Just in time for Fall guys!

Anyone else feeling a shift in the season? I know I certainly am. We only have one week left until Fall officially begins and I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling kind of excited for pumpkin spice lattes and yummy vegan soups. 🙂

So excited in fact, that I’m already finding creative new ways to use my Summer veggies for making soup hahaha.

And we all know what happens when I get creative and ideas start flowing…

So here’s my latest revelation in a nutshell… and a recipe.

I HATE WASTING FOOD. One of my biggest issues :). I feel like we should budget our food just like we budget our money and our time.

I grew up with a mother who always told us to finish our food because we were so lucky unlike most. She even used the example of starving children in Ethiopia. Finally one day my triathlete sister challenged our mother and replied, “Me eating all of my food and getting fat isn’t going to help the Ethiopian children mother.” LOL… I still laugh at my sister saying this. THEY BOTH HAVE A POINT. We should never take our lives for granted. We are blessed with good food and clean water in this great country. We also needn’t over indulge or needlessly waist our precious resources.

HENCE, MY POINT. We should all budget our food weekly, eat only until we are full, and get creative when we have leftovers about to go bad.

How can we save good Summer veggies and fruits from going bad? Well, we have a few options. For fruits, I prefer to freeze them and blend them in my smoothie for breakfast each morning. This works well too for vegetables but there’s also another option.

VEGGIE SOUP. One of my favorites!

I have to admit I kinda cheat when it comes to making my soup. It’s ALMOST from scratch. I cook every vegetable about to go bad in my fridge, herbs included. Btw, basil and rosemary taste amazing in the soup. As for my base, I get a low calorie marinara sauce from Trader Joe’s. It’s my special little secret I’m sharing with you guys LOL.

OKAY, so here’s today’s particular soup recipe:

+ 1 organic heirloom tomato (going mushy)

+ 2 persian cucumbers (getting soft spots)

+ 3 organic carrots (in the fridge for 3 weeks now)

+ “as much as you want” basil (starting to look wilted)

+ 4 organic celery stalks (getting brown around the edges)

+ 1 glass jar organic marinara sauce

+ avocado oil

*** Start by grilling or sautéing your veggies in avocado oil. After about 10 minutes, turn the heat to low and add your marinara sauce. Wait for 5 minutes or until hot. Sometimes I add almond cheese and stir it in until melted. I also like it super spicy so I’ll add my own hot pepper spices. You can then serve hot or place in a mason jar and refrigerate for a later date. Now you’ve lengthened the expiration date on those Summer veggies AND you’re ready for Fall!

xx Shanna