Heart and Soy on Bardstown Road

Chocolate Cream Pie

This is truly decadent. It is so easy, and according to the website only has 293 calories per serving.  Mine has less (given the ingredients I used).

1 package silken tofu = 225 calories
1/2 cup cocoa = 80 calories
1 cup sugar = 240
pre-made vegan pie crust = 960
total = 1505 calories

1505 / 8 servings = 188 calories per slice.

Here's the recipe I used. I say ignore the comments about it being "grainy" because that person obviously used firm instead of silken tofu. duh!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/easy-chocolate-tofu-pie/detail.aspx

Ingredients

• 1 pound silken tofu
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
• 
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Blend tofu with an electric mixer or in a food processor until smooth. Blend in cocoa, sugar, vanilla and vinegar. Pour into prepared crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes.
4. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

BEWARE - "Natural" Label on Genetically Engineered Products

I was sent this from my friend Shelley at boutiqueChop.blogspot.com.

"Natural" Label on Genetically Engineered Products With consumer interest in how food is produced on the rise, many food companies are now selling new lines of "natural" products—often priced unjustifiably higher than conventionally produced foods and only slightly lower than certified organic products.  These purportedly "natural" products often mislead consumers about healthy food choices. Market surveys show that health conscious consumers buy and trust products that prominently display the word "natural" on the front of food packages, even though the "natural" claim does not necessarily deliver any added health benefits to consumers above and beyond those of their conventionally manufactured counterparts. ConAgra is one such company using a "100% Natural" labeling claim to win over consumers.  ConAgra's Wesson Oils, however, are anything but "100% natural" — because the oils are made from genetically modified (GM) plants. ConAgra sells four types of widely used cooking and food preparation oils under the Wesson brand. All Wesson Oils are sold with a label on the front of the bottle that prominently states they are "100% Natural." We are looking for Center for Food Safety members who have purchased any of the following cooking oils in the last few years sold under the Wesson brand name: Canola Oil, Vegetable Oil, Corn Oil, and Best Blend. If you have purchased these products believing them to them to be "100% Natural" and not to contain genetically engineered ingredients, please contact us at adeeringer@icta.org right away. Please include "Wesson" in your subject line and your state of residence in your email.

Connect with CFS |   Copyright 1997-2010, Center for Food Safety. All rights reserved.

Southern Dinner - Vegan Style

My mother in law and her friends have a CSA subscription with a farm in Port Royal in Henry County Kentucky.  She often times will give us food because its hard to keep up with eating all the produce she receives. So.... I anticipate the next few posts will be dealing with local summer produce, as it tends to dominate meal choices this time of year. 

I actually grew up in the country in Carroll County, Kentucky.  It's just a few miles from the farm where the CSA subscription is coming from. My grandmother was born there, and my father's side of the family hails from those river hollers since the late 1700's.  I still have family there.  

This southern girl, Miss Carroll Country Tobacco Festival, is best at being southern in the kitchen!  Sans the bacon grease!  Bring on the Earth Balance, a wonderful vegan butter substitute. 

Tonight I made cornbread (southern.... not sweet!!!!).  I found and used this recipe, and really liked it:

http://organicgoddess.wordpress.com/vegan-101/columns-2002/2002-03/

Corn Bread

Recipe By: Lisa T. Bennett
Serving Size: 8
Preparation Time: 0:45

1 cup full-fat soy milk (unsweetened preferred, but regular okay.)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup safflower or canola oil
1 1/2 cups cornmeal (white or yellow)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon Ener-G egg replacer powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Mix soy milk and vinegar – let sour. It will look lumpy and clabbered, like buttermilk.

Pour safflower oil into a cast-iron pan. Let it heat in the oven while you mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. (If you don’t have a cast-iron pan, use an 8″ round cake pan or an 8″ X 8″ square pan.)

Pour oil into a well in the dry ingredients. Add the soured soymilk – mix quickly. Batter should be like thick cake batter. If too dry, add more soy milk (doesn’t have to be soured).

Pour batter in hot pan, place back in oven and bake until golden and crusty – about 20-25 minutes.
—————
Variations: add any or all of the following: a handful of corn kernels, diced red or green bell peppers, a tablespoon of diced jalepenos, or a teaspon of diced or pureed chipotle peppers.

