Crockpot Turkey Vegetable Soup

Happy Monday! I have a hard time remembering what day it actually is because Monday is actually my Wednesday since Saturday is my Monday. Talk about confusing🙆 anyway I hope you had a good weekend and got to enjoy some downtime. 

I've talked about meal prep before, but it really does save me during my work week. I prep both lunch and dinner so I can just heat stuff up throughout the week. Working long hours everyday in the news room and flip flopping between day shifts and night shifts doesn't leaves me a lot of free time. I've been using my crockpot a ton to prep and one of my recent favorites has been this soup. Browning the turkey with chili powder has packed in a lot of flavor and in the soup it pairs perfectly with the other spices and vegetables. Tag me on instagram or Facebook if you try it!

Crockpot Turkey Vegetable Soup

• 1lb lean ground turkey
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 32 oz. sodium free organic chicken broth
• 1 cup tomato juice
• 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup green beans
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• red pepper flakes to taste
• pepper, to taste
• OPTIONAL: chili powder season, to taste

In a pan over medium heat pour a drizzle of olive oil and brown ground turkey. I added chili powder to the turkey as it was browning to give it more flavor. Once browned, remove from heat and set aside.

Place all ingredients, including browned turkey, in crockpot. 

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. 

Store in airtight container in the fridge or freeze for later use.

Self-Care and Sunrises: Thinking Out Loud #60

Happy Thursday! It's FINALLY my weekend after what seemed like a ridiculously long week. This week I started flip flopping between nightside and dayside and it's the absolute worst because I'm running on literally no sleep. Aside from work craziness the leaves are finally showing color around the city and it's gorgeous! Fall is the best- next to summer of course🙌 Let's jump into this weeks thinking out loud!

1. As a reporter I get to interview a lot of really awesome people, but this past week I got to interview one of my favorite people in Nebraska. I was doing a story about teen driving safety when I interviewed a state trooper, I soon found out he was the genius behind their twitter. NPS literally has the BEST tweets and the trooper is just as hilarious in person. It just goes to show that not all cops are bad, he happens to be one of the nicest people I've interviewed with so far. Not to mention his tweet about a runaway pig still cracks me up😂

2. Fall is FINALLY here! I'm so excited that the leaves are finally changing color here. My parents have been sending me pictures of the leaves changing at home for weeks now so finally seeing color here made me really happy. How can you not smile when trees are this gorgeous?!

3. I've been finding ways to indulge in self-care on my weekends since my weeks are so chaotic. One of my favorite ways to relax is to take a bubble bath or do a face mask. I love this face mask because its 100% organic, it's a small business, and they are so nice. I'm not paid to say that and I didn't get free product from them. I purchased it on Amazon and I haven't looked back- it makes my skin feel amazing and it's the perfect way to relax after a long work week👌 

4. Another part about my job that I love is I get to see some really pretty small towns. I had to drive about half an hour outside Lincoln to shoot a story and as soon as I pulled into town I loved it. It was like driving back in time with the downtown looking like something out of an old americana movie. I really don't know how people sit behind a desk all day, I'd much rather be out exploring and interacting with people in the community.  

5. I shared this picture on my instagram, but it is one of my favorite from the week. I love watching the sunrise and seeing while finishing up working out made my day. Creation never ceases to amaze me.

6. I had a total geek out moment yesterday. One of the stories I reported on was a city book sale to benefit the city libraries. It was a giant warehouse with rows and rows of books. They were selling books for one to two dollars! I wish I could have spent hours there searching through all the books but sadly I had to get back to station to edit the story together.

7. This past week a movement has swept across social media to shed light on sexual harassment and sexual assault. Working on camera tends to let people think they can say whatever they want about you, especially on social media. Luckily I have very thick skin, however I have gotten some truly graphic tweets sent to me and it was more than disturbing. I have been sexually harassed at the gym and in numerous places throughout my lifetime. My story goes deeper than just harassment, but it's something I'm not ready to talk about and I'm not sure I'll ever be ready to talk about. However, I love that light is being shed on this issue because it's so pervasive in our culture. Women have feelings too and we deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. I choose to speak out with all the women and say #metoo because I don't want to stay silent anymore and I can only hope something good will come of this movement. 

8. I LOVE this quote🙌 I've never been one to care about what people think about me, but I think it's an important lesson for everyone to learn. People will always judge and be mean and talk about you, but you have to be you. Own who you are because the people who really matter love you for who you are, flaws and all.

Happy Thursday and have a terrific weekend everyone🎉🎉🎉

What is your favorite thing to meal prep? (I need some inspiration!)
What is your favorite way to show yourself some self-care?

Work, Work, Work: Thinking Out Loud #59

I feel like that Rihanna song work, work, work because that's all I've done this week so far. My schedule got changed so now I have Thursday and Friday off instead of the weekend, but having worked just three days this week I've already got almost 40 hours in. I'm beyond dead😴 Don't get me wrong I love my job, but the whole work life balance is something I've yet to figure out and I'm not sure I'll ever figure out with my field. Anyway let's jump into this weeks (shortened version of) thinking out loud.

1. I've gotten a few questions about what I do- I'm a TV news reporter. My technical title is a multimedia journalist, which means I shoot, write, edit, and front my work. Essentially a jack of all trades and working as a one man band is a lot harder than it looks. While it's a lot of work, for very little pay (any future journalists out there be warned the pay stinks!), and a lot of long hours I love my job. I'm not a desk job person and this lets me get out into the community and share stories that genuinely matter to people.

2. However, make no mistake reporting is nowhere near as glamorous as people think. This week I spent time with the city engineer discussing new signage, roadside memorials, and things of that nature. We met outside city limits at an intersection which happened to be next to a farm. I came home smelling like a barnyard thanks to some cows. First thing I did was change clothes and take a shower. My newsroom colleagues had to put up with the barnyard smell for a bit after I got back🙊

3. Since my life has been nothing but work recently I have been living off of meal prep and crockpot meals. Most people go out to eat a lot, but since I pack my meals I save a lot of money. Sure meal prep takes some time, but honestly I don't mind. Eating out every day for lunch at roughly $10 a pop by the end of the week that's $50 (or more), which is a week of groceries for me- that includes all meals not just lunch. I'll share the recipe for this delicious turkey vegetable soup soon.

4. My favorite stories to cover involve animals or kids. Animals are obvious because who doesn't want to snuggle a cute puppy or kitten, but kids get so excited about being on camera and give the best, most candid answers. I did a story about it being fire safety week and a group of kindergartners went to a firehouse to learn about preventing fire. The kids were hilarious and I had a blast hanging out with them. 

5. This quote has hit home for me this week. I was sent out to cover a massive apartment complex fire where an entire building was lost and countless people lost everything. I was blown away by the attitudes of residents, most of them- having just lost everything- were incredibly upbeat. A lot of them said stuff happens in life and you can't dwell on the negative. It took me back because I don't know if I could be so positive if I was in their position. 

Have a terrific Thursday and a great weekend!

How do you maintain a positive mindset when hard times come along?
What kind of news stories do you like seeing the most and why?