Baby, it’s cold outside and it’s the perfect time to think about eating soup. Soup can be a starter course or an entire meal. As the temperatures plummet, soup warms the soul and the stomach. Hmm, hmm good.

I remember as a kid we ate alot of Campbell’s cream of tomato soup* but as an adult, I find it too bland. I like a tomato soup that actually tastes like a tomato and has a chunkier tomato base.

A recent study conducted by Penn State University reveals that incorporating water-rich low energy dense foods into the diet like soup, vegetables, and fruit is a key to calorie reduction and long term weight loss.

Regular consumption of a broth-based soup with lots of vegetables and lean protein can be an effective strategy for weight loss and weight maintenance.

So forget the cream of mushroom or clam bisque and instead think minestrone or chicken vegetable.

Not surprisingly, the all-you-can eat soup diet is the new winter fad diet of choice. Actually, it looks pretty good and healthy but probably not for the long term but then again, what diet is?

The basic soup recipe which you can enhance makes 25 cups so if you eat 2 or 3 cups every night for dinner, at least you have one week’s worth of food on hand. I need a diet to be easy.

Whether you’re eating soup for dieting or just to fill the stomach and nourish the soul…enjoy. Please share some good soup recipes here.

*Here’s a funny story about tomato soup. My friend Emmer said that her mother used to heat a can of Campbell’s cream of tomato soup and pour it over spaghetti along with some pre-grated Parmesan cheese. There was no adding of basil or oregano and for years, Emmer and her siblings thought this was the typical tomato sauce.