Poor Mother: Weight Loss Magic Soup

10 days until Christmas and I have a target weight to reach with only 3 or 4 lbs to go. I'm trying this 3 day soup diet in a window between pre-Christmas events. I'll be eating my usual porridge and apple for breakfast, then 3 bowls of this soup over the rest of the day.

This soup recipe is adapted from this one.

Makes about 10 portions.

Ingredients

800ml chicken stock, home made or from cubes
750ml vegetable juice e.g. V-8 juice, or tomato juice, homemade or store bought
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
300g sliced mushrooms
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 courgette, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
400g fresh or frozen green beans
1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 small head Savoy cabbage, shredded
1 tsp. Italian herbs or others to your own taste (Parsley, basil, Bayleaf)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large stockpot sprayed with cooking spray, sauté garlic, onions, carrots, and mushrooms for about 5 minutes.Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until vegetables are cooked.
This makes a large batch of soup. If you would like to freeze portions of it to use later, undercook the vegetables just a little. Pour the soup into freezer Ziplock bags and let as much air out as you can. Lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once the soup is frozen flat, it is easy to layer in your freezer and won't take up much room. To thaw, place the bag in the fridge for 24 hours and then reheat.