Soup-er Comfy Soups!

I have been promising...and now it's finally here!  I figured it was appropriate right now since we are buried under 100 feet of snow and in the midst of THE BLIZZARD OF 2011 (said in a dramatic movie-preview voice)...or not.  Even though we are not truly in a frozen, wintery catastrophe they are predicting some pretty chilly temps.  In honor of cold and flu season and cold, cold weather that makes you want to curl up and hibernate, I bring you...


My favorite-ist (is that a word?) soups!


The first two are simple.  Cold weather just screams chili and my absolute favorite chili recipe is from The Little House of Veggies website (check it out for some amazing veg recipes).  You have all probably heard me talk about it a time or ten.  You can click on the link below to check it out!


Morgan's Veggie Chili

I actually just made a huge pot of it tonight! YUM!  I always double the recipe because the leftovers are quick and easy and only 3 P+ for a cup!  I use Quorn grounds (1/2 bag or a whole bag if you double the recipe) in place of the Yves meatless grounds (which are also good...but I like the texture of Quorn grounds better).  The other change I make is I use (for a double batch) 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can of Rotel mild tomatoes and chiles, and 1 can of tomato sauce instead of 4 cans of diced tomatoes.  It is a quick, easy, and delicious recipe that will fill you up and keep you warm!  


The next one that I have featured on the blog before is the Slow-Cooker Lentil Soup I found on the WW website.  I think this one really surprised the whole family.  Everyone slurped it down and my husband even wanted seconds!  You can check out the recipe by clicking the link below!


Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

I am planning on making this again later in the week.  The changes (because there always are changes you know)?  I added some extra carrots and celery, used vegetable stock instead of chicken broth, and I omitted the Canadian bacon.  Again, this is another simple and hearty recipe that really fills you up for only 5 P+ per 1 1/2 cups!


One thing I love about WW is the people that you meet at the meetings.  It becomes a second family.  I love bouncing ideas off of other members and I love getting tips and recipes too!  The next two soups are some new favorites that I have added to my soup arsenal - both were inspired by recipes from WW buddies (Thanks Lynelle and Jaime)!


Lynelle's Taco Soup

1 onion
16 oz veggie broth (I use Imagine brand No-Chicken Chicken Broth)
15 oz can of f/f refried beans
15 oz can of black beans
15 oz can of pinto beans
15 oz can of diced tomatoes
15 oz can of diced tomatoes w/ chiles
2 cans of whole kernel corn
1 packet of taco seasoning

Saute the onion, dump everything together, & bring to boil. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. How's that for EASY directions? This soup weighs-in at only 3 P+ per cup! My kids are probably partial to this soup - mostly because it is one of the few opportunities I allow them to eat chips. We crumble tortilla chips and sprinkle with Veggie Shreds "cheese" and top with about 1T of Tofutti - Better Than Sour Cream. So good. So, so good.

Last but not least...a perfect soup to have around for the moment you hear a sneeze or sniffle. Most people associate being sick with chicken noodle soup, but I beg to differ! This soup packs a 1-2 punch with healing garlic and ginger and LOTS of great veggies! I have to apologize because I kinda made this up on the fly trying to mimic a soup one of my best buds brought to me and I used a WW recipe to help me get ratios right. Here is the WW version:

Asian-Inspired Vegetable Soup

And here are my changes:

I changed up the veggies for what I had in my fridge. I used: carrots, celery, 1 head of bok choy, 1 head chinese (napa) cabbage, 1 head of broccoli, 1 can water chestnuts, one red pepper, and one large onion. I omitted the peas b/c I didn't have any and I also omitted the mushrooms b/c my soup pot was getting REALLY full at this point! If you use the veggies I listed above you will need more veggie stock than the WW recipe calls for - I think I ended up using 3 boxes of dark veggie stock. Basically you need enough to cover all your vegetables. The cabbage will wilt down so once it has cooked for a while you will be good. Other changes? I used A LOT more garlic - probably double what it says and I grated my fresh ginger (please use fresh - don't use ground ginger from your spice cabinet!). I swapped cayenne pepper for the red pepper flakes - just a couple pinches will do ya. And last but not least I used BRAGGS Liquid Aminos in place of soy sauce. I would guess that I used at least 1/4 c to start out (mind you this is a big pot of soup). At the end I added a little more to taste. The WW recipe says it has 1 P+ per cup, but since I left the peas out I am 99% sure it is a big fat ZERO! Hooray!!

I am telling you that you will have super-powers if you eat this soup! It has so much good in it that there will be no room for the bad. It is magic soup! That is why I am calling it, "Jaime's Magical Soup!" :-) Don't believe me? Check out ginger and garlic's super-medicinal-powers!

Super Ginger! (hey it can even spice up your...um...love life!)

Super Garlic!

Oh yeah...almost forgot...I got so giddy about soup I didn't deliver the latest news! This last week I lost another 0.8 pounds bringing my total loss to 93.2 pounds! T-minus 6.8 pounds to the 100 pound celebration!!

Have a SOUP-ER week!