French Potato Soup is a simple comfort food that’s Good and Good for You™ .
Potato Soup? Yes! Many potato soups are made with heavy cream or milk, sour cream, grated cheese, and bacon bits. The only vegetables you can identify are the chopped scallions.
This French Potato Soup is made with only 5 ingredients, not including salt and pepper. The hearty fragrant broth is studded with hunks of tender potato. It’s silky rich yet with far less fat and calories. Plus, it is a snap to make. You’re going to love it.
This issue also shares
- The Best Life Living Tip: Dropping bombs in playdates 🧶
- The Self-Care Technique: Delete, delete, delete. 🚫
- Ideas and Inspiration: When Southern Women Cook 🧑🏻🍳
🥔 Soup weather is upon us and there’s no denying it’s been super stressful lately. Many of us need a hug. Consider this French Potato Soup the comfort you need. Read on for more.
Best Life Living Tip
The bath bombs above are from the premier Good and Good for You™ workshop hosted at Hambidge. We crafted Tea Tree Oil Bath Bombs, Lavender Salt Scrub, and Sugar Cookie Lip Scrub. SO fun! Everyone could take the crafts home, but the real best-life living tip was in the playtime.
According to DesignHiveLA playtime and crafting can:
- Reduce Stress and Anxiety
- Boost Mood
- Improve Physical Health
- Foster Social Connections
- Enhance Cognitive Function
Parents are used to setting up playdates for their children, but many consider an “adult playdate” to involve an “adult beverage.” Consider setting up a crafting playdate for your adult friends – and yes you can have wine if you want!
Make it a potluck and have everyone bring an ingredient, tool, or packaging item. It’s more fun than you can imagine.
Self-Care Technique
This week I have restricted, muted, and unfollowed dozens and dozens of accounts and unsubscribed from a slew of newsletters to protect my headspace. I need more French Potato Soup and less fretting and fury.
I don’t consider deleting these accounts from my feed as “putting my head in the sand.” And, I am not going to agonize forever and will get back to organizing soon enough, but I need a serious break from the news and politics.
How to Cultivate a Healthy Social Media Feed
Consider this the part of the Oxygen Mask Theory. The oxygen mask theory means that if you’re in the unfortunate position of being on a plane in extreme distress and the oxygen masks drop from the ceiling, you should secure your oxygen mask before helping anyone else. If you don’t, you risk being unable to help anyone.
Here are helpful hints on cultivating a Good and Good for You™ social media feed.
- Unfollow accounts that are toxic Remove accounts that promote negativity or make you feel bad or sad.
- Unfollow accounts that make you compare yourself Let go of accounts that make you feel like you need to compare yourself to others or make you feel “less than.”
- Edit your feed to inspire Focus on following accounts that are inspiring and uplifting.
- Mute accounts If you don’t want to disconnect completely, you can mute or snooze.
- Take a break from social media If you’re feeling stressed, you can try taking a break from social media
Ideas and Inspiration
Inspo of the week is this GREAT new cookbook, When Southern Women Cook. It’s incredible. Compiled and edited by Morgan Bolling and Toni Tipton Martin it contains 300 recipes by 70 women writers, including, well, nearly every friend or colleague I know!
From Morgan’s IG
“Throughout history, food and cooking have sustained women as they have carved out a place for themselves in society and their communities. This is particularly poignant when you listen to women’s stories in the American South… When Southern Women Cook highlights the stories, and explores how food has enabled women to overcome adversity, provide for themselves and their families, advance society, exercise their creativity, and claim their identity.”
I am thrilled and honored to have contributed an essay titled, “Southern Women and Weight.” Phew. Big stuff!
I address how I am finished with minimizing myself, not being concerned with the unrealistic expectations of others, and how Southern cooking can be Good and Good for You™, too. (And, how frankly my dear, I stopped giving a damn.) 😉
Order your copy HERE and make sure to give Morgan and Toni a follow!
Point it Out
Speaking of cookbooks, check out what Garden & Gun has to say about the glow-up of Bon Appetit, Y’all! I’m thrilled with the reception and grateful the changes are resonating with readers. (Please shoot an email to assistant@virginiawillis.com if I can send you a signed bookplate if you buy a copy online.)
This French Potato Soup is the healthy comfort food you need this week with less than 250 calories a for an ample serving.
Thanks so much for reading. Please give me a follow on IG @virginiawillis for more best life tips, self-care techniques, ideas and inspiration, and healthy recipes. As long as you’re doing what’s Good and Good for You™ more often than not, you’re on the right track. 🙌🏻
You can do it!
Please tag me if you give this French Potato Soup or the Tea Tree Oil Bath Bombs a try.
Bon Appétit Y’all!
Virginia Willis
French Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon pure olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 4 Yukon gold potatoes cubed
- 6 garlic thinly sliced
- 2 quarts reduced fat low sodium chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon freshly picked thyme leaves
- Coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until clear and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the potato, garlic, and stock. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Or, reduce heat to very low and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Add thyme and stir to combine. Let simmer for a few minutes to let the thyme perfume the broth. Taste and adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Good and Good for You with Virginia Willis is a lifestyle brand that shares health and wellness content through digital channels, events, and print media. For more information visit virginiawillis.com
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