Michigan has slowly started to give up warm, sunny perfect weather.  Unfortunately, that means the cold season is upon us… but instead of being sad I will focus on the good that brings; hoodies, slippers, blankets and most importantly SOUP SEASON.

Is Soup a Meal?

I couldn’t believe my ears when a friend once told me her husband didn’t recognize soup as a complete meal?!  I first of all whole heartedly disagree.  You can put all components of a meal in a soup and I would be happy as a clam in mud!  Want to step it up?  Add bread, butter and maybe cheese and voila… a bigger meal!  I suppose I should add fruit… but I never eat fruit with a soup meal.

Not only do I consider it a meal, but I consider it THE BEST MEAL.  Soup season is my literal favorite part of cold weather and maybe the only way I can survive Oct.-March in Michigan.  It gets cold, but soup keeps me cozy.

Soup & Diets

Soup is actually known to be a good, high volume, food to add to any diet.  Heck, I made regular pots of vegetable soups each and every time I did weight watchers.  The soup is delicious, tons of flavor and large batches provided many meals.  It was so good!  However, one can only eat vegetable soup so long without burning out!  I need to have other soups… like black bean, lasagna soup, cheeseburger soup, Wendy’s copycat chili, broccoli cheddar, baked potato soup, beer cheese soup…. and the list goes on!

The problem with me, soups and previous diets is I like to eat all the soups… including the cheesy, creamy and often potatoey ones!

Another problem is, soup is such a fluid food (I’m not talking just broth!)… sure there are recipes.  But soup can take on so many additions.  Each change or alteration makes it nearly impossible (or at best, time consuming) to figure out exactly the components of what you’re eating.

For instance, when I make baked potato soup… I may add 1 cup heavy cream and 2 cups of cheese and 3 large carrots diced.  Then next time I make it no carrots go in (because I have none) and my milk is going to expire soon so I use that in place of some cream.  Substitutions are often made when I make soup based on what needs to be used up in the fridge (soup is SO good at clearing a fridge!!)

I don’t want to add up the calories nor macros of each individual component, especially when the recipes I follow or make are more of a guide than a blueprint.

Enjoy the Soup!

So when I make the soup, I want to skip the counting, adding or low fat substitutions.  I want to focus on it being delicious, filling, a soup my family will love and it being window worthy!

These components leave me satisfied.  And I absolutely love that with Intermittent Fasting I can focus on WHEN I eat, not WHAT I eat.

I can make my version of Zuppa Toscana – including heavy cream, parmesan, potato & spicy sausage – and enjoy each and every bite.  Not because I am eating “the perfectly healthiest food in the world” but because I love the components, I fasted until it was time to eat and I delayed satisfaction until meal time.

I speak more to my “nothing off limits” approach to food here.  I firmly believe I am able to make major health improvements by fasting.  I d

on’t have to eat perfectly to fast.  I choose to fast, focus on that and allow my food choices to be made on a day-by-day basis.

And when it’s cold…. soup may be my daily choice!

Some of My Favorite Soups!

In the years I’ve been on YouTube I have taken the time to film a handful of soup videos.  To be honest, I am surprised there aren’t more!!

Click on each soup to check out a video I made (and if it’s really old, please know I’ve been a constant work in progress lol!):

–Broccoli Cheddar Soup

–Tomato Soup

–Old Fashioned Noodle Soup

–Beer Cheese Soup

–Wendy’s Copycat Chili

Freezer to the Rescue!

If you make soup like I do, you know that often a giant pot means MANY portions.  I have recently discovered Souper Cubes to be the perfection way to freeze any soup leftovers you may have.  They’re a worthwhile investment to any soup lover!