Ready For Soup Weather

Hello, party people! Man… these weekday posts just keep getting later and later huh? That miiiight just be because I have been running around like a maniac this week.

Before I get onto today’s subject I wanted to quickly address the title of yesterday’s post: And One More Makes Three. Total jerk move by yours truly. In no way did I mean to tease anybody with a fake birth announcement, which seems to be what the majority of you thought on Facebook! My thoughts were to play up the amount of festivals Scott and I have checked out in just a few week’s time (three).

I enjoyed reading your comments about it, but must report that at this moment in time Scott and I are a-okay with it being just the two of us!

Now onto today’s ramblings…

All I Want is a Smoothie

I had an appearance at Oakland University today. The weather has been cooling off lately, so I didn’t think anything of being outside and having to look presentable for three hours in the middle of the day.

(Oh, hey there Paws. I will see you at the Tigers game Friday!)

Then I stepped outside and realized it was in the 90s! Wait, wait… this just doesn’t seem right. Am I in Florida again? I guess hearing my mom talk about how hot her run was the other night made me a bit jealous of how it still feels like summer down there. I wasn’t ready to accept that it’s pretty much over up here while I slowly transition into fall boots and cardigans.

Then I finished my appearance and all I wanted was a gallon of water and a cold smoothie.

I couldn’t get in the door and make one fast enough. With the little ingredients I had on hand, I pulled together something pretty darn delicious!

In my smoothie:

• 1 cup strawberries

• 1 kiwi

• 1 cup spinach

• unsweetened vanilla almond milk

• 1 scoop French Vanilla Designer Whey protein powder

• ice

The almond milk balanced out the sweetness of the kiwi and strawberries and it tasted pretty similar to the Almond Delight smoothie I am obsessed with from my gym’s cafe. Score!

Ready For Soup Weather

As much as I thought I wasn’t ready for the cool to set in, today made me think differently. How the heck did I deal with the hot sun, sticky air, and temperatures in the mid-90s so often in Florida?

It’s crazy how much our bodies adapt to the weather around us. One of the first things I noticed on our first visit back to Florida was the humidity. We don’t really have it here! When people say it’s humid outside after a little drizzle or on a grey afternoon I just laugh to myself and think “You don’t know real humidity, my friend!”

Today, it felt like Florida and gave me a little reminder that the grass isn’t always greener on the south side. In fact, after a quick shower, a change of clothes, and a cold smoothie I felt like a new person. A new person who wanted soup for dinner.

I could literally eat soup any day of the year. It could be the hottest day in the Florida summer and there is still a one hundred percent chance I will order a minestrone soup if I know it’s good at a restaurant. Same goes for coffee! I’ve just never really been an iced coffee person.

While scanning the pantry over, I remembered we bought a Michigan Navy Bean soup mix from the Arts & Apples festival this weekend. Perfect!

Have you ever used pre-made soup mixes before? They’re so easy and usually taste just as good as homemade soup.

This one left the option of adding meat like ham, sausage, chicken, or no meat at all. Just for fun, I pulled out the chicken sausage Scott brought home the other night.

That’s right… Scott brought home chicken sausage! I was so proud of him. After heating them up on the stove top and slicing them up I snuck a few sample pieces and can already deem them tasty!

I don’t think it was necessary to cook the meat before hand, but I am always weirdly cautious about meat. I almost always cook it before hand, even if the directions tell me I can skip it. Is that weird?

At the moment, the soup is simmering and I can’t wait to dig into it when we come home from the gym tonight. I’ll have to let you know what the final product tastes like in tomorrow’s What I Ate Wednesday!

With that, I am taking advantage of these last few minutes of quiet by sipping on a comforting cup of hot tea.

Paired with the view outside our kitchen and living room windows, it’s one of my favorite ways to wind down for a few minutes in the afternoon.

Hope you all have a wonderful rest of your evening. For those of you in the south (or just experiencing crazy high temperatures up north) remember to stay hydrated out there.

See you in the morning!

Question of the Day

• Do you ever crave hot things even when it isn’t cold outside?

• What is your favorite kind of soup to make, order, or eat?