Ever run into a “repeat meal rut”? The kind where you just don’t have it in you to give that extra push for something new to create? Well friend, here’s a jet pack outa there.
I’ve even included 3 gluten free vegetarian pasta recipes that, from a cost per Calorie basis, earn an “A grade” … Hello affordable and easy Mediterranean. Read on for a link to our keto breadsticks recipe.
7 easy ways outof the pasta rut…
Make it Fresh: cook the noodles al dente (less time) and then add finely chopped raw veggies. Serve it cold with regular balsamic and you’ve got a fancy salad for the main.
Add Pesto Sauce (a little goes a long way!). Cutting calories but want the flavor? Puree some fresh basil! This is also a yummy swap-out for the cheese on the toasted bread.
Pizza Pasta: add your favorite red sauce and toss with your favorite cheese & “toppings”. (Tomatoes are Not Lectin Free)
Combo: Mix Lentil and Garbanzo noodles together, or experiment with different noodle shapes!
Switch Up your olives and use a different kind of cheese
Kalamata Olives + Trader Joe’s Creamy Syrah Toscano // Black Olives + Smoked Gouda // Green Olives + Sharp Cheddar // new olives + new cheese …
Casserole-It: cook your noodles a little longer, mix ingredients together, top with cheese and gluten-free bread crumbs and bake it! 350°F for 25 minutes covered + 5 minutes uncovered. (A life-saver for overcooked noodles!)
Pasta Bar! Separate ingredients into different bowls, maybe include a few extra toppings and “build your own pasta”! If your kids are old enough to grate cheese, pass the cheese grater around the table and take a load off.
When it comes to budgeting groceries, let’s be honest: veggies are often the first to get the boot.
Why? It’s simple math: they’re expensive and don’t offer a lot of Calories for what you pay. Unfortunately, this means some of the best foods for optimal health and a long life are getting shafted, and other foods are taking their place.
For instance, it’s really easy to grab a bag of potato chips and know you’re getting a lot of calories for only a few bucks, as a side to a sandwich or soup. Similarly, how simple is it to make endless amounts of spaghetti with bread as a side because everyone knows that a side salad won’t contribute nearly the same amount of calories as cheese bread will.
What a lot of people are beginning to practice is either nixing their salad dressing entirely, or putting it on the side. I’d like to suggest that, in keeping a balanced diet and being mindful of total Calories consumed, we can not only keep the dressing but increase the amount of it.
This one is a forever favorite. I might need to buy a second spiralizer to officially call the potato curling a family pastime. It’s that good.
Sweet Potatoes are friendly on SO many different “diets” – paleo, gluten free, lectin free, lactose free, vegan, vegetarian, (etc) – it seems only fitting to design a delicious, family friendly, fancy side out of these nuggets. We’ve done just that.
$ – SAVVY: Sweet Potatoes are a weekly staple food for us — from a nutritional and cost perspective — it earns an A+. Organic sweet potatoes earn a B from a cost-per-Calorie basis, but fear not – I talk more about this below.
stock pot, knife, peeler, cutting board, ladle, measuring cup
Ingredients
12ozOrganic Chopped Kale4-5 packed cups
3lbsSweet Potatoescubed
¾lbsOrganic Carrotssliced
1lbs Free Range Chicken Breastcubed
4tbspExtra Virgin Olive Oil
64ozFree Range Low Sodium Chicken Broth
32ozDrinking Water4 cups
2eachBay Leaf
1tbspGarlicminced
1tspGround Thymedried
½tspCayenne Pepper
¼tspSalt
½tspOnion Powder
½tspOreganodried
Instructions
In large stock pot add chicken broth, 2 cups of water, and 2 bay leaves – bring to a slow simmer.
Add cubed sweet potatoes and sliced carrots. Cook on low with the lid on for about onehour. This helps prevent the broth from evaporating and allows the root veggies to flavor the broth.
In a skillet, cook the cubed chicken breast in olive oil with desired spices. Feel free to add additional spice – just avoid adding more salt.
