Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Food Wednesdays

 Welcome to the launch of Food Wednesdays.

    As mentioned in a past post this will be all about the Food-no limits on subject as long as it is Food related.

  So you can post about low carb, low sugar, vegetarian, gluten free, keto, paleo, history of foods, a favorite cookbook, a new cookbook, photos of foods-yours or at a restaurant you want to share. It can be all in full fats, carbs, sugars, it's up to you what you would to share. 

   Do you like to make homemade soup? Probably after I left home and college in the early '70s I started really reading labels on the food packages and cans. I watched for low salt or no salt, and low sugars. Years later I  needed to watch for gluten free for me and healthier for my husband's heart health and diabetes health. So I am a food label reader for sure, and I want to know what country my food is from as well.

   I bring this up because most canned soups and dried mixes are soooo high in salt. In many cases over the daily limit of salt. Bouillon cubes and similiar items are very high also in salt and additives too.

  So for years I have made my own stocks from whole chicken and turkey bones and left overs. Beef stock can be made from scratch as well from soup bones, beef shanks etc. For beef soups I do usually purchase beef bone broth-no salt or beef soup stock with no salt. If you need to be concerned with salt content regular stocks are just loaded with salt. One can also purchase or make veggie stocks too.

  Last week I made a beef soup I started with a no salt beef stock One of these is enough for two people but I usually add two of these, especially during a cold week


    I didn't think about taking photos at the time, but I had fresh green beans that I cleaned and snapped in small pieces, added to the simmering stock, I also added handfuls of dried onions and dried soup veggies that I pick up at the Amish store. Add dried chives, black pepper, a couple hot pepper flakes, and I have soup blend herbs that I buy from the Spice House and throw in a small handful of that. Grabbed a pint of home canned peeled tomatoes and smashed them up with my hands and added to the soup. I also peeled and cut into small pieces a zucchini.  I rarely add potatoes any more do to the carbs but this time I added a few and cut them in very small pieces. Let this all simmer for an hour. I keep turnips around now (no carbs) so sometimes I add small chunks of turnips instead of the potatoes

   I found this brand of canned beef and they also have canned turkey. This is an all usa product. When you open up the can it looks like a home canned product. I add this in last and heat til warmed up. At this point I also added a can of low salt black beans that I had rinsed well first.


To thicken I now like to use these all natural potato flakes, I know it adds carbs to the dish, but to a big pot I add a couple small handfuls and it really thickens the soup nicely I ended up adding this to the soup the next day, so the photo below of the bowl of soup does not reflect the addition of these flakes.






    It was soooo cold here at the lake last week, it did warm up over the weekend and today (Monday) as well, but Tuesday the cold returns.

   Time to make up my hot cocoa dry mix. I used to make a big jar full that would last all winter. I haven't made it since moving to the lake. I looked around online for different recipes-keto and others and ended up adapting ideas to make up the mixes. I made two mixes one using a dried coconut milk and the other a dried skim milk. The newest addition to the mix for me was a chopped up chocolate bar, and one of the keto recipes added collagen.

The ingredients




All blended up-going into the jar



The recipe I came up with

   2 cups sugar free sweetener-I used Splenda, can also use a keto white sweetener

   3/4 cup cocoa-I used Hershey's special dark cocoa-richer flavor

   1 cup dry milk or dry coconut milk powder

  unsweetened chocolate bar-I had on hand 95% cocoa bar I used half of this 2.8 ounce bar for each jar (This really added a richness to the hot cocoa)

 1/3 cup collagen-this was added to a keto recipe so I added this one to the coconut milk cocoa mix

Add all ingredients to your food processer and whirl til blended well-add to jar and label.  Use 2-3 tablespoons of mix per 12 ounces of water or milk for richer flavors I like unsweetened nut milks. bring to a simmer til all mixed pour in mugs and enjoy I splurge on a bit of sugar by adding marshmallows-smiles



Now it's your turn if you would like to add your Food Wednesdays post here-please link up with your actual post and not your blog.




28 comments:

  1. I'll be linking up my soup that I made for this tomorrow Kathy when my post goes live. But I will be writing it tonight. And I always get low salt broths too. It is scary how much salt they add to soup. Hugs-Erika

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    1. Great! I know there is just way too much salt in canned soups and the broths too

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  2. No doubt, Food Wednesdays is going to be a win win for me. I am starting a new section in my recipe notebook with that title. I can't wait to try this soup. Thanks so much, Kathy!

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    1. You are welcome-hugs Erika is coming back tomorrow with her soup recipe

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  3. Replies
    1. you are welcome, thanks for visiting-you are welcome to join in and share one of your food posts

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  4. I love beef soup, but only drink the homemade and I always have a huge jug in the fridge I made from beef bones, beef feet, oxtails and etc.

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    1. what a great idea to enjoy through out the day. I don't find oxtails here in the stores very often but those make great soup. thanks for dropping by

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  5. Doctors recommend not eating canned soups because of the excess sodium they contain. For this reason you should always look at the product label
    Greetings from Argentina

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  6. Your soup looks delicious as does the hot cocoa mix. Both are perfect for these cold days.

    My posts are scheduled ahead of time, but I hope to jump in eventually lol

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    1. Good morning, thank you for dropping by it is really cold here still-up to 14 degrees f now. Look forward to seeing your food posts one of these days-hugs

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  7. Kathy your soup looks fantastic. I know I make mine from scratch because hubby needs to have them gluten free. Fantastic idea of adding potato flakes to thicken...much better idea than gf flour or tapioca starch. Bet that cocoa mix tastes wonderful on a cold night. Thanks so much for sharing. Hope your January is going well. Hugs!

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    1. yes I need gluten free too and it just came to me one day why not use these potato flakes-it really works nice and makes the soups more creamy too Yes I am happy with the cocoa mixes hugs stay warm-we are back to cold here

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  8. I am impressed by all the labels you read and how much salt/sodium is in these stocks. I am on a cheese binge right now, with grilled cheese my favorite. I use Monterrey Jack cheese I buy in a brick. I never buy those cheese slices that are only 51% real cheese. Of course, I have to use real butter on both sides, too. Now i really will put on the lbs (grin).

    I like your hot chocolate mix. It looks much better than what they sell in the stores. Thanks for these tips, Kathy.

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    1. thank you for dropping by. I have not had a grilled cheese sandwich since I was a kid at home smiles monterrey jack sounds really good too-I only buy real cheese too-hugs

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  9. I´m with you. I once worked in a food factory for whole meals.... brrrr.... Apart from tons of salt you likely find spiders, cockroaches in pieces in there as well.
    Also I like to support locals.

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    1. yes Larry witnessed some bad stuff going on in places like Brachs candy and campbells soup-after that he would never eat campbells soup again things are probably more animated now but still to much salt and preservatives

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  10. What a fantastic post! Yep I know those canned soups are salt-loaded. Your own soup looks so good!!!!

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  11. The soup looks so good. Thank you for the healthy tips. Great reminder. If i make a proper post would love to shate. Have a lovely weekend.

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    1. good morning, that would be great-I love reading about your foods Happy weekend to you and your family

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  12. Soup is the perfect choice for cooler days.

    All the best Jan

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