Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup + Zombie 5K

Well helloooo! How are you on this Monday? I'm not going to lie, Monday came much too fast for me :) I had a great weekend though! On Friday we went out for our good friend's birthday, Saturday I had a girls day and sleepover with my sisters and Sunday was Shaun's cousin's birthday party.

Whew! Can you tell why I'm exhausted?!

So I was reading an article on CNN about the Run For Your Lives 5K. Have you heard of this? It's a 5K in which people dressed up as zombies chase you while you are running, not to mention various spooky obstacles throughout the course. How's that for motivation?! I think this idea is so fun and kind of hilarious. It hasn't come to New York or New Jersey yet, but the next one coming up will be in Massachussetts.

You know I love zombies, so I'd be all about it.

Would you run the zombie chase 5K?

Meanwhile, it's supposed to be a chilly one in the northeast today and so I thought it was about time to share some soup. I realized that I never told you about this delicious cheesy chicken tortilla soup from a few weeks back.

I love this soup. It's a little high in points, but perfect for an indulgent dinner when you are still trying to keep close to your diet. It's so warm, so comforting and I'm really wish that I had a batch waiting for me today.

It's filled with cheese, chicken, bell peppers and onions and topped with a few crumbled tortilla chips and sour cream. Yum

Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Serves 6; about 1 1/2 C per serving

9 WW Points+ per serving

1 tsp olive oil
1 bell pepper, diced
1 onion, finely diced
2 Tbsp margarine
1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 C fat-free milk
3 C fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp half-and-half
1 1/2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
14 oz can diced tomatoes with chiles
2 1/2 C reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded
kosher salt
pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
tortilla chips, for topping
sour cream, for topping

In the bottom of a stock pot, heat the oil over medium heat and add the peppers and onions. Saute until soft.

Next, add the margarine and melt. Whisk in the flour until combined. Cook for about a minute, but don't let it burn.

Whisk in the chicken broth and milk and bring to a light boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Once simmering, lower the heat stir in the cheese and half and half. Stir until completely melted and combined.

Pour in the chicken and diced tomatoes and mix. Season with salt, pepper and chili powder. Adjust any spices as you'd like. If you like it spicy, add some cayenne pepper.

 

Serve in bowls and top with a dollop of sour cream and 2-3 crushed tortilla chips.

So what do you think?

Do you like hearty soups like this?

Would you ever run the zombie 5K

How did you spend your weekend?

psst...I'm going on about my new nail polish finds on The Peach & The Pit so hop on over to check it out!

Halloween Party, Zombies + Brownie Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!

I can't believe that October is coming to a close. We had such a fun weekend and got all zombied up for a giant Halloween party in our apatment building. It was so nice to not have to leave the building (especially in the crazy snow) and the party was amazing! We had expected around 200 people to attend. The party room was packed with people, food, booze, music and creative costumes. As I've mentioned, Shaun and I were zombies for the party. Here's the big costume reveal:

make up close upWe homemade our costumes, which was extra fun. Shaun tattered a suit he picked up at Goodwill, and we used these zombie kits (plus some real make up for me) to get it done...

We had some amazing sponsors for this event. Local restaurants in Jersey City donated food and raffle prizes, which really made the whole thing. Boca Grande, our favorite JC Mexican spot for their amazing empanadas, fresh tortilla chips and fantastic margs, donated gift cards to be raffled, along with trays of flautas and empanadas. I'm pretty sure Shaun and I downed a tray of flautas ourselves :)

Michael Anthony's, an Italian restaurant on the Hudson in JC, which we frequent on many a Friday evening for their spectacular views, sports-showing televisions, and delicious Italian food, donated trays of pasta and 2 gift cards as raffle prizes.

 

Skinner's Loft, one of my personal favorite spots in Jersey City for its cozy bar vibe (I just want to curl up there with a glass of wine and look out onto a snowy street), delicious mac & cheese, and other tapas, donated a very generous gift card raffle prize to the event. And now I'm dreaming of going there once the holidays come around...

Lastly, the Loew's Landmark Jersey City donated a Movie Night for 2. I am mildly obsessed with this theater. It's absolutely stunning, has a world of history and shows fun old movies (one of my personal passions). I can't wait to get over there this fall for some movie showings!

So a GIANT thanks to all of the sponsors for the party this weekend. You have rekindled my love for all of these places and I cannot wait to get back to all of them soon!

Meanwhile, I wanted to leave you with some eye candy. Today we are having a little Halloween lunch at work, so I am bringing my carmelized potato & parsnip tart and some cute little brownie cupcakes. My mom found this Betty Crocker recipe and I knew it would be a perfect Halloween treat.

Yum!!

Questions of the Day:

Did you get a blast of cold or snowy weather this weekend?

What, if anything, did you do to celebrate the holiday?

Five Things Friday

It's Friday, which means that I'm rounding up five things I'm digging this week!

The whole family in New Mexico

plus, me rocking the F21 blouse that was such a hit on last week's FTF!

{finally} deciding on our paint colors for our apartment.

Benjamin Moore's Sweet Bluette, a very light & subtle gray blue for entryway, kitchen, living room & den (all of which are open to each other)

Benjamin Moore's Beacon Gray, a deeper gray blue and just a shade or 2 darker than Sweet Bluette, for the accent wall in the den. I know it looks like a subtle change on-screen, but in person it's gorg!

Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter, a light greige, for our bedroom and master bath.

The return of the scarf.

I'm ready! Especially for this sweet J. Crew version.

adorable candy corn cupcakes from Kojo Designs.

spooky Halloween costumes.

like our upcoming zombie costumes! we usually do a couples costume, but I don't think I've ever been anything scary before (at least not for Halloween :)) here's our inspiration photos:

creepy, right? for some of our Halloween costumes past, see this article.

So there you have it! My five things for this week. Have a great Friday and a fun pre-Halloween weekend!

Question of the day:

What are you digging this week?