Nutritious Nourishing New Year Soup – Recipe of the Month
“New Year = A New Life! Decide today who you will become, what you will give how you will live.” – Tony Robbins
Last month we talked about Gratitude and how you could use that to get you through the busy festive season, and here you are… YOU made it WELL DONE!! However, now it’s all over many of you maybe feeling sluggish & rubbish. Some of you will have set your New Year intentions and could be looking towards transforming your life. So, we thought we would write a blog with a couple of tips which may help you on your journey.
Many people overinduldge in food & drink throughout December and are left feeling drained and undernourished. Yes I did say undernourished, this may not be a word you would associate with Christmas as your belly is full and you’re struggling to fasten your pants, however its often filled with the WRONG things so January is a great time to check in with yourself & recompose.
Before you pick up your recycle bags and rush to the supermarket to fill your fridge & cupboards with lots of healthy goodness… STOP! Why not first start at home?
I invite you to begin by emptying your fridge, not simply to throw things away but so you can see exactly what is in there and the same with your cupboards. I know some mums and nans who start filling their Christmas cupboards at the beginning of December so lets find what is lurking in there and what can be done with it!!!!
Place anything remotely nutritious place to one side and anything you don’t think is good for your transformation to another. Now, decide who you would like to donate the Junk pile to… If you are in Ibiza I suggest Food for Ibiza or Moji’s for the animals. (Obviously no chocolate for the dogs!!)
Then, looking at the healthy pile, start to think what we can do. Soups, casseroles and pasta sauces are always a great way to use up veggies which aren’t looking their brightest and to get lots of nutritious goodness into you and the family. This is also a very affordable way to kick off the New Year as the purse strings may also have taken a strain. Yesterday I made a pumpkin & spinach pasta sauce with roasted pumpkin we had leftover from a curry we made a couple of nights ago. I blended the pumpkin with garlic, spinach & a bit of veggie stock then mixed it with Gluten Free brown rice pasta. This is a great way to get veggies into kids who don’t like them whole (like my son).
If there is fruit in the fruit bowl looking overripe & unappealing DON’T throw it away, instead use it to make delicious smoothies, juices, compote for Healthy Pancakes… Any bananas which are going black can be peeled, cut into chunks and frozen for banana nice cream, acai bowls or smoothies. The only thing ever in my freezer is frozen banana & acai;-)
If you have a cupboard full of unopened alcohol leftover and you can’t be trusted with it in the house think of a charity who maybe doing a raffle later in the year and gift to them for prizes…Or a friend who maybe throwing a big party later in the year, they will thank you for it.
Below I have gifted a simple and easy recipe to kickstart your new year and give you the energy and nourishment your body and mind needs in order to Transform your Life. Enjoy!
Nutritious Nourishing New Year Soup
Chop one onion fry for few minutes then add 2 clove of garlic and red chilli with a teaspoon of turmeric.
Add 2 sticks of celery.
Pour 1.5L of Gluten Free Veggie stock in the pot.
Then add 2 chopped sweet potatoes and 1/3 cauliflower & 100g red lentils.
Cook for around 20 minutes (until sweet potatoes are soft).
Blend to your required consistency and add salt and pepper as required to taste.
NUTRITION TIPS : Cauliflower contains a wealth of anti inflammatory nutrients, Sweet potatoes have a numerous health benefits including Vitamin C, B6, Iron Vitamin D & Magneisum & red lentils which are a good source of fiber & protein while being low in calories.
Recipe and blog by Lisa Strong of Strong4LifeNutrition