soup is good

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Five Good Things Friday (Including a Giveaway!)

This year is sure off to a batshit crazy start, isn’t it. I hope you’re holding up okay, that you’re out there fighting the good fight, that you and your loved ones are warm and safe. If you need, as I do, a break from the endless cycle of WHAT IS GOING ON, you have come to the right place as I have a few good things to share with you.

Good Thing #1: NICOLE’S BOOK IS OUT!!!!! Listen, I am pretty sure that everyone in our cozy blogland community is aware of this by now, but if you are somehow not aware or if you don’t yet know and love Nicole, here is the quick and dirty: Nicole wrote a beautiful, hilarious, heartbreaking, hopeful book called Inhale, Exhale and it is now out in the world for all of us to enjoy.

I would love to send someone a copy of Nicole’s novel. That someone could be you, or it could be someone you think would love Nicole’s singular brand of wry humor and warm wisdom (which, honestly, is everyone). Just leave a comment letting me know you’re interested by next Friday, January 30, at midnight Pacific time and I will randomly choose a winner. (I’ll email the winner for details about where to send the book.)

The giveaway is now closed.

Good Thing #2: Winter Wonders Wow, literally everything good pales in comparison to Good Thing #1, so I am jumping straight into a Good Thing that many people dislike. (Including my poor husband.) We are deep into winter, and I am LOVING IT. We have so much snow! We’ve already had one snow day and a cold day and we may have another cold day today and another snow day Monday! Listen, my child has most definitely NOT been in school enough so far in 2026, but if she’s going to miss school, I’m glad it’s for snow and not for illness (that is not an invitation for illness to find us; TOUCHING ALL THE WOOD). I do not mind the cold (although I am of course deeply grateful that I have warm clothes and a warm home, without which I might feel very different), and I love the snow. It feels like magic, the way it transforms the world into something gleaming and soft. I know cold climates are not for everyone, but I adore winter and I’m trying to enjoy every frosty moment.

Good Thing #3: Freezer / Pantry Meal I am working my way through all the goodies I’ve stashed in my freezer over the past eleventy hundred months, and yesterday I was able to whip up a batch of my favorite chipotle chicken tortilla soup with items I already had. I even had a Ziploc full of diced onion, poblano, and jalapeno waiting for me in the freezer! The only thing I had to buy fresh was cilantro. And now I have a huge Tupperware full of delicious soup to get me through these wintry days. (Yes, I also made another batch of cucumber salad. It is so good.)

Good Thing #4: One Fewer Couch For over two years now, we have had an old leather couch standing awkwardly in our piano room. It didn’t go with the space, it had a huge tear in one cushion, all the other cushions were worn past salvaging. And yet there it stayed. Well. The couch is no more! My husband and I finally arranged for the trash collectors to pick it up, and we moved it to the curb earlier this week and it is GONE. All that snow sure came in handy; it was surprisingly easy to slide the couch along the snow-covered lawn.

Good Thing #5: Cat Grandpa My family and I recently left town for a long weekend, leaving the cat at home. We hired a cat sitter to come feed him twice a day (he eats wet food for breakfast and dinner and has access to dry food [and water] all day long). But I was worried that my lovely Lenny cat would be lonely with such big stretches of his day unpeopled. So my father kindly drove 30+ minutes each way to hang out with the cat, every single day we were gone. He also sent me (and Carla) videos and photos of our kitty, because he knew we’d be missing him. Kindest of all, when the weather prevented the cat sitter from getting to our kitty one evening, and Carla sent a rogue text begging her grandfather to step in, my dad immediately got into his car, prepared to make the long drive a second time that day. I assured him that Lenny had access to plenty of fresh water and dry food, so he didn’t need to brave the snow and the dark. But he was at our house first thing the next morning to make sure the cat knew he hadn’t been abandoned. Is that not the sweetest?

Okay Internet, that’s all I’ve got for you today. I hope you have some good things in your life lately, or at least that good things are on the horizon. Sending you love and warmth and cat purrs.

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Souper Sunday

I have been meaning to post my own version of Half Baked Harvest’s Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup for a very long time. This week, I finally made a batch of it and remembered to pay attention to the process! 

This is one of my all-time favorite soups. It’s flavorful, full of fiber and protein, and has all the fun of chili (so many toppings!) without the heaviness. 

Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken and Black Bean Soup (inspired by Half Baked Harvest)

Servings: 

Around 8-10, depending on what you consider a serving

Ingredients:

  • 1 Spanish onion, diced
  • 2 Poblano peppers, diced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
  • Approximately 4 cloves garlic, crushed, but measure with your heart
  • 2-6 tablespoons canned chipotle and/or adobo sauce (see note 1)
  • 2 14-oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (see note 2)
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 pound chicken (see note 2)
  • 8 cups chicken stock (see note 4)
  • Juice of two limes (see note 5)
  • 1-2 15-oz cans of black beans, drained (see note 5)
  • 1-2 cups of frozen corn (see note 5)

Optional Toppings:

  • Cilantro
  • Shredded cheddar cheese
  • Sour cream
  • Tortilla strips or chips
  • Lime juice
  • Avocado

Note 1: I love the smoky heat of chipotle peppers, but I am weird about textures and I cannot stomach the combo of skin, seeds, and slimy flesh. So I will buy a can of chipotles in adobo sauce, blend it up, and then freeze it in ice-cube trays. Once frozen, I put the cubes (which each hold roughly a tablespoon and a half of pureed chipotle/adobo) into a Ziploc bag in my freezer. They last forever this way, and I can drop them into soup and chili and taco meat and whatever else my heart desires. I usually add about 3 cubes to a batch of this soup.

Note 2: Due to the texture issues I mentioned in Note 1, I do not simply dump diced fire roasted tomatoes into my soup. Instead, I puree them in the blender, then strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve to capture any leftover seeds or tomato skin (hork). This time, I pressed the puree button on my blender three times, rather than the normal once, and I felt like the puree had FAR less debris left over after straining. Maybe next time I will puree it four times and it will be smooth enough that I can skip the straining step entirely. 

Note 3: Although chicken thighs would be great in this recipe, I prefer white meat chicken. I have been partial, lately, to chicken tenders which are less expensive than whole breasts. I usually cook the chicken along with the soup, dumping it in frozen and then pulling it out once cooked to shred it, and returning it to the soup. Pre-cooked/shredded chicken would be fine in this too, and if you don’t like chicken, I think the soup is flavorful enough that you could leave it out entirely.

Note 4: The recipe this is based on calls for just four cups of stock, and that’s fine. My husband prefers this soup with less stock because he likes a nice chunky stew. I prefer a brothy soup, so I use two four-cup cartons of chicken stock and I loooooove it.

Note 5: I add the lime juice, black beans, and corn to the soup about a half hour before it’s done cooking. Because I love black beans and corn, and because I am receptive to my husband’s aforementioned preference for a chunky stew, I sometimes add more beans or corn. Just depends on how I’m feeling in the moment. You do you.

Instructions:

  1. Spray the bowl of your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray, then add diced onion, poblanos, jalapeno, garlic, chipotle peppers/adobo, paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
  2. Add chicken, broth, and tomatoes to the veggies and spices.
  3. Cover and cook on low for 5.5 to 6.5 hours or on high for 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
  4. Add black beans, corn, and lime juice to your slow cooker. Shred chicken if necessary and return to slow cooker. Cook on high for an additional 30 minutes.
  5. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro, tortilla strips, avocado, and more lime juice.
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Seven for Saturday

Elisabeth is leading a daily practice of gratitude with her F.I.G. Collective this month, and I have been collecting my own moments of gratitude. Sometimes well after the fact, which is less effective in sustaining gratitude day to day. But we work with what we have.

Saturday, February 15:

Well, this day is a total mystery to me. I did not keep track of the things I was grateful for in the moment, so I have no idea what we did during the day at all. I didn’t write. I didn’t go for a walk until around three. I’m pretty sure we made salmon burgers for dinner and then watched Mockingjay, but I couldn’t swear to it. My moments of gratitude on this day go to long walks outdoors (I at least have evidence I did that, even if I don’t remember it) and cozy evenings with my family.

Photo by Carla, who loves the snow as much as I do.

Sunday, February 16:

Carla’s sports lesson was cancelled this weekend, so we got to sleep in! Then I wrote 2,700 words in my manuscript while plodding away on the treadmill. THEN Carla got invited to an impromptu sleepover, so my husband and I had an evening all to ourselves. We browsed furniture stores, sampled perfumes until our heads ached, scrapped our restaurant dinner plans and brought pizza home instead, and then watched Longlegs together. I am so grateful for time to do the things that are important to me, that Carla has a friend she adores, and that my husband and I enjoy one another’s company.

Monday, February 17:

This was President’s Day in the US, so Carla had the day off from school, which meant I was able to sleep in again! I had a wonderful remote writing session with a dear friend, wrote a little, and admired the fluffy snowflakes that drifted endlessly from the sky. Then I went to pick Carla up from her friend’s house, where I ended up chatting with the friend’s mom for a whole hour. On our drive home, Carla and I went to the grocery store – she needed more Eggo waffles – and I was able to get my week’s shopping out of the way, and the total cost was under $200. My throat was feeling a little scratchy and the weather was snowy and cold, so I made a big pot of Mulligatawny soup for dinner. To counterbalance my very reasonable grocery bill, I bought a few pairs of shoes to try on (and will only keep one pair, I swear); we have a trip coming up and I expect rainy weather and want comfortable, cute, stylish, and/or waterproof shoes to wear while walking around outside. I am grateful for the community of parents I belong to, for feeling so happy to have my kiddo around after her short absence, for being able to buy new shoes, and for warm soup on a wintry day.

Tuesday, February 18:

I slept terribly, woke up feeling crummy, and ended up canceling my hair appointment and a meetup with a friend I haven’t seen in ages. My main successes of the day were driving my kid to school and then making a big pot of chipotle chicken tortilla soup (except I made it without the chicken – I added two cans of black beans and a cup or so of frozen corn to bulk it up a bit). My mom always says chicken soup is the best cure for a cold, and, while I don’t really like traditional chicken noodle soup, this spicy soup was tasty and comforting and lasted me all week. This day made me very grateful to my hairdresser for finding another hair appointment for me in a few weeks, despite her jam-packed schedule and to my husband for picking up our child from school so I didn’t have to make another hour’s drive.

This is a cheating photo from long ago, but it IS of the correct soup.

Wednesday, February 19:

I woke up feeling rotten for a second day in a row, but it was okay because my husband was able to take Carla to school! Then I had a remote writing session with my local writing partner and churned out 1,800 words, and received a fun impromptu phone call from my childhood best friend. My husband has been such a superstar about driving Carla to and from school when it works out lately (mainly because she has an after school activity that ends right when he’s usually able to leave work), and I am so grateful to him for understanding what a slog it is for me to drive two hours a day and offering to help when he can. I am also grateful to my brain for working even when my body feels like a rusty trash can, and to my writing friend for encouraging us to get together even though we couldn’t meet in person. I am extra grateful that my long distance friend and I are still so close.

Thursday, February 20:

I was feeling well enough to go outside and take a walk, and it was so wonderful to be outside with snowflakes cooling my face. I am so grateful that this illness was short-lived and that I live in such a beautiful place and that the temperatures are warm enough in my area for me to enjoy being outdoors. I am also grateful for Carla. I feel like I spend less and less time with her as she gets older, but this night we all ate dinner together and she urged us to make lists of Things to Do Before We Get a Cat and Things to Get for the Cat and then she made some google slides of potential cat names and it was so charming and adorable I ended up letting her stay up way past her bedtime. (If you have a cat, is there ONE ESSENTIAL THING that you are so glad you purchased for him/her?)

I am 95% certain that my parents’ cat required maybe five things on this list.

Friday, February 21:

After I dropped Carla off at school, I had another remote writing session with my local friend. (Even though I felt mostly better, I didn’t want to risk exposing her to my germs.) It wasn’t the most prolific writing day, but I did meet my daily word-count goal and, more important, I got some backstory that has been pre-occupying me out of my head and onto the page. Then I spent the rest of the day cleaning Carla’s craft room, closet, bedroom, and bathroom. This was difficult and frustrating for a lot of different reasons, the worst of which is that I kept feeling infuriated with Carla for being so messy and breaking the rules (the rule she has the most trouble with is no crafting outside of the craft room), and then immediately even more furious with myself because she is the kid and I am the parent and I should be more actively coaching her through how to keep her spaces clean instead of willingly allowing the mess to get out of control until it’s so overwhelming she can’t handle it herself. But: I am very grateful to my mom, who talked to me on the phone for more than an hour while I was cleaning, which distracted me from my anger and self-loathing and caught me up on what’s going on in her life. I am grateful that I made noticeable progress against the mess AND found my favorite sweatshirt, which has been missing for months. I am grateful that I was able to take a quick walk outside around five pm and release my frustration into the crisp winter air, and that it was still light enough for my walk, and that I conversed briefly with a robin who wanted to inform me spring is on the way (along with a new round of Attack Robin issues, I’m sure, but let’s not dwell on that when we’re busy being grateful). I am grateful that Carla had an after-school event that meant my husband and I could have another date night (second in a week!!!) (this time we went to an Indian restaurant and then went to Target and Home Depot) (we are experts at romance). I am also grateful that we now own four giant storage bins in which to store all of the toys cluttering up Carla’s space.

Trash/donations from the craft room declutter. That bear has seen some things.

My life is full of blessings, and I am very grateful for all of them, big and small, the unexpected gifts and those I normally take for granted.