Curried Sweet Potato Soup

I love this soup because it is quick and easy to make, so delicious, and quite nutritious.  You will get plenty of fiber from the sweet potatoes, lentils, celery, and carrots, and plenty of minerals from the homemade chicken broth and celtic sea salt.

 

Now if you told me you had a delicious recipe for soup that called for curry and lentils, I would say, “No thanks!”, but I saw this in a magazine and decided to try it.  I have made this soup many times now because it is SO good!  I encourage you to give it a try.

   Curried Sweet Potato Soup

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup carrot, diced (about 1 carrot)

1/4 cup celery, diced (about 1 celery rib)

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

1 bay leaf

2 Tablespoons fat (you could use coconut oil, I typically use the chicken fat from my homemade broth)

1 1/2 cups sweet potato, peeled, cubed (usually 1 large sweet potato)

1 teaspoon curry powder

4 cups chicken broth (my recipe here)

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz.)

1/4 cup brown lentils

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

juice of 1/2 a lemon

salt to taste (celtic is best), probably about 1/2 teaspoon

plain yogurt or sour cream to garnish (sour cream is the tastiest!)

 

Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add fat and onions.  While the onions saute, you can dice the carrots–add to the pan.  Then dice the celery and add to the pan.  Peel and dice the sweet potato and add to the pan.  Peel and mince the ginger root (I suppose in a pinch you could use ginger powder.  I just buy a small root, peel the entire thing and then slice and throw in the food processor.  Whatever is more than 1 tablespoon, I freeze for the next time I make this soup.).  Add the ginger, curry, and salt; saute 1 minute.

Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, and lentils; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until lentils and sweet potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes.  Optional:  At this point, I mash it a bit with the potato masher to break up the pieces of sweet potato a bit and thicken the soup slightly.

Off heat, stir in 2 tablespoons cilantro and lemon juice.  Taste and adjust salt, if needed.  Serve with a garnish of sour cream and extra cilantro.

 

This recipe is part of Nourishing Soups and Stews Blog Carnival, hosted by The Nourishing Gourmet.  Check out the link to find many more great soup and stew recipes!

Personal Care 101

I mentioned in my Money Matters article that I save money by using frugal personal care products, but they also happen to be all natural.  I have a big list, so I have decided to split this into a few different posts.

 

  Deodorant

I switched to natural deodorant many years ago (I think about five).  I love it and it is VERY economical.  I have been using the crystal rock deodorant.  It is a natural mineral salt that works by killing the bacteria that cause odor.  It is not an antiperspirant, but it’s not really healthy to block a natural function anyway.  Most deodorants contain aluminum, a known carcinogen (hello–breast cancer!) and is linked to Alzheimer’s.  The crystal, however, does not contain any chemicals.  It is great because it doesn’t stain clothing, isn’t sticky, and doesn’t cake up like typical deodorants.  They are so economical because they last forever!  The website says it will last up to one year, but I have one I bought a little over four years ago!  (It was about $6.00.)  You will find this deodorant in health food stores and online.  I like vitaminshoppe.com.

 

Read more about the benefits of the crystal deodorant here.

 

Stay tuned for more on my personal care products.  I have alternatives for toothpaste, facial cleanser, facial moisturizer, eye makeup remover, lip balm, hand and body moisturizer, shampoo, and conditioner.

Why?

I am going to start a series called Why?  In it I will select a few things I do/supplements I take/food I eat and explain why.

 

While I was mulling over things to include in this series, I ran across this post on Cheeseslave – Top Ten Reasons to Drink Raw Milk.  This post is wonderful!  It includes all the reasons why I love raw milk.  I love all the Powerpoint slides, especially the one regarding food-borne illnesses.  Thank you, Ann Marie, for putting this together!

Saving Time

I have found a nifty little thing that saves me time.  I am probably way behind the times here, but it’s a blog reader (?).  There are many out there apparently.  I am using Bloglines, but there is also Google Reader and Yahoo includes one on the My Yahoo page.

 

This is a free service where you can go to read all the blogs you are interested in.  You add the various blog addresses and then you just go to one place to see if there are any new posts.  You can sort them into different folders, too.  I have 27 blogs that I am following, sorted into folders of friends, nutrition, frugal, savings (deal alerts), and school.  I can even check the news and weather if I’m so inclined.

 

I used to waste a lot of time, checking the same blogs every day, only to find no posts, or get lost and end up someplace far away from where I had started.  Now I can see quickly who has new posts and who doesn’t.  I can skim through everyone’s posts and click on which ones I would like to read in full later.

 

So check it out–I’m sure that some of you could use more time in your day!

How to Afford Healthy Food

I am contributing to the Real Food Wednesdays Blog Carnival, hosted by Cheeseslave and Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

The theme this week is Real Food on a Budget.  You can go here to see all the other great tips.

My biggest way to save money on groceries, allowing me to spend more on real healthy food, is to only buy whole chickens, never parts, and cut them up.

The instructions below were part of my Money Matters article.  You can check it out to see lots more tips for saving money.

How to Cut a Chicken

 

 

 

 

Rinse the chicken and lay on cutting board.  I like to put some paper towels down to soak up juices.  Make sure your knife is sharp.  I like to start with the breast, so I have it breast up.  It’s easiest for me to have the legs facing away from me.

 

 

 

First cut in the middle of the breast.  You will encounter the breastbone (sternum); you will need to cut along side this bone.

 

Keep cutting down along side the breastbone and the rib bones.  I pull the knife toward me in long slicing motions; I don’t use sawing motions here.

