Detox Soup

I need to detox from all the holiday eating. 

Last weekend and all the weekends in December, we had a lot of parties: Friday nights, Saturday, and Sunday nights. I had a great time at all, enjoyed all the holiday fare including fried potato pancakes with sour cream, lots of gluten free crackers and delicious dips, chocolate, rich dinners, and wine. However, when I got on the scale on Monday, I wasn't happy, and I've been feeling out of control with my eating. It's been such a festive season, but festivities can be fattening.

I was complaining my woes to my good friend Anne. She said that when she needs to get off the junk , lose a few pounds, and detox, she spends 4 days detoxing the easy way.

She makes a big pot of delicious vegan vegetable bean soup and eats it for her lunch and dinner. It's healthy and filling and cleansing .

The very next day Anne presented me with a huge container of her soup: enough for me for four days.That was four days ago and I took off four pounds and never felt hungry or dissatisfied in the least. I even went to my book club pot luck dinner and guess what I brought ? I made a pot of that soup and I ate it for dinner along with a salad that someone else brought.

It's easy and works for 4 simple reasons

• It's short term - just four days
• Convenience- once you make the soup- it's always ready
• No choices- that keeps me on track
• Healthy and filling- full of vegetables and beans

Since I haven't been starving myself or eating restrictive foods, I'm able to maintain the weight loss when I go back to my regular healthy eating habits.

Can't do it for 4 days? Even 2 days can help you detox some of the bloat

The other good part is there is no steadfast recipe. You can substitute any non starchy vegetable or bean in your recipe. Don't like kidney beans? Add black beans. I added spinach to my 2nd soup and my daughter in law Wendy added string beans. Just don't add potaotes, butternut squash, or sweet potatoes if you want to lose weight.

Ingredients:

1/2 cabbage, chopped

1 28 ounce can of chopped tomatoes

1/2 bag of dry lentils, washed

1 can cooked kidney beans

4 carrots , sliced
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 package of sliced mushrooms, or any dried mushrooms

1 onion chopped

4 cloves garlic, pressed ( I didn't have any)

salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste ( I also added 21 Salute from Trader Joes)

4-5 cans of water ( the large tomato can) 28 ounces X 5
a few sprigs of fresh basil

a few shakes of ground hot pepper

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I just put it all into the crock pot on high for 4 hours and then on low for another two hours if the lentils were not soft enough,

Remember, you can adjust the vegetables and beans to those of your liking.. use any kind of non starchy vegetables and any kind of beans. You won't be hungry and your meal is always ready and waiting for you


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