Chicken Noodle Soup

OK, I've been tweaking with this one for a few months now.  I've finally got it and my family loves it -- whew!  I've been making this regularly and will eat the leftovers for days.  This is a perfect survival food for these busy holidays.

Chicken Noodle Soup
by www.trainermomma.com

2 cans (12.5 oz) of canned chicken breast, shredded or 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
8 cups chicken broth, low sodium
1 medium onion, chopped (we use 1 Tb of onion powder for the Doc)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 bay leaf
2 cups dried whole wheat noodles (I like using macaroni, but really anything works)
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen green beans
2 Tb dried or fresh parsley
1 Tb rosemary
salt, to taste (I don't add any, but perhaps you might prefer it)

Throw it all into a stock pot and bring to boiling.  Simmer for 8-10 until noodles and carrots are tender.  Remove bay leaf and serve it up!

That's it, folks!

134 calories per cup.

Find a printable version of this recipe here.


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Tortilla Soup

This winner comes from a favorite gym rat of mine, Kristen.  Several years ago as we were lifting side by side, solving the political problems of the world and admiring the talents of Hugh Jackman all in the same conversation, she suggested that I become a personal trainer.  I had been thinking about it for only about  -- oh -- seven years or so.  For some reason, it was when she formed it into words did I dare to make it a reality.  I will always be grateful for her confidence in me.  It was contagious.



Tortilla Soup
by Kristen Peterson

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
3/4 tsp ground cumin
2 (4 cup) boxes of chicken broth, reduced sodium
1 (11oz) can corn, drained
1 can white hominy, drained
1 green pepper chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained
1 (4 oz) can green chili, chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
3 T lemon juice
1 cup salsa (or 2 diced tomatoes, 1/4 red onion, and 1/4 cup ciliantro)
baked corn tortilla chips
monterey jack cheese, reduced fat
sour cream, light (optional)
avocado slices (optional, but not really if you are totally cool)

Boil chicken in broth.  Save both chicken and broth.  Shred chicken.

Sautee onion and pepper in olive oil in stock pot for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cumin.  Mix well.  Add broth, beans, corn, hominy, chilis, salsa, lemon juice, chili powder, and chicken.  Bring to a boil then reduce to low.  Simmer for 30 minutes.

Serve with chips, cheese, sour cream, and OF COURSE avocado.

Make 16 cups.  186 calories per cup (excluding the extras on top).

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

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Vegetarian Chili

This is sans-meat version of my Cheater Chili.  Some days I just can't eat one more bite of meat.  This is a great, filling main dish.  And no one ever misses the meat :)



Vegetarian Chili
by www.trainermomma.com

1 pkg of Hurst's HamBeens Cajun 15 Bean Soup -- beans ONLY (not the Cajun spice packet)
3 8-oz. cans of tomato sauce, no salt added
4 large spoonfuls of salsa
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 Tb chili powder (or more if your family prefers more kick)
pepper, sprinkle generously
favorite seasoning blend, sprinkle generously
1 yellow squash, grated
1 cup matchstick carrots
1 can corn, drained

I use the Quickcook method on the back of the Bean Soup bag to soften my beans:

1.  Place rinsed beans in a pot with 3 quarts of water.
2.  Bring to a rapid boil.  Reduce heat, cover and continue boiling 60-70 minutes.  Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Beans should be soft and tender.  Sometimes I drain off water or add water, depending how chunky or soupy I want my chili to be.  I lean towards the chunky side.

This recipe can take ANY other veggies you want to add.  These are just some safe ones I had on hand, however eggplant, peppers, sweet potatoes, etc. would ROCK this dish.

Add the rest of the ingredients, then let simmer for 30 minutes.

Makes 8  1-cup servings.

1 cup is 315 calories.

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Souped Up

With all this talk about volumetrics, how about this broth based soup?  Easy, fast, and lasts for days.  Low in calorie, high in water content.  Perfect-a-mundo.