 

You will not be cutting through any bone, if you encounter a bone, just cut around it.  There is a small ligament to separate the breast meat.  Then the breast meat just pulls easily away from the skin. 

 

 

Next I turn the chicken 90° so that the legs are to my right (I’m right-handed). Do the same on this side as the last, cutting on the other side of the breast bone and down along side the ribs.

 

Next, I grab the chicken by the wing and hold the wing up.

 

 

In this picture you will see that I am cutting the wing off of the chicken.  I cut with my knife (this time in sawing motions) under the wing pit, looking for the joint.  You won’t have to cut through bone; you should find the joint and cut right between the two bones.

 

 

Now that the wing is off, I lay it on the cutting board and cut off the tip at the joint.  Again, you won’t be cutting through bone, just between joints.  I save the tips for broth.

 

 

Now I have the remainder of the wing, I will hold it in my hand and pull the knife up between the joints.

 

 

Now you have two parts of the wings, the little drumstick and the other piece.

 

 

Next I flip the chicken over, breast side down.

 

 

Grab hold of the leg and bend it backwards to pop the joint out.

 

 

Now cut the leg off at the thigh along side the body.  You won’t cut through bone, you will see the thigh joint and just cut between the joint.

 

 

Now you have the leg and thigh piece.  Sometimes there is excess skin to cut off.  I leave the leg/thigh pieces together.  If you want your drumsticks separate from the thighs you can easily cut them apart at the joint.  Most recommend looking for the line of fat that runs under the skin between the leg and thigh, but that is never a guarantee for me.  Instead, I press with my thumb to feel the indentation of the joint, and then cut at that point.

 

 

Now I am left with the carcass, I will put this in a freezer bag along with the wing tips to save for chicken broth.  I freeze the breasts in separate bags, freeze the wings together in a bag, freeze the leg/thigh pieces together in a bag. Then we can pull out the breasts for such meals that call for boneless, skinless breasts, we can have a wing meal (like hot wings or teriyaki wings) when we have a couple of bags saved up, and we roast up the leg/thigh pieces in the oven or put them on the grill.  If I do a soup I will pull out some carcasses and cook up some broth and then just cook a whole chicken for the meat of the soup.

Also, I make my own chicken broth.  It is SO much better for you than store-bought and it will save you tons of money!!  I cannot remember the last time I had to buy store-bought broth.

Peace

At this point in my food journey and health education process I realize that I am at peace.  I have perfect peace now with my eating and my food choices.  Do I eat perfectly?  No!  But I am at peace and I think that is what this journey is all about.  (Meanwhile still taking my babysteps!)  It’s not about keeping ourselves in perfect health, we can never do that of our own accord.

I don’t say this to boast, but rather to encourage you.

That is why a lot of you come here to this site–you are seeking peace in your life by doing all you can to be healthy.

Some of you come here to learn a bit about health, but need peace in other areas.  Perhaps it’s finances, marriage, child rearing, government, economy, or even spiritual questions about life after death, destiny, etc.  Whatever it is, you are unsettled, seeking something that will give you a sense of peace.

While some others of you come here for some good recipes.  You don’t really care much about changing your eating, and that’s okay, too.  I would much rather see you put emphasis on your spiritual well-being and then your mental well-being before you tackle the physical, anyway.  I named this site All Things Health (as I have said before) to be a constant reminder to keep your “health” priorities in order and to address all things that apply to your health, whether spiritual, mental, or physical.

Whatever the reason you come here, I want to communicate to you that you can have real peace in your life.  But I can only pass on so much, you must go through the experiences yourself.  I like this quote-

The words printed here are concepts.  You must go through the experiences.  -Carl Frederick

You CAN experience the abundant life that Jesus promised in John 10:10.  I am not talking about finding religion.  And this is much more than just a belief in God.  I am talking about a relationship with Jesus Christ.  This is not about fitting God into a little box, a little portion of your life–Sunday mornings, for example.  This is about seeking wholeheartedly to find out what the gospel is about, what God’s character is all about, what His Word has to say about all areas of life, and submitting to serve Him and follow after His will.  Seek first His kingdom and everything else falls into place (Matthew 6:33).  This is bigger than nutrition.

Who would have thought that I could find answers to my nutrition questions in the Bible?  I spent a good deal of my time reading different books about nutrition, but the pieces of the puzzle didn’t come together for me until I went to God’s Word.  I didn’t have all the pieces when I started this blog a year and a half ago, but in the last couple months I feel like the last pieces of the puzzle have come together (and I will be writing about that soon, to fill you all in).  I’m sure there will be more insight to gain, but this place of peace is wonderful!  The peace of God is truly a peace that surpasses understanding!  (Philippian 4:7)

I have no more desire to study nutrition (this isn’t to say it’s no longer a passion, it is and, of course, I am still learning in many other areas).  That’s how much peace I have.  I no longer have that pulling inside me to “find” the answers.  I have studied for approximately the last 5 years.  All that knowledge doesn’t do me a bit of good without the wisdom to know how to use it and God’s wisdom is the best wisdom of all.  God wants to give us all wisdom, we just need only to ask (James 1:5).  The Bible will offer you all the answers you are looking for.  ONLY God and His Word can bring you true, lasting peace–in ALL areas of your life!

And so I pray today, that you will find the peace of God in your life.  I encourage you to read John 10:1-10, especially focusing on verse 9.  If you need specific prayer, I would love to hear from you and pray with you.  If you want to know HOW to start a relationship with Jesus Christ, please let me know.