Very Vegetable Soup

Well, this week, I added Weight Watchers back into my life (along with the 100 day "no dessert" challenge & the fact that I have been trying to reduce the amount of wheat products in our diet.)  "Our" refers to my husband & myself.  I would like to add, right now, that the 100-day "no dessert" challenge is no longer "our" challenge, but rather, "my" challenge as the husband has already failed miserably!!  Today is Day 16 & I am feeling some righteous pride in myself.  But, before I get too strong on the "righteous" part, I must clarify that right from the start there have been some allowable desserts on this challenge.  They are plain yogurt & chia seed coconut milk pudding.

The chia pudding recipe you say:

1 can lite coconut milk, well shaken or whisked
1 - 2 tsp vanilla
1 - 2 tbsp Agave nectar
1/4 C chia seeds (you can play around with this - this makes the consistency we like)

Mix all of the above well.  Put in a container with lid & refrigerate.  Depending on the brand of chia seeds you use, if you make it while you are prepping supper, it might be ready when you are ready for dessert.  Some brands, we find, take a little longer to thicken.  It is delicious!

I must give full credit to my friend Val for this one…thx, Val!

I have also made the jams with chia seeds.  Many recipes exist on the internet & Pinterest.  The one I used was:

1 C fruit (fresh or frozen)
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 - 2 tbsp Agave nectar

I whirred everything in the food processor a little & kept in a sealed jar in the fridge - but not for long - it is delish!!  By the way, I used blueberries - yum!

Anyway, back to the business at hand…the fact that I went back to Weight Watchers. Right now, the dealio is to go onto a "Simple Start" program for 2 weeks.  Actually, it is quite great.  No refined sugars, bad fats, or crappy carbs.  This made me think of the ol' Peel A Pound Soup.  And, so as not to date myself too bad, that used to be a cabbage soup diet that everyone went on where you could have as much of this cabbage soup as you wanted, when you were hungry.  Don't get me wrong, I am no fan of fad diets or the cabbage soup diet, by any stretch, but I do love a good vegetable soup, which is what I managed to come up with.  What follows is not so much a recipe, but a guideline, of the veggies that I put in this time.  I didn't really add any flavourings spare a shake of the Tex Mex seasoning.  I do, however, switch it up quite regularly if I really get into keeping up with this soup.  Sometimes, I use a little scoop of Chipotle in Adobe & top off my bowl with a little fresh cilantro (I whir the whole can in the food processor & then keep frozen flat in a ziploc bag in freezer to bust off the little piece I want, when needed) sometimes greek seasoning & finish soup with a little fresh lemon juice & zest (then I might not make a tomato base, but more of just broth)…lotsa possibilities

Very Vegetable Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 - 2 carrots. chopped (or slice up the ones in your frozen veg bags - I don't like getting a whole baby carrot in my soup bowl)
2 stalks celery & tops, chopped
1 - 2 tbsp EVOO
salt, pepper, Tex Mex seasoning (to taste - go easy…)

Heat EVOO in a large soup pot.  Add all of the above veg chopped into a consistent size.  Cook until tender, sprinkled with seasonings

Add:

1 bag frozen mediterranean mixed veg
1 bag frozen mixed veg of your choice
1 large can stewed tomatoes
4 - 6 C chicken or veg stock (as always, I used my best loved "Better than Boullion"

<And>

To be a "real" soup, in my opinion, this is where it gets interesting.  Homemade soup is all about using up bits & dabs of things lingering away in your fridge, right?!  Oh, admit it, I'm right!  So, this time, this is what was on that list for me:

- the remainder of the Super Soup from an earlier blog post (which was a broccoli soup)
- 1 C tomato juice
- appx 1 C spiralized red beets
- 1 - 2 cups shredded cabbage (that I had in freezer from buying too large a bag of coleslaw mix)

So, in they went.  Next time, I will do the same with whatever is on the shelf staring back at me :)

I let the pot simmer away on the stove for a good hour.  Then I cooled it down & put into a large container & refridgerated to reheat a cup or two whenever I feel hungry…tonight, I'm going to add a little cooked quinoa when I have a bowl for supper.  This is to ward off the temptation to have a big bag of movie popcorn later when we go to see Jack Ryan:  Shadow Recruit…wish me luck!!

And now…very vegetable soup…mmmmmm

And, for an (allowable) dessert - tropical fruit & yogurt.  If you haven't tried these frozen mangoes & pineapples, you don't know what your missing.  Sweet & delicious...