Creamy Mushroom & Lentil Soup

Packed full of fiber rich lentils & meaty mushrooms, this vegetarian and vegan friendly Creamy Mushroom & Lentil Soup is comforting and filling without the extra fat and calories...

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kroger. The opinions and text are all mine.

Just like many of you all may have also done, I made goals to eat healthier at the start of the new year. I have really been trying to make strides to rotate in at least two new healthy recipes into my meal plan each week to keep things fresh. 

And like many of you all, I often find my inspiration for new recipes to try from Pinterest. In fact, I created an entire board to dedicated to just Healthy & Tasty Recipes.

One of my favorite sites to browse for new recipes is Kroger's Inspired Gathering site. Recently, I was searching for some hearty and healthy soup recipes and came across the recipe for this Creamy Mushroom & Lentil Soup on their site. 

Packed full of fiber rich lentils & meaty mushrooms, this vegetarian and vegan-friendly soup is comforting and filling without the extra fat and calories.

Italian Chicken & Tortellini Broth Bowls

These Italian Chicken & Tortellini Broth Bowls are a budget friendly version of a restaurant favorite that you can have on your dinner table in around 30 minutes...

A couple of weeks ago I found myself hit hard with some kind of a head cold. It was one of those colds that leaves you feeling absolutely exhausted by late afternoon each day. 

And when this mama has sick days, the kitchen is usually closed for dinner on those days. Thus, I found myself texting my husband three evenings in a row that week asking him to pick up dinner for the family before he came home from work. 

On the one evening when I was feeling the worst, I had him swing by Panera to pick up some feel good comfort food for me. I wanted soup (I mean, who doesn't want some comforting soup when they are feeling sick?), but none of the daily selections were really appealing to me. As I was perusing their online menu, I found their broth bowls section. Yep! That is exactly what I wanted! :)

Instantly I gravitated towards their Ricotta Sacchettini with Chicken Broth Bowl. Cheese filled pasta, chicken, fresh broccoli & spinach covered in a nourishing broth and topped with pesto and lemon? I mean, YES. That was the feel better food I was looking for. 

And even though I cringed at the price ($9 a bowl!) when ordering it, I knew it was what my sick self was craving. After taking one bite of this broth bowl, I also knew that I had to come up with a copycat recipe for it that I could make at home. 

These easy to make Italian Chicken & Tortellini Broth Bowls are my homemade version of my new Panera favorite...

Light & Healthy Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This one pot, weeknight friendly Light & Healthy Broccoli Cheddar is packed full of fiber rich veggies... 

When my son was younger, he pretty much refused to eat any vegetable that was green. It didn't matter how I prepared it or tried to hide it, the second that he saw a hint of green he would scoff and turn his nose up at it.

But that all changed the day he had Broccoli Cheddar Soup from Panera for the first time.  I am not sure what made him try it that day, but he was hooked... and he was eating broccoli, folks!

I wasn't going to question it. ;)

There are tons of copycat recipes floating around out there for Panera's Broccoli Cheddar soup, so what makes my version so special? Because A. It is 100% vegetarian. B. No cornstarch or flour was used to thicken this soup thanks to my secret fiber rich ingredient. & C.  Despite all of these healthier changes I made to this beloved recipe, my son was clueless. He gobbled down a bowl of this, exclaimed how much it tasted like Panera's, and then went back for seconds...