Carrot Soup - A Summer Favorite!

I made this soup earlier this summer and my mom #2, Kathy...Loved it so much she has been begging me for the recipe. It took a lot of digging but I found the recipe again! This soup once made needs to be put in the refrigerator. It is sooo good cold! It makes a great mid-day snack or healthy dinner option.

• 1lb of carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 potato, chopped into chunks (with the skin on)
• 5 cups of vegetable stock
• 2 celery, (with leaves? all the more better)
• 1 cup low fat buttermilk or Greek yogurt. I used Greek yogurt.
• 1 leek white and tender green parts only, coarsely chopped
• 1 onion, chopped roughly
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• pinch of saffron
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp of cayenne

1. In a large pot, combine the stock with the carrots, celery, onion, leek, potato, cumin, paprika and cayenne and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender or food processor, then return to the pot. Stir in the buttermilk and season with salt and pepper. Reheat gently. Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

Notes One Serving 115 calories, 1.0 gm total fat, 0.5 gm saturated fat, 18 gm carb

Here is the website I found this Spicy Carrot Soup.

SAVE THE BEES!!!!

There is a serious epidemic going on in our world and it is the Vanishing of the Bee's! I have been aware of this for the past few years and in landscaping my yard I have been very careful about planting bee friendly plants.  I am also very protective of them when it comes to my dog because she likes to eat them and that is NOT okay. I never swat at them or try to kill them as there is this respect I have for them and what they give us and how hard they work.

I recently watched the movie, Vanishing of the Bees and it was amazing! Jeremy and I watched this together and it was if we were studying for the course of our lives. Bee's are a vital part of our civilization. Without them, we would not have food and they keep our plants growing and thriving through their cross pollination. So it is very important to find out why they have been disappearing. There was a lot of scenarios out there but after watching this movie and hearing different perspectives, I truly do believe their conclusion.

The movie has interviews from beekeepers, scientists and food (yes my man Michael Pollan was part of this movie) and environmental experts from around the world, Katerva nominee “Vanishing of the Bees” not only uncovers the story of the Colony Collapse Disorder phenomenon, but also brings to light its consequences and a platform of everyday solutions, such as monoculture planting and the use of chemicals in our agricultural industry.

If you have Netflix it is free to stream! If you don't I would HIGHLY recommend spending the $3.99 for the pay per view screening.

I will leave you with some memorable quotes from the movie...

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead 


Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money. – Cree Indian Proverb

It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony as a variation of wave pressure. - Albert Einstein 

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil and you're a thousand miles from the corn field. - Dwight David Eisenhower

Peace and Love

Great Read!

I am not a big reader but between my husband and I we read some interesting books.  I thought I would start sharing books we have read and want to read with you. I recently came across this book and it holds very close to my heart.


"The Feast Nearby" was written by Robin Mather.  After searching online I found she has a blog too! Here is some information on Robin Mather. I can't WAIT to read her book! Here is a brief exert from an article I read about her.

Within a week in 2009, Mather lost her job as food writer for The Chicago Tribune and ended her marriage of twelve years. Depressed and lost, she retreated to a small summer home beside a lake in rural Michigan. Few people in the town were full-time residents; most came up on warm weekends, and in the winter the lake was quiet and peaceful. Mather saw this cottage as the perfect place to make a new home with her talkative parrot and playful dog.  With a very limited income, Mather knew that she had to watch her food bills. But she also knew she wanted to spend as much of her forty dollars a week in food expenses on local growers and businesses as she could. She lays down a few ground rules in the book's introduction, including allowances for coffee beans, sugar, and spices to be sourced from further away. But her weekly consumption of produce, meat, and grains would come from farmers within her immediate surroundings, and of course her diet would follow the schedule of the growing season. For more information, click on this link for more on Leah Douglas's article.

Here is Robin's blog too if you would like to continue to follow her, The Feast Nearby.

Happy Chuseok!

HAPPY CHUSEOK!

In light of our recent Harvest Moon (September 12, 2011) I wanted to share with you a Holiday in Korea my fellow adoptee Andrea posted on my Yahoo Group.  According to Wikipedia, " is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. Like many other harvest festivals, it is held around the Autumn Equinox. As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food such as songpeyon and rice wines such as sindoju and dongdongju. I just love this because it is all the more reason for me to feel the natural connection with adopting from Korea. I am such a believer in signs!!

I love the Harvest Moon and it is such a passionate time of year when it happens. In the days before electricity, farmers counted on the lamp of the Harvest Moon to gather their crops. Making up for the autumn season’s waning daylight, the Harvest Moon faithfully provides several nights of dusk-till-dawn moonl  The Harvest Moon is always such a spiritual time! 

Peace and Love,
Sarah