I also made Southern Fried Cabbage.  Here's a link to the recipe source.  I loved this dish!

http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10944.0

Fried Cabbage, Southern Style

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

    2 tablespoons oil
    5 cups cabbage, coarsely shredded
    1 medium onion, chopped
    1 tablespoon salt
    dash nutmeg
    1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
    cayenne pepper, to taste
    2 tablespoons vinegar

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet.  Add cabbage, onion, salt and nutmeg.  

2. Cover and cook slowly about 20 minutes.  Add vegan sugar and cayenne pepper to vinegar and mix well.  

3. Pour over cabbage and cook 5 minutes longer.

Delicious with vegan cornbread.

Serves: 2-3, Preparation time: 15 min. or less

Also, because I had peas from the CSA, I tossed them in the skillet with water, Dr. Braggs, garlic paste, and sweet chili sauce. I only cook them for about two minutes, and they turned out amazing.

Raw Vegan Blueberry Pancakes

I made these in the dehydrator at 115 degrees the other day. It filled all 4 trays of the dehydrator, so there were lots to keep in storage for a month or two.  

The reason I made them? My husband thought it would be a good idea to remove a freezer bag filled with 4 cups of organic blueberries to use as an ice pack for his art project. They were thawed and at risk of being trashed.  I wanted to kill him, but instead he got rewarded with this delicious treat. How is this right? Flawed logic!

Blend the following ingredients:

• 4 cups blueberries
• 2 ripe bananas
• 2 cups quinoa flakes
• 1 cup almond meal
• 4 cups shredded coconut 
• 2 tablespoons vanilla
• 1-2 cups almond milk (to get ingredients to blend)
• 2 tsp sea salt

Mix in:

• 1 cup flax seed
• 2 cups chopped pecan

Place in dehydrator on parchment paper.  Let dehydrate until you can flip, then flip and rotate trays.  Dehydrate until you think they meet your fancy.  Mine took about 24 hours.

You can eat them warm with maple syrup, or grab-n-go like a cliff bar.

Strawberry Shake

Craving a shake, burger, and fries. Totally emotional eating, because I had to go to the dentist and that makes me unhappy. I came inches from stopping at a Wendy's for fries, but resisted because I knew the grease would make me feel icky.  

Strawberry Shake - 437 Calories

• So Delicious Dairy-Free Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream - 160 Calories per 1/2 cup.  I used 1 cup, so this is 320 calories.  Feeling gluttonous. Usually, I'd only use a 1/2 cup and also a 1/2 cup of soy milk.
• Silk Vanilla Soy Milk - 1 cup, 90 calories. 
• 5 Strawberries, about 25 calories. 

Fries - 170 Calories 

• Alexia Waffle Fries, 170 Calories

Boca Burger, Vegan - between 90-120 calories

Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread - 80 Calories .  I split one slice in half and use it as a bun. 

Total Calories - Between 800-850, allotting for ketchup and mustard. 

Here's what the damage would have been if I were not vegan, and had indulged at Wendy's.

Large Strawberry Frosty - 820 Calories

Medium Fries - 420 Calories

Junior Hamburger (no cheese) - 230 Calories 

Total calories at Wendy's - 1,420

By choosing to prepare this meal at home, using vegan products, I cut the number of calories nearly in half.  

Raw vegan Ice Cream

This weekend was my first attempt to make raw, vegan ice cream.  It was simple and easy, and it turned out really good.  I combined two recipes, to accommodate the ingredients I had available.

Here are the two recipes I used:

Vegan Cashew Banana Ice Cream

http://goneraw.com/recipe/vegan-cashew-banana-ice-cream

Ingredients: 

2 cups raw cashews soaked for 2 hours
1 cup filtered water
3 large really ripe organic bananas
1/4 cup agave or “Just Like Sugar”
1 Tbsp natural vanilla extract
pinch of Celtic sea salt

Maple Pecan Ice Cream

http://www.rawfoodhomerecipes.com/2011/06/maple-pecan-ice-cream/

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup raw almond butter
• 1/2 cup raw tahini (sesame butter)
• 3/4 cup dark agave nectar
• 1/4 cup raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp ground cinammon
• 1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Here's what I did:

• 2 cups raw cashews soaked for 2 hours
• 3 large really ripe organic bananas
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp natural vanilla extract
• pinch of Celtic sea salt
• 1/2 cup dark agave nectar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp ground cinammon
• 1 cup pecans, chopped (optional)

Blend everything in the food processor, then mix in the chopped pecans.  Freeze.

