#659 Simple Soups for a Meaningful Lent Season
Are you looking for a simple way to bring more meaning to your Lenten season while also creating space for family connection? In this episode of Clutter-Free Academy, Kathi Lipp and Tonya Kubo share their love for soup and how it can become a meaningful Lenten practice for your family.
For many, Lent represents a time to simplify, focus on what matters most, and create space for spiritual growth. Kathi and Tonya explain how incorporating a weekly soup tradition can help achieve these goals while also solving the “what’s for dinner?” dilemma.
Listeners will discover:
- Why soup is the perfect one-pot meal for busy families during Lent
- How making soup can help reduce food waste and grocery bills
- The spiritual connection between slowing down for soup and creating space for what matters
- Six simple, delicious soup recipes that can be enjoyed throughout the Lenten season
Whether you’re new to Lenten traditions or looking to refresh your practice, this episode offers practical ideas to help you slow down, simplify, and savor both your meals and your time together as a family.
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As mentioned by Kathi: Broccoli Cheddar Soup
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced (from recipe 1)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, optional
3 cups broccoli florets, chopped into bite size pieces
1 large carrot, grated or julienned
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
2 cups half & half or milk
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 3-4 minutes or until softened and lightly golden. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute.
Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter to the pot. Once melted, sprinkle the flour over the mixture and whisk for 1-2 minutes or until the flour begins to turn golden in color.
Gradually whisk in the half & half or milk, then pour in the chicken stock. Continue to whisk and cook, ensuring the mixture is well-blended.
Add the broccoli, carrots, and celery. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
Stir in the grated cheddar cheese, salt, pepper, and optional nutmeg. Continue to stir over low heat until the cheese has melted and the soup is well-mixed. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed before serving.
Soup Recipes from Sabbath Soup
1. Chili Recipe
Ingredients:
- 3/4 lb. ground beef
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 (16 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
- 1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans, drained
- 1 (16 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 3 tsp. chili powder
- 1/2 tsp. basil
- 1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
- 2 cups chicken broth
Instructions:
- In a large saucepan, cook ground beef, onions, and garlic until the onions are translucent and the meat is brown. Drain.
- Stir in un-drained tomatoes, drained kidney beans, tomato sauce, chili powder, basil, chicken broth and pepper.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
2. Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms (cremini recommended)
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (to taste)
- 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
- 1 cup half-and-half cream
Directions:
- In a large saucepan, heat butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and onion; cook and stir until tender.
- Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until blended; gradually whisk in broth. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
- Reduce heat; stir in cream and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt, pepper, or more Worcestershire sauce to taste.
3. Five Spoon Interpretive Vegetable Soup
This is a flexible recipe for using up vegetables in your crisper.
Non-negotiable ingredients:
- Stock (chicken, vegetable, or beef), approximately 4-6 cups
- Oil (olive oil and butter preferred)
- Salt and pepper
Cooking process:
- Cut up the aromatics — onions, garlic, and fresh herbs. If you have celery, add it at this point. Start sautéing in oil or butter until they get some color.
- Add heartier vegetables first — carrots, potatoes, turnips, and other root vegetables. Give them a few minutes. This is also when to add canned beans if using.
- Add other vegetables: squash, zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, asparagus, eggplant, and mushrooms. Let these get a little color.
- Can add canned vegetables (tomatoes, corn, green beans) and leftover meat at this point. Add thin vegetables like spinach, cabbage here too.
- Cover vegetables with broth.
Optional spice profiles:
- Mexican: Cumin, chili powder, peppers, oregano, garlic
- Italian: Basil, Italian herb blend, oregano
- Indian: Tandoori spices, garam masala, curry, yogurt, coconut milk, tamarind, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cilantro, fennel, garlic, saffron
Taste and adjust as you go for the best flavor.
