SOUPS, SOUPS & more SOUPS!

Who doesn't love soup? I love coming home from a long day to soup waiting for me in the crock pot. Soups are delicious, easy to make and most importantly- cheap! I make a crock pot of soup at least once a week because it is easy on the budget and my husband and I each get about 3 meals out of it! My next few posts will be all about soup. I hope you get a chance to try a few of them. I make all my soups in the crock pot because it is easiest but you can make any of these over the stove. You will want to cook the soups on low for at least 4 hours or on high for at least 3 hours in the crock pot or about an hour on the stove.

Tortilla Soup:

1 box vegetable broth

1 15oz can tomato sauce or diced tomatoes

1/2 onion diced

1 carrot choppped

1/2 green pepper chopped

1 1/2 C cooked black beans or 1 1/2 cans of black beans

1C sweet corn

1 4oz can diced green chiles

1T olive oil

1T garlic

1t ground cumin

1t chili powder

1t cayenne pepper

1t oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Garnishes:

avocado

crushed tortilla chips or tortilla strips

cilantro

lime

cheese

sour cream

-Saute the onion, carrot, and garlic on medium heat with oil until onions are tender.

-add all ingredients to crock pot

-cook on low at least 4 hours
-top with preferred yummy garnishes and enjoy!

Easy & Refreshing Summer Treat - Strawberry Sorbet

As it has been getting warmer I have been craving frozen treats. I usually go to Paradise Yogurt in Mission Valley because they have one vegan yogurt flavor everyday. But a yogurt, soy ice cream, or sorbet usually cost $4 and up. So I decided to try and make my own sorbet ad it came out delicious! And the total cost of 2 cups of homemade sorbet comes out to about $2. I like to enjoy this sorbet with fresh fruit, chocolate chips, or a splash of champagne.

STRAWBERRY SORBET:

2c fresh strawberries frozen or frozen strawberries

1c water

3/4c sugar

-in a small sauce pan combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil

-reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes or until the water is clear

-set aside to cool

-in a blender or food processor blend half of the frozen strawberries with the sugar water.

-after blended slowly add the rest of the strawberries one at a time

-transfer to a glass or stainless steel bowl and freeze for a couple hours until hardened ( i personally like it when it is half frozen and half soft)

-Go outside and ENJOY!

You can make this with other fruits. If the mixture is too thick you can always add apple juice or lemon juice. If it becomes too hard after freezing you can blend it again and then stick it back in the freezer.

Breakfast Burritos

My husband loves breakfast burritos and after he became vegan I tried to make a breakfast burrito that he declared worthy. It took a while and I think I finally perfected it to his taste buds. These burritos are so easy to make and you can add anything to them that you would like.

First thing I did was cut the potatoes long ways so that they looked like french fries (since most breakfast burritos in CA have fries in them) Then I fried them with olive oil (or you could use vegan butter) and chopped garlic. They cook for about 10 minutes total. I like to keep the lid on so that I don't get splattered with oil. Don't forget to flip them a couple of times. Two potatoes make about 4-6 medium size burritos.

Then I make the "eggs" using firm tofu. Start by sauteing garlic and onions in a little olive oil. Add the tofu when the onions are soft and translucent. I use one small block of tofu for about 4-6 medium burritos.

To get the tofu to look and taste like eggs I use about 1/4c of nutritional yeast. I also add salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne, and a little bit of salsa. If you do no have all these ingredients you could just use nutritional yeast and it would taste fine. After adding the ingredients break apart the tofu with a spatula until it has a scrambled egg texture.

Now it is time to put your burritos together. You can use flour or corn tortillas. My husband likes vegetarian refried beans in his but you can use black beans or kidney beans. I added avocado and hot sauce to make it a traditional breakfast burrito but it is also delicious with olives, zucchini, jalapenos, cilantro, and other veggies.

Just have fun with it and be creative! They will taste yummy no matter what!

FIRST ENTRY! Fresh Strawberry Pie

For my first entry I decided to do my fresh strawberry pie. I think you will find this fairly easy along with my other recipes. I am a wife with two jobs, and a mommy of a cavalier king charles spaniel, so I like to keep things simple and quick. I am also on a budget so I tend to buy things that are cheaper and in season (you will be seeing a lot of strawberry recipes at first).

Shortcuts for measurements are:

cup= c

tablespoon= T

teaspoon= t

First of all with this recipe you will need to make a pie crust and cook it or buy a Graham cracker crust to fill. I like to use a basic flaky pie crust for this recipe because I like the saltiness of the margarine with the sweetness of the strawberries. But any crust will do.

Here is the PIE CRUST recipe I use:

1 1/4 C flour

1/4 teaspoon (t) of salt

1/2c vegetable shortening or margarine

3 tablespoons (T) of cold water

Put flour, salt and butter in a food processor and blend until mixture is crumbly, then slowly add water until mixed. Knead for a minute or two. Wrap the dough in wax or plastic wrap and chill for 30 min. Then roll the dough into a 9in pie pan and cook till golden and bubbly at 400 degrees

FRESH STRAWBERRY PIE:

2 lbs of strawberries

1c sugar (you can also use agave, maple syrup or honey)

3T corn starch

1/2c water
dash of cinnamon

-Mash 1c strawberries

-In a pot combine the sugar, corn starch, water, mashed strawberries and cinnamon

-Bring to a boil and continue boiling until the mixture becomes thick, bubbly, and transparent, the remove from heat

-Slice the rest of the strawberries or leave them whole if they are small and fill the pie crust with the fresh strawberries

-Pour the filling over the strawberries

-chill for 2-3 hours