I’m finally in the mix working on our old house.  Back to more physical labor.  Even though we are not doing as much to this house as we did on our new one, it’s still a lot.  When you live in a house for a long time there is a lot of wear and tear that needs to be fixed.  There’s also still a lot of stuff we need to sell or delete.  All of the color has to be replaced with white.  It needs to be a blank slate for a buyer to see themselves in a house.  Color on the walls and personalized stuff turns them off.

This week I’m doing a simple recipe for Spicy Cabbage Soup from Mid Life Healthy Living.  This recipe has A LOT of sodium rich ingredients.  I’m going to try to keep a much of the fun ingredients as I can.  Fish sauce is notoriously salty.  However, it is a wonderful ingredient that adds a bit of funk.  It’s only 1/2 teaspoon, so hopefully it will not affect the sodium too much.

Here are the original stats:

Here’s what I changed:

• I deleted the added salt to reduce the sodium.
• I added red bell pepper to increase the vitamin C.
• I added more carrot to increase the vitamin A.
• I increased the servings from 6 to 8 to lower the sodium.
• I swapped the regular chicken broth with low sodium to reduce the sodium.
• I doubled the turkey to increase the protein.

Here are the final stats:

Here is the final recipe:

Spicy Cabbage Soup

Serve 8

• 2 tsp Chili garlic sauce
• 2 pounds 99% fat-free ground turkey breast – crumbled
• 1 medium onion- diced
• 1 Large Egg
• Ginger root – 1 tbsp, fresh grated
• 1/4 cup cilantro, fresh, chopped
• 2 tbs black pepper
• 6 cups low sodium chicken or turkey broth
• 2 pounds shredded uncooked napa cabbage
• 2 large carrots – chopped
• 3 red bell peppers – chopped
• 2 Tbsp Fresh lime juice
• 1/2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp ground cayenne pepper

1. Add turkey, cilantro, salt ,pepper, 1/2 tbsp of ginger root, cayenne and eggs to the skillet and cook turkey until browned.  Constantly chopping to make crumbles while cooking.
2. Combine broth, chili-garlic sauce, and remaining 1/2 tbsp- ginger in a Dutch oven. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat
3. Add cabbage, carrots, red bell pepper and onion and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and gently stir in turkey, lime juice, and fish sauce.
5. Enjoy!