4. Minestrone Soup
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
- 1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 4 cups vegetable broth
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup small pasta (like ditalini or orzo)
- 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Instructions:
- In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the zucchini, potato, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, vegetable broth, basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper. Stir until everything is well combined.
- Bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pot, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain once cooked.
- Add the cooked pasta and chopped spinach to the soup. Stir until the spinach has wilted and everything is well combined.
- Serve hot, garnished with Parmesan cheese if desired.
5. White Bean Chicken Chili
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (14.5 oz.) cans chicken broth
- 4 cans Ro*Tel mild diced tomatoes and green chilies
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 pound diced cooked chicken
- 1 (16 oz.) can cannellini beans
- 2 ears fresh corn cut from the cob, or 1 can drained corn, or 1½ cups frozen corn kernels
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
- In a soup pot, heat vegetable oil and sauté onion over medium heat until soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add in the garlic and continue to sauté for 1 additional minute.
- Pour chicken broth into pan. Then add the tomatoes, oregano, coriander, and cumin. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add in chicken, beans, corn, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on low for 10 minutes.
- Serve with tortilla chips, lime, and avocado slices.
6. Greek Lemon Soup
Ingredients:
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup uncooked orzo or rice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 eggs
- Juice of 2 lemons (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup, depending on taste)
- 1 cup shredded cooked chicken (optional)
- Fresh chopped parsley or dill for garnish
Instructions:
- In a large pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil.
- Add the orzo or rice, reduce heat and simmer until tender. For orzo, this will be about 10 minutes, for rice about 18 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- While the orzo or rice is cooking, in a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs until well beaten. Continue to whisk and gradually add in the lemon juice.
- Once the orzo or rice is cooked, reduce the heat to low. Take a ladle full of hot broth and slowly add it to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking continuously. This process is called tempering and prevents the eggs from scrambling when added to the hot soup.
- Continue to slowly add another 2-3 ladles of broth into the egg-lemon mixture, making sure to keep whisking.
- Once the egg-lemon mixture is warmed, slowly pour it back into the soup pot, stirring the soup as you pour.
- Add in the shredded chicken, if using.
- Stir the soup over low heat for 2-3 minutes until heated through. Do not let it come to a boil.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- Ladle the soup into bowls, garnish with fresh chopped parsley or dill, and serve immediately.
Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest
Kathi Lipp gives readers an easy-to-follow process for meal planning and prep, so that they can enjoy a full day each week of real rest and refreshment.
Could you use a break from cooking (and everything else) once a week? Not only is rest vital for your mind and body, it’s good for your soul too. God designed us to enter into Sabbath rest one day per week, but as you know, meals still need to be made. Your family still needs to be fed.
Sabbath Soup includes convenient, seasonal meal plans that take the guesswork out of shopping and cooking. More than just a collection of delicious recipes—including main dishes, breads, breakfasts, desserts, salads, sides, and yes, soups—this is your guide to establishing a weekly rhythm and routine of meal planning and prep that allows you to have a true day off.
Do something good for your soul and experience the peace that comes with a full day dedicated to spending time with God, family, and friends. Savor your Sabbath as you proudly proclaim, “Soup’s on!”
Order your copy of Sabbath Soup: Weekly Menus and Rhythms to Make Space for a Day of Rest here.
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Meet Our Guest
Tonya Kubo
Tonya Kubo is the illustrious and fearless leader of Kathi Lipp’s Clutter Free Academy Facebook group and the Clutter Free for Life membership program. A professional community strategist, she believes everyone deserves to have a place online where they feel like they belong. Raised by a hoarder, Tonya knows firsthand the pain and isolation that comes from living in conditions others don’t understand. She wants better for her family and her cluttery peeps, which is why she is passionate about the compassionate slow-and-steady approach that makes Clutter Free unique. She lives in the heart of California with her husband, Brian, their two spirited daughters, and one very tolerant cat. Visit tonyakubo.com to find out more about her community work, or email her at tonya@kathilipp.org to discuss the Clutter Free Academy podcast and programs.
