Monday! A lovely day for soup :)
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Monday:
BadKitties
Tuesday:
ejoanna
Wednesday:
Caedy
Thursday:
art ah zen
Friday:
FloridaSNMOM
Saturday:
Most Awesome Nana
Sunday:
loggersbrat
I am having surgery next Friday. It's not complicated, but the healing will be fairly intense and extremely inconvenient. Very few people IRL know that I'm having it or what I am having done. It's elective surgery.
There are all kinds of requirements. I have to have 80-90 grams of protein daily at a minimum. I had to stop taking vitamin E, fish oil, and a bunch of other supplements. I have to start taking Arnika Forte on Wednesday. I have to give up my nightly glass of wine beginning Wednesday and continuing until I am off the Percocet.
Since my personal life is in something of a state of chaos, and my mother isn't here, I decided that the best way to get through the first week or so was to have a ready supply of premade and portioned soup. I made huge pots and put individual servings in plastic thingies in the garage freezer.
I did some research and found many recipes for all kinds of "Healing soups," like
these.
But for wound healing, the two most important ingredients seem to be cabbage and onion. It's probably a good thing that I will be alone most of the time ;p
I made two different kinds of soup, adapted from these recipes:
Taste of Home Cabbage Soup
TOTAL TIME: Prep: 15 min. Cook: 25 min.
MAKES: 20 servings
Ingredients
1 medium head cabbage, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
8 cups water
1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1-1/2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
2 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 serving (1 cup) equals 80 calories, 3 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 17 mg cholesterol, 567 mg sodium, 6 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 7 g protein.
Directions
In a stockpot, cook the cabbage, celery and onion in water until tender. Add bouillon, salt, pepper, beef and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in brown sugar and ketchup; simmer another 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Yield: 20 servings (5 quarts).
I read the reviews on this soup and made the following changes:
I omitted the salt, brown sugar, and ketchup. I added a splash of balsamic vinegar. Instead of water and beef bouillon, I used low-sodium beef broth. I used two whole onions. I added parsley to counteract the onions. I substituted one package of lean ground turkey and one package of turkey sausage for the ground beef, to boost the protein. I dumped a lot of pepper in it. I added a can of no-salt diced tomatoes and 1 cup of Spicy V-8 Low Sodium juice. It's delicious :)
I also made a pot of Hungarian Goulash Soup.
Taste of Home Hungarian Goulash Soup
TOTAL TIME: Prep: 10 min. Cook: 2 hours
MAKES: 8 servings
Ingredients
3 bacon strips, diced
1-1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes
3 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons paprika
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
Pepper to taste
Dash sugar
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup sour cream, optional
Nutritional Facts
1 serving (1 cup) equals 283 calories, 11 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 59 mg cholesterol, 920 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 21 g protein.
Directions
In a large kettle, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon; drain, reserving 2 tablespoons drippings. Add beef cubes and brown on all sides. Add green pepper and onions; cook until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar.
Cover and simmer for about 1-1/2 hours or until beef is tender. About 1/2 hour before serving, add the potatoes and reserved bacon; cook until potatoes are tender. Garnish each serving with a dollop of sour cream if desired. Yield: 8 servings (about 2 quarts)
I had half a head of red cabbage left over from a braised red cabbage recipe that I made last week, so I chopped it and threw that in, too. I used ground beef instead of beef cubes. I used 8 or so baby yellow potatoes instead of two large ones, and left the skins on. I used about a heaping teaspoon or so of hot paprika, and 2 tablespoons of sweet. I omitted the salt, added more pepper, added parsley, omitted the sugar and used a dash of balsamic vinegar, and used four slices of bacon instead of three. Also dumped about a cup of sour cream into the pot. Yummy!!!
i didn't drain the bacon. I cooked the green pepper and onions in the utterly sinful and delicious bacon fat, because i felt like it :) And I am seriously bacon-deprived, have been for YEARS.
Here is another recipe for healing cabbage soup, with chicken broth.
Hope that everyone is and remains in good health :) Happy Martin Luther King Day!
Bad kitty