Italian Sausage + Kale Soup

When I was still little but old enough to make my own plates at family gatherings, I would always pile my plate high. Everything looked so delicious. I could surely fit it all in my stomach, couldn’t it? Well, each and every time, I would take my barely touched plate over to my dad who would say to me that my “eyes were bigger than my stomach,” while I pushed the leftovers from my plate onto his. Okay, let’s be honest – even into my late 20’s, this habit hasn’t changed much. I can still rely on dad to finish my plate at Thanksgiving.

I just love food. All of it. All the time. My eyes are ALWAYS bigger than my stomach. It’s a true story. Have you ever been ordering take out and can’t decide what to order so you get three things instead of one? Yeah right, like you’ll really save some for the following day. This is the story of my life.

The thing is, I have always associated food with happiness and comfort. I think we all do to some extent.  The idea of trading in grilled cheese, mozzarella sticks and chicken pot pies for salad, bunless burgers and fish used to make me feel like I would be missing out.

The most important thing that I have learned (though I fall off the wagon every once in a while) is that if your healthy food is bland and boring you are just doing it wrong!  By choosing a healthier way of eating, you are only gaining – not giving up. And in the process, you’ll retrain your body to not even like the taste of junk food! For example, recently I tried to eat macaroni and cheese and I thought it was disgusting. Never in a million years did I think that was even possible! I  ❤ mac and cheese!

So anyway, back to this whole eyes vs. stomach thing…. That definitely was the theme of this weekend. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to eat this week, so I made everything. Literally.  Here is what we have on the menu:

• Scrambled eggs with sausage, onions, potatoes, and peppers.
• Chicken thighs over gluten free pesto/tomato penne.
• Chicken thighs with garlic and parmesan roasted root veggies.
• Citrus BBQ salmon with roasted cauliflower and broccoli.
• Teriyaki glazed flank steak with sautéed green beans.
• Buffalo chicken soup
• Chicken Pot Pie soup (Aldon’s absolute favorite)
• Italian sausage and kale soup

It was tough to decide what to share first because I just don’t have enough wit to keep you entertained if I post five recipes all at once. I’ll work on that. So, I decided I would just share in the order that food was made – and this italian sausage soup was the first thing on the agenda for meal prep day. Enjoy!

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What You Need

1lb Italian sausage

1 medium onion, diced

1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes with juices

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 32oz box beef stock

3 cups kale, chopped

1 tsp sea salt

½ tbs onion powder

½ tbs garlic powder

1 tsp celery seed

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp cayenne

½ tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp coriander

Pepper to taste

What To Do

In a large pot over medium heat, brown Italian sausage. Crumble while cooking. Add two cloves minced garlic while sausage is cooking.

When sausage is cooked through, add diced onions, tomatoes, kale, seasonings and beef stock. Increase heat and let boil for 10 minutes then reduce heat and let simmer while kale softens. Simmer for 35 – 40 minutes.