Tag Archives: soup

Final Detox Post – Potassium Balance Soup

I finished my green detox, yay!  Proud of myself for doing it.  Here’s the final recipe in the detox and I’ll talk about results afterward 🙂

4 cups filtered water

4 medium zucchini, finely chopped

3 celery stalks, leaves removed, then finely chopped

1 cup roughly chopped green string beans

1 large bunch fresh parsley, stems and leaves roughly chopped

3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon rosemary

soup makingsPut all the ingredients in a large stock pot.  Bring to a gentle boil, then lower the heat, cover, and let simmer gently for 30 minutes.

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There you have it.  I ate this all three days for dinner.  It’s surprisingly hearty and yummy!  So now for the results.  I did the detox purely for health reasons.  I wanted to start this year off with a clean and healthy body.  I wound up losing three pounds during the detox. An added benefit I guess!  The first day of the detox I had so much energy!   Then that night I got a killer headache and felt really nauseous after dinner.   Day two I felt very weak and then I got another headache in the afternoon that went through until the next morning.  Day three I felt really exhausted and weak.  Only a headache in the morning but it subsided early and then I was craving chicken!  The day after I finished the program I felt great!  My  body just felt so clean an energized!  My run in the afternoon was awesome!  I highly recommend this to anyone who is interested.  I didn’t post everything so make sure to get the book Hungry for Change and read about it so you know what to expect.  That’s all for now.  I’ve begun the Paleo diet.  More to come!  Happy Cooking!

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Slow Cooker Tuesday – Hamburger Vegetable Stew

Wow three posts this week! Are you guys excited? This recipe comes from my Paleolithic Slow Cooker ebook but interestingly its not Paleo.  It has green beans in the recipe and Paleo does not allow for any sort of legumes including green beans.  I made it as the recipe stated but if I were truly Paleo the green beans would have to go.

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

2 pounds grass-fed ground beef

2 onions, chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped (any color)

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

5 carrots, sliced

4 cups fresh green beans, snapped into bite-sized pieces

2 15 oz cans of tomato sauce

1 quart beef broth

1 tablespoon raw honey

2 teaspoons cumin seed

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

IMG_1736Turn your slow cooker on high while you get your ingredients ready.  In a large frying pan, place the coconut oil and let it get hot.  Place the ground beef into the frying pan and brown completely.  Put the beef into the slow cooker.  Put the onions, celery, bell peppers, and mushrooms into the frying pan and saute for 5 minutes.  Put the sauteed vegetables into the slow cooker.  Put the carrots, green beans, tomato sauce, beef broth, honey, cumin seed, salt and pepper into the slow cooker.  Stir the ingredients together.  Cover the cooker and cook for 7 to 8 hours on low.

IMG_1744This was super easy to make and it makes a lot so I took it for lunch all week.  This is probably one of my favorite slow cooker recipes so far.  Happy cooking!

 

 

Mushroom Lovers Dream – Zucchini Mushroom Soup

I’m back!  I huge apology for being MIA the past week.  I usually get extremely busy around this time in the semester and this spring is no exception!  But I have a few great posts for you so keep checking back.  This soup turned out amazingly good.  I got the recipe out of my Hungry for Change cookbook but I did a few things differently.  First, I used Japanese mushrooms instead of wild mushrooms because I LOVE them! Also, this soup is supposed to be pureed but I left it chunky because I love the consistency of Japanese mushrooms so much.

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2 tablespoons coconut oil

6 cups roughly chopped mushrooms

1 medium-size yellow onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 large zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch-thick half-moons

1 bay leaf

Water

2 cups chopped cauliflower

Unrefined sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

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Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Saute the mushrooms in the oil with a sprinkle of sea salt until they are lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir in the onion, garlic, and zucchini and cook an additional 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the bay leaf and enough water to cover the vegetables.  Cover the pot, bring to a gentle boil, lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 12 minutes.  Add the cauliflower and let everything continue to simmer until the cauliflower is soft.    At this point you can puree it in a blender if you want to go that route but I really loved it chunky!