Blueberry Cobbler, Round 2

Made this blueberry cobbler for a potluck on Saturday night.  This is by far one of the best, and easiest, cobbler recipes I have found.  I veganized it from a non-vegan version found on: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1941,154169-242205,00.html

I'm posting thew original recipe, and I'll put my suibstitutions beside it.

1/2 c. sifted flour - (SUB whole wheat flour, did not sift)
1 tsp. baking powder
8 oz. blueberries
3 tbsp. butter - (SUB Earth Balance)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk - (SUB any type of milk substitute, almond, soy, coconut)
1/4 tsp. salt

Melt butter in 1 to 1 1/2 quart flat baking dish (SUB - just coat the dish with a little butter and mix the rest in with the other stuff). Add fruit. Mix all remaining ingredients and spoon on top of fruit. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. 

(SUB - I actually just threw ALL the ingredients in a bowl, mixed it up, then dumped it in to bake.  I like how the mix gets more evenly distributed around the berries this way).

It was delicious. Berry-ey. 

Kettlebells - Swinging Weights

I've been working out with Russian Kettlebells now for about a year, with Katie Hawbaker.  She holds sessions at Louisville Collegiate School on Grinstead.  Here's a link to her site: http://kettlebellkate.com/

I love kettlebells.  For the record.  I have two 10 kg bells that I use at home, and I also attend group workout sessions with Kate. Her sessions are small, usually no more that 6-8 people.  It's nice to have a small community of people to support each other, and also the corrections of an instructor who is looking out for your body and safety.

Kettlebells have really made me strong and definitely changed my body. My arms have leaned and my core is very strong.  Also, my arches used to collapse and hurt me for days at a time, but now I never have foot issues.  I can also do man-style push-ups!  I couldn't even do those when I was in high school, playing basketball and softball.

I think kettlebells are so much more fun than working out at a gym, using weight machines.  Sitting down to work your legs never made any sense to me. Plus, with kettlebells you get cardio and weights simultaneously.

Here's a pic of Kate! She's a total bad ass.

Other resources for kettlebells:

http://www.dragondoor.com/

http://www.dragondoor.com/media_center/dragon_door_tv/

http://www.mikemahler.com/

http://www.kettlebellinc.com/index.php/articles-a-videos/articles.html

Chelsea Clinton's vegan and kettlebell pre-wedding plan
http://www.fitsugar.com/Chelsea-Clintons-Vegan-Wedding-Kettlebell-Workouts-More-9451644

http://www.shape.com/fitness/kettlebell-workouts-top-7-ways-to-make-the-trend-work-for-you


I forgot to mention the other reason I love kettlebells:  FAST.  You get a lot of bang for your buck.

Now for this bad mamma jamma.  She's holding 52 lbs in weight, and she's also a medical doctor.

Health Stats for Louisville

Follow this link and you can find all kinds of health statistics for Louisville Metro.

http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Health/policyandplanning.htm

Some of these include:

• Cancer rates
• Obesity 
• Diabetes
• Asthma
• Lead poisoning 
• Physical activity
• Homicide and gunshot related death

Junk Food Binge Averted.

At the end of this long, tiring, and stressful three week work-bender that's been grinding me down (but I do love my work!), I found myself compelled toward emotional eating.  After stopping and realizing that fact, I decided to fill the craving for something... anything.... BAD! (with something good).

My concoction.

RAW CHOCOLATE SHAKE (makes 3 servings)

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 cups almond milk
• 1/2 package silken tofu
• 3 pitted dates
• 1 tablespoon agave
• 1/2 cup of almond meal or hazelnut meal
• 1/4 cup pecans

Blend.

