meatless monday is back, baby!

You know my main goal for 2010 was to "eat outside the box". I made great strides in feeding my family less processed foods and more home made goodness. Then we travelled to Russia in February of 2011, came home, and prepared to leave for Russia again, this time for a month. Every free moment was taken up with planning for the new baby, planning for the trip, wrapping up work for my 3 month leave and getting my 4 year old mentally and physically prepared for a month without Mommy. We ate what I cooked, and what I cooked was not always the best. I am happy to report that many of my new habits stuck; my quest for easy whole foods recipes really paid off and I was able to stick to it a good deal of the time.

Then we came home and became a family of 4. I don't think you can really explain what you go through when you introduce a 24 month old to an already established family. It's not like babysitting someone else's kid. This is a child who has had his entire life completely uprooted. Everything he as known and trusted has disappeared and he has no reason to think it won't happen again. Taken from the only home he has ever known to a hotel, then the long travel home, then a new home, with people who look, smell, and sound different. Different foods, different bed, different toys. Our first 2 weeks home I basically ran around protecting our new little guy and making him feel safe and loved. Now we have settled into a routine and while there are still challenges, of course, we are slowly getting back to our new normal. And I am slowly getting back to eating outside the box again.

Today we celebrate meatless monday with a super easy meal of grilled cheese and home made tomato soup. Yum! Seriously folks, it is only slighter harder than opening a can. And soon everyone will have fresh tomatoes piling up!

Super Easy Tomato Soup

Ingredients



4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes


1/4 quarter cup onion

1 whole clove garlic

pinch basil
2 cups chicken broth (can also use veggie broth)2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons white sugar, or to taste


 1.In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food processor into a pan.

2.In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.

enjoy!