#because it has meat and veggies in it. meanwhile the woman calling me that eats a sandwich a bowl of soup

[david-watts]

gonna get screamed at for wanting to eat again :) like ok if I make myself a sandwich like I want to. I will be in massive amounts of trouble for using the fresh bread since well that's the only bread available aside from english muffins which I don't want to use because I actually respect the fact my m*ther bought those for herself and she rarely gets to eat most of them when she does that. I will also probably get called a pig. but if I make myself something else I will get in trouble because 'you ate such a big meal for lunch' and get called a pig again. literally cannot win

[the-scrappy-stinger]

What the FUCK is "champon"?

Oh well, I'm about to learn.

Well that was fast! And holy shit, an actual woman in charge for once!

This'll be a treat! Maybe KitKat will be less of a dickhead to a lady proprietor aaaand she has a boyfriend by the end of the manga.

Okay, so Aki and Peter have called KitKat to save the restaurant. So don't worry! Help is on the-

Who the fuck is this?

This is uuuh... ... Reese's Cup. He's got skills!

But Peter's got a weird feeling that the dude isn't legit, not like this food he had at a place called Goro- go- (looks it up) Goryokaku-tei.

It's KitKat's old place. He's talking about Kitkat.

But anyway, Reese's Cup is all ready to open up the restaurant with a new recipe, a new facade, and a new name!

The name of Gor- (stops and looks) Gyokuryu, which is NOT Gokor- I'm bad at these names! (goes back) Goryokaku!!!

It's not like I can't pronounce any Japanese! These names just all stick together in my mouth!

So Reese takes Aki and Peter to get the approval and branding of a local Chinese food place, and the owner of the place asks to speak to Aki, and then when she starts talking-

Reese talks right over her. Well, at least he's on-brand for an off-brand KitKat. The established restaurant owner puts forth a challenge: if the first 20 people to order the champon finish every bit of it, they get his endorsement. So Reese kicks Aki and Peter out of the kitchen and cooks them all himself. 19 bowls in and everybody finishes it to the last drop. It's time for bowl 20-

Heeheeheee~ time for KitKat to KitKat

Maybe I'm glad he's not screaming at Aki? But this still feels like a copout. Like, other than Reese kind of subsuming her restaurant like an amoeba, people are eating it...

That's why. It's because Reese is stomping on KitKat's territory.

Peter's the one that narc'd on Reese. Good for him? Meanwhile

It... is though, you gotta do a good bit of mental math...

But like- okay, so Reese is named Yukichi and he worked at aaaAAAGH- (looks it up) Goryokaku-tei for like half a year before he quit. So KitKat is like "I'm gonna show you up with your leftovers!" and goes to cook

why does his shirt look like his chest hair- whatever! So he makes the food. Reese is so moved by his delicious food that he just kind of... fucks off, and Aki is like "Okay now YOU teach me to make champon!" and KitKat is like "The thing that made that chef bad is that he wanted attention!" and I'm like... man, you hate TV chefs the way that Oishinbo guy hates French food.

So let's get to the meat of it: why champon? Why this weird little veggie and fish sorta thing?

Because Aki got in a fight with her father, and if she doesn't make food so delicious that it makes him smile, he's gonna force her to marry a man she doesn't love. And she needs KitKat to teach her how to make food that's delicious to impress her father.

KitKat tells her she's an idiot.

And he fuckin' bails.

I'm gonna run out of pictures...

So Aki decides to make ramen instead... mostly because the fuckin' dragon outside her door makes everybody think her place is a ramen shop, and she suddenly goes "Oh right! It was actually ramen my dad loved!" and so she and Peter decide to make ramen instead, fuckin'...

And KitKat is like "legit, let's do that."

wait a second how long is this arc again? I'm getting flashbacks... I'm gonna run out of pictuuures!

So KitKat is like "Okay, ramen is a good business venture for amateur cooks because it doesn't take much expertise to master. What do you want to make?"

Aki says tonkatsu ramen. Peter says miso. They fight.

KitKat is like "okay you two need to get your act together or this is never gonna work." and makes them samples. They don't budge on not liking the other person's ramen, so KitKat is like "Okay. That's it. THE TRAINING" and takes them to THE TRAINING.

