Homemade Chicken Soup for the Soul and things I've Pinned lately...

My last post outlined, in a nutshell, what I've been up to lately.
Or lack of apart from being excited about my pregnancy.

So as promised from one of the pictures as you've probably guessed it's the recipe for that delish chicken soup!

Ingredients

1 size 18 chicken *preferably free range
1 of each King Soup mix (or what ever you swear by) Hearty Veges and Chicken
1 Campbell's liquid chicken stock
4 measured cups of hot water
3 med sized red potatoes w/skin on, diced
1 leek sliced
1/2 grated turnip
1 med carrot, grated
2 tbsp rock salt and cracked pepper
1 crock pot on high heat

Step 1

Turn crock pot on and add in the water, chicken stock, soup mix and salt and pepper.
Stir then place the chicken in and cover
Allow to cook for 2 hours then combine all the veges and add in some extra salt.

*feel free to add as many veges as you like! My pot was small so I couldn't fit in broccoli, pumpkin and cauliflower.

Step 2

Leave the soup to cook for 2 1/2 hours and serve with sliced baguette and butter, easy as that!

*The soup does tend to thicken more if you feel it is too soupy to begin with. So leave it overnight and you'll notice the change in consistency and flavour!

From left to right.
Yummy wholesome veges! The chicken after cooking for two hours.
Adding in the veges.
The soup after sitting overnight, thicken and totally irresistible!

My mum taught me how to make this soup. It was so much fun making it with her too.
She's great with simple meals that pack a punch and I can't wait to teach my little one one day :-)

Also here's some pics that I pinned on my Pinterest account the last week

Yummy sugar and cinnamon pancakes!

Love the simplicity of the makeup with a standout orange pout

True words

Beautiful soft home decor

can't resist pinning a beautiful statement necklace!

So back on you my lovelies, do you have any great recipes that have been handed down that's you're 'never fail'?
And are any of you on Pinterest? If so, please give me a link to you're account and let's follow each other! :-)

Hope to hear from you!
Much love

XOXOX

Why hello there....

Hey everyone!

I know it's been a while since I've written, trust me there hasn't been anything too exciting to post about unless you wanna hear about my day at work LOL!

But seriously here's what I've been up to the last month besides work via pic's...

An awesome 1920's themed party Andrei and I went to for a friend who left for Australia

Winter has finally hit N.Z so it seemed plausible to make some homemade chicken soup! *recipe to follow

Watched the latest Iron Man movie in 3D! Was worth the money, had great laughs and awesome action plus delivered an a great story line as always :-)

Details on a new top I purchased from this cool hidden store in the city called 'Smoove As Fuck'. I kid you not that's the name!

My lovely new pair of winter boots to wear at work! They're so comfy I feel like there isn't even a heel!

I've lost weight! Around this time last year I was 70kg, so I've lost 10 in total! I'm now as it shows above (132lbs) and couldn't be happier, I trained friggin hard for it!

So yeah, nothing much in the ways of awesomeness besides some cool purchases and my weight loss achievement.

Although...I feel I'm forgetting something.....

Oh that's right!
Just two weeks ago I found out that I'm PREGNANT!

I can hardly believe it, it's still so surreal and definitely explains alot of how I've been feeling lately!
I'm very excited and it totally took Andrei and I by surprise, we both thought we'd never have kids just cause of the fact we were so used to it just being us but we're over the moon!

Here are a few snippets of what's been happening since we found out :-)

My first test I took was positive so I didn't feel the need to freak out and take another one. Whenever I've had 'scares' this has never happened!

First scan which was done last week was amazing! Baby already has a little heart beat :-)

close up of my little jelly bean *that will be his/her name until we know the sex

I was heading out to the gym this morning and thought it'll be good to document the changes with my body.  As you can see there isn't anything yet but obviously there will be!

I've also taken the liberty of grabbing a pregnancy documentation of how I'm feeling etc from one of my fave blogs Veronika's Blushing as she's also expecting (in two weeks apparently!), so here's the scoop!

How far along? 6.5 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I've lost 1kg.
 
Maternity clothes? None at the moment. I will be needing to by some new jeans though as the ones I have are too loose.

Stretch marks? None. I'm making sure after every shower I moisterise my body with body butters that I have from The Body Shop. Once I run out then I'll be using Bio Oil. 
Symptoms: Tiredness, tiredness and more tiredness! I slept for 15hours last night and it still doesn't feel enough! I get light headed and dizzy easily too and I get very light to no morning sickness. It comes and goes every 2days.

Sleep: Like I mentioned above, I don't feel comfy sleeping on my belly anymore.

Best moment this week: Getting to sleep in!

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Having energy and being less tired. I've read it subsides after the first trimester. I pray to god it does!

Movement: No movement yet but I do feel the little one tense up when I stress or do little flips when I'm happy which is cute!

Food cravings: Nothing out of the norm. I'm not eating like I used to I.E. junk food as it makes me feel quite sick now so I'm eating incredibly healthy and watching and reading about what is and what isn't good to eat while I'm pregnant.

Have you started to show yet: Nothing yet as per the photo above. I tend to have a little bump later in the day/evening though.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! And I have a lovely glow already which has attracted A LOT of attention which is nice :-) I do however get grumpy when I'm hungry and it was never an issue before.
Exercising? Yes. I'm making sure I go at least 3days a week, 45mins to an hour each time. I've cut back on a lot of things I used to do and I've stopped working on my tummy focusing more on my chest, arms, legs, bum and posture.

Baby is a: Have no idea yet! But I feel like it's a boy...

Belly Button in or out? In.

Looking forward to: Looking for a midwife, birthing hospital, my 12week scan and organising my baby shower and maternity shots!

So that's me for now, I feel so blessed and lucky in this moment.
All our friends and family have given nothing but great feedback and Andrei's going to make a fantastic daddy :-)

I'll keep you posted on more later, hope you enjoyed my latest!

XOXOX