Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

Last weekend the hubs and I took a mini-vacation to the Outer Banks, which was exactly what we needed to relax! There was no wifi and we didn’t watch TV or Netflix for the whole time. On the way in, we stopped at Piggly Wiggly for supplies (which I hadn’t been to in forever — all the ones back home closed), and picked up some chicken breast, ribeyes, and veggies. The weekend was super chill. We grilled out, played an epic round of Boggle, and threw around the frisbee on the beach. The cottage we stayed in was so cute and teeny — it even had a mini kitchen. Too perfect!

 

Disclaimer: Please note that some of the links contained in this post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of the links, you will pay the same prices as always, but You Should Craft will receive a small commission that helps to keep the site up and running.

 

As I mentioned in the Lemon-Oregano Chicken recipe last week, my husband and I started a Whole30 and today is Day #9! It’s so helpful to have a partner for this — the woman who owned the beach cottage set out a little welcome basket with fun sized candy and teeny bags of cookies, and it would have been so easy to sneak one, but I knew I’d be letting my husband down. Meal prep has been a big help too — I’ve made sure we have Whole30 food and snacks ready, so we don’t cave and eat a Reeses or something. Before heading down to the beach, I packed some carrot-ginger soup (recipe below!), hard-boiled eggs, celery slices, and fruit to make sure we had some snack options for the drive down and throughout the weekend.

 

When I was researching the Whole30, I thought it was really helpful to see what other people were eating. Hopefully some of you will find it helpful too, so I’ll give you the rundown each week (plus a Whole30-compliant recipe!), in hopes that it will provide some inspiration for those on the fence, or who are just looking for some compliant food ideas. You can also find culinary inspiration in the book The Whole30, which includes 100 recipes. For meals that used a recipe, I’ve made sure to provide links so you can make it too!

 

Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

Here’s my first eight days of Whole30:

Day #1:
Breakfast: Peach-Strawberry Smoothie (note: Whole30 isn’t big on fruit smoothies) and a hard-boiled egg
Lunch: Salad with grilled chicken, homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and a hard-boiled egg
Dinner: Beef stroganoff with Yukon gold potatoes and spicy collards
Snacks: trail mix, banana, blueberries

 
Peach Strawberry Smoothie + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #breakfast #paleo

 

Day #2:
Breakfast: Peach chia pudding with pecans and a hard-boiled egg
Lunch: Leftover beef stroganoff and collards, over zucchini noodles
Dinner: Chicken drumsticks and roasted veggies

Day #3:
Breakfast: Peach/apple chia pudding with a hard-boiled egg
Lunch: Leftover drumsticks and veggies
Dinner: Salad with balsamic vinaigrette and sardines
Snacks: Hard-boiled egg with Dijon mustard

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

Day #4:
Breakfast: Peach/apple chia pudding with a hard-boiled egg
Lunch: Leftover drumsticks and veggies, grapes, and tomatoes
Mini-dinner: Slowcooker carrot-ginger soup (see below for the recipe!)
Super Late Dinner: Mexican pork chops and homemade sweet potato chips (using my brand new mandoline slicer!)

Day #5:
Breakfast: Peach/apple chia pudding
Lunch: Leftover pork chops, zucchini, and sweet potato chips
Dinner: Grilled chicken and fajita vegetables
Snacks: Hard-boiled egg, grapes

Day #6:
Breakfast: Steamed spinach, 2 eggs, leftover chicken and veggies
Lunch: Carrot-ginger soup, hard-boiled egg, grapes, and celery
Dinner: Grilled ribeye with mushrooms/onions, baked potato, and balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts

 


 

Day #7:
Brunch: 2 eggs, leftover Brussels sprouts, and a banana
Dinner: Jennie-O turkey burger, steamed spinach and zucchini, 2 eggs, and Herdez salsa verde
Snacks: Pistachios

Day #8:
Breakfast: Peach/apple chia pudding with pecans and a hard-boiled egg
Lunch: Carrot-ginger soup, turkey burger, steamed spinach, 2 eggs, and Herdez salsa verde
Dinner: Roasted chicken and veggies, steamed green beans
Snacks: Pistachios

Come back next week to see more of what I ate on Whole30! But anyway, now on to the carrot-ginger soup recipe!

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

Ingredients:
3 pounds of carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium onions, chopped
2 apples, peeled and chopped (I used Gala apples)
8 cups of broth (I used homemade chicken broth, but veggie broth would work and make the soup vegan!)
1/4 cup fresh ginger zest
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon
1 sprig of fresh thyme (Mine came from my balcony herb garden!)
1 cup of full fat coconut milk
generous grinding of black pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

Put all of the ingredients into a 6-quart slowcooker and cover with the broth. Set to low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. I absolutely love my programmable Crock-Pot — when the timer runs out, it automatically switches to the warm setting. I received mine as a wedding present and use it all the time. Actually, I’m using it to make some more chicken broth as we speak. I’m a little obsessed!

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

When time’s up, remove the thyme sprig and carefully ladle your soup into a blender. Blend until smooth. I had to do 2 batches in my Ninja Ultima blender. After blending, I poured my two batches back into the crock pot and stirred a little bit, just to make sure the flavors were evenly distributed.

If you’re lucky enough to have an immersion blender, you just blend it all up right in the crock pot!

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

That’s it! Garnish with a little sprig of thyme and serve warm, or pour into pint-sized mason jars for grab-n-go lunches. Since it’s 90+ degrees outside, I’ve been eating my soup cold. The carrot-ginger combination tastes fresh and summery, though I’ll certainly be making this recipe in the fall/winter too!

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 

This recipe makes a TON of soup, so if you have a smaller family or aren’t big on leftovers you could easily cut the recipe in half, or freeze some for another day. I put some into small mason jars for easy work week lunches, and stored some in quart-sized jars for eating at home. I brought one to the beach, which made for a quick Whole30 lunch!

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo

 


 

Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup & What I’m Eating on Whole30
Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Whole30, Paleo, Vegan
Author: You Should Craft
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 8 2-cup servings
This smooth and creamy slowcooker carrot soup has fresh ginger and a light, summery taste.
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds of carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 2 apples, peeled and chopped
  • 8 cups of broth
  • 1/4 cup fresh ginger zest
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 sprig of fresh thyme
  • 1 cup of full fat coconut milk
  • generous grinding of black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
Instructions
  1. Put all ingredients into a six-quart crock pot.
  2. Cover and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
  3. Blend until smooth using an immersion blender, or blend in batches in a standard blender.
  4. Serve with a sprig of thyme and enjoy!
Serving size: 2 cups Calories: 161 Fat: 6 Saturated fat: 5 Carbohydrates: 26 Sugar: 14 Sodium: 600 Fiber: 6 Protein: 3 Cholesterol: 0

 

 

#Slowcooker Carrot-Ginger Soup + What I'm Eating on #Whole30 | YouShouldCraft.com #paleo