THE TRAINING is they're gonna work at the goddamn circus. The Japanese goddamn circus of course- are circuses a thing in Japan? I've only seen them in animes in, like, Gyo and fuckin' Yakitate Japan...

So KitKat makes them the circus's caterers for the next week and a half. They suck at it. KitKat's like "okay this is worse than I thought."

So KitKat gives them the food that the normal circus caterers cook and he's like "You know why these two make such good food? It's because they get along and they trust each other!" and Aki's like "Of course they do! They've been married for 20 years!" and KitKat's like "They're not married!"

"They're fuckin' KNIFE THROWERS!"

Or they were! They don't do the act anymore, but they were the knife-throwing act for like 15 years.

And now KitKat is gonna make them hurl knives at each other.

I'm gonna RUN OUT OF PICTURES

So Aki and Peter- okay only Peter practices the knife-throwing, Aki just goes in the kitchen and peels potatoes while the lady knife-thrower talks to her about the love between men and women, and eventually Aki and Peter are like "Peter!" "Aki!" and they kiss and because they have kissed, they can make delicious ramen.

And also KitKat doesn't actually make them do a knife-throwing act because that'd be, almost in his own words, a literal goddamn crime and fucking stupid.

Okay maybe I exaggerated a little but the thought's still there. So KitKat drives them back to their restaurant, explaining how this is only the first step to making their own rame-

Oh god DAMN IT!

So this is her father's doing.

Turns out he's actually a bigger dick than she let on.

So's KitKat.

But anyway their shop is destroyed, so to make a name for themselves, KitKat signs them up for the RAMEN COOKOFF!

Can we STOP with the racism- when was this manga published?!

1999?!?!

lord- okay... that's how many chapters this arc has been- how long is this now? (looks) this has been TWELVE CHAPTERS and we're still not done yet. Okay so Aki and Peter test a bunch of recipes and Aki comes to the conclusion to make ramen with a salt base- like the soup is basically just finely-balanced seafood stock and salt- topped with pickled onions the knife-thrower lady gave her. And KitKat calls it the dawn of a new ramen.

Salty onion water ramen.

I mean maybe it's good, I dunno. Just seems like overhype to me compared to tonkatsu and miso ramen.

But this arc is FINALLY OVER after... THIRTEEN ISSUES, along with a lead-in for the next issue.

and I did NOT

run out of pictures.

[sleepy-stories]

Chapter 8: An Upcoming Date

At the Home’s of the Boleyns, the family of 2 parents and 3 children and lastly 2 grandchildren.

Mary sat on the edge of her bed, holding onto a framed photo of her late husband. She stares at it with tears, tears that stream down her cheeks.

She sniffled. Her hand lifted a white tissue and brought it up to her eyes. “I miss you so much,” Mary whispers. She hasn’t told anyone this secret. Mary couldn’t let go of the past.

Then a sound of a knock at the door brought Mary’s gaze to it. “Co-come in,” she stutters, her voice trying to hide the sad tone. Anne opened the door and walked up to her eldest sister.

“Yes?” Mary asked, continuing to sniffle.

“Mary, Mother wants you to help wit-,” Anne said before noticing Mary. She gave her full attention to her appearance. Her eyes were red because of the tears, her nose constantly running, her hand clutching on a tissue.

Has she been crying? Anne lowered her gaze at the framed photo in her left hand. “Mary, you are crying? What happened?” the other Boleyn asked. Anne sat next to her and brought her hand on her back, starting to rub it in circles.

“If you don't mind me asking?” Anne asked, feeling worried that she would bug her on something that she isn’t comfortable with.

“No, no it's fine,” Mary said but continued anyway, “this has been going on for about 2 months now and I always tell you all that I’m ready to date and ready to move on, right?”

Anne nodded, she continued to look at her.

“Well, that was a huge lie. I haven’t moved on and I’m scared,” Mary said, feeling worse about herself.

“I know you are missing Sir Carey, Mary.” Anne said and continued,” And I know it is not easy for you. But I do believe at the bottom of my heart that you need to at least try. and If you do it then I’ll find someone too,” Mary looked at Anne in curiosity to her advice, which made her sniffle again.

