My office is doing a potluck today, so I'm making chicken soup in my Instant Pot. My version is bariatric-friendly, so it's great if you need something warm and comforting during the winter!

In your IP or crockpot, cook the following for three or four hours:

• 1.5lb chicken, cut into chunks
• 3 carrots, diced
• Half a bunch of celery, chopped
• Half an onion, diced (or use the frozen pre-chopped stuff)
• One 32oz carton of chicken stock
• Minced garlic (I use the jarred stuff)
• Poultry seasoning (I use premade, but you can DIY also)
• 2 zucchini cut into noodles

I use my spiralizer to cut up the zucchini. If you don't have one, you could also use a vegetable peeler to turn the zucchini into long, thin strips.

I've calculated the nutrition info, and 1/8 (4oz of chicken plus broth and veggies) of the pot works out to:

• 160 calories
• 3.8g fat
• 9g carbs
• 23g protein

I imagine many of us won't be able to eat quite that much, so adjust the numbers accordingly.

Sounds great. I think most of us have all the ingredients in the house. Except for the zucchini.

I am contemplating getting the insta pot.

I love my instant pot. I don't really use it for cooking dinners, since we do a meal prep service and most of that stuff goes in the oven, but I make a lot of lunches in it.

I use my crockpot that browns meats at least once a week. So I am seriously thinking about replacing it with this. It is getting kinda beat.

I got an Instant Pot last year for Christmas and after using it a few times, it sort of got put back in the cabinet. I have rediscovered my love for it recently and am making good soup dishes and chicken dishes. I recommend it! I love how it can saute as well as slow cook as well as pressure cook. I am making a new soup today with chicken, bell pepper, onion, carrots, a can of green chilies, chicken broth, garlic powder, chili powder, salt, cumin...then at the end you add milk and/or cream and juice of a lime. It's southwestern chicken soup. I kind of can't wait!

I may go to Walmart after work and buy one. I love one pot meals.

I have a knock off version of the IP, but have only used it one time to steam cauliflower quickly. lol! I should drag it out again!

It's not a brand one so it doesn't have all of the same settings/buttons as the IP, so I didn't feel like trying to figure it out and packed it back up and stashed it in the basement.

I think fresh homemade low-fat soups are an incredibly useful tool for controlling weight and keeping hunger at bay post op.

Basically every super skinny chick I know lives on soups so it's nothing new but as a former fatty I really didn't make them a regular part of my menu.

One thing I discovered is just how easy and quick it is to make delicious soups from scratch.-for instance mushroom soup can be made in just ten minutes by boiling the stems of mushrooms with cubed chicken stock and a bit of onion and garlic ( even the powdered forms can be used for speed) . I make extremely light cream soups using fat free milk powder and freeze dried fat free butter solids ( butter buds ) ( add at the last minute so you don't have to over boil and risk separation of the "cream")

I'm trying to train myself not to use crazy amounts of vegetables essentially making my soups into stews - or to use lots of vegetables but in the form of a purée.

I do notice there is HUGE difference in the calorie count of what I make versus the counts of commercial soups like at Au Bon Pain. How in the world can a mug sized serving of soup be almost 500 calories is beyond me - crazy amounts of oils ?

Fact check: The only soups at Au Bon Pain that are almost 500 calories are the large sizes of cream based chowders or ones with a lot of sausage in them. Most of them are in the 150-calorie range for a small or medium.

Source: https://www.aubonpain.com/Assets/cafenutrition-winter-event- 2018-nkedit.pdf

But those are the tasty ones!!!