Vegan Minestrone Soup ala Crockpot

Today was a good soup day!!! So I whipped up some DELISH Vegan Minestrone!!!

8 cups of water
1 cube of vegan vegetable broth (concentrate)
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce ( vegetable of course)
1 cup of diced onion
3 garlic cloves diced
1 can of garbanzo and kidneys beans drained
3 large carrots diced
2 small zuchinni diced
1 cup of mushrooms chopped
1 large pototo cubed
salt and pepper to taste
ALL OF THIS IN THE CROCKPOT and either do on LOW for 8 hrs or on HIGH for 4 hrs
30 minutes before you are ready to eat, taste for seasonings and add 1 cup of dry pasta of your choice......and close the lid and let pasta soften....and serve!

EXCELLENT way for the kids to get their veggies and it is so healthy! We had it with 10 grain whole wheat french loaf!!!!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!

Winter Garden Update

Today I planted 18 Swiss Chard plants.....I love this stuff!

Also since the last time posting about the Garden, I have had to put down SLUGGO......Im not sure why BUT we have a terrible problem with little black slugs about an inch long and they really got my cabbage and BrusselSprouts.....so I sprinkled SLUGGO all over I hope this helps...after this BIG rain we are gonna get this next week Im going to put down Diatimatious Earth to ensure they are gone!!!
CHECK OUT THIS Earthworm......he was 4 inches long and as big as round as my pinkie! The biggest worm I have ever seen!!!!!

Here are some PIX updates!

Biggest Loser......

OK what is this about you ask.....a GF of mine invited me and some other women who we have all been friends for 5 years together....on a weight loss challenge VIA Fatbet.com

I agreed on 15 pds in 3 months.....

Part of my New Years Resolution was to excersise EVERYDAY.....so this can fit in to this whole "challenge"

Im tired of being FAT.....its ugly its uncomfortable and IM DONE...Im serious this time! SO today I weighed I wasnt too unhappy I didnt hardly gain anything over the Holidays I was really careful!
BUT I have alot of weight to loose...ALOT! So this is going to be a long journey but I will do it and succeed!!!!!

Today I rode the recumbent bike 4.3 miles, walked and cleaned house normal stuff.

But tonight I made some YUMMY Vegan Potato Leek Soup...safe for me and safe for my daughter who has milk allergys!!!

Recipe:
8 cups of water in a stock pot on medium high heat
1 cube of veggie broth concentrate
4 cups of cubed potato ( which ever kind you prefer)
4 large leeks ( split down the middle and soak in water, be sure to rinse really WELL!!! lots of sand and grit in leeks)
4 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup Olive Oil

Set pot to boil add veggie cube
put in pots, leeks and garlic salt and pepper let boil till tender
Use a eletric hand mixer AKA Boat Motor and WHIZZ this till smooth and add the Olive Oil and taste your seasonings.....serve with crusty bread and VIOLA!!!!!

So in addition to everything on this BLOG we will jounrey together on weight loss...why not everyone else is too RIGHT???

Peace out!

I found out my oldest has a Milk Allergy.....

For months now I have had some concerns and I have been making notes and writing reaactions down to certain things. Well for sure we found out today she has a milk allergy which is totally different than lactose intolerance.....the difference is she is allergic to a protein in the milk...either the caseins, or whey or the curds etc..... which is harder to treat than lactose intolerance.

I found a GREAT website that offers GREAT advise and I have a friend who her kids have the same kinds of allergys so I can pick her brain....but if anyone out there has any advise Iam open to hearing your methods of madness!
Food List to AVOID:
http://kidshealth.org/teen/misc/milkallergy_cutout.html

Good Article:
http://kidshealth.org/teen/nutrition/diets/milk_allergy.html

Well this is my findings for the day....whether Im talking to myself or I have a new found friend...thanks for listening!

Organic Choices for Gardening safely!

If you are curious about products to use that are organic and safe for your family and pets....this is what I use!

Neem Oil I use to spray as a dormant spray for the fruit trees and works well for a aphids!

Saf T Side is a good PEST CONTROL

SLUG GO is good for snails and slugs....which are in abundance this year for some weird reason, this is KID and PET SAFE!!!!! Very important!!!!

Meet Mr Fuji Apple and Miss Elberta Kim Peach

Well I went out today and bought my Mutsu's Apple Mate Mr Fuji....and while I was out I bought a JUICY PEACH!

In my last post I wrote I had found out my Mustsu Apple needed a pollinator....one choice was a Fuji....so I got one of those!

PLUS I want to show off my pruning techniques I learned yesterday at my class I went to, so all the trees are pruned and sprayed with dormant spray......and I dont know if I mentioned this but I garden organically.....for the safety of my family and my animals!