Cabbage Soup

Simple, low calorie and nourishing , this cabbage soup is satisfying and super easy to make. This soup is a comfort food as well as a short cut to weight loss.

This is the soup I learnt to make when I was following Cabbage soup diet. If you are looking for a weight loss plan that can help you lose weight within a week, Cabbage soup diet is the solution. Since cabbages are very low in calories and zero fat, cabbage soup is consumed many times a day during this diet. Whenever there was an occasion to wear Saree, I used to follow cabbage soup diet. It is amazing how this diet really and actually works. Just a week of diet (not starving even for a minute) and easily we could lose 5-7 kgs of weight! can you believe that? \:D/ It works only in the short run but it has always been around.

We were going for a 4-days Italy trip last weekend and I wanted to trim up myself. I have put on quite a lot of weight after I started blogging. :-? With all that mouthwatering pics and recipes I have been seeing in my blogger friends' posts, I try most of the recipes and eat it right away.  I don't leave a trace of smell for Naveen by the time he comes home. :> If you are eating delicious food, you will not know how the lonely time passes you see!  So I started off with my cabbage soup diet and voilà! I still lost 4 kilos even with some cheats here and there. Though this recipe is not exactly what is followed in a cabbage soup diet, I make this as a cheat soup to satisfy my salt pangs. The original cabbage soup includes veggies like carrots, leeks, mushroom, peppers, onions and no-salt is must. I had taken the pics when I was preparing the cheat soup anyway so thought will post it since it is so very tasty, aromatic and surprisingly low in calories.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	21		Calories
Fat	0		%
Carbohydrates	4		%
Dietary Fiber	2		%
Sodium	1		%
Vitamin A	20		%
Vitamin C	85		%
Calcium	4		%
Iron	4		%
Protein	1		Grams
Sugar	0		Grams

Ingredients
[Makes 3 servings]
Olive oil	2 teaspoons
Onion chopped	1
Green chillies	2 or 3
Cabbage cleaned & chopped	3 cups
Water	1 cup
Salt	to taste

* Heat olive oil in a pan and add chopped onion and green chillies. Fry till the onion looks transparent.
* Add chopped cabbage and fry for 20 minutes till the raw cabbage smell goes away.

* Add coriander leaves, cover the lid and cook for 10 more minutes.
* Blend the mixture will water. Add salt and bring it to boil. Serve hot with or without bread.

* You can skip the chillies and add pepper powder instead.
* Add milk for more creaminess in the soup.
* Make sure to cook the cabbage for at least 20 minutes since the raw cabbage does not blend completely and does not smell too good.
* You can also add finely chopped veggies of your choice after the cabbage is blended.

Sending this to: In My Veg Box - Cabbage @ Citrus Spice and Motions and Emotions

Exciting and beautiful Rome

It has been almost 2 weeks since I posted anything. I had a little vacation to Italy to celebrate my birthday and also as a break for Naveen after a long time. The trip was wonderful and I wanted to write all about it to share that amazing experience.

Until few months ago, the thought of going to Rome for my birthday seemed far-fetched. I was more than happy when Naveen told me that he was going to take me to Italy. My favorite dishes to cook and to eat are always and always have been Pastas. To go to a place where Pasta was invented and to taste the original taste, was a dream come true for me.

The food experience was not really what I had imagined, since 3 days is not enough to see all the places in Rome, let alone sit and eat. I could not take camera every time we went out for a meal, but I managed to get one or two pics of those few mouthwatering dishes. Anyway, the flight got delayed and by the time we reached Rome it was past lunch time. It was 5 when we finally got freshened up and came down for lunch from our apartment "Lili House".

There was a restaurant right next to where we stayed called "RomAntica" and we decided to stop in there. It was quite pricey but we were very tired and weak to walk searching for another restaurant so we decided to chill here. Wine were at reasonable price and they kept the atmosphere romantic.

I took Penne Arrabbiata (Penne Pasta in Arrabbiata sauce) and Naveen ordered Fettuccine with mushroom sauce. Penne Arrabbiata was tasty and mildly spicy. It had little bits of tomatoes, parsley and few red chilli flakes. Fettuccine with mushroom sauce was yummy and delicious. It was tasty and creamy. Fettuccine Pasta was perfectly cooked and mushroom sauce was thick, soft and creamy.

The next 3 days, we were busy roaming around Rome and had to go for Take away pizzas. There were no options for vegetarians with pizzas and we had to stick to Margherita pizza which was the only Vegetarian Pizza available everywhere. Margherita pizza is just a plain flat bread topped with Tomato sauce and cheese. Though I knew that Margherita pizza can be topped with many Vegetables, Margherita pizzas that we bought were dry, plain and bland. We were very disappointed since Naveen is a big fan of Pizzas and makes perfect thin crust yummy pizzas himself at home. I'd say, check where you want to eat in Rome before you go.

We were lucky enough to find a Mushroom and tomato Pizza, but that store was closed for the next two days god knows why. We were very happy when we tasted Pizza Bianca in Roscioli Bakery, it was perfect and mouthwatering. We also dined at Snack Bar Tacito before we left Rome which served beautiful and buttery Gnocchi and perfect delicious Pastas and sandwiches.

We took Hop in- Hop offs to go around Rome and it was easily available every 10 minutes. Rome is one of the most amazing historic cities. It has many of the world's enchanting artistic master pieces and also many ruins of ancient Rome.

We visited Colosseum and Vatican city on the first day. The original Latin name of Colosseum is Amphitheatrum Flavium. The Colosseum was used to host armed combat which entertained the audience in violent confrontations with wild animals, slaves, criminals and other gladiators. Some gladiators volunteered to get appreciation from the audience and increase the level of their social standing. Colosseum could accommodate 87,000 people at once. It is huge and beautiful. Vatican city is the smallest independent state in the world and is ruled by the pope. It is the center of Catholicism and is known world wide. It takes at least 3-4 hours to roam around Colosseum and the same time around Vatican city and Vatican museums. So a whole day was spent in these two beautiful places.

We visited Pantheon, Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna), Via Veneto and Trevi Fountain for the next two days. Pantheon is a marvelous monument of Rome. It is dedicated to seven planetary divinities and features gorgeous marble interior. Spanish Steps are a set of steps and is an elegant square. It is surrounded by 18th century buildings and there is a beautiful fountain at the base.

Via Veneto is one of the famous and most expensive shopping streets of Rome. We can only do a window shopping at those gorgeous and extremely pricey outfits. Trevi Fountain is a beautiful fountain in Rome. It is also the most famous fountains in the world. We even stopped for Campo de' Fiori, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill on the way.

The teeny tiny thing that irritated our stay in Rome was that heat. It was unbearable and dehydrating. Almost all the places were crowded except for the park around Pantheon. It was cool, clean, quite empty and was the perfect place for us to stop by and have our packed snacks now and then.

When the day came for us to leave this beautiful city, we were already thinking when we would be visiting Rome again. When we boarded our return flight at Ciampino Airport, we had a vague mixed feeling of recharged, satisfied and energetic bliss. The flight reached Oslo on time and the city welcomed us with a calm cold weather. The only thought that was running in my mind was "No matter where you go, all journeys eventually end in the same place, Home"