I love healthy food and finding and creating healthy recipes. I also love companies that help make eating well a little easier!
That’s one of the many reasons why I love Whole Foods! Their store is full of so many wonderful products and I don’t have to worry about the things I purchase there. I know Whole Foods has high standards and is committed to “real,” natural, healthy, WHOLE food!
So, when I was asked to participate in their “Cook More, Save More” Blogger challenge, I was thrilled! I was asked to create a recipe where each serving is under $4.00.
I’m happy to say I obliterated that challenge!
The recipe I created is for healthy Cheesy Vegetable Soup and Homemade Pita Chips. I calculated the soup to be right around $1.00/serving and the chips to be about 25 cents/serving. Awesome!
This soup is also SOOOO yummy, chock full of a ton of veggies and all of my kids love it! Everyone always loves the Pita Chips too and they go well with everything. They were fabulous dipped in this soup.
I’ve been using a similar Cheesy Vegetable soup recipe for years, however it included some mystery and “frankenfood” ingredients like Cream of Chicken Soup and Velveeta cheese.
I decided to play around with my “old standby” recipe. I replaced the fake ingredients with real ones and also increased the vegetables. I’m happy to say that I love my “new and improved” recipe even more!
I was also happy to go shopping at Whole Foods and stock up on a bunch of fresh, organic produce and ingredients!
I have to say that Whole Foods has a pretty amazing Produce section. There are so many wonderful and unique things!
When I saw all the colorful cauliflower, I just couldn’t resist.
I decided to purchase the purple one (the prettiest!) even though it was quite a bit more expensive than plain ol’ white. The soup is already very low cost, so I thought a little “cauliflower splurge” wouldn’t hurt. 😉
Here are all the things I bought at Whole Foods.
And, here are most of the ingredients you need to make the soup. I already had some of the ingredients at home, so I didn’t need to purchase them.
AND, here’s how you make everything!
Healthy Cheesy Vegetable Soup
- 7 cups water
- 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon (I used Better Than Bouillon)
- 1 1/2 cups carrots; sliced
- 1 1/2 cups celery; sliced
- 1 cup onion; diced
- 2 cups potatoes; diced (I used unpeeled Red Potatoes)
- 2 1/2 cups broccoli; chopped
- 2 1/2 cups cauliflower; chopped
- 6 Tablespoons flour (I used whole wheat)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 cup chicken broth (I used low sodium)
- 1 1/2 cups warm skim milk (I warm mine in the microwave for 1 minute.)
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese; shredded
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons water
Directions:
1. Heat water and bouillon in large pot over medium heat until dissolved.
2. Add carrots, celery, onions and potatoes.
3. Bring to a low boil and cook 15 minutes.
4. Add broccoli and cauliflower.
5. Bring to a low boil and cook 15 minutes.
While everything is cooking, I like to make the “sauce.”
1. Mix flour, salt and pepper in small bowl.
2. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the flour, salt and pepper to the butter and mix until blended (it will be quite dry.)
4. Add the chicken broth, a little at a time and mix until blended (I use a wire whisk.)
5. Add the milk, a little at a time and mix until blended.
6. Bring to a low boil over medium-low heat until thickened (be patient and wait until it gets nice and thick!)
7. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and add the sour cream and cheese.
8. Mix until the cheese is melted.
9. Add “cheese sauce” to the rest of the soup and stir until combined.
10. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until dissolved. Mix into soup, stirring frequently, until thickened.
Enjoy!
- Serves: 12
- Serving size: 1/12th recipe
- Calories: 199
- Fat: 10
- Carbohydrates: 16
- Sugar: 5
- Sodium: 521
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 11
- Cholesterol: 33
- 7 cups water
- 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon (I used Better Than Bouillon)
- 1½ cups carrots; sliced
- 1½ cups celery; sliced
- 1 cup onion; diced
- 2 cups potatoes; diced (I used unpeeled Red Potatoes)
- 2½ cups broccoli; chopped
- 2½ cups cauliflower; chopped
- 6 Tablespoons flour (I used whole wheat)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 1 cup chicken broth (I used low sodium)
- 1½ cups warm skim milk (I warm mine in the microwave for 1 minute.)
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2½ cups cheddar cheese; shredded
- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 Tablespoons water
- Heat water and bouillon in large pot over medium heat until dissolved.
- Add carrots, celery, onions and potatoes.
- Bring to a low boil and cook 15 minutes.
- Add broccoli and cauliflower.
- Bring to a low boil and cook 15 minutes.
- While everything is cooking, I like to make the “sauce.”
- Mix flour, salt and pepper in small bowl.
- Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the flour, salt and pepper to the butter and mix until blended (it will be quite dry.)
- Add the chicken broth, a little at a time and mix until blended (I use a wire whisk.)
- Add the milk, a little at a time and mix until blended.
- Bring to a low boil over medium-low heat until thickened (be patient and wait until it gets nice and thick!)
- Once the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and add the sour cream and cheese.
- Mix until the cheese is melted.
- Add "cheese sauce" to the rest of the soup and stir until combined.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water until dissolved. Mix into soup, stirring frequently, until thickened.
- Enjoy!
I used Ezekiel pocket bread for the chips and they turned out so great!
The ingredients in these babies are completely amazing too! If you would like to know how to make the Pita chips, click here for the recipe. I love them!
Whole Foods gave me a gift card to purchase all of the ingredients I used. They also offered to let me giveaway a $50 gift card to one of my readers too! Yay!
You can enter the giveaway below. This giveaway will close Sunday, May 4th at midnight (MST). Good luck!
