My Celery Carrot Soup! (for inflammation and sensitive stomachs)

Eeek! Two blog posts from me in the same week? The same year? What madness is this?:-)
Okay, well I might as well preamble a little before we get down to my awesome soup recipe (or just skip this and scroll down)! So why am *I* of all people writing a recipe? I'm one of the worst cooks in the world, so why would I do this? Because this soup is absolutely delicious! And more importantly, it's gentle on most sensitive stomachs!

And I know what it's like to have a sensitive stomach....

 These last three-ish years have been pretty rough. I kept getting food poisoning over and over again. Then my body decided it was intolerant to nearly all foods. Pain would strike as soon as food hit my stomach. Or sometimes it would wait until many hours later. It was consistently inconsistent. Some foods made me throw up. Some foods made me race for the bathroom! Some made my intestines cramp to the point it felt like a scary hybrid baby alien from Aliens mixed with Edward Scissor-Hands was trying to claw its way out of my intestines. I couldn't sleep because of the pain. My gallbladder felt like it was being stabbed! And my GI tract must have been Swiss cheese my colon was filling with so much blood. I would only start to feel better many, many hours after my last meal...just in time to be hungry again.;A; SIGH.
It was, in short, terrible. I took some tests and they think I have Crohn's Disease, but I don't actually know for sure. Whatever it is though, it made me put my whole life on hold, because the pain was all I could think about. I've been feeling so much better now, I forget how bad off I was even just last year! And I really shouldn't minimize it. I don't want to forget, because if I do, I'll get careless, and I could find myself back in that awful place again! I really want to get to the point where I stop being aware of my internal organs again. How awesome would that be?

So anyway, during the worst of it, I started cutting out food that triggered symptoms. And cutting out more...and more...and more things.  I cut out so much I was actually writing poetry about how much I missed food! That's pretty sad, right? I was down to eating nothing but white bread, potatoes, coconut, white rice, hummus, and carrot soup! And I somehow still gained 20 lbs!!;A;

BUT  I now know that the bread and the potatoes were probably actually making my GI inflammation FAR WORSE! So as scary as it was to cut out the few foods that didn't cause me to roll around on the floor screaming that, "there are glass shards and pine cones in my guts!"  I DID JUST THAT! I got rid of those foods, and this recipe is one of the things I started eating to try to heal my insides!

So again, why am I writing a recipe down? Because I returned home to New Orleans after a 2 year absence and I was horrified to find out that 4 of my friends I visited were also suffering from the same symptoms! I'm really concerned that we were exposed to something, but no one seems to have answers. Most of us don't even know what we have. Anyway, I am writing this down because one of those awesome friends in particular is going through a terrible, terrible time! I really hope she finds some foods she can eat and starts feeling better! <3

Why I think this soup is good for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (or whatever we all have):

1: the veggies are pureed, so easier to digest! 2: CELERY is anti-inflammatory! And the seasoning is, too! Cayenne pepper and turmeric powder both have anti-inflammatory properties, so I add a LOT of those! 3: I was nervous going back to brown rice (I was a huge brown rice eater before it started hurting my stomach and I switched to white), but brown seems to be fine now, and it's so filling--unlike white rice! When you can't eat a lot of foods, it's important to find something that keeps you from getting hungry again right away!

NOTE: If anyone has some better ideas, or notes on nutrition, please let me know! I AM NO EXPERT!

NOTE: I would NOT add PEAS most of the time, since they mess with my hormones if I get too much of them! Lentils are better and very filling!

NOTE: I used to add onions, but I think they might be a trigger, and they seem to give a lot of people problems, so I cut them out. I also cut out potatoes, but....... I admit, I still add them in sometimes even though my doctor says they are a huge NO! She said sweet potatoes are fine however, but I just don't think they taste as good in this. But sweet potatoes are supposed to be okay for IBD.

ENOUGH WITH THE BORING TALK! On to the one recipe I have! :-)

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Tana's Awesome Celery Carrot Cayenne Anti-Inflammation Happy Happy Tum Tum Simple Veggie Vegan Soup! (TM) 

(Just kidding about the TM!)

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You can mix it up, but this is how I've been making it recently! Whatever you do though, if you have a sensitive stomach, avoid onions, tomatoes, and potatoes! If you're stomach is fine, go nuts and add whatever else you want!

Here are my ingredients! This makes one huge pot!
1 whole Celery plant! 
3-4 LARGE Carrots (or equivalent),
3-4 cloves Garlic
1 cup Brown Rice
1 cup mixed Lentils (any colors) with (optional) Split Peas (or just add another cup of brown rice). Do not overuse peas.

Seasonings I use:
Cayenne Pepper, Salt, Turmeric Powder, Black Pepper, Chili Powder, Paprika.

One Celery plant! 3-4 LARGE Carrots (or equivalent), 3-4 cloves Garlic, Brown Rice, Lentils/Split Peas (optional)

STEP 1: 
Pre-soak RICE and LENTILS/peas (at least 1 hour, but I think you can soak overnight).
Rinse until they stop foaming and water is clear.

After soaking, rinse until they stop foaming and water turns clear..

STEP 2:
While RICE and LENTILS are soaking, wash and peel veggies (carrots/celery/garlic)!

Wash veggies and peel!

STE 3: 
Put veggies in blender or better yet, a Vita-Mix and puree into a nice baby food consistency!

Put veggies in blender or Vita-Mix and puree! Add to large pot!

STEP 4:
Add VEGGIES and RICE/LENTILS into a big pot and commence seasoning!

Add spices to taste!

STEP 5:
I didn't measure my seasoning, but I mostly use CAYENNE PEPPER, TURMERIC (both of which are helpful for fighting inflammation-- which is what causes a lot of GI pain), and SALT.
I also use some BLACK PEPPER, CHILI POWDER, and PAPRIKA. Sorry, I'm not exact. But season to taste! I'm from New Orleans, so I really like to pour in the spice!:-)

Lots of Cayenne, Turmeric, and Salt, with some Black Pepper, Chili Powder, and Paprika

STEP 6: 
ADD WATER!

There is no photo of this! Oops!

STEP 7: 
Put timer on for about 15-20 mins so you remember to check on it, cover with a cracked lid so steam can escape, and cook over medium-low heat. 

CHECK ON IT! Make sure it doesn't boil over!

Once it starts boiling (it takes about 20 minutes usually for mine to boil--thus the timer!), simmer boil over low heat for about 1 HOUR, stirring occasionally to keep it from burning on the bottom. Continue to add water to it when the water boils off.

Add water  (and keep adding it whenever it cooks off) and cook (with the lid cracked, occasionally stirring) over medium-low heat for about an hour after it starts to boil.

STEP 8:
Check to see if RICE and LENTILS (and potatoes if you don't have GI issues and can eat those) are cooked.and relatively soft!

When rice and peas are soft, it's done!

STEP 9:
Hurray! It's done! Serve it up, and season again if you need to! I usually add extra SALT, CAYENNE, and YELLOW MUSTARD to each individual bowl! You can also add more water to each bowl as necessary. I add a lot to mine because it feels even easier on my stomach.

Not the best picture, but mmmm, it tastes good!