Zuppa Toscana Lightened Up

I have been trying very hard lately to pack healthy lunches that I can prep ahead of time on Sundays.  I am not a fan of deli meats for a solid week, so I try to make a yummy and healthy recipe that can be preportioned in containers.  That way I can just grab my lunch in the morning and go.  Mornings are hectic enough, right?

Lately I have been a big fan of making soups.  They fill me up and are typically very easy to throw together.  For the past couple weeks I have been using my old go to recipes.  This week, however, I decided to try something different.  A friend at work introduced me to a great website called Organize Yourself Skinny.  This site may be old news to many of you, but it was definitely new to me.  I have at least a dozen of her recipes on my list that I want to try.  Her lighter version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, however, won at being the first to be prepped in my kitchen.  I am not the best at writing my own recipes, but I will always give credit where credit is due.  I just thought I would share this recipe on here, and hopefully you will visit her blog if you haven't already.  It really is outstanding.

Here are the ingredients that you need.  The thyme and oregano are not pictured, because it wouldn't be a food prep post without me forgetting one or more of the ingredients in the big ingredient pic.

First, you start off browning your sausage in a soup pot with a tablespoon of olive oil.  The recipe itself calls for  ground turkey Italian sausage.  The only turkey Italian sausage I could find in my store was the Jennie-O version which is sold in casings.  No biggie!  I opted for the spicy version and removed the sausage from the casings.

After the sausage is browned, you add in your dry spices, onion, and garlic.  Allow that to cook for 5 minutes.  You shouldn't have much grease to drain, as the turkey sausage is very lean.

Next, add in the potatoes, milk, and chicken broth.  Give it a good stir and allow it to simmer on the stove for about 30 minutes.  You are wanting the potatoes to get soft.  I know this has an orange tinge to it.  I did drain grease, but I figured the orange-ish color is coming from the seasonings in the sausage itself.

Now it is time to stir in the kale.  Let the soup simmer for another 15 minutes.

Time to eat!  This soup really is delicious.  This recipe makes about 7 servings.  It is perfect for the work week and Sunday night dinner.

The website says that the calories are 316, but when I entered the recipe into the My Fitness Pal recipe builder, it came in at 293 calories per serving.  It may be because I used a different type of sausage.

Speaking of My Fitness Pal...have you SEEN their new Recipe Builder?  I have used it quite a lot, but not as much as I use the calorie counter/journal.  Now you can just import a website link and it generates the calories for you!   You don't have to type in each individual ingredient!!  I was way too excited about this, but time savers always get me excited.

Here is the recipe itself -- as taken by the Organize Yourself Skinny website.

Zuppa Toscana (Lightened Up)

Ingredients:
1 lb turkey Italian sausage (I used Jennie-O spicy version)
1 medium onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 medium russet potatoes, sliced up
4 cups of chicken broth
2 cups 1% milk
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
3-4 cups of chopped kale
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Brown sausage in soup pot with the 1 tablespoon of olive oil
2. Once sausage is browned, add in chopped onion, garlic, and dried seasonings. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add in potatoes, broth, and milk.  Simmer for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are nice and soft.
4. Stir in kale.  Simmer for 15 more minutes.
5. Serve.

Nutritional Information:
Calories 293
Fat 10g
Carbs 31g
Fiber 3g