Delicious Meatball Soup

Let me tell you - my kid LOVES soup! Sometimes she wakes up and her first food-related request is "I want soup". I admit that up until very recently I've mostly been buying already prepared soups thinking it saves on time and it's relatively inexpensive, even with premium brands.

But a few days ago I've decided that enough is enough! I gotta make my own soups: if I make a big batch, I can always take some as lunch or even freeze it. Frankly, having soup for lunch is a much healthier option than, say, a sandwich because soup fills me up, but I don't feel stuffed and sleepy afterwards. And a regular bowl of soup generally runs at about 200 cals per portion (provided it's not one of those creamy soup variety).

So anyways, my first "by the book" soup (as opposed to something I'd just thrown together). In English, I guess you could call it Meatball Soup, but we call it Soup with Frikadelkas (суп с фрикадельками). Even just hearing the name of this soup instantly reminds me of home, my childhood and of my mom making it because I just LOVE it (especially the meatballs, he-he)! It's light on the stomach & easy of the prep. So, here it is.

Yum!

My sister's BORSCH

My sister stayed with us for 4 weeks, and kept talking about making a borsch pretty much the whole time she was here. Personally, I LOVE borsch soup, only it takes about 1 hour to make it (though actually it is pretty simple). Since we were busy almost every day, we kept putting it off. Finally, this past Thursday (her last day in Canada), she did make it for us!!!

So, here's the promised to you a while ago, the much anticipated recipe of the BORSCH as we make it :))) We'll call it a Belarusian borsch as a Russian recipe usually includes an addition of cabbage.
(Note: wikipedia calls it Borscht)

A dollop of sour cream makes this a perfect lunch meal!

Warm bowl of soup on a cold winter day

I have been following one particular blog for a while - Closet Cooking (see Blogs I Read on the left).

Yesterday, totally by chance, I wondered onto this one recipe that intrigued me: the Spinach, White Bean and Turkey Sausage Soup. I thought, hmm - spinach, bean & turkey sounds like one healthy combination! And in line with a promise I made to myself on New Years (I refuse to call in "resolution!) - being a little selfish in eating only those foods that I get something out of. In addition, given that I live in Canada, having a hot bowl of soup ona cold winter day is just what the doctor ordered :)

Needless to say that this recipe was easy to follow, only took about 25-30 minutes (and that includes preparation!), and it tastes delicious. I even took a photo of my soup - it looks just like the presentation. I'm proud of this little achievement and plan on expanding my cooking horizons further. With every successful recipe, a little confidence is gained :)

And what have you done lately?