HOMEMADE TOMATO VEGETABLE SOUP

January 2, 2018 “SOUP’S ON!”
This morning I decided to make a pot of soup, some to share and also some to enjoy for lunch. I try to include as many vegetables and herbs as possible plus use bone broth instead of water so the soup is as healthy as possible. I will puree it so it is smooth.

We like tomato soup best when the tomato flavor isn’t too strong so I added bone broth and squash to give a milder flavor. These ingredients also add extra nutrition. For even more nutrients, you can add a few cooked carrots before pureeing. It will thicken the soup enough so you won’t have to add any corn starch in the end.

TOMATO SOUP – 4 quarts
2 quarts tomato juice
3 cups squash (frozen from the garden)
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced and let rest for 10 minutes
1 cup chopped celery (frozen from the garden)
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Himalayan salt
2 cups bone broth
2 cups water
1 tablespoon corn starch (dissolve in the water)
1 tablespoon parsley flakes (I dried my own)

Boil tomato juice, squash, onion, garlic, honey, salt, bone broth & celery until done.
Remove the pot from heat for about 30 minutes. Blend with a hand blender until smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture, stirring in gradually. Add the parsley and heat again until thickened.
In the photo I added extra vegetables to the tomato soup.

It is cold outside so we enjoyed this soup with a slice of the bread I baked yesterday!

HEALTHY BONE BROTH
Cooking bones in water with 2 tablespoons lemon juice for 6 to even 16 or more hours will draw minerals out of the bones. This healthy broth can be frozen to use when making soups, but I also use it to make oatmeal for breakfast, or use it as the liquid required in a stir fry, stew or casserole.

NO MORE SUGAR
We now know that sugar feeds cancer and is very bad for diabetes and probably every other disease so we quit using sugar. When baking I use a smaller portion of palm sugar, honey, maple syrup or some stevia. We try to replace sweets with healthier desserts. When we go out we get enough sweets!

FRUIT
I FREEZE lots of fruits so for dessert we enjoy a bowl of thawed blueberries, raspberries or strawberries. If I need a bit of sweetener in the berries, I will stir in a few drops of stevia or a bit of honey. Yogurt is also a great dessert.
Last summer I froze 50 cartons of apple sauce. It is sweet enough without any sugar. Even in pie or apple crisp, there is no need to add sweetener. I guess the apples were ripe enough when I picked them.

BANANAS
I buy bananas that are on sale because they are ripe. (not black though) I freeze these in chopped pieces and put bags of them into the freezer. I have a small electric machine called a Yonana. I put frozen pieces of bananas through the machine for vanilla ice cream. Or I put other pieces of frozen fruit between the banana pieces for a fruit ice cream. Delicious all natural smooth dessert with no other ingredients!
All for today . . . Winnie