Happy Weekend!!!

I have an absolutely bad habit of over-filling my weekends.  I work 2 jobs and go to the gym 5 days a week on top of my regular hobbies I enjoy doing during the week (eh hem, video games).  So the weekend is my catch up day for all things ignored during the week.  The Saturday plan was building my dog a ramp outside (hes in a wheel chair due to degenerative myelopathy), grocery shopping, random errand running, and work a few hours from home.  I had more to do but sadly I really had to remove some stuff from my long list!

Unfortunately going to the gym ended up being something that had to be pitched. I really didn’t get too torn up about that considering I was at 8,000 steps by 4pm from all my other activities.  I didn’t stop moving from 8am to 6pm so I say it was a productive day!

The great ramp adventure

The finished product had railings and such.  I ended up going grocery shopping before it was done.

This is Sasha.  She loves toys.  She doesn’t care that Alex was busy hammering the ramp in place..She just wanted him to throw it..ya know if he wasn’t too busy.

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This week I was feeling some comfort food so I decided to make a healthy garden vegetable tomato soup!

The urge to add some rich heavy cream was strong – but I kept it guilt-free!

Garden Vegetable Tomato Soup

• 1 – #10 can of whole peeled tomato in puree (the reallly big can!)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3-4 stalks celery, diced
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• 1 jar roasted red peppers
• 1 bunch of fresh basil (better than dried in this case)
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
• Black Pepper & Sea Salt
• Cayenne (optional)
• Worcestershire about 2 tablespoons
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil to saute

Saute all the raw veggies in olive oil until soft.  Add red peppers and tomatoes.  Let cook on low heat to let the flavors blend (I simmered mine for about an hour).  Use an immersion blender to blend until desired smoothness is achieved.  I did mine super smooth.  Add the milk and chicken broth while your blender is still handy.  Season with salt, pepper and cayenne if desired.  I added Worcestershire to add a little flavor depth.  Without it the soup was sort of one-note.

All my tasty ingredients

Chunky soups!

Smooth Soups!

Yummy Soups!

I bought some mini pesto ravioli has a garnish for when we enjoy the soup.  They are about the size of the oyster crackers pictures so it will be a little treat!

Tomorrow I will hopefully get around to posting my meal plan for the week.  Aside from the garden vegetable tomato soup I am planning on making a light version of Buffalo Chicken Casserole & Turkey Vegetable bake.

Good Night All!