Even though I could barely walk, I dragged myself to Venice beach yesterday. I didn’t drive. I couldn’t. I don’t even know how I got there. I was in the passenger seat kinda half asleep. I needed that vitamin D and the sun provided that beautifully. It was a gorgeous day and I HAD to get to the beach. It’s just really funny how nature calls my name. So I went. I needed to get my feet in the water. I needed those minerals to simply touch my skin.

Soup always makes me feel so much better. Yesterday I could barely walk. That pain that hits you in the center of your pelvis ain’t no joke. It’s an annoying, uncomfortable pain. Some females have it worse. I used to have it really bad. Now I’m fighting like crazy, because I’m undefeatable. I don’t have labor pains anymore but I still listen to my body and rest when it tells me to.

This morning, all I could think of was soup. I had an abundance of vegetables that I had purchased from Hollywood farmer’s market and I intended to add every last one of them to my endometriosis soup. The voices in my head kept on tabulating all the ingredients.  When I couldn’t take it anymore, I dragged myself to the kitchen. Since walking to the car yesterday, the stride in my walk had improved tremendously.

I already had a chicken thawed out in the refrigerator that I had planned on roasting. Oh well, I guess we just had an abrupt adjustment to the menu and I’ve already fallen in love with it.
Word to the wise: DON’T SKIMP ON YOUR HERBS.
I may just change my name to the herb lady because I buy herbs by the pound. I know, I gotta get my garden going….and maybe a green house too. I added a a few sprigs of thyme, marjoram and oregano to my soup. There’s also bay leaves and pimento seeds. Herbs adds depths of flavor to everything. I add them at the start of my soup, as well as at the end. So much goodness in just one slurp.

And what kind of Jamaican parent would I be if I didn’t add dumplings…so in you go dumplings.  I grated fresh ginger and turmeric into my soup. Sometimes I use ground turmeric but lately I’ve been making teas and concoctions with fresh turmeric and I love the mild, mellow flavor. Ginger and turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties so it was a must to include them in this amazing soup.

My butternut squash looks like joy in the morning!  Doesn’t it? And my soup was at the perfect stage to add in my green and white cauliflower. Don’t throw out your cauliflower leaves because they’re  food and they taste amazing! I so wanted to add more vegetables but I’m good on this and I needed to sit down and rest. There’s carrots, butternut squash, potatoes, corn, dumplings, cauliflower and an entire chicken in this baby. Yes I like to add the whole chicken with all the bones in it, because bones bring forth flavor.

Now here’s a tip:
Don’t cook your cauliflower to mush. I can eat cauliflower raw because I love crunchy vegetables. Simply submerge the cauliflower into the soup, baste it with the soup and turn off the stove. That’s it. It’s done. You will never look at vegetables the same again.

Now this was my bowl of soup. I didn’t try to plate it well because I wasn’t in a ‘plate it well’ mood. I’m trying to recover and I need to go back to bed. But it was damn good tho’ and healing and soothing and comforting too.