Cooking for two is hard, cooking for two, while eating healthy AND not racking up a huge food bill at the end of the month is even harder. I spend ages trying to find specials on healthy food or which store has a better/cheaper option and it’s become quite time consuming and just plain annoying. I wish it was easy to just walk into a store, buy something healthy and know that it’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg for some special quinoa that was grown on the slopes of Mount Everest and hand harvested by The Last Airbender himself.
So, I’ve decided to start a series where I share healthy meals I’ve found that only cost R50 to make and feed two people comfortably, I’ll also be including a section on why this meal is good for you in each post.
The first recipe in the series is a Green Vegetable Soup that takes almost no preparation and is super easy to make. This winter Woolworths have had fresh DIY soup packs that are packed with vegetables. I’m not usually one for pre packaged soups even when they’re just a packet of veggies but at R28.99 I tried it one day and we’ve been religiously eating one of their ‘Easy To Soup’ packs at least once a week. I really want to stress that the packs don’t contain any additives besides the vegetables listed, you won’t find any hidden sugars or added dairy etc.
The Green Vegetable Soup is chock ‘ o block with Kale, Broccoli, Leeks, Spinach, Onion , Baby Marrow and Sweet Potato.
How To Make It and What You’ll Need
- 1 Bag of ‘Easy To Soup’ Kale and Broccli Mix – R28.99
- 1 Fresh Baguette, optional (if you’re feeling like treating yourself) – R19
- Place Vegetable Mix in pot with a little oil and sweat for five minutes
- Add 1l of boiling water mixed with Vegetable stock (I like to add garlic also) to pot and bring to boil
- Boil for between 20/30 minutes or until vegetables are soft
- Either serve or blend the mixture then serve ( I prefer to blend the mixture)
- Eat!
Why It’s Good For You
KALE – Kale is high in fibre, low in calories and it has zero fat! It’s also a good source of Vitamin K and a powerful source of antioxidants.
BROCCOLI – Broccoli has twice the vitamin C of an orange, almost as much calcium as whole milk (with a better rate of absorption), and contains anti-cancer and anti-viral properties, that being said cooking broccoli does somewhat diminish these properties, it’s best eaten raw!
SPINACH – Low in fat and even lower in cholesterol, spinach is high in niacin and zinc, as well as protein, fiber, vitamins A, C, E and K, thiamin, vitamin B6, folate, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, copper, and manganese. In other word, it’s loaded with good things for every part of your body!
ONIONS – Onions a very good source of vitamin C and B6, iron, folate, and potassium. The manganese content in onions provides cold and flu relief with its anti-inflammatory abilities.
BABY MARROW – Baby Marrow aids digestion, reduces cholesterol is jam packed with nutrients but most importantly it’s anti-carcinogenic. Marrow vegetable is rich in ascorbic acid, which is an efficient antioxidant that helps eliminate cancer causing free radicals from your body.
SWEET POTATO – Sweet potatoes pack a powerful nutritional punch. They have got over 400% of your daily needs for vitamin A in one medium spud, as well as loads of fiber and potassium. They have got more grams of natural sugars than regular potato but more overall nutrients with fewer calories.
Yeah, I used you buy all the special super foods which cost an arm and a leg but the thing is I never used all of it. I realised that I didn’t need to buy all the superfoods and a few simple vegetables can be tasty and nutritious and super:) I now buy a few veg and fruit for the week and one grain to eat with it. I also buy a super food powder to have with my smoothies and that works for me. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in fancy healthy foods etc and overwhelm ourselves with too many products. Also, living in a place (Korea) where its the norm to buy take out all the time, its really best to prepare easy healthy meals for the week so that temptation is at a minimum. Keeping it simple works ^ ^
Hey Verushka, I KNOW RIGHT?! I was the exact same. I’m sure they’re really good for us but damn who on earth can actually afford to eat goji berries all day every day =) Simple all the way!