Each week we love featuring interesting food blogs that 1) give great advice about cooking, eating, and nutrition, and 2) feature great recipes that we enjoy.
This week’s featured blog is Jules Clancy’s TheStoneSoup.com. For the past dozen years, Jules has been cooking up yummy and healthy food and sharing about her experiences, as well as her philosophy of simple living, on her blog.
Jules Clancy- TheStoneSoup.com
That means she is living out two parts of the Mountain Man Gourmet motto, “Living Well” and “Eating Well,” and you know what, I’ll be because of that she’s also “Being Happy,” too, right?
One of the features I like about her recipes is that most of them are low carb and high fat, which helps her live with Type 2 diabetes, something that a good number of my readers also deal with. When doing research for this article, I was shocked to discover that 29.1 million Americans, or 9.3% of the population, has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, 86 million Americans over the age of twenty have prediabetes, and that Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are the 7th leading cause of death in the United States.
So . . . even if you don’t have diabetes now, chances are that you or someone close to you either has it or is of high risk of developing it at some point. When I hear statistics like this, it makes me want to reevaluate my lifestyle and food choices. I probably did a lot of damage to my body, albeit much of it unintentionally, when I was younger, so at this point in my life, anything I can do to reverse or at least minimize the effects of that damage is probably a good idea.
Anyway, the point of this article isn’t to scare or depress you, but to give you an opportunity to learn from someone who is beating the odds every day through her diet and lifestyle.
Here are a couple of quotes I like from Jules’ website:
I live in a beautiful part of rural Australia with my Irish husband and our two young sons. We’re between Sydney and Canberra and I feel blessed every day that we get to wake up among the gum trees, birds and kangaroos. The men in my life feel blessed we have plenty of space to grow our own spuds and play music as loud as we like.
Hmmmm . . . who can guess why I like this quote? Perhaps because I live in a beautiful part of rural New Mexico’s Manzano Mountains with my German/Native American wife and our two elderly kitties? Or maybe because we live east of Albuquerque and South of Santa Fe, and feel blessed every day that we get to wake up among the Ponderosa Pine and Juniper trees, birds, and assorted wildlife, including deer, rabbits, squirrels, wolves, coyotes, bears, and mountain lions? Or maybe that the men and women in my life feel blessed we have plenty of space to grow our own herbs and vegetables and play music as loud as we like? Hmmm . . . maybe that’s it (and yes, I just copied her quote and filled in the blanks with my own specific details).
And here’s another quote I like:
I don’t believe in diets or counting calories. Because they take the pleasure out of food AND for most people they don’t work in the long term. I believe it’s much more effective to focus on building healthy habits around eating well and being active.
Amen, Jules, Amen, Amen, and Amen.
While we mostly eat low carb and high protein, life would just totally suck without an occasional loaded baked potato or slice of pizza or triple-chocolate ice cream dessert. But note the operative word here: occasional. We at Mountain Man Gourmet also believe in focusing on building healthy habits around eating well and being active. If you follow this practice most of the time, then there’s no need to feel guilty about an occasional indulgence, and believe it or not, you’ll actually crave those “treats” less and less as your body adjusts to a healthier diet and lifestyle and craves activity and nutritious food more and more.
But why should you believe me when my college degrees are in music, communications, literature and writing, and rhetoric? Well, you don’t have to, but Ms. Clancy has degrees in both food science and wine science. If you were a liberal arts major like me, you probably have a high degree of respect for anyone who majored in science, math, or engineering.
So, enough of the sucking up and authority building—I’m sure you’re ready for us to get on with it and share one of Stone Soup’s fabulous recipes, eh?
Never fear, your recipe is here—well, below, and you’ll see it if you keep scrolling down. If you’re American, please excuse the funny words and funky British spellings that Jules sometimes uses; she’s from Australia, so you can’t really expect her to speak or write proper (American) English. (And yes, I know I’m probably going to get some interesting comments on that one!)
Addictive Green Curry of Broccoli Soup
serves 2
Stone Soup Green Curry-Broccoli Soup
While I tend to prefer fresh broccoli, this soup is also great made with frozen broccoli florettes. Just pop the frozen broccoli straight in the pan – it shouldn’t take much longer to cook and will save you the chopping step.
To make this soup in under 10 minutes, boil water in the kettle to speed things along.
When chopping the broccoli, I like to finely slice most of the stems and add them to the pot so I minimise the wastage.
3 – 4 tablespoons green curry paste
1 cup coconut milk
2 heads broccoli, chopped into bight sized trees
2 – 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- Heat a large saucepan on a high heat. Add a few tablespoons of cream from the top of the coconut milk or some oil. Stir fry the curry paste for 15-30 seconds or until you notice the aroma. Be careful not to burn.
- Quickly add 2 cups water and the coconut milk. Bring to a simmer.
- Add broccoli. Bring back to a simmer and cook uncovered for 8-9 minutes or until the broccoli is tender.
- Remove from the heat. Stir in the peanut butter. Taste and season with a little salt or sugar.
VARIATIONS
smooth – purée the soup with a stick blender until you have the texture you’re after.
fragrant – serve with a handful or Thai or regular basil leaves scattered over the top.
nut-free – replace the peanut butter with a little sugar and some fish sauce to season.
almond butter – the first times made this soup I used some home made almond butter which was just delicious.
carnivore – simmer some finely sliced chicken breast or thigh fillets along with the broccoli.
other curry paste – while I think green curry works best with broccoli, feel free to use yellow, red or massaman curry pastes.
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So there you have it—this week’s Mountain Man Gourmet Featured Blog. Be sure to visit Jules’ website, http://TheStoneSoup.com and tell her Lawrence from Mountain Man Gourmet said Howdy!
While you’re there, be sure to check out her numerous recipes, books, meal plans, and online cooking classes.
And until we meet again, be sure to Live Well, Eat Well, and Be Happy!
Lawrence J. Clark: The Mountain Man Gourmet!
