Healthy Dinners

I've joined an online fitness challenge that was organized by a good friend from San Diego. The blog is private, but I thought I'd share some of my posts on this blog. Here's one I did on my favorite thing to cook:


Tiffany asked for some healthy recipes, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite things in life:

HOMEMADE SOUPS!!!

I don't honestly know what is so exciting about it, but I think it's that it's simple, fairly quick, and pretty hard to mess up. Plus, I seriously find it therapeutic to chop veggies. I make at least one pot a week, which will last my family at least 2 days (that's another reason I love them: means I don't have to cook every day).

Here's my formula:

1) I always start with a base of carrots, celery and onion:

If you don't have time to chop, you can buy them prepackaged. Trader Joes has a wonderful invention called, "Mirepoix" that does exactly that, and was a lifesaver when I had a newborn.

2) Swanson's Chicken Broth: I used to just use water, but the family found it too bland. My husband will eat anything if it has Swanson's in it. So I usually do half broth, half water. If I make a big pot, that's 2 cans broth and 4 cups water. You can get Swansons really cheap at Walmart.

3) If you want a thicker soup, add potatoes. I usually chop a few small potatoes for my creamy soups. Or, you can puree half of the soup to make it taste like cream, without adding any milk or cream at all. I do this when I make corn chowder.

4) If your soup has grain, cook it separately, and throw it in at the alst minute. The grains will become starchy and yucky in the crockpot.

5) If you are making a soup with dried beans, just put the beans in your crockpot overnight. 3 cups of water to one cup of beans (I usually do 2 cups beans, 6 cups water). Cook on low for 7-8 hours and they will be soft in the morning. Then you just add the rest of your ingredients to the crockpot in the morning, and simmer on low. If you forget to do it overnight, you can cook them on high in the crockpot that morning for 3-4 hours, then add everything else at noon.

6) Some of my favorite combos: (all of these have the carrot, onion, celery base in them)

Pinto Beans, potatoes, celery leaves

Chicken, quinoa (or brown rice, or barley)

12 bean and barley mix, turkey kielbasa sausage (both from Trader Joes)

Split Pea with ham, ham hock, or turkey sausage, and some small chopped potatoes to add texture

pinto bean, great northern beans, diced tomatoes, green beans, a little bit of beef broth

black beans, kidney beans, green and red peppers, diced tomatoes, chili powder (you can add some ground beef or wheat berries to this)

I also add cabbage or kale sometimes to the soups. In small amounts it's not overpowering, and you can freeze the rest for your next soup.

This is also great when you need to bring a dinner to someone. Yesterday I got a call mid-morning, for a meal that was needed that evening. My day was already packed, but I had two huge tupperwares of leftovers, enough for both the family in need as well as ours.

These soups can aren't always full of flavor, but I find salt and pepper or some herbs will do the trick. The soups with meat tend to have all the flavor they need. You can add just enough meat for happy hubbies and good flavor, without adding tons of calories.

What healthy meals do you like to make?