Souped Up
adapted from  The Abs Diet 6 Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs


2 carrots, chopped (I used pre-chopped matchstick carrots)
1 large onion, chopped
4 zucchini or yellow squash, chopped (GLORIOUS!)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tb olive oil
3 cans (16 oz) low-sodium chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) diced Italian-seasoned tomatoes
1/2 cup canned corn
6 oz chicken breast, cooked and chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly groundpepper
1 tsp oregano
2 cups spinach  -- I did not have this :(

In a large stock pot, saute carrots, onion, zucchini, and garlic in oil until soft (around 6 minutes).

Add broth, beans, chicken, corn, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Stir well, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.  Just before you are ready to eat, stir in spinach and let it wilt (about 2 minutes).

One 2 cup serving is 234 calories.

For a printer friendly version of this recipe, click here.


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Vegetable Soup

Once upon a time I lived in the ghetto center the Phoenix.  I cannot lie.  I struggled while living there.

  Perhaps it was the fact that I was enormously pregnant. 

Perhaps it was that the Doc was gone all time (but what else was new).  

Maybe it was the several Chihuahuas that my neighbors had that barked incessantly and hung from my calves by their teeth when I tried to tell their owners to turn down their music every day during nap time (I was a newbie mom, I would never do that now.  Now I'd just make the kid sleep through it).  

Or perhaps it was the several nights of being woken up by police helicopters shining their spotlights through our bedroom windows, or handing police officers cold cups of water while they tried to catch criminals that had run through our yard.  

Or was it the infestation of baby cats in my outside laundry room or hearing roof rats run across my roof at night.

Pish posh.  That is all in the past.  And frankly, not what I remember about Phoenix at all.

I remember my friends.  My dear, dear Phoenix friends who lifted me out of my self pity and gave me reason to sob for weeks when we moved away.

April was the first to reach out.  April, my dear red headed friend, could be counted on to be home ALL THE TIME.  I was (and am) a stay-at-home mom who hated being at home,  but April was the opposite.  I could always escape my red carpeted house (yes, it did have blood red carpet.  Bloody nose?  Quick!  Get over the carpet!) and spend hours with April.  Between the two of us, we solved every problem in the world.  We seriously could take over the White House if we put my blonde head and her red head together.  At least it felt like it at the time.

I miss April.  I think of her every time I make this perfect, simple Vegetable Soup.  Just like April:  perfect and simple.

Vegetable Soup
by April McIver

10 cups water
5 Knorr chicken bullion cubes
1 cup barley
1 large pinch of parsley
'1/2 t white pepper
1/2 t tarragon
1 t curry
1 handful of lentils
1 handful of red lentils

Simmer covered for 1 hour.

3 large white potatoes (I used red.  I have used sweet potatoes as well)
1 can drained carrots
1 can drained corn
1 can drained green beans
1 bunch of broccoli
4 stalks of celery, chopped

Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Makes a ton!  You are welcome to use fresh vegetables and add in as many has your heart desires.  This is a great one for me when I want veggies, but don't have them all on hand.  Cans to the rescue!

For a printable version of this recipe, click here.

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Souped Up

This winner came from "The Abs Diet 6-Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs Cookbook". I read cookbooks like this like a fine piece of literature.  It has 150 of quick, good for you meals.  I ate this soup for days (nobody else was interested).






Souped Up
by www.trainermomma.com
from The Abs Diet 6-Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs


2 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
4 zucchini or yellow squash, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tb olive oil
3 cans (16 oz) low-sodium chicken broth
1 can (15 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) diced Italian seasoned tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp oregano
2 cups spinach

In a large stock pot, saute carrots, onion, zucchini or squash, and garlic in oil until soft (about 6 minutes).

Add broth, beans, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Stir well, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.  Just before you are ready to eat, stir in spinach and let it wilt (about 2 minutes).

Serves 6

165 per serving

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.  

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

So, I wasn't feeling too hot the other night and NEEDED soup and only soup. My favorite recipe site For the Love of Cooking came to the rescue once again... Man, I cannot get my nose off the screen anytime Jill posts something. The girl is a whiz in the kitchen!




