Slimming Tip: Eat Soup

Add a broth-based soup to your day and you’ll fill up on fewer calories. Think minestrone, tortilla soup, or Chinese won-ton. Soup’s especially handy at the beginning of a meal because it slows your eating and curbs your appetite. Start with a low-sodium broth or canned soup, add fresh or frozen vegetables and simmer. Beware of creamy soups, which can be high in fat and calories.

Soup is also a very easy meal to make-ahead for lunches. I use my crock pot at least once a week to make a big batch of soup loaded with vegetables. Then divide it up into portions for later in the week. You end up eating healthier automatically because it’s easy. Plus, you don’t have to scramble for lunch or spend extra money.

 

Related articles

• Cream of What? Condensed Soup Substitute
• Crock Pot Potato Soup
• Soup Season!

 

Cream of What? Condensed Soup Substitute

How often do you see a recipe that you’re excited about making only to be turned off when you see condensed soup in the ingredients list?

To be honest, it happens to me a lot. I understand a certain convenience and short-cut to the method, but it seems like this stuff as creeped into almost every recipe nowadays. The truth of it is that there isn’t anything healthy about using it, no matter how convenient.

So here is your solution (get it?… “solution”)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup low-fat or fat-free milk
salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour; keep stirring until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat and add the chicken broth and milk, a little at a time, stirring to keep smooth. Return to heat. Bring sauce to a gentle boil; cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Taste and add salt and pepper, as needed.
Use in casseroles in place of condensed cream soups.

This cream soup base can be varied by using vegetable broth, sautéed chopped celery, celery seed, or sautéed chopped mushrooms. Add herbs and or seasonings, as desired.

 

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Soup Season!

Now that the weather is finally leaning toward the colder months ahead, it’s time to break out the crock pot. Soups, sauces, chili and stew are some fantastic choices. Plus it’s super easy to crock pot a big batch at once and have leftovers for easy, healthy lunches.

Here’s how to make a ton of healthy creative soups that you and your family will love:

Pick your protein
I put beans in almost all of my soups. They are incredibly healthy and full of fiber, which makes them filling too. You can go with almost any beans, or buy soup mix bags that have a variety all in one bag. Also pick a meat to go along with it if you like. I usually ether go with chicken breast, beef stew meat or bison pieces. They tend to make really good soups.
*Check your beans. Most of them have to soak anywhere from a couple of hours to overnight. Be sure to do this ahead of time, then put them in your crock pot.

Veg-Out
Go crazy adding vegetables! Seriously, you can add such a wide variety of different veggies. I usually go through my fridge and see what’s lying around — the white end of your green onions? Slice ’em up and throw them in! Peppers of every color, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots or raw spinach? Sure thing, chop them up and toss in the pot. This is one of the things that helps every soup be a little different. Plus, the more you add, the more flavor and nutrients your soup gains. Pile them in right on top of the beans.

Seasoning
It is generally safe to say that you can season your soup according to your meat. Just be sure to add a bit extra to get through the whole pot and taste test along the way. It’s easier to add to it than take away, though if it does end up too strong, you can drain some of your broth and add plain water back in.

Broth
You can get a pre-made vegetable or meat flavored broth if you like. A lot of people prefer them because it adds a bit of flavor. However, you can also mix your own if you feel creative (or just don’t want to go to the store). This past weekend I used spicy diced tomatoes (in a blender for a few seconds to eliminate some of the chunks), crystal hot sauce and bar-b-que sauce for flavor. Then just added water until my veggies were covered.

Cooking
This is the easiest part of all! Once your ingredients are in and covered with broth, turn it on low and walk away. Most soups will take about 8 hours, so you have plenty of time to do your running around or just take a nap on the couch.

French Onion Soup

Ingredients

3 large onions, sliced (3 cups)
3 tablespoons margarine or butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) ready-to-serve beef broth

1. Mix onions and margarine in 3 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat setting 30 to 35 minutes or until onions begin to slightly brown around edges.
2. Mix flour, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and pepper.
3. Stir flour mixture and broth into onions.
4. Cover and cook on low heat setting 7 to 9 hours (or high heat setting 3 to 4 hours) or until onions are very tender.

Nutrition Per Serving (1 Serving) Calories 185 (Calories from Fat 70), Total Fat 8g (Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 5mg; Sodium 1240mg; Total Carbohydrate 21g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Protein 9g

 

Tips:

• Try browning the onions in a frying pan on the stove to save a little extra time
• Use 4 cans of ready-to-serve vegetable broth instead of the beef broth if you are vegetarian. The color will not be as rich, but the flavor will be fantastic!
• If you don’t have beef broth you can use 7 cups of your homemade beef broth. Or add 7 cups of water with 7 beef bouillon cubes or 2 heaping tablespoons of beef bouillon granules

Happy Eating, Everyone!

Please feel free to post any questions or your own suggestions in the comments below. Also, be sure to share this page with anyone that you think would benefit from it. I want to help put cooking, and fresh foods back into our daily routines.

Grilled Steaks with Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients 1 Top Sirloin Steak 1/2 teaspoon steak seasoning 1 pound small fresh mushrooms 1/4 cup butter, cubed 1/2 cup beef broth 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme   Directions Cut steak into four pieces; sprinkle with steak seasoning. Grill steaks, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 inches from heat for 5-7 minutes on each side or until meat reaches desired doneness.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute mushrooms in butter until tender.   Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by about half. Serve with steaks.   Yield: 4 servings     Recipe and photo compliments of Taste of Home.

Happy Cooking, Everyone!

Please feel free to post any questions or your own suggestions in the comments below. Also, be sure to share this page with anyone that you think would benefit from it. I want to help put cooking, and fresh foods back into our daily routines.