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Gut Healing & Immune Boosting Soup

Are you looking for a soup that will ease your tummy troubles or chase that cold or flu away? Do you just want a really tasty healthy soup?  Well, I have the answer for you: this soup! What is so great is you can add or remove the veggies you want or to achieve the results you’d like.  If you aren’t making this for kids or those sensitive to heat, go ahead and add Siracha (I just add it to each persons’ bowl individually so they can adjust to taste), but that stuff will chase congestion away in a second! You can even add more seasonings, like cinnamon and turmeric… they have awesome healing properties to them! Below I have put together some of the highlights of the benefits of each ingredient in this soup.  I didn’t mention the awesome benefits of the Bone Broth, because I dedicated a whole blog post to that!

Bok Choy

A Powerhouse Veggie! Loaded with the vitamins and minerals responsible for helping your immune system function, & shields you from free radicals!

Celery

Enhances your immune system& loaded with antioxidants!

Kale

Kale can legitimately be called a superfood, aids in DNA cell repair, while at the same time slowing the growth of cancer cells, can ease lung congestion, and is beneficial to your stomach, liver, and immune system.

Gut Healing & Immune Boosting SoupBaby Bella Mushrooms

Low in saturated fat and cholesterol and high in fiber, Baby Bella’s are an excellent source of copper, which your body needs to produce red blood cells and carry oxygen through your body.

Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are rich in vitamin C, they contain more than twice the vitamin C of an orange, helps protect against scurvy, & boosts the immune system.

Zucchini

Zucchini is also a wonderful source of potassium, a heart-friendly nutrient that helps moderate your blood pressure levels and counters the effects of too much sodium. In fact, a zucchini has more potassium than a banana.

Garlic

Numerous studies show garlic’s amazing health potential in nearly every area of the body, from removing heavy metals to the prevention of numerous ailments, such as the common cold, hardening of the arteries, and gangrene, destroying contaminants in baby formula, and even in slowing the aging process.

Ginger

A good source of vitamin C, magnesium, potassium, copper, and manganese, ginger promotes the release of intestinal gas; it relaxes and soothes the intestinal tract. That means it can settle an upset stomach, relieve vomiting, and ease gas and diarrhea discomfort; but it’s also effective in preventing nausea in the first place.

Green Onions

Full of Vitamin A, C, K, Potassium, Foliate, & Iron! They’re also traditionally used in the treatment of colds, influenza, abdominal pain, headache, and heart disease

 Cilantro

  • Rids the Body of Heavy Metals
  • Protects Against Oxidative Stress
  • Lowers Anxiety and Improves Sleep
  • Lowers Blood Sugar Levels
  • Protects Against Cardiovascular Disease
  • Prevents Urinary Tract Infections
  • Settles Digestive Upset
  • Protects Against Food Poisoning
  • Supports Healthy Menstrual Function
  • Prevents Neurological Inflammation
  • Protects Against Colon Cancer
  • Soothes Skin Irritations

Mint

Can help with the symptoms of the common cold by acting as a natural decongestant. Helps with indigestion and gas due to its soothing properties. It also helps protect the lining in the stomach, which helps prevent gastric ulcers.

Star Anise

  1. Star anise is rich in antioxidants and vitamin A and C
  2. The oil produced from star anise is used for treating cough and flu.
  3. Anise also helps improve digestion, alleviate cramps and reduce nausea.
  4. Consuming star anise tea after meals helps treat digestive ailments such as bloating, gas, indigestion, and constipation.

 

 

 

Gut Healing & Immune Boosting Soup

This soup is rich with all the good nutrients you need to heal your gut and fight off the cold or flu! The things you can do with this soup are LIMITLESS! 
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course, Side Dish, Soup
Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese
Keyword: Chicken soup, cold, flu, glycine, Gut healing, gut health, leaking gut, Pho, soup for the soul
Servings: 8 people
Author: sweetnsassyeats

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
  • 2 tbsp Ginger minced
  • 2 tbsp Garlic minced
  • 1/2 cup Green Onions chopped
  • 2 whole Star Anise
  • 1/2 cup Tamari Sauce or Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Red Curry Paste
  • 1 whole Red Bell Peppers washed & sliced
  • 8 oz Mushrooms washed & sliced
  • 1/2 bunch Cilantro washed & chopped
  • 2 tbsp Mint washed & chopped
  • 1 whole Sweet Potato peeled & diced
  • 1 whole Zucchini washed & chopped
  • 1 whole Bok Choy washed & chopped
  • 1/2 bunch Kale chopped
  • 8 Cups Bone Broth homemade or store bought
  • 1 lb Rice Noodles
  • 1 whole Lemons juiced

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tbsp Coconut Oil in a large pot over med-high heat.
  • Add ginger, garlic and green onions, stir and saute 1-2 min. Add Star Anise & mushrooms, saute 2-3 min
  • Add white ends of bok choy and sweet potatoes, and 1 tbsp coconut oil, saute 2-3 min
  • Add Tamari Sauce & Red curry paste, stir & simmer 5 min
  • Add remaining veggies (including bok choy greens, but reserve 1/2 cilantro & mint for later) and stir. Add 8 cups of Bone Broth and bring to boil. (if you prefer your vegetable crisper, add the remaining veggies after noodles are cooked.
  • Add rice noodles and cook until soft. (according to package instructions). Top with remaining cilantro and mint, and squeeze lemon juice. Stir & serve. Serve with Sriracha on the side!

Video

Bone Broth

So for years, I have been making this awesome, super healthy and now SUPER trendy broth called Bone Broth. I didn’t realize how amazing this stuff was and was always confused on why my homemade broth would gel up when cooled… but HEY it tasted GREAT so who cares?!

Turns out that the Bone Broth I made every year after Thanksgiving Day was incredibly healthy for you in so many ways and that I could do the same thing with other animal bones for different flavors and applications. It also makes me feel SUPER cool to be able to use literally EVERY PART of that Turkey or other animals in every way.

So What Can This Powerful Brew Actually Do?

Bone broth can strengthen and improve:

  • Digestion
  • Immunity
  • Liver detoxification
  • Joints and cartilage
  • Bones and teeth
  • Hair, skin, and nails.

Have you heard of “Leaky Gut”?

So many of us (due to stress and environmental factors) deal with some form of the leaky gut syndrome. Bone broth has Glutamine and Glycine in it that are both important nutrients that help heal the small holes in your gut lining and normalize the acid production in your stomach. The Glycine also helps in detoxing your liver!

For your joints, cartilage, bones, teeth, hair skin and nails, the Glycine and the Proline (that are released from the gelatin found in bone broth) are the two materials your body needs to rebuild tendons, ligaments and other connective tissue like skin. These all help your body create collagen to help repair and rebuild your body!

Basically, this is a heal all broth that you should really make a part of your daily consumption… you can either drink it straight OR make it into yummy soups (my favorite way to enjoy it).

What do I need to make this?

So making Bone Broth is PRETTY simple. You can do it in a slow cooker/ electric roaster, instant pot or on the stove. I prefer the roaster for a couple reasons:

  1. The size, in the electric roaster I can make a TON of broth at once and it can hold my whole turkey carcass.
  2. I can have it run for the 24-48 hrs with less stress than having an open flame on my stove running that long.
  3. Flavor… the instant pot can make both broths very quickly (4hrs vs. 48hrs) BUT the flavor you get from slow and low roasting it I think is WAY better, plus I think it pulls more nutrients out.

 

HOW I MAKE MY BONE BROTH:

Turkey Bone Broth

  1. I like to use COLD bones.  Usually, I freeze my animal bones until I have enough to make a large batch.  For my Turkey, I break all the pieces down and put into freezer bags and freeze until I am ready to make it. (Typically I need a break from cooking after Thanksgiving and do not want to make anything for a couple days).
  2. Put cold bones in electric roaster pan; add enough COLD water to barely cover the bones (typically around 2 gallons).Turkey Bone Broth
  3. Add 2 TB of Apple Cider Vinegar, and allow it to sit for 30min before turning on the heat. (This helps the vinegar begin to break things down and pull more good stuff out).
  4. Add veggies ends  (as in onion ends, celery ends, carrot ends, garlic cloves etc) & herbs.Turkey Bone Broth
  5. Turn heat to med-high and cover & bring to boil
  6. Once at a boil, drop the temp to keep it at JUST ABOUT TO BOIL. (Typically around 175-200 degrees for me). Keep covered.
  7. Let it simmer for 24-48 hrs until everything is really broken down well. If water is getting low… add more. YOU DO NOT WANT IT TO DRY OUT, you need the broth!
  8. Strain out everything with a colander and cheesecloth.
  9. Pour into a container to cool, once fully cold, it should “gel” up and that means you did it right! To Store, you can freeze (I’d recommend freezing in 8oz portions for ease of use).

I love to make soups out of this Broth and here are some of my favorite recipes for them:

TURKEY SOUP, perfect for leftover turkey

Instant Pot Beef Stew

 INSTANT POT BEEF STEW - FALL COMFORT FOOD

I’ve been trying to figure out what I love using the Instant Pot for the most. So far I love cooking meals that normally take all day to cook in my oven or slow cooker. There are so many times when I forget to thaw my slow cooker meals or forget to start them in the morning and with the Instant Pot, I can now cook those up within an hour of starting it!

Beef stew is one of my favorite comfort foods. It warms every chill in my body and makes me feel super cozy! You don’t need an Instant pot to follow this recipe, I will include instructions for cooking on your stove top.

INSTANT POT BEEF STEW - FALL COMFORT FOODTIPS

  • Brown your Beef! Making sure to get a good sear on your beef helps develop the flavor of your beef & create the flavor for your stew sauce/ broth.
  • When you deglaze your pot with red wine it helps lift those brown bits and deepen the flavor of your sauce. You can use broth for this if you’d like, but red wine gives a better depth to the flavor, the alcohol will cook out.

STOVE TOP/ OVEN TIPS

  • Use a cast iron/ dutch oven pot to cook, so you can sear in the same pot and have a lid. It also heats more evenly.
  • All saute mode instructions can be completed with using your pot on the stove on medium/ high heat
  • After adding the beef and potatoes back in, cover and cook on low until tender (1.5-2hrs), stirring occasionally. OR Cover and put in a 275-degree oven and cook for 2-3 hrs (or until tender).

INSTANT POT BEEF STEW - FALL COMFORT FOOD

INSTANT POT BEEF STEW - FALL COMFORT FOOD

Instant Pot Beef Stew

This beef stew is the epitome of comfort food for those cold fall and winter days. Typically a stew like this takes all day to tenderize the beef and meld the flavors together, but with an Instant Pot, you can now have this soul-warming stew in an hour or less!
Print Pin Rate
Course: Main Course, Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: beef, comfort food, fall recipes, Instant Pot, soup, stew
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Author: Kristi Shields

Ingredients

  • 2-3 lbs Beef Stew Meat
  • 4-5 Red Potatoes cubed, skin on
  • 1 Red Onion chopped
  • 4 Carrots chopped
  • 4 Celery
  • 1 tbsp Garlic minced
  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 1/2 cup Red Wine can use beef broth if you don't want to use wine
  • 4 tbsp Tomato Paste
  • 2 cups Beef Broth
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch

Instructions

  • Turn instant pot on to Saute mode, melt butter in the pot. 
  • Add 1/2 the meat (do not crowd pot) and sear all sides of beef, remove & set to the side. Sear the remaining half of the beef, remove & set to the side.
  • Add Onions, Carrots & Celery. Saute 3 min. Add Red Wine and deglaze the pan by scraping the bottom with wooden spoon. 
  • Add garlic and saute another couple of minutes. Then add the tomato paste & stir. Add the Beef Broth and turn the Instant pot off.  Make sure to scrap the bottom of the pot and get all stuck on particles. 
  • Add the beef stew meat back in and add the red potatoes.  Stir.
  • Put Instant Pot lid on and seal. Set for HIGH Pressure and for 35 minutes. When cooking is complete, do a manual release on the pressure and turn to low Saute mode.
  • Add 2 drops of Thyme and 2 drops of Oregano Vitality Essential Oils. Stir.  Mix cornstarch with a couple tablespoons of the beef stew liquid. Add to pot and stir well. Allow stew to thicken.
  • Serve in a bowl or my favorite a sourdough bread bowl. 

Video

INSTANT POT BEEF STEW - FALL COMFORT FOOD