Transcript
Kathi Lipp (00:09)
Well, hey friends, welcome to Clutter-Free Academy, where our goal is to help you take small daily steps to help you live with less clutter and more life. And I am here with the goddess of all things clutter-free. And I mean that in a very non-religious way. It is Tonya Kubo. Hey, Tonya. You know what? Because you contain multitudes. You contain multitudes.
Tonya Kubo (00:28)
Hey, Kathi. I like that I get a new title every time. It’s fun.
Kathi Lipp (00:36)
and that reflects in our titling of you. We’re gonna talk about one of my favorite things. We’re gonna talk about a couple of my favorite things. We’re gonna talk about lent and we’re gonna talk about soup. Well, you know, we’ll talk about food, but we’re also gonna talk about soup. And so as you know, soup is one of my favorite things. It’s also one of your favorite things. We are both soup fanatics. Can I just tell you, we don’t have a recipe for broccoli cheddar soup in
Tonya Kubo (00:44)
Okay?
Okay.
Mm-hmm. yes.
Kathi Lipp (01:06)
in saba soup but i made a broccoli cheddar soup last night that almost made Roger weep it was
And I do have leftovers too bad you are several hours away from me. I will post the recipe I found it online. I tweaked it just ever so slightly but I think a part part of the reason that it was so good is I bought a bag of rolls from just a supermarket, but they were the Cheesecake Factory brown bread rolls
Tonya Kubo (01:44)
All of those are so good.
Kathi Lipp (01:46)
Right? And can I tell you, can I tell you what you have to look forward to in your older age? You start to become weird about things. Roger and I have become weird about butter.
Tonya Kubo (01:53)
Sure.
I love
how you said you start to as if I’m not already weird about things like butter.
Kathi Lipp (02:06)
Yes, this is true. As you know, I have a podcast I love called Wirecutter. And this is the New York Times and they do lots of blind taste tests and things like that. And they did the butter episode. And so this is what made us buy a butter bell. So we now have a butter bell and butter bells are a part of a life. We were already buying pretty much the right kind of unsalted butter, which is the Costco. It’s very highly rated.
Tonya Kubo (02:12)
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (02:34)
lots of fat and everything. But now we are exploring all sorts of different kinds of salted butter. So the Costco New Zealand brand of salted butter is very highly rated. So we had the broccoli soup and we were a little under the weather. That’s why I made the soup. The brown bread and the New Zealand butter. And if I never have to have another meal again, it’s OK.
Tonya Kubo (03:04)
Yeah, yeah, I would die happy with that. That’s good.
Kathi Lipp (03:04)
Yeah,
it’s really good. I will put the link to that broccoli soup recipe in the notes because I think other people would enjoy that and it goes along with our theme here. Now you grew up Catholic, but you are in rubbing shoulders distance of a lot of Lutherans and I grew up Lutheran and one thing that we did growing up
Tonya Kubo (03:21)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (03:33)
as a church, not necessarily my family, but as a church, is soup and lent were closely tied. Now, how was it in the Catholic tradition?
Tonya Kubo (03:34)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Well, so in the Catholic tradition, you know, there would be it was more at home because I grew up in a really small town. So we didn’t have a lot of like parish wide Lenten events, but we had a lot of soup on Fridays. It was that, you know, and fish because my family’s Portuguese. So we’re all about the fish.
Kathi Lipp (03:50)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Mmm.
Yeah,
yeah. So, did you understand growing up with the comp? Because I never really understood the… I just thought people liked soup, but apparently… Did you understand it growing up?
Tonya Kubo (04:14)
Eh.
yeah, we had a wonderful nun who, you know, in second grade really explained Lent to us and Catechism. So, you know, understanding the idea of simplicity and kind of removing indulgence to really focus on the sacrifice that was, you know, Christ dying at the cross.
