By Karen Schulz

On January 5, I spent $67 on The 30-Day Paleo Challenge. By January 6, I had already abandoned it. I clearly missed the mark on setting realistic goals, resolutions, and intentions for 2018. While I did not embrace the full-on challenge, I always keep my eyes out for healthy choices and absolutely adore a delicious anything, paleo or otherwise.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what eating paleo means, think: What would a caveman eat? The answer: fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, and nuts. Like anything, when taken to the extreme, it can get overwhelming. Eating paleo means making some fundamental changes such as, substituting ghee for butter, liquid aminos for soy sauce, as well as eliminating all processed foods and sugar. While the learning curve proved to be too steep for me to go 100% paleo for 30 days, I will always continue to enjoy trying new things and adding new staples to my pantry, especially tasty, healthy alternatives.

This New Year’s detox soup recipe, courtesy of Watson’s Catering & Events, is the perfect example of a delicious recipe that utilizes two vegetables that aren’t staples in most households — turnips and parsnips. Both are excellent at adding creaminess and flavor to soups. Not only are turnips tasty, they are loaded with fiber, manganese, potassium, magnesium, iron, calcium, copper, and numerous vitamins including K, A, C, and all the B’s. I was surprised to learn that they also are a good source of omega-3 fatty acids and protein — who knew?

So, go get yourself some turnips and parsnips and set a doable resolution to enjoy delicious healthy alternatives in 2018.