Shiitake Mushroom Noodle Soup

We’ve already come to the last week of our #MushroomMakeover with MushroomInfo.com (AD) and Mamavation. The past few weeks have just flown by and since the start of this program I’ve noticed many differences in how I feel. Of course, I’d love to be happy with what I see in the mirror, but more importantly feeling good was a goal I had. I haven’t felt physically well in so long, I forgot what it felt like. For so long I had no energy, was bogged down with constant headaches and body aches, and generally couldn’t get myself together. With a few tweaks of my diet and adding exercise I noticed almost immediately how much better I’ve felt. In the past month since starting the Mushroom Makeover, I’ve probably only had two headaches that were fairly simple to get over. That’s such a drastic change from what I’m used to which is at least five headaches a week, many last entire days. That in itself is such a major change, which I’m sure has to do with a change in eating habits as well as more movement.

In the first week or two of this challenge I was only changing my diet and lifestyle and the rest of my family was continuing on their normal routine. By the end of the challenge I was making meals for the whole family and adding mushrooms to many of our meals for added nutrition or replacing all or part of our meats with mushrooms. Here’s some of the mushroom meals I made this past week.

Week four consisted of the following:
-Shiitake Mushroom and soba noodle soup with edamame, carrot, kale, ginger, green onions, sriracha and red pepper flakes for a spicy kick.
-A pan fried NY steak with sauteed baby bellas, garlic and red onion on top and a simple spinach and tomato salad with feta cheese served on the side.
-A whole wheat pita sandwich filled with green leaf lettuce, scrambled eggs,with sauteed mushrooms and cherry tomatoes and an organic chipotle salsa.
-Roasted portabello caps combined with roasted red bell pepper strips made into a grilled cheese “sandwich” with chipotle white cheddar cheese and spinach.

Last week I shared how I would wait to eat until I was famished, and once I did I’d eat until I was full. Now I understand how unhealthy that has been, and I actually eat more now than before. Because my appetite is more stable, I’m neither starving nor full, this helps my body process my food and keep my metabolism intact. I’m sure I was suffering from constant hunger headaches as well as stress headaches, and now that I’ve incorporated workouts into my daily life it has also helped me deal with stress better.

Since the beginning of this challenge I’ve lost a total of 6.5 pounds in 4 weeks. In addition, I’ve also lost a combined 5.5 inches in my body. I’m ecstatic about my results so far, and I plan to incorporate everything I’ve learned into my daily routines.

I’ve found that planning my meals the night before for the following day helps me to be successful because I know what I’m preparing and when. I would schedule my meals and know when I would eat ahead of time, and set a timer for myself in order to make it happen. I’ve also been logging my food intake and workouts with MyFitnessPal so I’m more mindful of how many calories I’m eating as well as an overall percentage of protein/carbs/and fats. Since I’ve been inputting my workouts and exercise too, it will adjust my suggested caloric intake based on how active my day has been. These tools have really helped me be successful in this plan and stay focused on my goals.

This week my family decided on their favorite mushroom meal, and they chose the Shiitake Mushroom Noodle Soup! Hands down, this was their favorite mushroom meal, and nobody could get enough of it. It’s a bit spicy, but they loved the flavors and even the tofu, which some of them turned their nose up at. I’m excited that I got them to try new things that they ended up loving, and I look forward to my continued “feel-good” journey. You can check out some of the Mushroom Council’s favorite recipes during this challenge as well as join our Twitter chat on April 8 at 9 pm EST. Hope to see you there!

Shiitake Mushroom Noodle Soup Ingredients:

• 7 cups water
• 2 vegetable bouillon
• 1 package (6 ounces) soba noodles (I used a chika soba noodle package)
• 2 cups chopped kale
• 1 1/2 cups edamame
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons five herb vegetable seasoning
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dry ground mustard
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 package extra firm tofu, cubed
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

In a large pot bring water to a boil. Add bouillon cubes and continue to boil until completely dissolved.
In a separate pot, fill with water and bring to a boil. Add soba noodles and continue to cook in boiling water for 2-4 minutes, until soft.

Add kale, edamame, carrots and mushrooms to the broth mixture. Add ginger, five herb vegetable seasoning, salt, pepper, ground mustard. Stir well, then simmer just until kale begins to wilt.

Add soba noodles, green onions and diced tofu to soup mixture, then add red pepper flakes and sriracha.

Stir and simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to combine, then serve.

Enjoy!

This post was created as part of the #MushroomMakeover 30 Day Weight Loss Challenge in which I am a financially compensated blogger ambassador for the Mushroom Council. The opinions are my own and based on my own experience.