“You know you are not good with relationship advice, Anne,” Mary said, feeling a bit better. She shows a small smile to her.

“I know but at least I made you feel better, didn't I?” Anne asked, with a little tease to her.

Mary sighs, she gets up and sets the photo on the small table. She turned back to her sister and asked, “What does Mother want me?”

“She just wants your help with the evening snacks that she’s preparing with Catherine,” Anne said.

Mary headed out the door and left her sister, Anne behind. But soon, She followed Mary to the kitchen, where little Catherine and their mother were washing and cutting strawberries.

The Boleyn girls walked up to the two. “I’m here, Mother,” Mary announced her presents. Her voice was positive but a little shaky which their mother didn't notice.

“Oh Mary, thank you for coming.” Mother thanked her.

“You can just help your daughter finish up washing those strawberries first,” Elizabeth said pointing at the bowl in which Catherine took one of the strawberries and scrubs it under the sink, as she stopped and looked over at Mary. "Then after that, I want you to cut those apples," her mother pointed to a bigger bowl that sat next to the strawberries.

Mary nodded.

Mary walked over to her daughter and started washing the strawberries.

Hours passed in the evening and the sky went dark. Everyone sat at the table for Mother Boleyn to present the meal to everyone at dinner. And When she did, it was veggies, meats, and biscuits. Everyone went around the table to pass the food to each other to serve themselves, and they even prayed before eating.

Thomas looked over at Mary and said,” I heard that you are going on a date tomorrow at night,”

“Yeah, I’m gonna give it a try, I’m meeting my date here, but going to the bar for the night,” Mary told, her eyes not up at her father. She picks through her meal.

“Hmm,” Thomas nods.

“Do you even know what he looks like?” George asked, with his mouth full. He was very curious about this man. “You know, height, looks, age?” he asked again, this time demanding the answers.

“First, don’t eat with your mouth full, you will choke and…. fall asleep,” Mary said straight at George but looked over at her young children. “Secondly, he only said his age and his name in the letter,” Mary said as She grabbed a white cloth and put it on her daughter’s lap and another to whip off her son’s mouth.

“I sent a photo of myself to him, but he never did the same,” she continued to say. Mary felt regression to this soon-date, she looked at her food more than her family when she talked.

“Maybe tomorrow I’ll find out who he is?” Mary asked herself that.

Meanwhile, Outside of Tudor’s mansion, Henry walked to the library with Parr, Cleves, and Wilson behind him. “Alright ladies, I’m gonna be gone tomorrow night on a date which my sisters suggested to me, to be more open with the world,” Henry told them, making it to the old library which was a block away from their original location.

“I’m gonna be meeting people which have been happening for a while and I need a book on dating or any advice from you three on relationships,” He said as he stepped in and held the door open for them all.

A couple of people walked past them and left, as the four walked over to the shelves. The shelves were tall, made out of wood, and easy to break. However, it held up all the books without any trouble. “You know, I’m not so nice to my maids nor my workers in the business but I allow you to freely find some books to read and keep,” Henry told, honestly. And after that, he walked off to the librarian to ask for help. Cleves and Parr looked at each other and both headed to the history area, Wilson didn't even bother to follow and went somewhere else.

Cleves looked for the “t” titled books. Parr did the same, which ended up being found by cleves called the Tudor history and then Parr later found the book on henry viii.

The cover picture of the man looked like him, but less overweight and less old. Henry now walked past them but didn’t look.

“Sir, did you find what you needed?” the librarian asked. She stood next to Tudor, who was reading two book titles. “Yeah, just choosing over two books.” He continues.

“I’ll come over to the front desk when I’m done,” Henry told her, which she understood and walked off. Wilson walks over to Henry and looks for a book next to him. Tudor brought his attention to her then returned it to the covers. “You know, the librarian likes you, sir,” Wilson blurted it out.

“Yeah, I can tell, everyone likes me,” Henry said, putting one of the books back on its shelf and looking at Wilson. “I’m Handsome, Rich, Famous and even Single. Everyone likes those,” he said, as he moved each finger down one by one when he named himself.

“Who’s your date?” Wilson asked, she held the book in her hand. Her voice was calm to the tone which made Henry a bit worried. But gave in anyway.

