No Cook Tomato Soup

I'm one of those people whose work schedules mean that I eat lunch and dinner at work. Trying to think of meals that are easy and portable had been challenging up until recently. I used to live on Lean Cuisine or Weight Watcher's meals because they took the guesswork and messwork (I made that word up) out of one meal of the day. I could eat one meal with a piece of fruit and maybe a side salad if I was feeling up to it. Or hungry.

"Wow - those Lean Cuisines make me feel stuffed. Said no one. Ever."

Seriously. Am I the only one to eat one of those things who afterwards felt like driving to get a cheeseburger because they felt shorted in the lunch department?

One of things I love about the raw food lifestyle is there's no cooking, no reheating, the food is easy to pack, it's fresh and colorful, and my hunger is always satiated. There's minimal mess in making food too, which is exactly what I need right now. I need easy. I need uncomplicated. I need fast. I'm just in one of those moods where I don't feel like using my brain cells to make dinner.

Know what I mean?

This tomato soup has become one my new favorite meals because there's minimal prep work, everything goes into the blender, and it's done. I pack it up into a mason jar, and that's dinner. It's also very inexpensive to make right now since tomatoes are in season and gardens are overflowing with herbs - I know mine sure is! If you have an abundance of tomatoes from the garden, this is an easy way to use them up.

I've written out a basic recipe but consider it to be freeform. The only thing I measure when I make this is the olive oil, just to be sure that I'm not going too crazy with it since I'm still working on reducing my body weight. Not all fat is created equal, so keep in mind that olive oil is one of the "good guys" - a healthy, monounsaturated fat that has polyphenols, which are natural antioxidants. In addition to the antioxidants in the extra virgin olive oil, you'll be receiving lycopene from the tomatoes, which protects the cells from free radicals. Tomatoes are also very high in Vitamin C and potassium.

Make sure you are using the best ingredients you can get your hands on, preferably organic. The quality really comes through in this soup. You may even want to make a really big batch to freeze and reheat on a chilly winter day.

No Cook Tomato Soup
2 large tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped (around 4 cups chopped)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1/4 of a medium red onion
1/2 - 1 garlic clove
5 large basil leaves
3 stems oregano, leaves removed and stems discarded
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbls extra virgin olive oil
Crushed red pepper flakes, optional


Directions:
Put everything in a blender and blend for at least one minute or until smooth.

Serves: 2

6 Weight Watchers Points+ counting veggies

4 Weight Watchers Points+ not counting veggies

Zucchini Bake

Heads up that "Sneak Some Zucchini on to Your Neighbor's Porch Night" is coming up on August 8th.

I plan on hanging a sign on my front porch to welcome sneaky neighborly zucchini dropper off-ers.

If nothing happens, I'll feel like Linus in "The Great Pumpkin." Vaguely depressed. Except I WON'T be waiting to see the Great Zucchini rise out of the zucchini patch. My dedication level isn't quite there. I can't be completely depressed, like Linus, because my dedication level isn't quite like his.

Frankly, if you have enough zucchini to sneak on to a neighbor's porch, I want to know your secret.

I have two zucchini plants and finally have plucked two misshapen zucchinis. I almost don't want to use them because I want to show my two ugly zucchinis off to the world.

Like, I legitimately grew something. I didn't kill it. It survived! It feels so...so...cannibalistic to eat something that I grew.

But that would kind of defeat the purpose of growing them, right?

Trois Pesto de Basilic

The following post is from my old blog. I'm re-purposing it for my co-worker, Jack, who wants to know how to make basil pesto. My basil is starting to get a wiley, so I may be making some of this in the near future myself!





There's been a silent duel over the backyard for years.

Years, I tell you.

Some day he decided the backyard was his.

And that was it.

No contest.

The backyard has been my big brother's since that point. He's done a good job, I'll give him that. Except for the blackberries. He kinda lets them die. But it's not like he hasn't been busy being a police officer and all.

My dreams of planting my own veggies, fruits, herbs in the ground have gone unfulfilled. I've worked around not being able to plant in the ground. I've been planting my herbs in containers. They've survived, but there is something about planting directly in the ground that is so...so...earthy.

When he bought a house this spring, my first thought was, "The backyard is miiiiiiine!!!"