InstantPot Chicken Taco Soup

It's Friday, I've already skipped a week of my new goal of sharing a recipe each week, so...  Maybe I'm not off to a great start. But today I have a great recipe to share Because this Chicken Taco Soup is amazing. It is a recipe I have been making for several years. And when I joined WW I started making it more often, mixing it up with different ingredients or spices sometimes. But mostly, I make it just like this.



So typically I would make this chicken taco soup in my crockpot. Smelling it cook all day long is so delicious. But then for Christmas, my father in law got me an InstantPot. Exciting, right? I was so beyond excited because I had been wanting one for a while.

Then I got it out of the box and just stared at it. It was pretty scary and I was so intimidated by this machine and I don't know how come. It felt like the days when I wouldn't make a recipe just because it had a random ingredient in it and I didn't know where to buy it at. But a couple of days in I decided to suck it up and go for it. chicken taco soup was the first thing I made. Seemed like it would be the easiest.



So I made it, but the chicken was a tiny bit tough and after cooking it a little longer it was great. So the next time I knew exactly how long to cook it for.

Then someone asked me how it was doing the InstantPot water test, and I had to admit that I never read the instructions... I guess I could have started there.



So after 14 minutes on the timer and doing a quick release, I shredded the chicken. Soft, tender chicken. I let it sit for a few extra minutes and then I dug in. I added a little shredded cheese to the top of mine, with a couple of crunched up tortilla chips and it was pure deliciousness.



Have you joined the InstantPot craze? Share your favorite recipe with me so I can give it a try!

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Pumpkin Chip Bread

Happy Friday Friends! You might not remember, but back in the day, I used to share a recipe ever.single.Friday - shocking that I used to blog that often, I know! And since one of my goals for the year is to blog more, I thought I'd start sharing my Foodie Friday food posts again! Its been quite a while since I've regularly shared them on the blog, but that doesn't mean I stopped taking food pictures. It's just a matter of making the time to sit down and get them posted! So today I am starting us off with this Pumpkin Chip Bread that my family loves!

It is so quick and easy to make, and honestly, you probably have some bananas sitting on your counter right now that you need to use up anyway. Am I right?



Nothing is better than pulling a hot loaf of bread out of the oven, except when it is full of pumpkin and chocolate chips.



I buy bananas every week at the grocery store and sometimes they get eaten and sometimes not. So when it's the latter, I am usually whipping up a batch of some sort of delicious bread. Some of you might be wondering if I make this year round, and the answer is, of course! It doesn't just need to be Fall to eat everything pumpkin. I make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin sugar cookies, pumpkin poke cake, you get the idea. I love all pumpkin! And I love to enjoy it year round!



This Pumpkin Chip Bread is super delicious and I make it far too often because we all love it. It is also great to make in mini loaves and share with friends and family. What are some of your favorite things to make with pumpkin?

Do you make pumpkin recipes year round or only during the Fall? 

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2019 Goals

With the new year brings lots of new changes. People are making resolutions left and right. But for me, I really like to create goals.



Have you ever looked up the definition of Resolution? It means a firm decision to do or not to do something.

But sometimes I like to change my mind. Sometimes I like to change the direction I am going. Then what? I'm breaking my resolution. I feel like I can't alter a resolution. May seem silly to some, but it is just how I view it.

So here are my 2019 GOALS:



Obviously, my health and fitness is a big priority to me this year. In 2018 I was at my highest weight and I decided to join Weight Watchers. It was the best decision for me. I lost 38.8 pounds in 2018 and I'd like to do about the same in 2019.  (Read about when I started HERE and 7 months in HERE. ) It will be a big goal, but with exercise and making good food choices I know I will be able to rock it!

Most of my life I've had a weight goal of about 145. And when I joined WW I had to pick a goal weight, so that is what I've gone with. But honestly, that could very well change. It'll really depend on how I feel. I am going to completely trust my body as I continue to lose and stop when I feel good about where I am. In the past, I have let a number define me, but I am just not there mentally, any longer. I'm ready to feel healthy, whether that means I lose more than that goal or less than that goal, I am going to be okay with it. And so far I feel pretty great at 39 pounds down!

Besides actual weight loss, I really just want to be more active. Work out more, play with the kids more. Maybe even get a bike? I've been eyeing the banana yellow cruiser at Walmart for a couple of years. Maybe this is the year I'll finally get it?

I have a big list of books to read- I shared them earlier this week and if you missed it you can find that post HERE. So I will be doing a lot of that.

I also want to blog more. I used to blog a couple of times a week back when I was newer. But over the years it's gotten less and less and I just need to make time. Because I really do love to write and share the projects I am working on. Which leads me to my next thing.

Last September we bought a lake house. It was/is a total dive and we didn't get to work on it a lot before the weather got colder. We (and by we I mean my husband, father in law and my dad) gutted the bathroom, did a lot of plumbing work and we did some basic cleaning, but it still needs so much more. I will have so many projects to share. I have taken a ton of before pictures and hopefully soon I can get them on here to share with you all.

But here is a little sneak peek of when I was washing walls. The left side is the unwashed and the right side is washed. And you can only imagine the smell it holds.... Again. lots of work in our future!



Last, but certainly not least, I just want to be more present for my kids. Live less through the camera lens. More of just enjoying every minute I have with them and my husband.

What kinds of goals are you setting for yourself in 2019? I would love to hear!  

2019 Reading Goals

Where are my reader friends?

Do you make reading goals each year? I have been a part of Goodreads for quite a few years and for most of those years I have made reading goals. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it just doesn't.



Last year, for 2018 I set a goal of 20 and Goodreads says I only read 13, so I might have to research that. I felt like this last year I always had a book in my hand but we did have a pretty busy year also, so maybe it just didn't happen.  You can check out what I read in 2018 by clicking the Goodreads link above.

For 2019 my goal is 25 books! I feel like that is a pretty doable and I've already read 2 this month, so we'll see if I can keep up that momentum!

Check out my entire list of books I want to read this year- there are a few extras in case I get through more than I think I will:



Have you always been an avid reader or did you pick it up later? I always have loved to read. I inherited that from my mom especially, and I loved our days of standing in the bookstore with stacks of books we were about to buy. I still have all of my R.L. Stine "Fear Street" books that were my favorite as a teen. (I probably have around 50 or so of them. I'm not sure how many there were, but I had a lot of them!) I tried to get Zach to read them and he didn't really have that much of an interest. Tyler and Summer both love to read also, so I am not getting rid of all those Fear Street books just yet!

What is on your Reading List this year? Share your list with me so I can add some more books to my list of must reads! 

One Little Word.

Happy New Year, friends. I hope that everyone had a great holiday! One of my "goals" for the year is to blog more. I am really hoping this is the year that I make that goal happen. So I wanted to jump right in and talk about another goal for the year, which is One Little Word.

Who else chooses One Little Word to focus on for the year?

This is the first year I am actively participating in One Little Word. I have picked words in the past and then didn't go any further than that. So for this year, I thought long and hard about my word and what I wanted it to mean for me. And what I wanted to get out of it.

I chose to go with Dedication.



Dedication to myself.
Dedication to my marriage.
Dedication to my family.
Dedication to my home.
Dedication to our projects.
Dedication to my friendships.

This was such a good word for me because it is going to be a busy year and I know it will take a lot of dedication to accomplish all the things we are looking at doing in the next year.

If you pick one little word, what is your choice for 2019?