“My date is this woman name Mary Boleyn and she sent me a lot of information about herself as being a widow with two children, one a boy and one a girl, living with her parents and siblings, and her husband died from a disease,” Tudor said but continue, not noticing Wilson staring at him and now the two other maids walking up to him. “This is relatable for me since I lost my brother to disease too. And still haven’t forgotten about,” Henry thinks more about his past, his father was happy with his mother hugging him tightly, Arthur smiling at Mary, Margaret is happy as well. He thought they were so happy before.

Tudor sighs and walks over to the front desk and the maids followed. They all set their books on the desk. As the librarian heard the noise of the books hitting on the hard desk, she put down her book beside her.

She took a glance at everyone and more on Henry a bit before taking her check-out booklet and pencil, which she started to write down Henry's name and all of the book titles in it. After doing that she told the due date and even gave one of them a single piece of already written paper with the date on it, September 30. That’s two weeks away.

Parr looked at the sign by the desk that said, one week is our due date and chose two books for one person only. Then, Henry took the books and handed the correct ones to each woman, and headed out the door.

Wilson asked, “What book did you get? It looks old.” She stared at it. “Just an old Victorian Book on dating,” Henry said, proudly.

[mittensmorgul]

I'm sure you're overwhelmed with asks, so if this drowns no worries! Just wondering your thoughts on how much Dean was eating this ep, bacon, hot dog, that other thing I missed, also casually drinking from a flask in the afternoon. Usually he is a drown in whisky guy, but switched to food for this one, would you count that as growth? Or was it meant to drive home the "meat man" thing? Both?

heck hi! I fully intend to write about this when I get to my rewatch notes. Which I’m hopefully gonna be starting here in a bit, but it’ll probably take me until tomorrow to get all the way through it.

I’ve reblogged a lot of other posts that have touched on it since you sent this message last night (sorry for the delay!), so I hope some of those have helped tide you over in the meantime. :D

But heck YES. There’s so many past episodes where Dean has sat eating a pile of bacon, and it’s almost universally been a Grief Bacon situation. 13.05, hung over and eating Mt. Baconmore wearing sunglasses at breakfast, just hours before he literally kills himself out of grief. 13.14, where he declares that if bacon is the thing that kills him, then he wins-- with the whole mission with Cas to kill Gog and Magog and “I don’t get words wrong” and their COMPLETE BREAKDOWN OF COMMUNICATION before they headed out about why Cas felt he was brought back-- for the mission, to protect jack, and dean had zero to do with it and was not enough of a reason, or possibly not even a reason AT ALL. 

Bacon is a Sad Thing for Dean. Literally kummerspeck.

And this is how Dean behaves (looking back at like 13.05 and all the things Sam tried to do for him to “cheer him up” or whatever, but also at like 12.18 where he’s nearly sacrificed to an old god at a meat packing plant and goes on and on about meat at a time when Cas wasn’t answering his calls and had disappeared from his life again). He eats his feelings. Bacon, waffles, chili fries, burgers, pie, donuts, croissookies... he’s an equal opportunity indulger.

I just reblogged a post about the other thing he was eating-- PRETZELS. He just stood there, casually munching pretzels. I mean, where did he even GET this food? The pretzels OR the hot dog? Like???

But the bacon was the most interesting scene of all to me, not only for his repeated declarations that he’s the “Meat Man,” but for his entire interaction with Sam about it, and what it says about their relationship as a whole.

Sam... is an adult man. And yet for some reason he’s been asking DEAN to buy veggie bacon for him? And rather than giving up on ever converting Dean to his “hippie Sarah McLachlan grass-eater crap,” which Dean mouthed along to word for word so this is clearly Dean’s stance on it, Sam continues to just bemoan the fact that he’ll never have his veggie bacon himself. He’s missing the entire point that Dean shouldn’t have to provide it for him, nor should Dean’s refusal to buy it mean that Sam can’t choose it for himself. Nor does it mean that Dean should change what HE likes to accommodate what Sam wants.

