I love this soup and it's exotic blend of flavors so much that I make it every year. Peanut butter is the unusual secret ingredient in this West African inspired soup.I love making soups on Sundays because then I have my lunch for the week at work.

Ingredients:

1½ lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 carrot

1- 15oz can of tomatoes

1 large onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 ts minced fresh ginger

1½ ts cumin

1½ ts coriander

½ ts cinnamon

1 ts salt

pinch of ground cloves

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

4½ cups water

¼ cup + 2 TB peanut butter 

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Saute the onion 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Mix in the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrot, and continue to cook and stir about 5 minutes.
2. Add the water to the pot, and season the mixture with salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.
3. Remove the soup mixture from heat. In a blender, blend the soup until almost smooth in small batches. Season with cayenne pepper. Return to the saucepan. Whisk in the peanut butter, and cook until heated through. Serve warm topped with fresh cilantro.

Makes 5 servings
233 cal, 45g carbs, 6g protein, 579% vitamin A

Nutritional Analysis
5 servings
120 cal, 2g protein, 9g fiber, 18g sugar (from just the apples)

I serve this with tofu croutons, 1/5 a package per serving
130 cal, 14g protein

Total 250 calories, 16g protein

For your fitness and nutrition goals Sundays are the day to meal plan for the week!  You'll be blown away by how satisfied and successful you feel at the end of the week if you lay your week out in advance. I put an exercise schedule in front of my TV so I know which DVD I'm doing each morning. Early morning workouts rev up your metabolism, jump start your energy level and accelerate your ability to burn up calories.

However for the month of October I've decided to mix up my routine a bit. I bought a groupon for a one month gym membership so I can take zumba classes 3x a week. I thought it would be a fun change, but also a hectic change since I'm so used to working out in the morning and having my whole evening free. I'm also going to challenge myself to not consume refined sugar and wine for the month to tone up for my favorite holiday - Halloween! I was inspired by Ashley who is giving up alcohol for a year.

 Now that it's fall I make a pot of soup every Sunday for my lunch for the week. This week I made a lentil, coconut based soup with some Indian spices. Lentils are a great source of protein and cholesterol-lowering fiber which help stabilizing blood sugar levels They're also a great source of folate and magnesium which is good for heart health. Plus it has vitamin B, phosphorus, iron, potassium and other minerals.