Garden Harvest & White Bean Chili

Hello Fall!!! I'm so in love with the weather right now and loving HARVEST TIME!  My garden is in full force and I'm overeating all kind of amazing things like, tomatoes, swiss chard, zucchini, beets and carrots!  We also enjoyed peaches and apples from the trees in our yard as well, although they need some serious grooming.  

Above:  These are our square foot gardens with tomatoes/zucchini/squash planted behind them straight in the ground.  These gardens are so incredibly easy!  As you can see, they are sectioned off into squares and I plant per square instead of in rows.  This way of gardening has made life so much easier!  Weeding is minimal and the weeds pull out quickly and easily.

I'm thrilled that as Fall sets in I am able to make soups, stews and chili's.  There is nothing more comforting to me that having something like this for dinner!  This Chili has been one of my favorites and I used to make it with Chicken, and I decided to try it without.  Just as good!  Yes!  Hope you enjoy.

White Bean Chili

1 onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 heaping tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt or 2 tablespoons Liquid Aminos

1 small can diced green chile peppers

4-6 cups Great Northern Beans, cooked 

(add as many beans as you'd like for thickness)

6 cups vegetable broth

Saute onion and garlic in a little water.  Add cumin and saute for at least 1 minute.  Keep a little moist with water.  Add diced green chile peppers, beans, & vegetable broth.  Season with a little salt or Liquid Aminos.  Heat through and serve with chopped green onions, cilantro, salsa on top, or as seen above, hot sauce!  It also makes a great dip for chips!  Enjoy!

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

My garden is overflowing with produce right now!  I can't believe it!  We are enjoying zucchini and yellow squash like crazy.  I decided to make a quick soup for dinner tonight and it turned out so good!  My kids ate at least 2 bowls each.  Love that!  They were pounding veggies and didn't even care.  Stellar!  Hope you enjoy this soup, especially if you have zucchini and squash coming out your ears like us!

Creamy Summer Squash Soup

One large yellow squash, cubed

One large zucchini, cubed

1 onion, cut in chunks

2 cups vegetable stock

1-2 cups almond milk

1/4 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos

Combine the veggies and vegetable stock in a large pot.  Bring to boil, turn to low and cook 15 minutes or until veggies are soft.  Add almond milk and liquid aminos.  Blend well.  Flavor with a little more salt, 21 Salute or whatever sounds good to you.  We didn't add anything else to ours.  Delish!  

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

This recipe is adapted from The Forks Over Knives Cookbook.  My kids weren't very excited about this soup, because it had cauliflower in it.  Well, there wasn't a drop left!  They LOVED it! 

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 onion, chopped

4-5 garlic cloves, crushed and diced

4 teaspoons curry

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

4-6 cups water or vegetable broth

Almond Milk (optional)

Cilantro & Scallions for garnish (tastes amazing in soup)

Saute onions and garlic in a little water until translucent.  Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil over medium heat, turn on low until cauliflower is soft.  Blend the soup.  If it's too thick, add a little water or almond milk.  Garnish with cilantro and sliced scallions.

Christina's Creamy Zucchini Soup

This is my Best Buddy Christina!  She and I are always swapping recipes!  Her Mom is Cindy, the author to a few of the guest posts here on my blog.  I am so grateful for her friendship.  I learn so much from her!  I'm especially grateful for this amazing recipe she let me post!  It is perfect for this time of year with all of our zucchini growing out of our ears!  Actually, I don't know about you, but I didn't get as much zucchini as I usually do and in running around to Farmers Markets, they apparently didn't either :(  Christina and I did luck out on our way to a park last week, a man was out in front of his home giving away GIANT zucchini!  We took almost all he had!  Hows that for selfish?!  If I insist you to do anything, it's to give this a try!  Thanks again to my pal!

Christina's Creamy Zucchini Soup

1 huge zucchini

2 big potatoes pre-cooked in their skins

1 sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2/3 can coconut milk (I used the whole can!)