But it’s more than that, because Sam had to go and hang multiple bacon-flavored lampshades for us in this episode. He insisted that Dean must not know what “Meat Man” actually means, or that Dean somehow doesn’t realize what it sounds like when he says it. Dean actually sits there for a second before replying that yes, he knows exactly what it means. He’s coded veggie bacon as female, going so far to tie it specifically to Sarah McLachlan, who among other things is known for the Lilith Fair promoting an all-female lineup. Also, possibly her biggest/best known song was called “Angel” and makes EVERYONE cry, I mean... talk about a multi-layered reference here for what’s actually underlying dean’s issues here.

And Dean is perfectly comfortable admitting to Sam that yes, he does know exactly what it means, and he’s gonna keep eating his man meat. Because he’s the meat man. Meanwhile, that’s not what Sam wants for himself, and Dean will never provide for him what he wants, because Sam is a grown-ass man who can provide for himself, and yet he isn’t. Because like Dean was in early s13, and early s14 for a different reason, Sam is drowning in his memories (inflamed by his current weird dreams that he’s still unaware are probably a direct result of his God Wound), and no matter what he does, he’s not feeling better about any of it. The relief he’d hoped would come from “winning” here hasn’t materialized, because a) the cost was too high for him to accept it as a true win with Rowena’s apparent death, and 2) he doesn’t yet know that he hasn’t actually won and is still trapped in Chuck’s story, like Dean didn’t realize he was still trapped in Michael’s fake Rocky’s bar in 14.10.

Heck this is a lot of symbolism to put on food, isn’t it?

Dean got all excited about a BEAVER while eating those pretzels. And he actually got to have a conversation with Toby the dude in the beaver suit while eating the hot dog. And he declared it all awesome.

But that conversation at the crime scene when Dean took a drink from his flask? That’s the pin that holds the rest together. Because it was about Sam as much as Dean. I really need to go back and watch the scene and quote lines, but I don’t have time right now, so I’ll sum it up as Sam finally FINALLY realizing that no matter how much he wishes he could, he can no longer run away and pretend that the monsters aren’t out there. He can’t just go off and live behind a white picket fence with some random woman and pretend his entire life hadn’t happened, like he’s tried to do in the past-- where we found him in the pilot living with Jessica and pretending to be normal, or like he tried to do with Amelia for a year without ever telling her the truth about his life. It had never truly worked for him in the past, and it took him until now to truly admit that to himself. Which... is good, because character growth, but so painful to him that it’s only adding to his current suffering.

okay, I gotta run, but I do actually have more to say about this in context of the episode, but this is a good start. So i’m gonna post it :D

[edoughty2876-blog]

#JanStewary: How Soup Changed My Life (& Body)…Really

I've changed. I discovered how fun and relaxing it is to cook and at 39, I'm a new woman. For anyone who is about to stop reading and likely never come back, I promise that brand new design content starts all next week, so don't worry. But it's the first week of the year, and it's natural to look inward and try to “be your best self.”

But meanwhile, I have to address how my life has changed for the better since September, or I should say SOUPtember. So, here is the story…

I had hit bottom in terms of how I was feeling on my insides over Labor Day/my birthday so I wanted and needed a reset. We had spent 10 days with friends on vacation and I just felt so unhealthy and my body needed nutrients, vitamins and less processed foods, sugar, alcohol, etc. So naturally the answer was ONLY EAT SOUP. Soup in the morning, soup in the evening, soup at supper time. Instead of grabbing crackers and cheese for a snack, I warm up a small bowl of soup. And these soups did not have any grains, starch, dairy or gluten, just vegetables, broth and lean protein.

Before you freak out at how weird and boring it is, you have to hear me out: this is truly the easiest and most satisfying change I've ever made in my eating habits, and more effective than ANYTHING I've ever tried. I hesitate to call it a “diet” because it truly is more than that, it's my new lifestyle. Essentially, it's a way to only eat vegetables and protein without sugar or dairy which we all know is generally what we should be doing in life, but eating it in the form of soup is far EASIER and more satisfying than it sounds. Not sold yet? Hear me out.

Here are the benefits of soup (as per my years/weeks of expertise):

Soups can be SO hearty. The ones I've been making are so loaded with lean proteins and vegetables with richness and depth, and after a huge bowl, I'm FAR more satisfied than I am with a huge salad. I normally add WAY more vegetables than the recipe calls for and my goodness, it's so filling and these veggies are full of texture and crunch…we aren't eating a bowl of mush, I promise.