Add chopped kale – cut to desired size. (I typically wash the pre-cut kale and don’t chop it because I enjoy chunky soups and the kale gets cooked well in this recipe, so I’m not eating crunchies.) Alternatively, purchasing whole-leaf kale and removing the stems my be your jam.
Add cooked chicken breast. Cook with the lid off on medium-low for another 20-30 minutes, or until kale is ready.
Notes
WHOLE RECIPE:Total Calories – 2,672 . Total Cost – $13.1 . Grade – B . *Monthly Cost – $589Programming Notes: Check out our Savvy Alternates table below.Time-crunch tip: strip the meat off of a pre-cooked chicken and add this directly to the soup, along with the spices. While it’s not free range, a Costco or Sam’s Club chicken for $5 just might save your meal prep.Longer Route – cook a whole organic chicken or turkey: use some of the meat for the soup and boil the bones for a big bonus: bone broth — a micro-nutrient rich alternative to store-bought broth! Not to mention all the meat leftover..*This refers to the monthly grocery bill if TWO PEOPLE ate cumulatively 4,000 Calories per day, and only ate this meal all month long. If you’re running calculations for ONE person – divide the monthly cost in half.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Hearty Garden Soup
Amount Per Serving
Calories 351Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 2g13%
Cholesterol 36mg12%
Sodium 352mg15%
Potassium 1323mg38%
Carbohydrates 46g15%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 9g10%
Protein 22g44%
Vitamin A 35563IU711%
Vitamin C 59mg72%
Calcium 150mg15%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Favorite Parings: Rudi’s Gluten Free bread with goat cheese or herbs and olive oil. Not Vegan? Try our Keto Breadsticks!
No extra groceries needed. Just utilize what you can from your fridge and pantry. That’s the beauty of a good hearty soup!
Example: We were away visiting family and I was without a car, but given the opportunity to make an early autumn dinner. What do you do when there’s a hodgepodge of ingredients and it’s getting cold outside?
Cue the first soup of the season. What I had available is what ended up in a scrumptious trio of flavor, texture, and nutrients!
That First Autumn Soup (hodgepodge version 101):
1/3 head of green cabbage, a TON of organic carrots, a bag of wilting “power greens” (that were beyond salad prime but not worthy of the compost bin), the dark meat left on a Costco chicken, a can of organic black beans, one HUGE sweet potato and a white potato, and two 32oz containers of broth.
Add the best soup spices from the pantry and about 6 cups of drinking water and we were in business!
If you don’t have broth – never fear!! Simply cook a quarter or half of your veggies for an hour with 4 extra cups of water, spices, and a couple bay leaves to create a solid broth. Fresh herbs are fabulous here.
If you have fresh cooked bones from a grass-fed, organic, free-range animal, feel free to add these as well, but cook these alone with spices for 4-6 hours first, then finely strain the broth (using a dense sieve or cheese cloth to remove the bones) and then add 1/4 or 1/2 of your total soup veggies. Cook for another hour to finish making your broth.
After the broth is ready, add the rest of your soup fixings including the remaining veggies. This helps with increasing diversity of textures in the soup as well as preserving nutrients. If there was an onion available, I would have certainly added it as well!
Pictured Left: Beginnings of Veggie-based broth.
Cooking for carnivores, herbivores, vegetarians AND vegans: Use a veggie based broth, and then simply set aside a sufficient portion of the soup before adding chicken/meat to the rest of the pot. For a side, consider a few different options, from cheese bread to keto breadsticks to gluten free bread + oil.
Consider offering some nutritional yeast for vegetarian and vegan guests to add to their soup or bread – it’s a yummy way to boost flavor, plus it’s nutrient-packed.
For extra nourishment, I served this hodgepodge soup with a side of my keto breadsticks; a hearty dinner for many that even earned an A grade in price!
Feedback: “delicious!” “hits the spot!” “I’m stuffed” “that bread was perfect with it!” and on and on…
Here’s a table with external links for each recipe ingredient (plus a few alternate ingredient ideas). As previously mentioned, prices vary per region, season, city, store and personal preference for brand or specific type of food item.
