I love soup. I make soup. I create new soups.

And I believe soups are one of our most effective weapons for the battles of fighting flu and colds, getting easy nutrition fast, a huge weapon for me on weight control, and can be cooked ahead for MANY meals.

But, the big BUT in my kick butt soups are :

No processed foods like canned mushroom or chicken.soup …yuck, yuck yuck!

No white pasta or white rice, white sugar..you get the idea.

Or using tons of cheese or not draining fat off hamburger before adding to soup.

Very rarely do I ever make or eat a cream soup normally loaded with butter & cream …that is so not going to accomplish any of the attributes listed above. Yummy…Yes! Healthy…no!

But remember, I do live by my 80 – 20 rule and if I want some broccoli cheese soup, well, then, I factor that into my 20% and enjoy it to the max!

Normally at least twice a month, I make some kind of soup and freeze some in single size servings for myself for lunch or dinner. Talk about comfort food and no mess or cooking! Truly feeds my tired soul many nights.

I have MANY variations of my “Kick Butt Soup” but the basics are:

Sharp Knives! My late dad used to say that the most dangerous thing is a dull kitchen knife.

I normally use chuck roast but this sale was way too good to pass up and works just fine.

Using SHARP knife, cut off as much fat as possible

I cut meat into chunks for faster slow cooker results and easier cutting up for soup.

For this soup, I added to crock pot left over red wine, 1 can Hunts natural diced tomatoes, garlic salt, pepper, and 2c of the water

I have used Lipton beefy onion mix but my “clean eating” conscience is struggling with this addition but I’m good…not perfect 🙂

Cook on high for 2 hours and 6 hrs on low or until meat is sooo tender

I let the slow cooker cool after done cooking, then refrigerate until the yucky artery clogging fat solidifies on the surface and skim it off. Remove the meat and shred or cut up bite size. Then add meat and broth to large soup pan.

Veggie options…unlimited!

Cabbage, onion, carrots, green beans, mixed veggies frozen, and at the end, fresh parsley and fresh spinach is my pick for this soup.

Cup up veggies and add to soup with additional canned tomatoes, water, & seasonings to taste simmer approximately 1 – 2 hours depending how done one likes their veggies.

Last 1/2 hour, add fresh parsley and fresh spinach

Garnish with fresh Parmesan if desired and enjoy…your body will be saying “ thank you, thank you’!

Recipe [ This is for soup so never an exact science to me : ) ]

Chuck Roast

Veggie Option:

cabbage, carrots, onions, mixed veg & green beans frozen, fresh parsley & spinach

(I often use a mixture of fresh or frozen veggies) or zuchini, leeks, kale, or whatever floats your little boat.

Hunts Natural Diced Tomatoes 2 – 3  14.5 ounce  cans

6 -8 cups water depending on amounts of veggie used…remember this is soup…not a science project!

1 cup red wine or sub with water

1/4 c dried minced garlic

1/2 tsp garlic salt & ground black pepper

and again at final cooking soup mixture , garlic salt & pepper

1 tsp of basil & oregano or more to taste..I use more

Fresh Parmesan to garnish optional

Mange’ Enjoy!