Drink.

Refrigerate remaining and/or feed to husband, sister, and sister's boyfriend. 

Delicious, and it tasted like chocolate ice cream.

Approx. 250 calories if divided into thirds. Sugar free.  Loaded with protein. 

Top Foods That Are Making Us Fat

Original Study in medical Journal: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1014296

Source of the following text: http://www.fitsugar.com/Top-Foods-Make-You-Fat-According-New-Study-17989550

A new report from Harvard researchers has found the top foods that are making us fat, and the findings are not at all surprising.

The extensive study used data for over 120,000 healthy men and women from previous studies to track their diet every four years from 1986 to 2006 to see how their lifestyle and what they ate affected their weight. The researchers found that within each period the average weight gain was a little over three pounds — which added up to a 17-pound total weight gain over the 20-year period.

What caused that weight gain? Topping the list of culprits are meat, sweetened drinks, fried foods, and any form of potatoes. The biggest cause of weight gain was eating french fries; every extra serving of fries eaten in a day was linked to a gain of more than three pounds, while eating an extra serving of potato chips led to 1.69 pounds. Other diet busters included refined grains (like white rice and white bread) and butter.

But the news wasn't all bad; the study also identified the foods that helped prevent weight gain. Read on for the list of foods that cause and prevent weight gain.

Worst food offenders (pounds gained for every additional serving per day over four years):

1. French fries (over three pounds)
2. Potato chips (1.69 pounds)
3. Potatoes (1.28 pounds)
4. Sugar-sweetened drinks (one pound)
5. Red meat (0.95 pounds)
6. Processed meats (0.93 pounds)

Best foods for your waistline (amount of weight gain prevented for every additional serving):

1. Yogurt (-0.82 pounds)
2. Nuts (-0.57 pounds)
3. Fruits (-0.49 pounds)
4. Whole grains (-0.37 pounds)
5. Vegetables (-0.22 pounds)

The results show us what everyone knows — eating junk food and starchy foods can be bad news for your waistline — but the data are useful for quantifying just how much that extra bag of chips can hurt you, as well as how making the switch to whole healthy foods can help. Ready to make those changes? Here are whole grains that'll fight belly bloat and keep you feeling full, and everything you need to know about nuts.

Crisis

This was posted on the Tosh.0 blog the other day.  Lots of people making all kinds of smart, snarky, racist comments about it.  Humor and comedy are important, as they can serve as vehicles for helping us to cope with disasters or human tragedy.  This photo illustrates human tragedy, most certainly.  It also illustrates disaster in terms of the health epidemic that is wrecking our country.  Oftentimes, what constitutes funny is irony.  Laughing about something that's not really funny (at all) is a way to acknowledge the severity of something (like racism, poverty, etc...) without actually naming it.

Well, let's take a minute to name it... because sometimes, those doing the laughing don't really understand the layers, nor are they privy to the intellectual processes that motivate someone toward the use of irony .

A little critical analysis on this image will reveal hidden structures of oppression.

• Obesity - A chronic disease related to poor diet and physical activity, which is disproportionately impacting low income and African American communities.
• Poverty - This woman is very obviously economically disempowered.  I wonder if she might even be homeless.  
• Health - both physical and mental health appear to be issues in this image.  This woman may be a narcoleptic, mentally ill, or suffering from some other condition. 

So, yes.... Maybe some people find this image to be humorous at first glance.  However, this is a human being who is clearly suffering in numerous ways. It's not really funny, at all, when you start to think about what's actually going on here and what this image represents.  It's unfortunate that this image is circulating the net. I can't even imagine how embarrassing that would be, if she were to find out.  It's really very, very sad.  

I also feel sad for her little dog.  Poor baby. It's probably a little bit upset that someone is hovering with a camera next to its owner, with the bad intentions of exploiting the situation.

Sorry to be a buzz kill. This just struck a chord with me. 

Earthsave and the Sacramento Food Bank's "Meals for Health" Program

When we think about health, we must acknowledge how the lives of people of color and those who are economically disempowered are negatively impacted by our food and medical infrastructures.  The number of people suffering with chronic disease (heart disease, diabetes, stroke) are disproportionately clustered in low income areas.  Additionally, African Americans are suffering from very high rates of hypertension and diabetes.  I've seen maps that illustrate this, and I've asked someone at the Health Department about getting links so they can be shared online. It's shocking.