I took her Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup recipe and simplified it a bit. It was a huge it with the entire family, and I ate it for a few days afterward.

Here's my version, however you can find the original here.

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup
adapted from For the Love of Cooking

1 tsp olive oil
1/2 sweet onion
3 stalks of celery, diced
15 baby carrots, sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
5 cups water
6 tsp reduced sodium chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp dried basil
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
2-12.5 oz cans of cooked, canned chicken breast (drained)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup frozen corn
2 Tb cornstarch
1-12 oz can of fat free evaporated milk

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until tender.

Add garlic and stir for 60 seconds.

Add the water, chicken bouillon, cans of chicken, basil, sea salt, black pepper and bay leaf. Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Turn soup up until it boils.

Mix the cornstarch and evaporated milk thoroughly in a small bowl. Add the milk mixture into the boiling soup and stir. Lower the heat and add the corn and brown rice. Mix and simmer for a few more minutes. The soup will thicken as it sits. Remove bay leaf and enjoy!

White Chicken Chili

I got this winner recipe from a good friend Missy. She lived near me for just one, measly year. Not nearly long enough for me. OK, let me tell you about this amazing woman. She had four kiddos all in a row, and a direct descendant of Pheidippides . She is an amazing runner and has qualified for the Boston Marathon several times.

I am not making this up: This Fit Momma had a TRIPLE stroller, would push three of her kiddos in it, have her oldest riding a bike beside her as she went for a run for several miles. In the summer. I'm not making this up. She became a legend in her neighborhood. And I was her friend!

I'm telling you, she had THE GREATEST LEGS ON THE PLANET. I swear, every time I was with her all I could do was stare at her strong, tan, sinewy, muscley, runner legs. If I had legs like Missy, I would get nothing done. All I would do would be stand in the mirror and stare at my gorgeous legs.

More than being an amazing athlete -- she was the most dedicated mother. Completely head over heels in love her with kiddos, she had more pictures up in her house of her children than I'd ever seen. Gentle, loving, patient mother. That is Missy. I miss her. And Max (her only boy).

Onto the recipe! Missy served this to us girls at a luncheon she put on for us. I was blown away and had to have the recipe. I've modified it slightly, but it is definitely thanks to Missy that I'm sharing this:

White Chicken Chili
adapted from Missy

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 oz of your favorite salsa
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 Tb ground cumin
3 cans of Great Northern beans
4 c chicken broth
Monterey jack shredded cheese

Boil thawed chicken in water for about 10 minutes until cooked. Let chicken cool, shred, then set aside.

In a blender or food processor, combine salsa and onion. Blend until there are NO CHUNKS.

**I only do this for the kids and the Doc. In our family, chunks = gross. So, I blend them and whala! Now it is magically edible.

Add chicken broth, blended salsa, beans, cumin, and chicken in a stock pot. Simmer soup for 30 minutes. Garnish with 1 Tb of Monterey jack cheese.

150 calories per cup of soup

Minestrone Soup

I know there are MANY better cooks out there, nevertheless I thought I'd share some of my favorite healthy recipies...

Minestrone Soup
(given to me by my friend Holly Hartzell during the medical school years back in Tucson, AZ)

2 cans of beans, drained (kidney, garbanzo, pinto, navy, whatever)

8 c chicken broth

1 16 oz can diced tomatoes

Baby carrots chopped in half length wise

2 stalks celery, chopped fine

2 medium or 1 large onion chopped fine

2 cloves of garlic

1 c whole wheat macaroni, uncooked

2 Tb parsley

2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried basil leaves

¼ tsp pepper

1 bay leaf

1 ½ c or 1 can of cut green beans, drained

2 zucchini, cut small

Grated parmesan cheese

Add all ingredients except green beans and zuchinni. Simmer until tender, then add remaining two vegetables and cook until tender. Remove bay leaf, then serve with cheese on top.