Kathi Lipp (04:24)
Okay.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, so we’re going to give you the second grade understanding. So Lent, as far as what my religious tradition is, is about what are you going to give up so you can decide what you’re going to fast so you can decide what to feast. And so the fast was, you know, I remember every year they wanted us to give up chocolate. And I just thought, you know, diving into the deep end of the pool, right?
Tonya Kubo (04:43)
You
Mm-hmm.
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (05:07)
But a lot of things that we gave up were things like meat or sometimes it was dairy products. Like none of those are my favorites to give up. I’m not gonna lie. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve just gone to eating more simply. like we may still have some chicken, but we’re not going to, and I’m not a hard and fast lenten person. I don’t feel like.
Tonya Kubo (05:19)
Hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (05:36)
the more I give up the closer I am to God. But it’s for me it’s been planning simpler meals. So maybe instead of you know I love my chicken and wild rice cream of chicken and wild rice soup. That’s one of my favorites. But maybe during this time I’m going to you know our soup of the week is going to be a black bean soup. Or it’s going to be something simple like an onion soup or something. Something that doesn’t have
Tonya Kubo (05:56)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (06:05)
a lot of cost to it, doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, just trying to keep it really simple. And one of the things that we grew up being told is when we experience some physical hunger, can also, we can satisfy that with less so we can develop our spiritual hunger. And it’s just a time of 40 days to be able to concentrate.
Tonya Kubo (06:28)
Mm.
Kathi Lipp (06:34)
on the things that we would love for our lives to be more centered on. Is there something that you are trying to focus more on in 2025?
Tonya Kubo (06:45)
Well, I think for us, it’s now that, you know, I’ve got a high schooler, I’ve got an elementary schooler, the opportunities together around the table are so limited. And so I feel like, you know, I don’t want to spend an hour and a half prepping a meal and then not being able to get together around the table. Like I’d much rather something simple.
like soup and then we actually can just focus on our time together.
Kathi Lipp (07:16)
Yeah, and one of the reasons I love soup is because I can make a decent size batch of it and it’s prep once, eat twice, three times. know, for your family, it might be less because there are more people. But for Roger and I, that soup is not just going to be dinner that night. It’s going to be lunch another night and then maybe enough to take to my mom’s house or to feed our neighbor or something like that. And so it does
Tonya Kubo (07:28)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (07:47)
really help us be able to focus on some of those things. It’s a one-pot meal too. That’s why I love it. Less dishes.
Tonya Kubo (07:56)
Well, it’s a one pot
meal. I’ve said this before, right? It’s a great way to minimize food waste, take all the bits and stuff from the week and throw those into a pot with some broth and it almost always tastes delicious.
Kathi Lipp (08:04)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it’s so true. And I love that because, yeah, like you said, when the vegetables are getting a little squishier, when the onions are starting to sprout, don’t throw those out, turn them into soup. When the celery’s getting a little flabby, don’t throw it away, turn it into soup. So.
Tonya Kubo (08:25)
you
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (08:36)
Let me just give you my list of reasons. Well, we’re gonna take a quick break and we’re gonna come back and I’m gonna give you my list of reasons why I think you might want to consider a weekly soup tradition for lent. And I’m not the first to come up with this. We are not the first to talk about this. But if you can go into this season of simplicity with a focus already, and we’re also gonna share a couple of.
my favorite recipes and we’ll include those in the show notes so that you’re going to be able to Really take that soup to the next level and it’s not next level of making it fancy To really be able to focus on the things that you care about. Okay, we’re gonna take a quick break come right back
Okay, friends, we are back and we are talking lent and soup. Okay, so some reasons that we already love soup. One, it’s a one pot meal. Now I will say for that broccoli, there was a lot of chopping, there was a lot of shredding. So it was half a load of dishes, but it wasn’t cumbersome. And I was able to shred enough carrots, shred enough cheese that I was able to use that for other meals. Mostly,
Tonya Kubo (09:40)
Okay.
