Vegetable Beef Soup by Charlie B53

[Charlie B53]

I'm in the kitchen again. I have been telling the Wife we have to seriously cut back on dining out as the processed, prepared foods drive her blood sugars way too high requiring lots of insulin.  She has been forced to retire from the School Cafeteria due to losing sight in her right eye. Glaucoma/diabetes,  have taken a terrible toll on her eyesight, among the other effects, nerve damage.  At least she still has great kidney function.  Insurance is a nightmare, there are so many diffent Medicare Part B's, then finding a decent Part D Drug plan, well, there is a lot of reading.  Medicare.gov has a few tools that have been a huge help in sorting through the mess. Either way, her insulin WILL drive us into the 'Donut Hole' the first few months.  Ouch.  Learning to eat far more responsibly should make a big dent in her insulin requirements, so I convinced her I need to start cooking more often. 

Today I am building Vegetable Beef Soup.  Remember, I am a Mechanic, I BUILD.

I ran across a package of beef the other day, two big thick slabs of flak, IIRC.  I didn't want to fry, broil, roast, or bake them as I figured at that cheep price they would be a bit tough.  So I cut one up into little bite size pieces.  I have a great knife, just the right shape for slicing and dicing veggies and I keep it sharp as a razor so it will slice through the thickes cuts of meat with ease.

So here is a list of my creation in the order that I added them to the big crock pot.  As usual, I ended up with far more than would fit and had to transfer everything to a much larger pot on the stove.  I am very glad our glass top range has a 'Sure Simmer'  on the large front position.  I can set it and not worry about anything boiling over, or over-heating as the feature regulates the temp for me.  Isn't technology Grand?


1 1/2 lbs meat, cut in small bit sized pieces
2 onions, cut to bit size
5 carrots, split then cut to size
1 celery, not the whole stalk but maybe half, again cut to size
1 package fresh pea pods, whole
1 can beans, this is a three bean mixture
4 or 5 small red potatoes, cut into eigths, bit size
2 sweet potatoes, equal about to the mass of the reds, cut bite size
1 bag cauliflower and broccoli florets mixed, again, cut down to bit sizes
One medium to small Black Zucchini, split then cut bit size
One medium to small yellow squash, ditto cuts
1 can Baby corn on the cob, cut in half/thirds
1 tsp Lemon Zest, dried
1 tsp Garlic, dried, ground
1 tsp steak seasoning
3 cups water

I put the hard veggies in with the meat and let simmer at a low boil for a couple three hours before I added the softer veggies.  Continue to simmer at a low boil until the potatoes are done.

Pig out.  Low carb, high fiber, this should keep her blood sugar down.

Feel free to add a cup of macaroni, rice, quinoa, barley, whatever you prefer but remember you will also need to add additional water required for the dry additives.

This should be done in a few minutes.  I'll come back tomorrow and let you know how well it worked, tastes, her sugar response.

[Jean]

Sounds good Charlie. Cant wait to hear the results.

[Charlie B53]

Wife says I surprise her sometimes.  It turned out well.  So well I had seconds.  I took three binders just in case as my phos has gone up this last month.  that shows me two at a time isn't enough.

[PrimeTimer]

Your recipe seems to have everything in it that it should. Sounds delicious! When is dinner going to be ready? lol    I've been trying out a lot of recipes from the the Fresenius and Davita sites that are good for diabetes and kidney disease. For instance, the "Easy Shepherd's Pie" is a big hit with us. What's great is that my husband's potassium has come down, his neph is very impressed. Well, these recipes must be very low in potassium because while it helped to lower his level, it obviously has lowered mine too except that I don't need to lower my potassium level like he does....I've been waking up in the mornings with baaad leg cramps! But I love these recipes, they are easy and very tasty. Your soup sounds like a winner.

[PrimeTimer]

Wife says I surprise her sometimes.  It turned out well.  So well I had seconds.  I took three binders just in case as my phos has gone up this last month.  that shows me two at a time isn't enough.

If you're anything like my husband, he loves potatoes! That had to all change tho when he started dialysis. He can't have as many potatoes anymore. I've learned to not only use a LOT LESS potatoes but to peel, boil and rinse them TWICE before adding them to any meals. This helps to remove the phos out of them. We only have about a total of two medium potatoes a week in our meals now.


self-edited to add "peel"