1/4 cup Braggs liquid aminos (optional)

Season to taste with 21 salute, oregano, and white pepper (I used no seasonings)

Cut up the whole zucchini into chunks and place in 7 qt. with onion and garlic.  Add 2 cups water.  Bring to medium temperature, cover and simmer over low heat until zucchini cooks down and softens. Cut up the potatoes and add to zucchini mixture.  Cover until potatoes are at the same temperature.  Add the coconut milk and use immersion blender to puree the soup, then add seasonings to taste.  So  creamy and Delish!!!!

Dan's Tomato Basil Bisque

Does that not look yummy?!  Dan made this the first time and we all ate every ounce, but he forgot to write his recipe down...so he made it again, and it was even better the second time.  I think he has all the talent in the family, for sure!  I love it when he cooks!  This recipe comes right in time for the end of summer tomatoes and is great for a Sunday dinner or a rainy day.  I am so excited for Fall and all the yummy hearty dishes that come with it!  Hope you enjoy!

Tomato Basil Bisque

2 large onions, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 large carrots, halved and sliced

8-10 large tomatoes

1 cup dried tomatoes (optional)

2 cups almond milk

salt, pepper, basil, onion powder, garlic powder to taste

2 tablespoons oil; coconut or canola

Saute onion and garlic in oil.  Add tomatoes and saute, scald but don't burn the tomatoes (we used our cast iron skillet).  As you do this, the onion, garlic, tomato mixture will reduce and thicken.  This should take 8 to 10 minutes. In a blender, blend the onion, garlic, tomato mixture until smooth.

While the tomatoes are cooking down, Add the potatoes and carrots to a large pot.  Cover with water and bring to boil...turn to medium low heat and cook until tender.  Pour off the water.  Add the blended tomato mixture, almond milk, dried tomatoes and spices to taste.  Simmer until heated through.  Serve.

Gerson's Hippocrates Soup

I know it's summer and in the last thing you are thinking about is a hot soup.  This soup, however is incredibly easy, great for digestion and a staple in the healing of cancer, the Gerson Way.  What is that?  Well, you can find a simple review of The Gerson Therapy on their main website as well as a simple book review I wrote for the Nutrition Principles website.  The book The Gerson Therapy has to have been one of the most fascinating things I've read....ever!  The basic idea of the therapy is to heal cancer, diabetes, heart disease or any other degenerative disease as well as drug addiction.  Yes, it can be done through the foods we eat which are whole foods, mostly organically grown fruits and vegetables in the form of 13 cups of juice hourly each day, coffee enemas, potassium supplements and other natural supplements.  It sounds a little weird, I'm sure, but chemotherapy and radiation doesn't sound weird?  I also just finished reading a book called "A Time To Heal" by a woman named Beata Bishop.  This book reads like a novel, and is a story of her journey in healing herself using The Gerson Therapy.  Over 25 years ago she was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma, a very serious and deadly form of Skin Cancer.  She was given 6 weeks to 6 months to live.  She explains how she finds out about The Gerson Therapy and her decision to follow it for the next 18 months and how she miraculously heals.  It is not an easy journey.  The Gerson Therapy requires a great deal of dedication and for a long period of time with strict adherence to following a clean diet after healing.  There are many amazing stories out there of people who have cured themselves using this therapy.  Without question, I would use this method to heal myself if ever needed.  My hope is that I won't.  

This wonderfully simple soup is something I try to keep in the fridge often and eat with my lunch or dinner often.  This is the Gerson's recipe and they purposely leave out salt and other flavorings, because they can conflict with those who are healing.  Before adding anything else to give this soup your own flavor, try to eat it as is.  I love it!

Hippocrates Soup

1 medium celery root or 3-4 stalks celery

Garlic as desired

2 small leeks or 2 onions

1 1/2 pounds tomatoes or more

2 onions

1 pound potatoes

a little parsley

Do not peel any of these vegetables!  Wash them very well.  Cut them coarsely.  Barely cover the vegetables with filtered water (I like less water, it makes the soup much more creamy).  On medium heat bring to a simmer, turn on low and simmer 2 hours.  Blend the soup, leaving small chunks, if desired.  Store for up to 2 days.