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I made a double batch of this and I ate it all week.  If you like mushrooms then this is definitely the dish for you!  Happy cooking!

Cold Weather Meal – Chicken, Yam and Chard Soup

It was a beautiful 80 degree weekend this week but I knew it was gonna be cold and grey like it is today so I searched and found this interesting soup recipe at http://www.paleoplan.com.  I wasn’t sure sweet potatoes were actually Paleo but turns out white potatoes are the only root veggie that isn’t.  So here it is!

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon sea salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs

4 cups chicken broth

6 cups water

1 bay leaf

2 jalapenos, diced

1 large yam, diced

1 bunch Swiss chard, chopped

1 bunch green onions, sliced (greens and whites)

Juice of 1 lemon

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Heat large pot over medium heat.  When hot, add oil, onion, garlic, carrot, thyme and oregano, and saute until onion is softened and slightly translucent (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, mix 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper in a medium bowl.  Cut chicken thighs into 1 inch cubes and toss in sea salt and black pepper mixture.  Add chicken to the pot and continue to cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to medium, add broth, water, bay leaf, jalapeno, yam, chard,and green onions and simmer for 20 minutes.  Just before serving, season with remaining sea salt, pepper, and lemon juice (I forgot this step but it’s still yummy).

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This one is very hearty and I love the consistency of it.  It feels so nutritious!  In other news, I figured out why my pictures were coming out so dark so no more dark ugly photos!  Slowly but surely I will learn to use this camera 🙂 Happy cooking!

Slow Cooker Wednesday – Granny Butternut Soup

Have you ever been running around in the morning trying to get out the door and in your car on your way to work you realize you forgot to start the slow cooker?  Not with this recipe!  This soup cooks for EIGHTEEN hours!  You can put it on the night before and pretty much forget about it (except for a temperature change in the morning).  It turned out crazy good but very spicy so watch the cayenne if you’re sensitive.

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 large red onions, sliced

6 cups of butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into cubes

4 celery stalks, sliced

2 large Granny Smith apples, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

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Turn the slow cooker on high while you get your ingredients ready.  On the stove top, use a large saucepan and melt the coconut oil.  Place the onions, squash, and celery into the pan and cook until vegetables begin to soften, about 10-15 minutes.  Transfer veggies to the slow cooker.  Add the chopped apples, chicken broth, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.  Cook on high for 7 to 8 hours and low for 10 hours.

Turn your slow cooker to the warm setting.  Using a blender, puree the soup in batches until it is all the desired consistence (or if you have a stick blender you can use that in the actual slow cooker).  Taste and add seasonings as desired.

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This is definitely different than other butternut soup I’ve made.  It’s very good though and super filling!  Happy cooking!

 

Veggie post! – Red Lentil and Coconut Curry Dahl

I’ve been MIA for a bit and I apologize.  In the past 10 days I’ve had two weddings, my anniversary, the Super Bowl, layoffs at work (I’m still employed yay!) and several events for school.  I’m pooped!  But I did whip up this soup last week and I’m finally getting around to posting it.  It’s a little something different for lunch.  My camera has been taking pictures very dark for some reason.  I’m not sure whats up so apologies for the less than stellar photos.

IMG_16222 tablespoons coconut oil

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

3 tablespoons finely minced ginger root

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon red curry paste

2 cups coconut milk

12 oz tomato sauce

2 cups dried red lentils

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

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Melt the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.  Stir in the onion and saute slowly until it is translucent and soft.  Then stir in the garlic and ginger, cooking until fragrant. Add the cumin, coriander, and curry paste, mixing everything together well.  Add the coconut milk, reduce the heat, and let mixture simmer for 2 to 3 minutes covered before adding the tomato sauce, lentils and stock.

Remove the lid and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring often to keep the lentils from sticking to the bottom.  As the lentils cook, they will break down and thicken the soup.  Add more liquid as needed.

When ready, add additional seasoning to taste and serve.

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This is a pretty easy soup to throw together if you don’t have a lot of time and it’s different than your every day lentil soup.  Happy cooking!