You can meal prep. I joked that “soup is the salad you don't have to make again and again.” Unlike the always popular salad, a soup can be made the night before and it stays good for days so it's SO much easier to bring to work and warm up. I make a big pot of soup and eat it for every meal 'til it's gone, then I make a new one. It's not normal, but it's so easy. I don't have to think about it. I don't have to wonder how I'm going to have a healthy lunch. It's just me and my soup.

They are easier to digest. Soups have cooked vegetables, therefore, they are so much easier to digest than salads (for me). I was SHOCKED at how my body reacted. No digestive issues AT ALL, if you know what I mean. Raw vegetables can be hard on your tummy and bloat or give you gas, but cooked is at least what my body wants. You get all the nutrition without the side effects.

Soups are EASY to cook (generally). All you need is a cutting board, knife, pot and spoon. The chopping can take a while, but otherwise it's all in ONE POT. You aren't juggling a million sauces on different burners. Just one. August Emily would be SHOCKED at how good of a cook I've become and it's all thanks to soups.

Soups are naturally lower in calorie. I'm not talking clam chowder, of course. Avoid anything cream based, but if you make one of the soups we are recommending, they are simply full of vegetables, lean protein and water. Yes, there might be some avocado oil or olive oil, but it's just straight up nutrition. My goal was not really to lose weight, just feel better. I cannot stress that enough here. I don't actually have a scale but all of a sudden all my clothes were fitting differently and what was tight around the tummy was no longer. I've always carried weight there but all of a sudden, 10 days in, it was gone (it's back now, but will be gone soon).

There's tons of variety-trust me. There are a million types of soups so while you might think “aren't you sick of soup yet?” the answer is NOPE. I've only started to enter the world of soup recipes.

You have a ton of control over all the ingredients. Obviously, we aren't buying canned soup here, it's just fresh vegetables and lean organic meats. That's it. No dairy. No grains. No gluten. You feel like a good person when you cook like this.

Soups are full of water…so A. it fills you up fast and B. you are drinking more water than you usually do. Again, no big cream-based soups and I've really stayed away from the chili world. Most of my bases are either chicken broth or tomato based.

To be fair in September, I also didn't drink for a month (with the exception of one cheat night for our anniversary) and ran probably 3-4 times a week, so all my friends were like “uh, it's not a secret why you feel better…you are just super healthy” but I'm telling you, it's never been this easy or fast. And in CROCKtober when I went back to more normal habits, I kept it off just by keeping up my soup habits.

Now, after taking the last six weeks off from being healthy (not working out, drinking too much over the holidays, eating crackers and chips all day) I'm so excited to get healthier again, but I will say that I normally feel WAY grosser after New Years and I think the reason I don't feel so unhealthy is that I was still eating more homemade soups than anything else. But yeah, I miss my SOUPtember body (inside and out). Like most vegetable/protein-based diets that eliminate processed foods, carbs and sugar, of course, it's going to work, but by making it in the form of soups, I LOOK FORWARD to each meal and I actually ENJOY this life. I don't feel like I'm missing out. I don't make eyes at bread as if it's an ex-boyfriend that I crave to be with. I'm perfectly happy eating my healthy ass soup (I will miss my wine, however).

If you've made it this far in this post, thanks for sticking around, but I'm not just talking about the brothier me for the sake of blabbing about soup. Enough of you asked me (like every day, I got so many DMs on Instagram) for recipes when I started storying about my soup journey (or telling me they thought I looked leaner and asking me how I lost weight), so it's time to start sharing…it all started with SOUPtember. Then CROCKktober, then STOVEember, followed by DecemBROTH and yes, we are finally into JanSTEWary.

I wasn't the only one on this lifestyle change. Sara and Arlyn at the office also started souping (to feel better inside, but also to prep pre-holiday for what was to come). So we are going to share with you our FAVORITES and then starting next Saturday, we'll post a new healthy and hearty soup on the blog every Saturday for you to try with us the following week (and of course we are wanting your recommendations, too). For today, I'm going to share my go-to that I've literally made again and again and again, followed by a handful of some of Arlyn's that she made while adopting the souping lifestyle (that she also used while doing a fall Whole30).

