A few soups

[Midnightrider]

Beef & barley broth.

This began with a piece of beef brisket (about 4lb) which I slow cooked on sunday in about 3L of beef stock to which I had added red wine garlic, parsley, miso paste & soy sauce. I didn't measure these accurately (guesstimated) as when I have done so in the past they don't significantly change the values for the stock at the level they are added. However, other people may need to be more precise.
After cooking for 10 hours the beef and 1L of liquid was removed to be eaten / made into gravy for sunday dinner (plenty of leftovers).
This left about 2L (I did weigh this) of stock.

If starting from here just use 2L of decent beef stock.
I just added 244g beef, cut quite small (lean, cut from the joint), 150g pearl barley (dry), 217g carrots (cut into smallish pieces), and a handful of fresh parsley, then left it on medium in the slow cooker for about 5 hours before putting it in the fridge for future use.

2L beef stock 172 Cal / 5.0g Carbs
244g brisket 498 Cal / 0.0g Carbs
217g carrots 89 Cal / 14.7g Carbs
150g pearl barley 528 Cal / 93.2g Carbs

This gives 8 fairly substantial portions (about 320g each, which is the size of my soup bowls)) as it is very rich and quite thick.

Each portion is 161 Cal / 14.1 g Carbs

Of course, if you are watching your carbs, you can reduce the amount of pearl barley by half which would give about 125 Cal / 8g carbs per bowl. This really is a no fuss soup as it doesn't even need blending afterwards.

 

[Midnightrider]

Weekly vegetable broth.

Start with 2L of vegetable (or chicken) stock in the slow cooker (100 Cal / 18.6g Carbs}. Last time I made this I diced and added the following
Celeriac 113g 31 Cal / 5.3g Carbs
Swede 75g 23 Cal / 3.8g Carbs
Sweet potato 152g 116 Cal / 23.1g Carbs
Onion 47g 19 Cal / 3.7g Carbs
Cauliflower 139g 32 Cal / 2.5g Carbs
Carrots 88g 31 Cal / 4.6g Carbs
Fennel 84g 41 Cal / 5.6g Carbs
Garlic 25g 36 Cal / 7.4g Carbs
plus assorted herbs which don't change the sums much.
Heat in slow cooker for 4-8 hours depending on how long you may be out, or for an hour or two on the stove or in an oven.
I use a hand blender in the pan to blend out all the lumps. The sweet potato gives a proper thick soup but is quite carb heavy if that bothers you so could be swapped for a low carb veg if you like. I just use up any left over veg the day before my weekly food delivery, and usually use the peelings if they are clean to make another batch of stock.
Total 429 Cal / 73.9 g Carbs

This gives 8 portions of about 340g (a can of Heinz soup is 400g) at 54 Cal / 9.2g Carbs.
Of course every week gives something different, and I sometimes add tomatoes when I have too many to eat, the ones in my greenhouse all seem to ripen at once.

Hope this helps

 

[Lanny]

Thanks very much @Midnightrider 🙂

 

[trophywench]

The carb count for a portion is wrong in the very first category.

The total recipe comes to - 15.7g + 5g + 93.2g = 115g call it. Divide by 8 = 14g per portion near enough.

 

[Midnightrider]

The carb count for a portion is wrong in the very first category.

The total recipe comes to - 15.7g + 5g + 93.2g = 115g call it. Divide by 8 = 14g per portion near enough.

In what way is this wrong? I stated 14.1g carbs per bowl as you said, I also said that reducing barley from 150 to 75g (dry) gave 8g carbs per bowl. I'm not sure if you haven't read this correctly.

 

[trophywench]

Well oops! - yes I did misread it!

I am not at all used to seeing liquid measured by weight though I do appreciate 'a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter' and the metric equivalent LOL

Not at all in cookery recipes!

 

[Kaylz]

217g carrots 89 Cal / 14.7g Carbs

what carrots you using as I work 217g carrot to be 17.143g carbs xx

 

[silentsquirrel]

what carrots you using as I work 217g carrot to be 17.143g carbs xx

Difference between raw and cooked? One site gives 10.1g/100g raw but only 4.4g boiled. Another site has only 5.7g / 100g raw.
It will also probably vary a fair bit between different varieties of carrot, some are much sweeter than others, and their freshness / how long since harvested.
I suspect this is similar to the meter readings accuracy issue, giving values to 1dp makes us think they are much more accurate than in reality.
For 8 portions the difference is <1/2g carb per portion, so not significant!

