What are the perks of homemade soup versus something from a can? The obvious answer is love, but another obvious answer is health.
February 4 is National Homemade Soup Day, and it’s an excellent reason to get into the kitchen and experiment with fresh foods. Think about it – that canned soup you buy at the store is loaded with sodium to keep it stable, and you have no idea how old the ingredients are. How long has that chicken been in that chicken noodle soup? A true mystery.
A soup can be as simple or as complex as you would like, but especially the creamy soups. Tomato soup? Literally one of the easiest comfort foods in the world to whip up. At its most basic, you only need tomatoes, butter and either water or broth. That’s it.
If you’re intentional about what you put in your soup, you can be sure you’re getting tons of nutrients for fewer calories than most other meals. Studies have shown that soup is actually a contributing factor in losing weight, maintaining weight goals and lowering the risk of obesity.
So on this winter holiday, crack open a cookbook – or play around with what you have available – or be inspired by Taste of Home’s 51 Soup Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes list. That Tuscan Cauliflower Soup is looking mighty good to me right now.