I admit it. Lots of my friends think thereÂ’s something wrong with me. They know I love to eat, I love to eat great food, and IÂ’m happiest when IÂ’m eating. Considering all of that knowledge, they are surprised that five days a week in the late afternoon I eat the same thing everyday. I admit it. I do.
IÂ’ve learned that not every meal has to be so exciting and inviting that I overeat all of the time. Even fantastic food gets kind of boring after a while, if not fattening.
I had an ah hah moment and learned from it. After a long day of working and running errands I dragged myself back home famished and exhausted, IÂ’m not sure exactly how it happened but I found myself standing inside the door of my side by side refrigerator freezer snacking on frozen cookies and old birthday cake.
ItÂ’s quite surprising how edible frozen cookies and cake can be when one is very hungry. My ah hah moment hit me in the form of a few loose ice cubes on top of my head.
I was really hungry. Whenever IÂ’m really hungry I eat whatever I can get my hands on. Then I compound the problem because most of my really hungry moments are before dinner. So when dinner time rolls around, and IÂ’ve prepared a delicious meal, I eat that too because it would be rude of me, not to mention suspicious, not to eat with everyone else.
ItÂ’s okay to eat when IÂ’m hungry but I knew it should be something a bit more nutritious than thick, frozen, fudgey gooey icing, although I must admit that stuff was surprisingly tasty. In that moment I decided to become proactive rather than hungrily reactive. I took out my soup pot and began throwing good things into it.
I filled the bottom with a few cups of water, chopped onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. When the vegetables were soft I mashed up the garlic to infuse the soup with the garlic before adding tomatoes, string beans and carrots along with some dill, basil and parsley. Parsnips, turnips and cabbage really enhance a soup. Sometimes I throw in lentils or barley and other times some beans.
Lentils, like beans, are a good source of protein. They provide calcium, potassium, folate, niacin, phosphorus, vitamin B and iron. Wow, thatÂ’s more than I can say for frozen cookies, cake and icing.
My soup has turned into a ritual. I always make it vegetarian and without any added fat. Voila, in minutes I create a pot of soup that lasts the whole week. IÂ’ve found other family members arrive home and head for the soup pot too. ItÂ’s very helpful having something prepared and ready to eat.
Whenever I find myself super hungry and headed for the freezer with a fork I
simply heat up a cup of my homemade soup and enjoy a sensible, delicious and
delightful snack without freezing my fingers and nose in the freezer.