spicy "cheese"burger soup

The original recipe has been around for a while - and to be honest, I'm not sure where my mom got this recipe.  I think it came out of a magazine - maybe Country Living.  Anyway, it's been around for a while.  I made it a few times in the first couple years Storm and I were married.  Then our eating changed, and I basically stopped making it.  A big part of the recipe is processed American cheese - so that doesn't really jive with eating REAL food, and it is definitely NOT part of Whole30.

I was making out our menu for all of January, and I noticed that I had put soup on Friday.  Nothing says "fun family night!" like soup.  And usually soup does not go over well with the boys, so I thought maybe I should try to think of a fun soup recipe.  I suddenly thought of that old cheeseburger soup I used to make!  But I knew that I would have to make some modifications to fit into Whole30.  So, I took a stab at it.  I wanted to replace the flour that the recipe calls for (in the past I would substitute cornstarch, but you can't do that with Whole30), and I also had beef bouillon, milk and cheese to contend with.  For things like soup, almond milk does not really help a whole lot.  It's not overly creamy or thick.  Full-fat coconut milk (in a can) is a lot better, and I have used it to make a homemade tomato soup before.  I thought maybe for more flavor I could also add in some tomato sauce.  THEN, I read that coconut milk and tomato sauce together give a cheese type flavor... so, in my mind it was done.  This is what I came up with, and I hoped for the best.  Well, it was delicious!  Everybody ate it - no complaints!

So here is my version (Whole30) for Spicy Cheeseburger Soup:

1 1/2 cups water
2 small carrots, grated
2 cups cubed peeled potatoes
1-2 cups chopped broccoli
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 pound, ground beef, drained (I didn't drain ours since I used grass fed)
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine water, carrots, potatoes, broccoli, onion, pepper, garlic and salt in a stockpot.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.   Stir in the cooked beef and heat through.  Shake the can of coconut milk.  Stir together coconut milk and tomato sauce.  Add the tomato milk mixture to the pot and bring to a boil and stir.  Add 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.  Add and stir in bacon, or use as a garnish.  Serve.  6-8 servings.