Empire Update: WK of 2/8

Winter Vegetable Chicken Noodle Soup

Snowy days and chilly weather make us crave one thing- SOUP! This winter soup is packed with vegetables and is hearty enough as a meal thanks to the noodles & chicken. It's a little more time intensive then other recipes, but lasts for multiple meals.
​You can make a big batch and eat all week or freeze some for later. 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small sweet onion diced
1 leek halved + sliced
4 carrots, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
salt + pepper to taste
2 cloves garlic minced or grated
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
2 quarts low sodium chicken broth
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 leaves bay
3 small skinless chicken thighs
1-2 cups swiss chard, chopped
zest + juice of 1 lemon
8 oz egg noodles
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup fresh parsley + basil

Instructions:
​1. Heat a large dutch over or soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil. Once hot, add the onion + leek. 

2. Cook until the onion is soft, fragrant and beginning to caramelize. Add the carrots + celery. Season with salt +pepper and continue cooking 3-5 minutes or until carrots have a little browning on edges. Stir in the garlic +ginger and cook a minute longer. 

3. Slowly pour in the chicken broth. Add the thyme, bay leaves and chicken thighs. Cover the pot and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through & shreds easily. 

4. After 25 minutes, shred the chicken and remove any bones. Add thw swiss chard, lemon juice + zest. Cook until the chard has wilted slightly (5-10 minutes). 

5. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil egg noodles according to the package. Drain + toss with butter, parsley + basil. 

6. Divide egg noodles among bowls and ladle soup over the noodles. Enjoy! 

Why Eating Chocolate Can Be Good For You! 

Chocoholics, rejoice!
(Yes you did read the blog title right)…

After Valentine's Day leaves us feeling like we’ve entered a food coma for 72 hours, interrupted by a family roast and maybe a little spot of self-loathing as we finish our seventh Creme egg…

The good news is, chocolate CAN actually be good for you, and has plenty of health benefits too – so you don’t have to beat yourself up!

Now of course, there’s a reason Doctors and health professionals aren’t telling you to go to the nearest store and stock up on as much Cadbury’s as you can possibly get your hands on. When it comes to your health, chocolate can be a bit of a mixed bag…

On one hand it’s packed with antioxidants, but then on the other, many chocolate bars contain a substantial amount of sugar.

And because of that I decided to let you in on the good side of chocolate that justifies our chocolate consumption, and outline the things you need to look out for and be aware of too.

So when your next chocolate craving suddenly jumps on you, (because that’s what it does so sneakily) you know how to choose smart.

So, where do the health benefits of chocolate come from? They come from cacao. And if you want to get specific, they come from flavonoids – they’re the things that are responsible for chocolate’s unique taste that everyone knows, and they also protect your body from a number of diseases, including asthma and diabetes.

Thanks to flavonoids, Scientists have linked cacao consumption to lots of healthy benefits…

(Just make sure you choose the dark type!)

Chocolate Can Keep Your Heart Healthy!
First off, if you want to live a long and healthy life you’ve got to look after your ticker, and the good news is a daily dose of dark chocolate could be doing wonders to help protect your heart. Numerous studies have also shown it helps to lower and improve blood pressure.

It Can Slow Down Memory-Loss!
It can also slow memory loss – as we get older, we can get a bit more forgetful. But an exciting study has found that cacao could put the breaks on age-related memory loss.

It’s A Stress Buster!
Here’s a good one… So you know when you’ve had a ‘bad day’, or you’re feeling a little stressed out and all you want to do is reach for a chocolate bar? Well, turning to chocolate during these times of need may not be so bad after all.

Dark chocolate helps level-out stress (so you may want to keep a small stash of it in your desk drawer or handbag).

I always knew that having chocolate was an instant way to cheer ourselves up!

Granted that doesn’t involve falling into the black hole of eating a family-size bar of Dairy Milk on a night, but science says a few squares boost your happy chemicals and gives you that feel good rush. Who are we to argue?

It Aids Weight-Loss!
Believe it or not, (even though this goes against almost everything we have ever been told about dieting and eating healthily) it turns out chocolate can actually be used as a way to lose weight.

But here’s the thing, it requires moderation. By not partaking in deprivation diets that cut out treats like chocolate, we are less likely to fall off the wagon or over-eat later in the day.

So now you know it’s absolutely ok to enjoy it, lets talk about the bitter-sweet truth, because even though it’s great! Not all chocolate is created equal.

Extensive processing, as well as all the added sugar can strip cacao of it’s nutritional goodness. So before you run out to stock your kitchen up with chocolate, make sure you’re aware you getting your hands on the good stuff.

When it comes down to it, you should opt for dark over milk or white (if you have the choice).

Look out for chocolate with at least 70% cacao – the higher, the better.

Cacao nibs are also on the healthier side of the chocolate spectrum. And at the end of the day, in spite of all the healthy benefits listed above, chocolate is to be enjoyed in moderation, a few squares a day could keep the Doctor away!

Stretch of the Month: Ankle Eversion