for his teeth. One consultation we went on, the orthodontist wanted to pull 6 adult teeth to make room for the rest of his teeth. That did not make sense to me. The next consultation wanted to use an expander. That made sense to me and we ended up going with that office.

kids with braces
This week, my daughter got braces. She is one of those crazy kids that is super excited to have them! She thinks it’s fun to be able to pick different colors for the brackets. It’s hard to tell in this picture, but she went with dark green. Dark green is the color for her travel soccer team!

Waterpik Aquarius Professional Water Flosser Designer Series, Black, WP-672Waterpik Aquarius Professional Water Flosser Designer Series, Black, WP-672Waterpik Aquarius Professional Water Flosser Designer Series, Black, WP-672

Braces are really no fun for anyone involved. They are no fun for parents having to pay the bill and they are no fun for kids going through the treatment. These tips for kids with braces are things I have found, either from my personal experience with braces or from my kids experience, that have helped us get through the different stages of treatment.

Tips, Tips, and More Tips

  1. Flossing – Such an important aspect of taking care of our teeth. Probably more so when we have braces. Food gets stuck around the brackets, in between the teeth, and just sit and fester. Not good. The ortho will give you flossers that you thread under the wire to floss your teeth. They are time consuming and really hard to get right. Your best bet…get a Waterpikkids with braces. They are amazing and work so much better than floss.
  2. Mouthwash – There is a mouthwash by ACT that is specifically for braces. It has aloe in it to help soothe the gums. Get it! I found ours at Walmart.
  3. Wax – Pick up some dental wax for braces (in the toothbrush section of the store). It takes a bit for kids to get used to having the brackets on their teeth. There will be some rubbing on the gums. The wax helps kids with braces by placing the wax on the area that is rubbing funny.
  4. Eating Tip #1 – Soft foods are your friend. The first three days after they get them on and after each adjustment, are the worst. I always got my kids ice cream the first day. After that, soft foods are easiest for them.
  5. Eating Tip #2 – If you are eating finger foods, break the food with your fingers into bites or cut with a fork and knife. The last thing you want to do is pop a bracket off or get food stuck in your braces at school. My husband has been making my daughters lunch for school and he cuts her sandwich into strips so it’s easier for her to break bites off.
  6. Good Foods vs Bad Foods – It stinks to not be able to eat your favorite things. Make sure to have good foods available. Foods like fruit you don’t have to bite into, soft Nutri-Grain bars, etc. Things like chips, popcorn and sticky foods are no no’s.

Sound Helpful?

These six tips have been super helpful for my kids. Especially the Waterpik. I highly recommend that. At any rate, the hardest part (at least I think so) is getting the kids to not eat the foods that are banned and getting them to wear those rubber bands. I’m really hoping things go smoother for me (and my daughter) this time around. My son gave me a run for my money!

What are your best tips for kids with braces?


Gluten Free Jam Thumbprint Cookies

8 Nov By Leave a Comment

This Thanksgiving, I volunteered to bring a few gluten free desserts. I figured I would make cookies and brownies (I am NOT good at making pies). Once I said I would bring cookies, I knew I wanted to bring jam thumbprint cookies. I hadn’t had them in years and they used to be a favorite of mine. However, I didn’t want to just make them the day before Thanksgiving without doing a trial run. So I made some gluten free jam thumbprint cookies today!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

jam thumbprint cookies

jam thumbprint cookies
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Gluten Free Jam Thumbprint Cookies

Buttery jam thumbprint cookies. Delicious and gluten free!

Course Dessert, Snack
Keyword cookies
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 13 minutes
Cool 10 minutes
Total Time 23 minutes
Servings 24

Ingredients

  • 1 Cup Butter softened
  • 2/3 Cup Powdered Sugar
  • 2 large Egg Yolks
  • 2 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/4 tsp Salt
  • 2 1/2 Cup Gluten Free Flour
  • 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
  • Your favorite seedless jam

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper. 

  2. Using your hand mixer, beat your butter until it is light and fluffy. Next add your egg yolk, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix after each new addition.

