I was really missing soup. As I got away from all "ready made foods" due to gluten, MSG, sugar, salts, chemicals and all of the other lovely things found in food today I found myself longing for comfort food. Then I got a bad cold in January and the need for soup increased, haha. Then I came up with a recipe that was not only delicious, but it soothed me like soup did when I was a child. So if you feel the sniffles coming on, make a pot of this delicious "homestyle" gluten-free chicken zoodle soup. 

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Earth Balance butter (substitute avocado or coconut oil for Whole 30)
4 carrots
2 celery ribs
8 cups chicken broth (I use Imagine Gluten Free, chicken or vegetable)
1 lb boneless, skinless  natural, organic, free range chicken breast, cubed
8 oz. of prepared zoodles (spiralize and blanch 2-3 zucchini until tender)
½ tsp sea salt
You may also add herbs of your choosing to give more flavor and color



DIRECTIONS:
1. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, add butter. Wash celery and chop into bite size pieces. Add to saucepan and stir. Peel and chop carrots into bite size pieces. Stir. Sauté for 3 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, dice cooked chicken into bite size pieces. Add chicken broth and chicken. Cover and bring to a boil.

3. Add herbs and salt. Add prepared zoodles. Stir and serve!

INGREDIENTS
4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
1 lb. natural ground turkey or grass fed beef 
1/2 tsp. dried oregano 
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste (if tolerated)
1 C. Cauliflower Rice or brown rice if eating grains. 

INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare cauliflower rice for paleo/grain free/gluten free or traditional rice for just gluten-free and set aside. .

Preheat oven to 375F. Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds. Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)

Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice. Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned. Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil.. cook turkey until it's almost fully cooked.

Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the turkey, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors. Then add cooked cauli rice, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.

Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers. Bake peppers for 45 min. Serve hot.