Kathi Lipp (09:53)
The the soups that we are focusing on during Lent are going to be meatless So I have some great meatless ideas of things that you are able to do I love soup because yes, you can make it once and you can eat it several times and that’s one of my As as the main cook in the house and you’re the main cook I you Brian cooks too, but you’re the main cook. Yeah
Tonya Kubo (10:02)
Hmm.
Yes.
Yeah
Kathi Lipp (10:22)
Any meal that will do double duty and will your family eat leftovers because lots of families won’t but mine definitely will Yeah, that’s a beautiful beautiful thing you’re using like Tonya said simple available ingredients and the thing that I love most is It gives us an opportunity to have some communal meals One of the fundraisers that we did up here in Omo Ranch
Tonya Kubo (10:30)
Yeah, mine will.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (10:51)
was a soup night where
everybody brought different soups. And I love what they did, Tonya. they took, everybody brought their own muffin tin and they put cups in the muffin tin and did different ladles of soup so you could try everybody’s soup. And then you had recipes you could take home. I love that idea. But I love also the spiritual side of this. Soup forces us to slow down.
Tonya Kubo (11:01)
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (11:20)
You are not going to rush a pot of soup. And in fact, if you want to have soup on Sundays, which is a lot of people’s traditions, might I suggest you cook it on Friday so that you’re just reheating on Sunday and able to do that. Soup, you cannot rush eating soup. Soup is not something you can chow down on. It’s served hot. You have to slow down. You have to blow on it.
Tonya Kubo (11:44)
Mm-hmm
Kathi Lipp (11:48)
You have to be in the moment with it. And I think to me, soup is such a symbol of abundance that we have so much leftover from our week, that celery, that onion, that chicken, that rice, that we can create a whole nother meal out of it. Did you do the Stone Soup book when you were a kid?
Tonya Kubo (11:59)
Mm-hmm.
Yep, yep, and we made stone soup in school. It’s so yummy.
Kathi Lipp (12:18)
Yes,
I remember my contribution, because we also did stone salad, was mandarin oranges. that was super fun to be able to do that. If you’re not familiar with that, might I suggest, especially if you have younger kids, to do a reading of stone soup. And you can find that story online, but you could do that for part of your Lenten practice.
Tonya Kubo (12:24)
Mmm.
Kathi Lipp (12:45)
I just think soup helps us focus on gratitude. Look at all the abundance I have that I can make something out of this. And one of my favorite type of TikTokers, Instagrammers, YouTubers are the people who are using food banks to be able to create their meals, right? And
Tonya Kubo (12:49)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (13:12)
What I love about these there, and I’ll put a link into one of my favorite ones, is their creativity. Like they don’t go to the food bank saying I need this, this, this, this. They receive from the food bank and they create, and I think soup is one of the meals that you could absolutely do that with. And if you’re looking to have a little bit more focus, many of you have purchased Sabbath soup.
Tonya Kubo (13:24)
Right.
Kathi Lipp (13:39)
Go in there and look at the prayers. I will add a couple into our show notes here so that you can also have those. They were written by one of mine and Tonya’s friends, Bethany Howard. She did a beautiful job with a lot of these prayers. But Tonya, I wanna talk about what are some of your favorite soup memories. We may not have the recipes here, but what are some of the soups that you grew up on for Lent? And then I’m also going to suggest
Tonya Kubo (14:02)
Yeah.
Kathi Lipp (14:09)
Some soup recipes and we’re going to give you links to those in the show notes
Tonya Kubo (14:14)
Yeah, so in my family during Lent, the two main soups would be a watercress soup and watercress soup. Yeah, well, and so part of why the watercress soup is such a memory is we would have to go harvest our own watercress because at that time you couldn’t buy it at the store. You can get it at stores now.
Kathi Lipp (14:21)
A watercress soup, I have never heard of that. So tell me more about that.
my goodness.
Tonya Kubo (14:39)
But
Kathi Lipp (14:39)
Yeah.
