Hearty Potato Soup

• 7-8 Potatoes peeled and sliced in ¼ inch "chips"
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• ½ cup fresh or dried Parsley Flakes
• 2 large organic Carrots, grated
• ½ cup of Pesto (I make my own, but it is available in stores now)
• ¼ to ½ pound Bacon cut into ¼ inch strips and fried crisp (discard fat)
• 3 cups Leeks chopped into ¼ inch rounds (I use about ½ of the green top as well. It gives the soup a nice color.)
• Celtic Sea Salt to taste
• 1/3 teaspoon of Crushed Red Pepper flakes
• enough Water to just cover the tops of the vegetables (not too much, or you will have to pour too much off after they cook)

Put all ingredients into a 12-quart saucepan. Simmer on Medium heat about 30-40 minutes until leeks are soft and potatoes fall apart. Discard half the water, or save it for a high-potassium breakfast drink. Mash the potatoes if you like smooth soup or leave it kind of chunky. Whichever you prefer.

• Add 2 cups 1% Milk
• ½ to 1 cup crumbled Feta Cheese
• Celtic Sea Salt and Pepper to taste

If you like creamier soup, add a dollop of Sour Cream to the bottom of the soup bowl before you fill the bowl. Stir and serve.

Makes about 6-8 servings. A great alkalyzing soup.

Optional: You can add some canned clams to this soup to make New England clam chowder. It doesn't freeze that well (with or without the clams) but then again, it doesn' t last that long either.

Health Note: Best types of potatoes to use are Russet Burbank, Russet Arcadia, Norgold Russet, Goldrush, Norkotah, Long White (or White Rose or California Long White), and Idaho. I peel the potatoes as it seems there is more and more potato scab virus on potatoes these days. In the naturopathic world, some people feel that the potato scab virus, which is worse when potatoes are grown on magnesium deficient soils, is somehow related to the virus that causes Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I don't know if this is true, but I just don't take chances and I always try to purchase potatoes grown in Idaho where the soils have more magnesium in them.

Dr. Denice Moffat is a practicing naturopath, medical intuitive, and veterinarian working on the family unit (which includes humans and animals) through her phone consultation practice established in 1995. She has a content-rich website at http://www.NaturalHealthTechniques.com and free internationally distributed monthly newsletter. For additional healthy low-fat recipes see Dr. Moffat's recipe section: http://www.naturalhealthtechniques.com/Recipes/recipes1.htm and to read why it's important to keep your body alkaline, go to: http://www.naturalhealthtechniques.com/BasicsofHealth/alkalize_your_body.htm