 

[Kaylz]

For 8 portions the difference is <1/2g carb per portion, so not significant!

I'm afraid to a Type 1 or in fact a Type 2 taking insulin for their carbohydrates, well me certainly anyway likes to total up as close to bang on as I can so I would find some things significant that others may be more relaxed on xx

 

[silentsquirrel]

I'm afraid to a Type 1 or in fact a Type 2 taking insulin for their carbohydrates, well me certainly anyway likes to total up as close to bang on as I can so I would find some things significant that others may be more relaxed on xx

I am on insulin.
How do you know your figures for carrots are that accurate? What would be the difference in what you would bolus for 14.1g carb for a bowl and 14.4g using your information?
Best to assume all figures given by Tesco or anyone are "ish", or as TW says "near enough". They are highly unlikely to be "bang on".
That isn't me being more relaxed than you about control, it's about the accuracy of the info.

@Midnightrider, the recipes look delicious - I must haul my slow cooker out from the back of a cupboard!

 

[Kaylz]

What would be the difference in what you would bolus for 14.1g carb for a bowl and 14.4g using your information?

That would depend on the nutrition of the other ingredients used and whatever else I was having with it, that's why when I post recipes I state the brands of products used to work the carbs out so nobody gets in a pickle etc xx

 

[Midnightrider]

what carrots you using as I work 217g carrot to be 17.143g carbs xx

I use cronometer.com - which is a US site so calculates carbs slightly differently. This is only really a factor for veggies and even then the difference is quite small. Differences in carrot varieties and ripeness have a greater effect and spread over 8 portions the difference would only be 0.4g / portion.
I use this site as it calculates all macro & micronutrients (and it is free too) and saves recipes for another day too. It also records biometrics such as BG and weight and plots them over time.

 

[Midnightrider]

Chestnut & celeriac soup - my very favourite soup, really an xmas recipe but I love it so much I eat it throughout the year.

Amounts are from last time I made it
2L (2000g) chicken stock [veg stock works just fine but this is slightly richer] 98 Cal / 1.7g carbs
257g celeriac 108 Cal / 19.0g carbs
71g parsnip 53 Cal / 9.3g carbs
73g carrots 30 Cal / 4.9g carbs

Dice veg and cook until soft in the stock.

180g chestnuts [bought precooked in foil vac pack] 236 Cal / 42.5g carbs
15g butter 108 Cal / zero carbs

Fry the chestnuts in a little butter, then add to the veg.
Blend until smooth (I use a hand blender)

Marsala wine (semisweet) [the taste of xmas] 119 Cal / 16.2g carbs

Add the Marsala (not strictly necessary but does improve flavour) and simmer for 10 minutes.

Total 817 calories / 92.5g carbs (2714g total wt)
This gives 8 portions of about 340g
Per portion 102 calories / 11.5g carbs

 

[Midnightrider]

Celeriac & apple soup

I ate this soup at a hotel the other day and thought it was fantastic. I decided to give it a go, without a recipe but 'how hard can it be'.
I kept the ingredients really simple on the basis that I could add more stuff in later but couldn't take it out.

500g celeriac, diced
170g green apples, diced
50g shallot, finely chopped
15g garlic paste
1000ml vegetable stock (home made)

1. Sweat shallots & garlic in a little oil (I use rape but olive would be fine), and butter. Transfer to pan,
2. Add celeriac, apple, and stock
3. Boil then simmer for 30 minutes until celeriac softens.
4, Blitz with hand blender (or a liquidizer).
5, Eat

Surprisingly, I think that I nailed it first time though maybe a little white pepper would make it even better. I expected to add cream as the one that I had eaten tasted really creamy. However, this really doesn't need it. If having this as a meal in itself rather than as a first course, I would add some croutons or have it with a dod of bread. I would also garnish with some watercress but didn't have any so didn't bother.