Veggie Bean Soup w/ Bacon

I make the same soup many times over, sometimes changing things here and there. I am creature of habit and I'm also someone who hates doing the same thing everyday. Welcome to life as a Gemini. So here's this simple soup which I've made a few different times, changing things up slightly here and there. Sometimes I feel inadequate when it comes to cooking new and fabulous dishes. I'm not as "into it" as other coaches or other people. I am quite clear that the gifts I share with my clients aren't how to be gourmet chefs in the kitchen but rather something so much simpler (and quite important, in my own personal experience):

overcoming fear and self-doubt and embracing enough self-love enough to make time and cook real whole foods to put into their bodies

Big stuff, there. There were many years, months and nights where I had no interest feeding this body. I didn't love it enough or accept it enough to feed it well but I knew I wouldn't feel any better if I treated it poorly. We had a little love/hate thing going on for a while, there.

Take out the pressure. Toss the stress. Embrace foods cooked with ease. Enjoy the simplicity of making and eating real food. Check off another day where sugar or some processed food lost and real food won.

My recipes might use the same ingredients in different ways and may not be the most exciting or original but they are one thing: mine. Yep, I'm cooking for myself several times a week and that's more than I can say for where I was this time last year and the year before that and...

yep. Progress. In the form of simple cookin'.

soup

Vegetable Bean Soup with Bacon and Kale

Ingredients

1 qt vegetable broth (or chicken)

2 cups water

3 large sweet potatoes, cubed

1 large onion, chopped

1 large bunch of lacinato kale, chopped

1/2 lb. organic bacon (Applewood Farms is nice. Something from a source local to you is even better)

2 12 oz. cans of Eden beans (pinto, garbanzo, navy, etc.)

I package frozen, organic mixed vegetables

2 tsp. fresh rosemary and thyme

Instructions 

1) In a large soup pot, add the broth and water. Add the sweet potatoes and onion and bring them to a boil. Reduce to simmer and add the frozen veggies and fresh herbs.

2) Cook the bacon in a pan on the stove over medium heat until very crispy and place on a paper towel to drain.

3) Take about 1/3 of soup mixture from large pot and puree in a blender or with a hand blender. Add back in to the larger pot to add texture.

4) Add the bacon, crumbling it in. Wash your hands. That shit is messy.

5) Add the kale and simmer until bright green and soft.

6) Serve in nice bowls with a pinch of salt if needed. Savor how simple and tasty this meal is. And you made it.