Ahhh, the weather is getting colder and salads for lunch are not as appetizing. It’s time to switch over to the beauty of hearty soups and stews. Although this weather transition can be a tough and disappointing time for most people, take refuge in the excitement and simplicity of making one pot meals.
Soups and stews are my favorite for a few reasons:
- Recipes can easily be doubled or tripled, then frozen for future use on days that you don’t feel like cooking (hello! can we say lifesaver??!)
- One pot meals can easily balance our macronutrients (fats, protein and carbs) into a quick meal without having to worry about making additional side-dishes
- Two words: LESS DISHES!
So first, lets talk doubling and freezing. It’s simple enough, but you do need to make sure you have the right equipment. This means, proper containers for freezing and maybe an extra stock pot to make a second batch if your first one cannot hold all the goodness on it’s own. I choose not to freeze in mason jars. Although some people swear by this, I can’t seem to get the hang of the tricks to make sure the glass does not crack when freezing and it’s not worth the risk to lose even one portion of my hearty deliciousness. I use BPA-free freezable plastic containers that can easily be picked up at dollar tree or any food store. I think the ones I found are Glad brand, but any will do. I like the round 2 cup size for individual portions. You can also use freezer zip-loc bags, although it’s a bit messier to pack and unpack.
My second point for soups and stews is balance. This particular soup combines the protein of chicken, with the good carbohydrates of sweet potato (or squash) and a multitude of veggies (onions, carrots, parsnips, garlic, greens) with quality fats used to sauté your veggies. I usually always add some extra fats like avocado or egg yolk into this soup because my body in particular requires a higher ratio of good fats to function optimally. I would encourage you to look at your fat intake and see if you are incorporating enough of the necessary healthy fats into your diet such as coconut oil, avocado, nuts and seeds just to name a few. We need a lot more than we’ve been told (but that my friend, is a story for a different day as I could go on for hours!). Instead, you can just check out my post on healthy fats HERE.
And my last point doesn’t need much explanation. One pot meals means one pot to wash. Enough said!
Explore the world of one pot meals using either your stove or slow cooker and discover the ways that it can save you time and help you stay on track with nourishing your body.
This recipe for Meal-Time Chicken Soup was inspired by a friend of mine who introduced me to the next level of chicken soup making! I hope you enjoy it and it inspires you to become more creative in the kitchen! Check out the recipe for my favorite one-pot soup below.
P.S. If you don’t shop at Trader Joe’s and can’t find a Mirepoix mix, you can easily chop it up yourself, it just adds a bit of extra time to the recipe. If you have a food processor, you can throw rough chopped chunks of the veggies in there and pulse until broken down into smaller, soup-sized pieces. Another quick tip is that Trader Joe’s usually has already roasted sweet potatoes in their refridgerated produce section, you can use these to blend into the soup for a delicious flavor without any extra cooking time.
You can download a PDF version of this recipe HERE: meal-time-chicken-soup
