One of the (many) perks of becoming Creative Lead at Pilates in Holland has been improving my own wellbeing. I exercise more and have become aware of things I can do every day to take better care of myself.
A couple of friends and I have been helping hold each other accountable for incorporating more healthy choices into our lives. We’ve been checking in on Marco Polo about drinking more water, taking our vitamins, getting out for walks, and just generally giving encouragement. We are also making and sharing soups. Our Marco Polo name is Soup Group 🙂
The soups have been a lifeline for all of us as a means of eating healthier. Most of us eat them for lunch, occasionally for breakfast (butternut mango puree!), and also for dinner when our regular dinner options aren’t the greatest choice. But also, I made 3 pies for Thanksgiving (there are only 4 of us!) and I got flautas when we ordered Mexican last night. This isn’t all or nothing, just a means to have yummy, nourishing options readily available.
Our soups have run the gamut from a “cheesy” vegetable puree to chicken soup with cauliflower “rice” to chicken tortilla soup to West African groundnut stew. There was even a black lentil, mushroom & coffee soup, and a spicy Indian vegetable curry! It’s been fun for us to think of what we want to make next, and making the large batches has become an act of love. Even delivering the food to each other’s porches has offered another way to connect during this time.
If you want to start your own soup group, here are a few tips:
- Keep it small: We swap 2 quarts of soup at a time, so we end up making quite large batches. Cooking for more than 3-4 people just gets too unwieldy. You’ll also want to decide how often you’d like to swap and in what quantity.
- Compare tastes beforehand: As you can tell, the folks in our group have pretty adventurous tastes. You’ll want to be on the same page about this. 🙂
- Share food allergies/sensitivities upfront: I am (weirdly) allergic to carrots and sensitive to peanuts, so we either look for recipes without those or use substitutes (sweet potatoes and sun butter worked great!)
- Keep your soups simple & nourishing: We’ve had a majority of vegetarian options, though some have had meat. But we always avoid dairy and grains/gluten.
- Remember to fill your soups with love! Sometimes cutting up all those veggies is A LOT of work. But because we rotate, it isn’t very often, and we will share how it’s going with each other on Marco Polo. We cook with lots of love, and I swear they taste even better!
Enjoy your souping, and if you have a favorite soup recipe, please share it with us!
Renee and the Soup Group
And since this song is now going through your head… hope this brightens your day!
