There are four main benefits of making vegetarian, non-dairy soups. These benefits are great for weight loss, health, easy-meal making, and savings to your budget.

The first benefit is for WEIGHT LOSS.

Low-Calorie Vegetable Soup with a Light Tomato Broth

You can lose weight a lot easier if you are getting filled up on foods and liquids that are low in calories. You can do this by eliminating the animal products and pastas.

When you make a soup, be sure to include plenty of high-fiber vegetables, which help to carry fat out of your body. You can use just about any type of chopped vegetables except for avocados which are high in fat.

The liquid should be water which is zero calories but tends to also fill you up. Add spices and some tomato sauce for flavor to keep the calories down and the taste up.

You can have a energy-giving soup if you include some simple grains and beans such as quinoa, millet, black beans, pinto beans, or any other grain or bean that you have on hand. These are high fiber items. The fiber of the grain is a lot higher quality than white flour.

Using beans instead of animal products will help your blood pressure and blood sugars to normalize.

The second benefit is for HEALTH.

Whenever you steam vegetables, many valuable nutrients can be lost in the water which is then discarded. But, with cooking your vegetables into a soup, you can save the nutrients into the soup broth. The vegetables, grains, and beans that you add to your soup will give you a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals and are known to help you fight cancer and disease.

The third benefit is for EASY MEAL MAKING.

I don’t have time to do a lot of cooking, and I have found it to be very easy to use a slow-cooker for cooking grains or beans. Grains like brown rice, millet, and barley can be thrown into the soup along with the other ingredients or cooked ahead of time and added.

It’s easy to throw in some chopped vegetables, barley or other grain, tomato sauce and spices into your slow-cooker. The soup will get done while you do something else.

Beans are normally a long complicated process. However, if you just throw some in your slow-cooker with 4 cups water to every 1 cup of beans, then they can soak and cook all at the same time. Then, all you have to do is drain, rinse, and store in the fridge to be used for any recipe you like.

So, what I like to do is slow-cook some grain or bean on low while I am at work, and when I come home they are done. When I am ready to make some soup, I can grab about a cup each of a grain and bean and throw them into a 4-qt slow cooker.  I can chop whatever vegetables I have on hand or add a package of frozen vegetables.

Add water to fill to just 1-2 inches from the top and cook on low or high depending on how long I’ll be gone or if I am home. I can make a batch on the weekend while I get other things done.  Add the spices last. For flavor, I like to always add a chopped onion and a few minced garlic buds along with the vegetables.

The fourth benefit is for SAVINGS TO YOUR BUDGET.

Grains and beans are cheap additions to add to a soup. You can buy frozen packages of vegetables when they are on sale. Costco has some great bargains all the time on grains, beans, frozen vegetables, and spices. It is very economical to also just use up vegetables that might not otherwise get used. Clean up your fridge and come up with your own soup.

Use leftovers and vegetables in your soup before you have to throw them out.

Savings to your budget, easy meal making, health, and weight loss are the four main benefits of making vegetarian, non-dairy soups. You can make some easy, economical, healthy, and low-calorie soups with a slow-cooker and a little chopping of vegetables.

Follow this link for an easy minestrone soup recipe.  You can substitute various spices, grains, beans, and vegetables that you like in any soup recipe. Make sure that you have some homemade chicken seasoning from this link for a wonderful flavor to any soup.

For some great soup recipes try this link. If you make more soup than you can eat, it’s a good idea to freeze half as soon as you make it.