  3. Add your gluten free flour. Rather than using your hand mixer to mix this, it is much better to wash your hands (or wear gloves) and mix the cookie dough with your hands. The dough is dry. Just keeping mixing it all together. 

  4. Using a tablespoon or cookie scoop, take 1 tablespoon of cookie dough and roll into a ball with your hands. Next roll in the granulated sugar, making sure to cover all sides with sugar. Place on your baking sheet and press your finger in the center to make a little well. Add your favorite seedless jam to each well.

  5. Place your baking sheet in the oven and bake for 12-13 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool longer.

Recipe Notes

*If your gluten free flour does not contain xanthan gum, add 1 tsp to your mix.

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These jam thumbprint cookies are amazing! They are buttery and melt in your mouth. My kids, who are hyper critical of everything and have no problem telling me what they think, thought they were delicious. Once piece of advice though. Don’t overflow the cookies with the jam. It will bubble over and make a mess!

Jam Thumbprint Cookies Tips

Aside from the obvious tip of not putting too much jam in the cookie, a few other tips I have are:

  1. Definitely use a cookie scoop. It is imperative that these cookies are all the same size so they cook evenly.
  2. Don’t overcook the cookies. In my oven it took 13 minutes. You want to take them out as they are just about to brown the edges. Keeping them on the cookie sheet for ten minutes will allow them to cook a tiny bit more.
  3. For a more uniform look, you can use a dowel rod to make the little well so they are all the same.

FYI…if you are following Weight Watchers, like I am, I put this recipe in the recipe builder and each cookie is 5 points.

What are your favorite type of cookies?


DIY Swimmers Bedroom Design

7 Nov By Leave a Comment

My husband and I are currently looking at new houses. We’ve wanted to move for the last 10 years. We’ve been in our current house for 15 years and when we moved in, we said we were only staying for five years. You can see how well that worked out! I’ve been into so many models. Some we like and some we don’t like at all. However, the best part is seeing how the different rooms are decorated. Recently, I saw an awesome bedroom with a swimmer theme. This DIY swimmers bedroom design is the best I’ve seen lately!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

swimmers bedroom
Growing up, I was a competitive swimmer. I pretty much swam 5-6 days a week. My weekends were spent at swim meets all over the place. As my kids got older and they were starting to play sports, I really hoped and prayed I would get a swimmer out of one of them. Sadly, they were too into every other sport BUT swimming! Oh well! Maybe one of my grandkids one day!

DIY Swimmers Bedroom Ideas

So…as I was saying, we have been spending a lot of time checking out different model homes. This swimmers bedroom really caught my eye. I have scoured the internet trying to find that wallpaper behind the bed. While I haven’t found that particular wallpaper, I did find this one that is super cute and would look perfect on that wall too!

Wall Decal Swim Swimmer Water Sport Girl Teen Cool Decor For Bedroom VS2751Wall Decal Swim Swimmer Water Sport Girl Teen Cool Decor For Bedroom VS2751Wall Decal Swim Swimmer Water Sport Girl Teen Cool Decor For Bedroom VS2751THE POOL IS MY HAPPY PLACE Wood 12x12 Box Sign by Sixtrees -THE POOL IS MY HAPPY PLACE Wood 12×12 Box Sign by Sixtrees –THE POOL IS MY HAPPY PLACE Wood 12x12 Box Sign by Sixtrees -BEIGU Swimmer Visual Lamp 3D Effect Optical Beside Illusion Lamp with Base 7 Colors Changing Light Bedside Decoration for Boy Adult Birthday GiftBEIGU Swimmer Visual Lamp 3D Effect Optical Beside Illusion Lamp with Base 7 Colors Changing Light Bedside Decoration for Boy Adult Birthday GiftBEIGU Swimmer Visual Lamp 3D Effect Optical Beside Illusion Lamp with Base 7 Colors Changing Light Bedside Decoration for Boy Adult Birthday Gift

While the wallpaper in the room is super cool, what I really liked was the ceiling!

swimmers bedroom

For the non-swimmers out there, what is on the ceiling mimics the bottom of a competitive swimming pool! Each individual lane has those lines. I think they would be super simple to make. With a little help, hanging them shouldn’t be too difficult either!

Decorating your Swimmers Bedroom

There are so many swimming related motivational posters out there. They would be great to hang on the wall. Like the model home bedroom, I would choose various shades of blue to decorate the room with pops of color.

Hollywood Thread I Can Fly Swimming Butterfly Icon Swimmer Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread I Can Fly Swimming Butterfly Icon Swimmer Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread I Can Fly Swimming Butterfly Icon Swimmer Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread Chlorine Is My Cologne - Swimmer Swimming Graphic Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread Chlorine Is My Cologne – Swimmer Swimming Graphic Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread Chlorine Is My Cologne - Swimmer Swimming Graphic Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread Chlorine Is My Perfume - Swimmer Swimming Graphic Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread Chlorine Is My Perfume – Swimmer Swimming Graphic Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with InsertHollywood Thread Chlorine Is My Perfume - Swimmer Swimming Graphic Decorative Linen Throw Cushion Pillow Case with Insert

Isn’t this cute?!? What do you think?

If your kids aren’t swimmers, but play another sport or are into some other kind of hobby (reading, writing, art, etc), what kind of theme room would you do for them?


5 Mashed Potato Alternatives for Thanksgiving

6 Nov By Leave a Comment

I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Ever since my husband and I got married, we’ve alternated years. This year we are spending it with his family and there will be like 60+ people there. Not even joking. It’s so much fun to sit, eat and just enjoy each others company. The food is always amazing. I truly look forward to all of it. If you are just starting to plan your menu and you want a few new recipes or alternatives to the traditional side dishes, then you will want to check out these 5 mashed potato alternatives for Thanksgiving!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

mashed potato alternatives

Planning the Perfect Thanksgiving

If you are anything like me, when you are hosting a holiday, you start planning WAY in advance. While I am not hosting this year, next year I will be and yes…I am already thinking about it! Last year, when my husband and I were following the Keto diet, we made sure that EVERYTHING (or nearly everything) we made for Thanksgiving was Keto approved. Everyone that came to our house that year really enjoyed the food. When you put a lot of thought into the planning, you can’t go wrong!

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Yes…I realize mashed potatoes are a Thanksgiving staple. However, if you would like to shake things up a bit and have something slightly different, then one (or more) of these mashed potato alternatives are for you! Or…if you think your guests will go nuts if they don’t have mashed potatoes…make both! But I’m telling you, these alternative recipes are amazing!

Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

If you are like me and you are looking for a less starchy option to mashed potatoes, then my garlic mashed cauliflower is the recipe for you. It is amazing! The consistency is very similar to mashed potatoes, but it’s a lot better for you. That is, if you are watching carbs like I am. Even my kids tasted it and liked it!

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Twice Baked Potatoes

If cauliflower as a potato substitute is not your thing, I get it. It’s definitely not for everyone. If you are having a smaller get together for the holidays, then these twice baked potatoes by Emily Enchanted are perfect! They are super easy to make and you can make them ahead of the holidays for a little easy pre-holiday prep!

Cheesy Potato Casserole

If there is one thing that is a standard Thanksgiving food, it’s a casserole of some sort. This cheesy potato casserole by The Salty Side Dish is an excellent mashed potato alternative! Not only does it look super simple to make, and it’s full of flavor, but it’s another recipe that I would put together ahead of time. All I would need to do is pop it in the oven on Thanksgiving!

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Thanksgiving Loaded Potatoes

I have a couple more mashed potato alternatives for you! This next recipe, by Rocky Mountain Savings, mixes two Thanksgiving staples…potatoes and stuffing! Sounds good already, doesn’t it? These Thanksgiving loaded potatoes take the traditional baked potato and jumps it up a notch with the addition of stuffing (and a few other tasty ingredients).

Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole

One of my favorite recipes of all time is a good cheesy hash brown casserole. This delicious cheesy hash brown casserole recipe by Cosmopolitan Cornbread has a few ingredients that I’ve never had in similar casseroles before and I bet those additions are amazing! I guarantee you, if you make this as one of your mashed potato alternatives this Thanksgiving, your family and friends will not even notice that mashed potatoes are missing!

So…what are your favorite mashed potato alternatives?

Other Thanksgiving recipes you may enjoy are: