Loaded Cauliflower Cheese Soup

A Quick & Easy Low Carb Lunch!

Threw together a quick and easy lunch today that goes along with my new eating plan of focusing on just one type of body fuel in each meal -- fat (low carb) OR glucose (good carb).  Today's lunch falls in the Low Carb category OR as in the Trim Healthy Mama lingo, it's an "S" meal for Satisfying Meal. Definitely was that.   

I went to my Thrive Home Store and pulled out Freeze Dried Cauliflower, FD Onions, FD Cheddar Cheese, Thrive Chicken Bouillon and Peppercorn Blend.  Seasoned it up with some garlic, Bragg's Nutritional Yeast (you could use Parmesan Cheese) and Bragg's Liquid Aminos.  Bragg's products can be found in a lot of grocery stores, health food stores, or order it online.  You can season this soup up any way you want.  I used a couple ounces of lite cream cheese to "smooth" it out and a few shakes of Glucomannan Powder to thicken it up.  

Do you know what Glucomannan Powder is?  It's a white powder that comes from the konjac root and looks like corn starch.  It is used to thicken gravies, puddings, sauces or soups -- really anything you want to thicken.  It is a soluble fiber that slows glucose absorption and lowers the glycemic index of a meal.  Glucomannan has ZERO carbs, ZERO calories, ZERO taste and blends into recipes really well.  It does not have to be heated to thicken liquids but it is more potent with heat.  It also has about 10 times the thickening power of cornstarch, so you don't need much.  I put mine in a salt shaker and just sprinkle it in. I've just started to experiment with Glucomannan Powder and it did a wonderful job in this Loaded Cauliflower Cheese Soup, with just 3-4 shakes.  Click here to read more . . .

Now back to lunch and my new recipe -- 

Loaded Cauliflower Cheese Soup

I made this soup in my Vitamix Blender and it was a snap.  But it would be very easy to do in a sauce pan and food processor or blender.  I've given directions for both.

Loaded Cauliflower Cheese Soup

by Kay Curtiss

FD – Freeze Dried
Product numbers are for Thrive Pantry Size except Seasonings
Trim Healthy Mama (THM) Rating – "S" Meal

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Thrive FD Cauliflower (#22222)
2 Tablespoons Thrive FD Onion (#22227)
1/4 cup Thrive FD Cheddar Cheese (#22440)
1/4 teaspoon Thrive Peppercorn Blend (#23629)
1 teaspoon minced Garlic
1 Tablespoon Bragg's Nutritional Yeast or Parmesan Cheese
1 teaspoon Bragg's Liquid Aminos, optional
2 cups water
2 teaspoons Thrive Chicken Bouillon (#22663)
2 ounces Lite Cream Cheese
Glucomannan Powder in shaker bottle to thicken, if desired, optional

Garnish for each bowl:
1 Tablespoon Thrive Bacon TVP (#22557) or Bacon Bits
1 Tablespoon Thrive FD Green Onions (#22244)
1 Tablespoon Thrive FD Cheddar Cheese (#22440)

Vitamix instructions:
Combine all ingredients except for cream cheese and blend on Soup setting.  When blue light is blinking at the end of the cycle, drop in cream cheese to melt and blend.  Add 3 - 4 shakes of Glucomannan Powder to thicken to desired consistency (optional).  Adjust seasonings to your taste.

Saucepan instructions:
Combine all ingredients except for cream cheese and simmer 10-15 minutes.  Pour soup into blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Add cream cheese and blend until melted and smooth.  Add 3-4 shakes of Glucomannan Powder to thicken to desired consistency (optional).

Pour into 3 bowls and garnish as desired.

Click to download Loaded Cauliflower Cheese Soup Recipe

Basic DIY THRIVE Cup of Soup

Basic THRIVE DIY Cup of Soup Recipe

Last weekend, I went to a Saturday Summit Meeting with other Thrive Consultants in Charlotte, North Carolina.  One of the fun things we did was bring 4 people up and give them a variety of Thrive ingredients and give them 15 minutes to create a Pasta Dish.  They worked in pairs and both had a Chicken Pasta dish done in 10 minutes - yes that is correct - 10 MINUTES start to finish! And we got to sample it and it was delicious! This got me to thinking (I know that can be dangerous :O) . . . 

Having cooked with Thrive myself for over a year and working with others, it seems that the biggest fear is that cooking with Freeze Dried food is a little different so people tend to fall back into familiar habits that usually take longer, are not as nutritious, and in a lot of cases cost you more money. 

I decided that in my future demonstrations, everyone that comes will have the opportunity to "cook" with Thrive products so they can see just how easy it really is and hopefully take some of the fear away.

So today, my friend Judi Stull, came over and we were "Thrivin' It Up" all afternoon.  We figured out a basic proportion of various Thrive Products which you see in the recipe at the top or download it here.

We then started playing and made 6 different Single DIY Soups using the basic recipe above and the Thrive ingredients in my Home Store -- Chicken Rice Veggie Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup, Chili, Cauliflower Cheese Soup, & my favorite Shepherd's Pie Soup - it was awesome!

Thrive is so forgiving - if it is a little thick, add a little water - a little thin, add a little more sauce mix. Most ingredients will rehydrate in 10-15 minutes.  Bigger & thicker pieces, obviously, will take a little longer. 

You pick one of Thrive's 4 New Sauce mixes as the base for your soup.  They are Bechamel Sauce (Creamy White Sauce), Espangnola Sauce (Savory Beef Gravy), Tomato Sauce (Classic Tomato Sauce); & Veloute Sauce (Rich Chicken Gravy).

Now if you want meat, you can pick from Seasoned Chicken Slices (FD), Sausage Crumbles (FD), Ground Beef (FD), Diced Beef (FD), and lots more.  

You can find all the meat selections available by going to My Thrive Website and then Shop for Products.

Next you add your Basic Veggies (Mirepoix Mix) - which is usually Onions, Celery & Carrots.  I also have Mixed Bell Peppers available as well.

Then pick from a variety of Thrive's 9 New Spices to add to your soup mix, like:

If you want any Instant FD Pinto, Red or Black Beans OR Instant White or Brown Rice OR Egg Noodle Pasta, Thrive has you covered.

The last layers, you pick 3-5 different Thrive FD Vegetables from their vegetable line which currently has 27 different options, like: Asparagus FD, Broccoli FD, Cauliflower FD, Beans FD, Peas FD, Corn FD, Mushroom FD, Tomato Dices FD, Zucchini FD, new Butternut Squash, and coming soon Sweet Potatoes.  Where can you find this kind of variety that stores for 25 years unopened and usually around 2 years opened (if it lasts that long).

Add about 6 ounces of boiling water, stir well.  Put a lid on it and let it "steep" for 10-15 minutes. Then it's time to each and ENJOY!

To Recap:  To check out all the Thrive Products go to My Thrive Website.  From there it's easy to navigate to Shop for Products - or if you want a better deal or find out ways to get THIVE even cheaper (and sometimes for FREE) you can always email me at thrivewithkay@gmail.com.

You can check out all of my Thrive Recipes including the soups from this post here - or click on the Soup names above for a link to the individual recipes.

Happy Thrivin'

THRIVEalized Taco Soup

THRIVEalized Taco Soup

I got the original recipe from my friend, Rachel Mano, for Rachel's Taco Soup.  Since she created her recipe, THRIVE has brought out other ingredients that enabled me to THRIVEalize it more.  So here is my THRIVEalized version of Rachel's Taco Soup.  I can throw it together in less than 5 minutes - SO EASY and SO TASTY.  I've made it in my crock pot so I don't have to attend it but it could be made on the stove bringing it to a boil and simmering it for 10-15 minutes.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup THRIVE FD Sausage Crumbles
3/4 cup THRIVE FD Ground Beef
1/4 cup THRIVE Red/Green Peppers
1/2 cup THRIVE FD Onions
1/4 cup THRIVE FD Green Chili Peppers
2 cups THRIVE FD Tomato Dices
1 cup THRIVE FD Sweet Corn
1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Red Beans
1/2 cup THRIVE Instant Black Beans
3 Tablespoons THRIVE Tomato Powder
2 Tablespoons Taco Seasoning (see below)
5 cups water (you can add more at the end if you want it a little juicier)

Easiest Directions: - Mix everything together.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes - or put in a crock pot - low for 2 hours or high for about 1 hour.

Garnish with THRIVE FD Green Onions and/or THRIVE FD Cheddar Cheese

Variations on directions:  Saute the Sausage Crumbles & Ground Beef in a little Olive Oil to "crisp" them up before combining with other ingredients.

Vegetarian version - just leave out the meat and you can increase the beans :O)

To make a Creamy Taco Soup add to the above recipe:

2/3 cup THRIVE Sour Cream Powder
2/3 cup THRIVE Cheese Blend Powder

Mix the Sour Cream Powder, Cheese Blend Powder & Tomato Powder with the water first and whisk until mixed in.  Then all the other ingredients and follow the directions above.

I like to make my own Taco Seasoning

1 Tablespoon Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
1 teaspoon Cumin
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1/2 teaspoon THRIVE Oregano
1/2 teaspoon THRIVE Chef's Choice (or Garlic Salt)
1/2 teaspoon THRIVE Peppercorn Blend

ENJOY!