Terre Pruitt's Blog

In the realm of health, wellness, fitness, and the like, or whatever inspires me.

  • I teach yoga, Nia, and stretch online!

    ALL CLASSES ARE ON ZOOM AT 10:00 AM PDT

    Tuesday Gentle Yoga 

    Wednesday Nia

    Thursday Stretch

    Please see my website for details!

    I am also available for private Nia / yoga / Personal Training all virtual, of course!

  • Unknown's avatar

  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

  • My Bloggey Past

  • ******

    Chose a month above to visit archives, or click below to visit a page.

Posts Tagged ‘vegetable soup’

Variation of the Baby Bok Choy Soup

Posted by terrepruitt on January 28, 2012

Dance Exercise, Nia teacher, Nia Student, Nia Class, San Jose Nia, Nia San Jose, Cardio Dance, Nia workoutI spent a large portion of the day practicing Alive, it is the Nia routine I am starting to teach.  I debuted it Friday, but I need to practice and practice.  In Nia we say, “tight but loose”. So I need to know the music and choreography to perfection which allows me to dance with it and play to it is loose and flowing and fun to my Nia students.  So practice and play is the key.  I was so busy having fun with it I didn’t have a lot of time to come up with a blog post.  Because I also spent some time in the kitchen making a different version of my Baby Bok Choy and Spinach Soup recipe.  The people I made it for convinced me that it was good enough that I could use my adaptation of my Baby bok choy and spinach soup recipe as a post.  So here goes.

Parsnips, Broccoli, Baby bok choy, and Spinach Soup

–olive oil
–1 medium sized onion chopped (save some for garnish)
–2 parsnips (chopped)
–1 bunch of broccoli (chopped)
–4 bundles of baby bok choy  (bottom portion separate from leafy portion, chop both and leave separate, they are added to the soup at different times)
–2 or 3 tsp of minced garlic
–1.5 tsp granulated garlic
–1.5 tsp garlic salt
–48 oz of chicken broth
–a half of bottle or can of beer
–shake or two of teriyaki
–small piece (3/4 of an inch) of ginger, chopped
–3/4 of a 6-oz bag of spinach
–1.5 (ish) wooden spoonful of cream cheese spread whipped with chives

Sautee chopped onion in the olive oil.  When the onions look tender add in the chopped parsnip, add granulated garlic and garlic salt.  Cook parsnip until it seems a bit tender, then add the bottom portion of the bok choy and broccoli. Let it cook a minute, then add the minced garlic.  Sautee until tender.  Then pour in the broth.  Add about a half can or bottle of beer and the few splashes of teriyaki.  Stir it as you feel necessary throughout the entire process.  Bring to boil. Add the cream cheese if you are going to use it.  Add the ginger.  Add leafy portion of the bok choy and bag of spinach.  Let cook for a few minutes or until the veggies are wilted.  Once the veggies looked wilted use the blender to mix it all up.  (I use the immersion blender so I can keep it all in the same pot.  Please remember to be cautious of the steam.)

The parsnips give this a little difference flavor and the broccoli leaves little green specks in the soup no matter how much you blend it.  Actually when you look at it, it looks the same as all the other soup I make.  But it tastes different.

I was trying to make something easy to eat for someone with a sore throat.  This soup is kind of thick yet easy to swallow and it packs a punch with all the vegetables it contains.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and let me to continue to share my soup experiments and at the same time put spending time with friends and family at the forefront of life!

Enjoy!

Posted in "Recipes", Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

Stock, Broth, Bouillon Cubes

Posted by terrepruitt on September 27, 2011

I have posted a lot about soup because a friend showed me how to use the stick blender to make soups.  I fell in love with blended vegetable soups.  Recently I posted about soup that my friend had made me.  In addition to sharing that wonderful recipe with me she also shared a broth secret.  I used to buy the bouillon cubes.  They are so convenient because they are always there when you need them.  Then due to the ingredients (partially hydrogenated oil) I started buying the boxes of broth.  But those are somewhat very inconvenient because what I have experienced is that the box is one measurement and I usually need a different measurement to make the soup.  So basically I often need only a portion of the box for soup.  It is unfortunate to have a half used box of broth in the fridge.  When I was at my friend’s house she asked me if I knew about “Better Than Bouillon”.  I had not.

Nia class, Nia teacher, Nia workout, Nia dance, Nia cardio dance workoutIt is a jar of bouillon concentrate.  Just like juice concentrate you mix it with water.  It is brilliant because you can make as much as you need.  I was so happy to learn of this.  I know, I know, I am probably late in this lesson, but I didn’t know.  I purchased the chicken base which has:

Chicken Meat with Natural Juices, Salt, Organic, Cane Juice Solids, Maltodextrin (from corn), Chicken Fat, Yeast Extract, Natural Flavors, Dried Onion, Potato Flour, Spice Extractives, and Turmeric .

I know a lot of these ingredients would not be found in fresh homemade chicken stock, but stock is not one thing that I am inclined to make.  I know it is easy and I know many people do make it, but I’m not one of them.  Maybe eventually if I continue to make a lot of soup I will start making my own stock, but not at this point in time.

I was happy to see “Better Than Bouillon” chicken base has turmeric in it.  Remember turmeric one of the anti-inflammatory foods.

I do still like the box broth so I will continue to buy it and use it.  But now I can use a combination of stocks and broths which will enable me to keep my fridge empty of a half used box of stock.  With the jar of bouillon, one teaspoon combined with 8 ounces water equals 8 ounces of liquid broth or one cube (which is added to 8 ounces of water also).

My husband and I have been waiting for the cold weather to come so that we can have soup.  When I first met him his thought was, “Soup is not food.”  But I once made a really hearty potato cheese soup that made him change his mind.  He also likes all the other soups that I have been making even though they are pureed vegetables.  I am fortunate that he is so kind to let me experiment with different veggies and combinations.  So far he has eaten them all.  So, c’mon cold weather, get here so we can eat soup!

Did you know about this jar of bouillon?  I am really excited about it.  You know by now when I learn something and I get excited about it, I have to post about it!

Posted in Food | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »