Self-Care and Vegan Corn Chowder

Believe it or not, they walk hand in hand. :-)

Self-Care

Between Christmas and the turning of the new year, I reinvested in my self-care. I'd been pretty lax from our annual family Christmas party through Christmas, and I was feeling the effects of that on every level.Thanks to Holistic Nutrition, I received a major jump-start, and the motivation to get my rear back in high-health gear: I was required, for a final assignment, to design a three-day cleanse.I'd never done one before, and in the process of researching it, I discovered that many were way too radical for me, especially based on what I'd been learning. So, since I had to design one, I decided I'd be my own guinea pig.Restore, as I titled it, was born.I weighed myself first thing on the morning of day one, and didn't return to the scale until the morning of day four, after completing the cleanse.In between, I enjoyed clearer skin and eyes, greatly improved energy, better sleep, and lots of nutritious food and beverages. As an added bonus, I released five pounds.I'm committed to revisiting Restore every season, to give my digestive and detoxification systems a break, and to remind me how easy it is to feel good by eating well and tending to my self-care.Since then, I'm fully back into the swing of being a happy herbivore, or oil-free whole-food vegan.It does me and my body good, as evidenced by the continued enjoyment of all the benefits mentioned above, including the release of an additional three more pounds when I stepped on the scale for my usual Monday morning weigh-in.Part of that swing includes my love of cooking, and building recipes. Which is what brings me to...

Vegan Corn Chowder

The only problem with this recipe is, I didn't take a picture of it. Why? I was too busy eating it.It's so good, and so easy to put together. It could easily be upsized to serve a crowd, but as-is, it's a hearty and wholesome meal for one.

Recipe Type: Soup

Cuisine: Vegan

Author: Ellen M. Gregg

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 15 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 1 or 2

This was inspired by Guy's Grocery Game on Food Network. It's delicious; hearty and warming. It's also super healthy. This would be an entire meal for one person, as is, or a meal for two if paired with a big salad and/or bread or crackers. 

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and cubed
• 1 medium potato, cubed
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small hot pepper, seeds removed, diced (optional, but recommended)
• 1/2 green pepper, diced (only if you don\'t go with the hot pepper)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper (or more; more is better)
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• dash or two of cayenne, if you like a bit of heat
• 1 cup butternut squash, cubed (from packaged frozen)
• 1 cup corn kernels (from packaged frozen)

Instructions

1. Measure water into a pot and set it on the stove. Turn burner to high.
2. Wash the carrot, peel it, cube it, and add it to water.
3. Wash the potato, cube it (skin on, preferably), and add it to water.
4. Peel and dice onion, and add it to water.
5. Cut hot or green pepper open, remove top, ribs, and seeds, dice it, and add it to water.
6. Mince garlic and add it to water.
7. Measure turmeric, cumin, black pepper, sea salt, and cayenne and add them to water.
8. Allow to cook, lid on, until carrot, potato and pepper are tender, and onion is translucent. Reduce heat to medium-low.
9. Add frozen squash and corn, replace lid, and allow to simmer until squash is heated through, or until it\'s almost time to eat.
10. Scoop 1/2 of the chowder fixings into a blender, and blend until smooth.
11. Add blended mixture back into pot, and bring it back to temperature.
12. Eat. :-)

Have you ever completed a cleanse? Are you a fan of corn chowder?