I have a garden overflowing with Peppers, Tomato, Basil, Herbs, squash and pumpkins. I love my garden but I was really concerned I wouldn’t be able to use all of this delicious food before it spoiled. I started giving all of my guests bags of tomatoes before they left. I finally decided to start making sauces, soups and salsas and canning for the winter. This is a lot of work but I have a lot of time in the summer and it will be worth it when I start teaching again.
Tomato Basil Soup
Ingredients:
- 3 Cups Vegetable Broth
- 3 Lbs Tomato
- 2 Cups Basil Leaves
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- 1 Small Green Pepper
- 1/4 of a Red Onion
- 1 Clove Garlic
- 1/4 C. Cilantro
- 1 tsp. Thyme
- 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Process:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Cut the stem out of the tomato and place them in a roasting pan.
- Pour olive oil over the tomatoes and roll them around so that they are well oiled.
- Add Salt and Pepper and bake for 45 minutes.
- With your food processor chop Onion, Green Pepper and Garlic finely.
- In a large Stock pot sautee onion mixture on medium low heat until it is lightly browned.
- Add Chicken stock, Basil, Thyme and Cilantro to the stock pot and let simmer until tomatoes are finished.
- When tomatoes are finished place them in the stock pot (Do not add the oil).
- Cover and let simmer for 45 min.
- Let cool slightly.
- Scoop the food into a food processor and puree until texture is an even consistency.
- Place this pureed soup into a separate container.
- Pour the rest of the stock pot ingredients into the food processor and puree until it is and even consistency.
- Add the liquid to the first container of soup until it is the consistency you desire. I like a thicker soup so I added very little.
- You can save the liquid as a tomato broth soup as well.
- Freeze for up to 4 months in your freezer or can them for longer preservation.
I enjoyed this soup with Against All Grains Sandwich bread.
Happy Soup making! Enjoy the fruits of your garden labor or go out and buy some Farm Fresh tomatoes and make this for your family. You will thank yourself on those cold winter nights or early Fall sick days! This is my favorite thing I have done with my veggies so far and I hope you enjoy it too.
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Garden Fresh Salsa
Ingredients:
- 2 large tomatoes
- 1 green chili pepper (de-seeded if you want it mild)
- 1/4 of a Red onion
- 1 clove of Garlic
- 1 Jalepeno pepper (de-seeded if you want it mild)
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Cumin
- 1/4 c. Cilantro
- 1/2 a lemons juice
Process:
- Prepare your vegetables: De-stem them and for mild salsa de-seed the peppers. Cut your vegetables into quarters.
- Place all of the ingredients into a food processor or a blender. Pulse until vegetables are small and it looks like salsa. Careful not to blend to much unless you want liquid salsa.
- Serve with your favorite veggies!
* Bonus: Mix this salsa with 1 Avocado, add a bit of lemon juice and enjoy!
]]>After that my day got better. I went for a picnic at the park across the street with a good friend and her kids. We ate tuna fish, veggies, fruit and even a little dark chocolate. While the kids played we sat in the sun and had some great conversations about God, life, work, friends and even some Philadelphia sports. We went on a walk on the trails and saw some wildlife, a mini waterfall and some beautiful flowers.
I cam home, tutored one of the kids in the neighborhood and then completed my evening with some gardening with Brandon and dinner on the grill.
Even though I was bummed about my leg, God gave me a fabulous day to take my mind off of that issue.
My garden box is complete and ready for planting tomorrow. I have the rest of the yard just about completed or at least some good ideas. So thankful for the time I have had this week to do some work, enjoy the outdoors and the company of good friends, family and most importantly my husband. For lunch I made this tuna recipe and added some fresh spinich and some diced green peppers. I packed a bag of celery and carrots. A
container of blueberries and blackberries and a little dark chocolate for snack (since I was walking it off any way!).
Herbed Balsamic Chicken
- 4 TBS olive oil
- 2 tsp Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 1 Tbs McCormick Chicken rub
- 1 tsp Garlic
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and brush on the chicken. Save extras to brush on the chicken throughout the grilling process.
Brandon cooked them on a wood fired grill for at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes on each side.
Pineapple and Papaya Skewers
- 1/2 Papaya, cut into chunks
- 1/4 Pineapple, cut into chunks
Place fruit alternately onto a wooden skewer. Place on the wood fired grill at 300 degrees for about 1 minute on each side.
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| Brandon ready to chow down after all of that landscaping work I made him do. |
Enjoy it on a warm sunny deck with someone you love!
]]>After a long day of teaching inside in 74 degree weather, I decided to play outside in my front yard. I removed some rocks, re-structured some flower beds, transplanted some roses, re-built the rock bed around our maple tree and cleaned up some leaves. I even found a garter snake and named him Freddy- then I put him in the flower bed covered him with a rock and some dirt and mulch. Naturally, I started a project and didn’t stop until Brandon forced me to come inside because we couldn’t see any more! (I HATE stopping in the middle of projects but… I don’t want to meet a bigger snake in the dark.)
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| It’s a start to a lot of much needed curb appeal! |
We came in and dinner was already warmed and waiting to be eaten. I made a Roast and a simple side salad to go with it. Might even eat a piece of pie again for dessert.
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1 Ginger Root, Peeled and Diced
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2 Tbs Chili Powder
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1 Tbs Sea Salt
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2 cloves Garlic, whole
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Half a lemon, juice only
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1 1/2 LB Venison Roast (or any roast)
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2 Cups of water
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1 Tsp Coconut amino’s (you can use soy or Worcestershire sauce)
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