Tonya Kubo (14:40)
so we would have to, I don’t know where it was, but we would go to this place. My grandfather would park on the side of the road and my mom and I would walk and it felt like forever. But like try to jump over rattlesnake holes and all of these things. Cause it grows as it sounds by water. And then so having to pick it up, we had to avoid the stinging nettle because stinging nettle also grew near it. So we would harvest the watercress and we would make watercress soup. And it’s usually a mix of
Kathi Lipp (14:57)
Yes?
Uh-oh.
Tonya Kubo (15:08)
It’s watercress, sometimes onion, potatoes, and then broth, but it’s very brothy. It’s not like a thick potato soup. And then you just sip it, or if you wanna use a spoon. My grandfather liked everything cut bigger. He liked it to be chunkier. I actually blend it all together, and I like it to be smooth.
Kathi Lipp (15:13)
Okay. Uh-huh.
Mm-hmm. Okay.
So you’re using the present tense. Do you still make it? okay. I’m gonna have to try some.
Tonya Kubo (15:34)
yeah, I love it. If I can see the grocery
store, I’m not going and harvesting my own too old for that. But if I can find it in the grocery store, cause it just takes three bunches and it’s a bitter green, but with
Kathi Lipp (15:39)
No, no, yeah.
So just gonna say,
tell me what watercress is because I’ve heard of watercress sandwiches, but I’ve always thought of those as like you cut the crusts off because they’re fancy.
Tonya Kubo (15:56)
Yeah, no, it’s a little bit bitter, but it’s so good with, I like mine. Like I said, potato, onion, good chicken broth is what I use. And then I like it with a lot of black pepper. So delicious. Yeah, it makes me very happy. I’m like, I’m going to go make that.
Kathi Lipp (16:10)
okay. you know what I got?
You know what I got for Christmas this year that I am absolutely loving and is upping our pepper consumption is a battery operated pepper grinder.
Tonya Kubo (16:19)
Hmm.
Ugh.
One day, one day. So it’s that soup and then kale soup. I love kale soup.
Kathi Lipp (16:28)
Yes. Yes.
Okay, kale
soup I have had before and it was delicious. okay, do you have recipes you could share with us? Okay.
Tonya Kubo (16:40)
I do. Yeah. have a great,
it’s funny as my watercress, my watercress soup recipe was like from Women’s World Magazine. Victoria Beckham, I think is who it was, but it was like, she swore by like watercress soup to get ready for award shows. And I’m just like, well, I just like to eat watercress soup. So I use that recipe still. And then I’ve got some great kale recipes.
Kathi Lipp (16:59)
interesting, okay.
Yeah, that just sounds good.
Okay, I can’t wait. Yeah, the kale soup I have is with bacon. So maybe that’s not the same kind of emphasis. Okay, so I’m going to give you guys a couple of my recipes. So I think chili is a great lenten soup because you can do it with beans, you don’t have to do it with any kind of meat or you can use up leftover meat. I’ve even done chili with ham, which sounds different.
Tonya Kubo (17:23)
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (17:38)
But it’s really good, it’s a lot of, you’re using a lot of onions and beans and tomatoes, things that you have cans of. You can almost do the entire soup out of cans and there’s nothing fancy that anything has to go with that. I will say the cream of mushroom soup that I made last week, maybe my favorite soup I’ve had in the past six months. It was,
Tonya Kubo (17:52)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (18:08)
I don’t know that broccoli was pretty good too, but the cream of mushroom soup was a killer. has a lot, I like soups with a lot of onion in them. So that makes me super, super happy. And this is, this to me is the ultimate lenten soup. I call it the five spoon interpretive vegetable soup. So it’s basically cleaning out your crisper drawer and
Tonya Kubo (18:16)
Mmm.