This brings me to my topic of the day.  Social services and food distribution programs.... so think of food pantries, food donation programs running out of community centers, and programs like Meals on Wheels.

I knew a woman who worked at the "Fictitious Name" community center in Louisville, which is located next to the "XYZ" public housing development.  She once told me about the food donation program that they run, and I was under the impression that it mostly went to assisting seniors.  She said that Kroger donated a lot of baked goods, things like schnecken, sticky buns, cinnamon rolls, etc... They were items the bakery had to purge because they were unsold and getting stale, so they would send them to the community center.  This is a recipe for disaster.  Yes, Kroger is doing something good by donating food to those in need that would otherwise be wasted.  However, the food they are donating is having a severely negative health impact on the population they wish to help.  With such high concentrations of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, donating fatty and sugary foods from the bakery is about as helpful as donating bourbon to a recovery center.

I've also done quite a bit of work in the "ABC" public housing development.  I don't know if this program is still going on (it was in 2009), but the recreation center was getting a delivery of boxed lunches every day from fast food restaurants.  These lunches were to feed the youth and children who were engaged in their programs.  Think french fries and cheese burgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, etc...  Fried potatoes, refined grains (the bleached white buns), animal protein, and lots of fatty grease.  Again, the intentions are good.  "Hey, we've got hungry kids.... Let's see what we can do to ensure they get at least 1 solid meal per day."  Yet, despite these great intentions, the overall impact on the health and well being of the community is negative.  It's creating and sustaining food addiction to very dangerous high calorie junk food.

The institutional structures that implement and maintain programs like these are not thinking critically about their choices.  These programs unwittingly promote pedagogies of oppression.  Through their actions (giving food in their centers) they are teaching the community that this food is good, safe, and healthy.  Yet, this is an illusion.  The message they are sending is actually false.  In reality, these foods are having a deleterious impact on the entire community, and the data are available to support this claim.  The problem is worsened by the fact that so many of those receiving this misleading message are children, whose consumption patterns (developing food addictions) are being scaffolded, shaped, and molded by this infrastructure.

The community centers running these programs are responsible, in part.  They're the ones sending the inappropriate message and administering the bad nutrition.  However, the corporations are providing a sort of "toxic philanthropy", if you will.  They donate, and then enjoy the benefits associated with giving (tax deductions, positive feelings, goodwill toward their company on behalf of the community).  How do we reconcile this dilemma?  They are serving and selling products that are, by nature, bad.  Yet, they must stand behind their products.  Otherwise, how would their marketing efforts prevail?  How would they continue making money?

The fundamental point on which we must land is the question of health equity.  People that need food and don't have money are forced to choose between one of two possible outcomes:  A) eat this unhealthy food B) don't eat at all.  I would argue that this is not a choice.  Rather, this is a subtle type of coercion in which a person in need is put into a position of choosing between two equally undesirable options.

Most middle class white Americans know that eating fast food and schnecken every day is a bad idea, and they are in a position to choose otherwise.  This is the notion of "personal responsibility' that corporations like Yum and McDonalds like to fall back on in order to absolve them of acknowledging their responsibility for contributing to the chronic diseases that are plaguing this nation.  However, those living in poverty may or may not know that eating fast food and schnecken every day is a bad idea, because they're receiving false messages from the institutions that feed them.  Additionally, even if they did know that this is a poor dietary decision, they are not economically empowered to choose otherwise.  If they are in poverty and don't have access to good food, their option is to eat food that is killing them or starve.

Earthsave and the Sacramento Food Bank have pioneered a radical intervention.  they've created the "meals for Health" program, which promotes a vegan, plant-based diet.  This program is now starting to see glowing success.  Check out their videos below.

There are options!  This group is oriented toward finding solutions.  I find it to be an inspiring and hopeful message.

Raw day.

