2 recipes - LOADS of veggies!

I honestly have no clue how many people read this blog, or if anyone even cares, but I'm so excited about a recent recipe I came up with I thought I'd share. My guess is most that read this are family (hi mom!) or friends (hi Lis!) or other mamas like me who are just trying to get by as best they can without messing up their kiddos too darn much along the way.

So this soup and salad, listed below, are sort of my new obsession. I'm feeling a need to lose a few pounds that have creeped on ever since I gave up diet coke last month (by the way, I am now back on the dc - long story, I'll get to it one day, but let's just say weight gain and crankiness do not a good mama make - we all need a vice). I know when I have a few extra pounds that veggies are what my body need. They are so packed with fiber, and fiber is my little "trick" for dropping down to a weight I'm happy with. It is not a big whoop. We're talking 5-10 lbs that my body drops and gains on a fairly consistent basis. My clothes all still fit, but they are just a little snug. So veggies are on the menu. Here's what I cam up with to fuel me this week for my lunches:

Roasted Veggie Soup

Preheat oven to 425d

1. coarsely chop any veggies you enjoy; mine included: 4 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 1 large onion, a handful of asparagus, 1 red bell pepper, several cloves of garlic
2. Layer the above veggies on 1-2 broiling pans (I didn't add the garlic until my last 15 minutes of roasting)
3. drizzle veggies with a small amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss well to distribute oil and seasonings
4. roast veggies for 45 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes or so to evenly distribute oil
5. After roasting is complete, add a large can of diced tomatoes to the pan (you can roast your own if you prefer, but I like the canned roasted tomatoes) - toss
6. In batches, puree the veggies with a total of 2 cups of chicken stock - mine took 3 batches
7. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed, and any additional spices you like - I added basil to this soup, but next time I'm going to do cumin and chili powder to give it a more southwestern flavor
8. Put soup in large plastic container and refrigerate - or enjoy a bowl as soon as it is ready and refrigerate the rest.

I ate on this soup all week. I added chicken one day. A little low fat sour cream another. I even used it as a base for stuffed peppers later in the week for dinner. You could serve it over rice or whole wheat noodles, too. Jackson actually loved the soup as long as he had big, thick slices of bread to dunk into it. He doesn't even have a clue how many veggies he consumed - it just tasted yummy to him! Holden wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot light saber. Can't win 'em all...

I can't wait to try it again next week with a more "Mexicany" type flavoring. And today, my jeans fit just that much better. Ahhh, yeahh!!!

Veggie Salad

This is yummy with the soup above, or on its own. This too I snacked on all week long, though it didn't last quite as long as the soup because I'm crazy about it and even used it as a dip for crackers!

1. Dice the following veggies : 1 large hot house tomato (or 3 romas), 1 large English cucumber, 1 sweet onion, several cloves of garlic, small bunch of cilantro
2. Put diced veggies in a large plastic container. Add the juice of one lime. A small drizzle of olive oil (maybe a tablespoon at most). Salt, and pepper to taste. If you prefer balsamic vinegar instead of lime juice, that would work, too .
3. Toss all the ingredients together and refrigerate.

The longer this salad marinates in the fridge, the better it tastes. Besides eating it as a yummy salad, it is delicious as a topping for grilled chicken. Or add avocado for an additional yumminess. Feta or another cheese would be a good addition, too. Layer it like bruschetta on bread or dunk with crackers. Swap out basil for the cilantro to change the flavor. So good. So easy. So good for you.

I hope someone else will enjoy this as much as I do. Happy Friday!