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (18:35)
You know, there’s kind of an order that things go into it with. You you start with the potatoes because you want to get those softer and you end up with things like kale or, you know, spinach because that’s the thing that needs the least amount of cooking. And then you keep tasting it to say, does it need more salt? Does it need more pepper? Could it use more garlic? That kind of thing. But that’s one of my favorites. There’s gosh, there are so many.
Tonya Kubo (18:44)
Mm-hmm.
Do you want to hear
Brian’s favorite from Sabbath Soup? The minestrone.
Kathi Lipp (19:06)
Yes, yes I
was just gonna talk about the minestrone. he likes it. I’m so glad Yeah, you guys it’s so simple, but it’s so good and
Tonya Kubo (19:17)
He loves minestrone
soup in general, but yeah, he was, that’s his favorite out of the whole cookbook.
Kathi Lipp (19:23)
my goodness, I’m so glad. I love that people have favorites. Okay, I’m going to give you one more because I want to make sure that we have six soups here so we can have it for the six weeks. I’m trying to think of like what would, you know, I’m trying to think of our meatless one. You could do the white bean. Now it’s chicken chili, but you don’t have to have the chicken in it. If you want to go meatless, the white bean chili.
Tonya Kubo (19:31)
Hmm
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (19:48)
Super simple super easy. You’ve got some sauteed onions in there that they’re just gonna put it over the top It’s gonna make you super happy. You could also do the lasagna soup without any Meat with it and yeah, let’s be honest sausage makes soup taste better. I’m not gonna lie, but
Tonya Kubo (20:08)
Yeah,
my traditional kale soup recipe uses sausage because it’s delicious. What about the lemon soup in there, the Greek lemon soup?
Kathi Lipp (20:12)
Yes. Okay.
Yeah, the Greek
lemon soup. now that sometimes you can have that with chicken or without, but that’s my son’s favorite soup. And so, yeah, and I, so everything I’m talking about, I suggest a lot of pepper with, I’m not gonna lie. I like a peppery oniony soup. It’s gonna make it all taste better. So we’re not saying you go without taste, but maybe just approach the meal differently. What do I already have?
Tonya Kubo (20:25)
So good
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (20:46)
What can I give flavor with spices instead of meat or high, you know, expensive ingredients? What can I do with things that I already have on hand to keep it simple? What does not require a lot of fussy cooking?
Tonya Kubo (20:52)
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (21:08)
Like,
you I made that broccoli soup. It probably took me 25 minutes to put together, but none of it was fussy. It was a little bit more labor intensive because I used fresh broccoli, because I used a hunk of cheese instead of pre-grated cheese. But I also think that those two decisions gave it more flavor. So, you know, I’m willing to make those trade-offs because
Tonya Kubo (21:25)
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (21:36)
the better the ingredients, the better the soup. But you don’t have to use expensive ingredients, just the best ingredients you have available. So we’re gonna put those six recipes in the show notes so that you don’t have to buy Sabbath soup in order to do all this. But guys, I’m just gonna say, what can you do to make your life simpler during Lent so that you can focus on the things that you
Tonya Kubo (21:45)
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (22:06)
Focus on the attributes of God. Focus on the things that God wants for you during Lent to live a simpler life, to live a plainer life, but one that is not boring. It’s not flavorless, but you’re just creating space. And that’s what I want for you. And if you’re like, I don’t even know when Lent is, Kathi. I don’t even know what we’re talking about here. So it’s March 5th through April 17th.
Tonya Kubo (22:21)
Mm-hmm.
Kathi Lipp (22:35)
So it’s coming early this year. Like it’s right around the corner, but you guys were gonna do this together. I’ll be posting some of those recipes. Tonya, thanks for talking about this with me. food is one of our favorites, not gonna lie. And friends, thank you for being here. You’ve been listening to Clutter-Free Academy. I’m Kathi Lipp. Now go create the clutter-free life you’ve always wanted to live.
Tonya Kubo (22:37)
Mm-hmm.
Thanks for having me. I love to talk about food anytime.
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