Let's make soup!

Warms up the soul
This morning was grey and foggy. Even the sight of our red tulips poking their glowing heads up through the slender green leaves did not cheer me up. When I'm starting to feel low, I get cold. Cooking soup makes me move: collecting ingredients, chopping up the veggies. And warms up my upper body while I lean over the pan, stirring. The smell of herbs and that umami smell of broth warms up my insides. When there's no sunshine, there can always be soup.

Energy
I tend to forget that I am actually tired when I am down. This morning was no exception. While I expected the day to jolt me awake with energy, I forgot that I was up from 03.00 to 05.00 am, trying to figure out why little Nina was crying. Wouldn't feed, clean diaper, if you know what I mean you know how I feel today. Hung over. With no partyvibes to show for it.

Making and eating soup gives back that energy, while taking my mind of stress. Stress that comes with my expectation of energy and lots of important things to be done. Important things that must be done, but don't seem to want to materialize out of the fog that took over my mind.

Weight loss
You won't believe it, and you don't have to, but there it is: I gained 30 kgs during each pregnancy. As I write this, 7 months after our youngest was born, there's still 5 kgs more of me than before the first. And you're right: that can't be just the belly. Apparently, the pregnancy hormone HCG sends my metabolism into hyperefficiency drive. Without eating that differently, I pack on the fatty pounds in record time. Ugh. And - minor problem: I don't believe in dieting.

What a relief when I caught a documentary on - I think it was the National Geographic Channel - that revealed the kicker: the same meal, when blended into soup, will keep you feeling full for a longer amount of time!

Bonuses
- Soup freezes well. I use silicon muffin tins to portion and dethaw more easily. So you can precook, saving yourself time. Dinner time in a family with young children can be quite stressy, so any relief is more than welcome for us. The same would go for you guys who want to go training after work. Or bring a thermos with soup to eat between work and your after work activity, avoiding that fast food moment.
- Our toddler loves soup. Serve in a mug for less spilling.
- Baby can eat soup, too. She loves it, too! Add stock and salt after setting aside what you need for your baby.
- Suddenly, easily, they eat veggies! As does my dearly beloved : )

Enjoy your homemade soup!

PS Sleeping enough is also very important factor in weight loss and (obviously) restoring energy.. yawn!