My diet over the past few days has been abysmal.  All the reminder that staying on top of the grocery shopping is essential to eating well.  Once the fresh produce and mylks are gone, it's a downward spiral to carb hell.  Nothing good can come of foraging the lazy susan, which is packed with baking essentials.  This has been going on since last Thursday, which I decided to make vegan cup cakes and espresso icing, then thought it would be a good idea to start making one of them topped with vanilla soy ice cream my "midnight hot fudge cake" snack. Also, we'll throw in the double batch of blueberry and pecan whole wheat pancakes I made on Thursday night for good measure.

Today, I am repenting.   My awesome friend Shelley turned me on to this amazing blog called "Raw on $10 a day (or less)".  http://rawon10.blogspot.com  Shelley made the Breakfast Chia Porridge and facebooked me her pics.  So I whipped up a batch this morning for me and the hottie.  I did not use raisins, and used pecans instead of walnuts.  This is husband approved. I also love how this blog tells you the number of calories and how much it costs to make this stuff. Brilliant.

http://rawon10.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-15-2011.html

Breakfast

Chia Porridge

serves 1 ~ $1.75 per serving

4 tablespoons chia ($.80)

1/2 cup water

1/2 apple, chopped ($.30)

2 tablespoons walnuts, chopped ($.25)

2 tablespoons raisins ($.20)

 1 tablespoon agave ($.20)

pinch cinnamon

This is super quick and super easy, and it tastes pretty good, too.

In a bowl, stir together the ground chia seeds and water. Let stand for a few minutes so it can gel. Add the chopped apple, chopped walnut, and raisins. Top with the agave and add a pinch of cinnamon, if desired.

calories: 341

fat: 18 gr

carbs: 57 gr

protein: 7 gr

I also made this for dinner.  One exception.... I boiled the quinoa flakes as directed, then added all the ingredients.  I did not microwave this, because I'm trying to eat very little cooked/dead food today.  Here's the link to the site. Haven't had a chance to look at this blog much as of yet, but it looks really nice.  http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2011/04/cinnibun-oat-streusel-muffins/


5 minute Strawberry Quinoa Flake Bake

Vegan, Gluten free, Dairy free, Refined sugar free, Yeast free

The ingredients are easy, the preparation is simple, and the taste is out of this world! Not only will it satisfy your sweet cravings, it will keep you full for hours!

Inspired by: Averie’s blueberry banana oat cakes and 5 minute Apple Quinoa Flake Bake

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup strawberry pulp – about 6-8 strawberries ran through your blender, no water needed!
• 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar – brown sugar, or sucanat would work great too!
• 1 tbsp of chia seeds
• 2 tbsp apple sauce
• 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Optional toppings: cocoalmond mania butter, raisins, coconut, granola, more coconut, maple syrup, yacon syrup…

Directions

1. Prepare a 16oz. microwave safe dish by oiling with a dab of coconut oil. Set aside.
2. Drop all ingredients in a small bowl and mixing until fully incorporated.
3. Press mixture into prepare dish and even out with fork. Place in the microwave and cook for 3 1/2 – 4 minutes. You’ll know when it’s done when it rises slightly, is harder to the touch, and pulls away from the sides of the dish.
4. Allow to rest for 1 minute before tipping over onto a plate [or leave in the dish like the picture above]

Makes 1 breakfast bake.

Finally, I made this.  It's amazing, and so filling.  The blog author says it feeds 2, but I believe it feeds 4.  After eating this, I feel completely high!

http://rawon10.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-05-02T08%3A21%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=7#uds-search-results


Sweet 'n Creamy Tomato Soup
serve 2 ~ $2.89 per serving

4 tomatoes, chopped ($4.00)
3 carrots, peeled and chopped ($.30) 
1 avocado, chopped ($.88)
1 tablespoon chopped onion 
2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
2 tablespoons agave ($.40) 
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes
agave 

I still had frozen tomatoes from last year, so that's what I used for this soup. The agave adds some really nice sweetness.

In a blender, puree the tomatoes, carrots, avocado, onion, olive oil, and agave, until very smooth. Salt and pepper to taste, and add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and a drizzle of agave if desired.

So, that's it for today.  I feel energetic and light.  Time to help my husband hang some drywall.