30 Minute Turkey Meatball and Kale Soup via Savory Lotus

Okay, so…my #1 favorite soup was inspired by THIS recipe, but I've tweaked it and now made it probably 12 times over the last couple of months. I'm so proficient, I don't even have to look at the recipe anymore.

I do have to mention I've tweaked it to my liking, and while the original recipe is great, here is how I doctor mine up:

Add sauteed sliced mushrooms and celery, as well as spinach. For the meatballs, I sometimes chop up extra spinach to sneak in some more veggies (kid-friendly!), add in dill, oregano and thyme to the ground turkey, and use bone broth instead of chicken stock (it gives it a heartier, richer flavor). Arlyn suggests drizzling a little olive oil atop the soup once it's served with a shake of red pepper flakes, but if you don't want to add any extra fat, it's great without it, too.

I'm going to save the rest of my favorites for the weekends like I promised, but to get you started on your soup odyssey, I'm going to hand it over to Arlyn to share six of her dairy-, grain-, sugar- and soy-free soup recipes that she promises she cooks all the time for her and her picky husband (with her notes).

image source

Detox Immune-Boosting Chicken Soup via Eat Yourself Skinny

Hi guys! I'm so excited to be talking about soup…wait…have I been brainwashed?

Anyhow, say hello to my favorite insanely easy and healthy weeknight soup. The first time I made this soup, I really didn't have high expectations. Like…it's just chicken and kale and broth and some veggies. But I'm telling you, it's INSANELY fast to bring together (as long as you use a rotisserie chicken or pre-shredded roasted chicken), really satisfying and somehow feels nearly magical with the combination of turmeric, red pepper flakes and…everything else that comes together. The chickpeas make it filling, the mushrooms give it really nice texture, OH and use bone broth for extra richness. I've played around with this (adding nutritional yeast, hot sauce, and other add-ons) but it's pretty solid as-is.

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Simple Lemony Chicken & Spring Veggie Soup via The Cozy Apron

Sometimes, you just want a soup that's light, fresh and you know won't make you feel like an overstuffed trash bag of a human. This is that soup. I'm pretty sure I skipped the leek every time I've made this and it was still great. Not sure how this would fare with picky kids because there are a lot of green things floating around here, but I bet you can swap out most of these veggies for whatever you/your household prefers and it would still be great. The lemony broth will not be stopped by your decision to ditch the zucchini in place of broccoli. It's a fighter. The quinoa rounds out the whole thing to make it a full meal and filling.

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Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili With Sweet Potato via Paleo Running Momma

During my September Whole30, I made this soup about three times (that and slow cooker buffalo chicken dip over sweet potato…life changing), and I have to admit, it turned out differently every time I made it and I can't figure out why, but overall, it was a solid addition to my go-to list of “what on earth do I cook this week without making my tight pants even tighter or going broke” solutions. Definitely use bone broth if you can (it makes it richer and more complex than regular broth or stock), and if you can't find a white or Japanese sweet potato, it would be just as good with regular sweet potato. If you make it as-is, a bowl of this yummy goodness (which is less of a chili honestly and more of a soup) is dairy-free, sugar-free and grain-free (which sounds like a snore-fest but I promise it's super yummy…once you double the nutritional yeast).

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Easy Thai Shrimp Soup via Damn Delicious

I remember when I first made this for myself and DH, he said “this tastes like it could have come from a restaurant”, so I knew it was a winner in his eyes (funny how home-cooked meals are top rated if they could have come from a restaurant, while restaurant food gets a gold star if it taste homemade, oh the ironies of life). I think you could easily swap out the rice for riced cauliflower and butter for ghee (to make it Whole30 approved), but as-is, it's super simple, comes together in under 30 minutes (if you're a fast prepper/chopper), and satisfying.

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Gluten-Free Zuppa Toscana via Noshtastic

Another Whole 30-approved soup here (i.e. dairy-, sugar-, grain-, and happiness-free). Okay, it's not happiness-free because this one made the cut for this article. I'm more of a pasta e fagioli girl myself, and I will never deny my love of Olive Garden's soup, salad and breadsticks combo, but buttery logs of bread soaking up heavenly, narcotic-like dressing are absolutely off limits during a tortuous totally doable month-long healthy eating stint. This lady freezes really well, so I usually make a big batch and then parse it out into one-serving containers for easy meals when I don't have the will to even glance over at my knife block. I've always used curly kale, but I think dino kale (the darker, bumpier but straight variety that looks like, well, a dino could have noshed on it) might actually be better. FYI for any newbie Whole 30ers, Pederson's makes a pretty rad sugar-free bacon (I get mine at Whole Foods when I'm feeling rich, obviously, or Sprouts when I've brought myself back down to earth).

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Heart Vegetable & Beef Soup via I Heart Nap Time

Okay, I really love this soup. This is not a soup that leaves you starving in 20 minutes. This is a soup that pulls its weight as a stand-alone entree. Sometimes, the potatoes go rogue and thicken it up while it sits in the fridge before I eat leftovers the next day (I just add chicken or beef broth before heating up), but overall, it's pretty low-maintenance. I tend to OD on the balsamic vinegar (I exaggerate all spices and other flavor additions when I cook because I never find what a recipe calls for to be enough), which renders down into a super yummy flavor. And DO NOT SKIP THE BASIL. I did last time and it just fell flat. The basil at the end makes this pot of richness totally sing. I've never tried this with anything but ground beef, but I bet it'd still be pretty yummy with ground turkey or chicken. Give it a whirl, because this one is a winner for all (except vegetarians).

UPDATE: So many of you commented this morning that we didn't provide any vegetarian options, and we happened to be cooking up a vegan Zuppa Toscana for lunch during our editorial retreat. All the vegetarians on staff went back for seconds, so it definitely got the seal of approval. Sara drafted up the recipe to share with you below. Take it away Sara:

There are a LOT of “Zuppa Toscana” recipes out there. But they all kind of have the same base-onions, garlic, red pepper, broth, a leafy green, and an Italian sausage. I've been making this soup for years now, and I don't follow a specific recipe anymore. To be honest, I switch it up a little every time I make it based on what sounds good or what I have in my fridge. Sometimes I use spinach instead of kale, sometimes I make it creamy (traditional style) but sometimes I keep it spicer and broth-y, the list goes on and on… 

And this time I've made it super hearty and totally VEGAN (vegetarians and vegans, we heard you, and we have a lot more veggie soups coming your way in the upcoming weeks). It's kind of like a good chicken soup or chili, after you make it once, you can make it again and again, a little different each time.

Ingredients:

8 cups vegetable broth

1 bunch green kale (de-stemmed and torn into small pieces)

Two large carrots, chopped

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup potatoes, chopped

Two heads chopped garlic (or as much garlic as you want, I will use two tablespoons minced sometimes)

1 tablespoon avocado oil (for sautéing)

1 white onion, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp herbs de Provence 

Salt and pepper to taste

Juice of one lemon

Sauteé onion, garlic, carrot with salt, pepper, garlic powder, red chili pepper, and dried herbs until onions are translucent and soft. Add veggie broth and bring to boil, add potatoes and let simmer until potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes). Add coconut milk, mix in. Add drained cannellini beans and kale, and bring to a boil for 5 minutes (until kale is tender). Finish with lemon juice and garnish with red pepper flakes if you like it spicy. If you're not vegan, add some cooked spicy Italian sausage. If you prefer a softer green, swap spinach for kale. If you want a lighter soup only use half a can of coconut milk, or use 1 can of light coconut milk. No matter what you do, it will be delicious.

Okay, back to Emily…

Before you do anything else, be sure to pin the above image so you can refer back to this post. It'll save you on a Sunday morning while you're meal planning for the week!

So, all I really have left to say for today is…welcome to #JanStewary. Absolutely make sure to follow along on Instagram Stories, use the hashtag to share your favorite recipes (and throw them into the comments, too!) and please come back on Saturdays during January for more of our tested and approved (and modified) soup recipes. Happy souping everyone. xx

The post #JanStewary: How Soup Changed My Life (& Body)…Really appeared first on Emily Henderson.