Tasty Tuesday - Tons o' Veggie Vegetable Alphabet Soup

I missed the past few weeks with recipes because the things I was making didn't turn out very good. But I have a good one this week that I'm really happy about it. Plus, I really like the sounds of "Tasty Tuesday" over "Recipe Wednesday" so I'll be posting new recipes on Tuesday now.

The website that I'm using for weightloss, SparkPeople.com has a recipe website as well called SparkRecipes.com. I've really been wanting a hearty veggie soup lately so I started looking on there. While I found some REALLY good one's I decided that I wanted to make my own, picking and pulling from the things I liked in those. I also added some few things too, which makes this recipe pretty much my own!! As I've said before I'm not really good at coming up with my own recipes so this is great! I'm starting to feel more courageous with me cooking :).

This recipe made a TON of food and totally overflowed my crock pot so I had to transfer it to a big pot!

One of the things I really like about using SparkRecipes is that they calculate all of the nutritional info and give  the per serving breakdown (which is what I post with each recipe on here).

Here's my recipe for Vegetable Soup! Happy eating!

1 serving = 2 cups (recipe will make 8 servings)

   

- 28oz can diced tomatoes

- 32oz vegetable/chicken/beef broth (recipe uses veg)

- 3 cups water

- 3 large carrots, diced

- 2 stalks celery, diced

- 1 medium onion, diced

- 1.5 lb red potatoes, diced

- 1 leek, sliced (white part only)

- 1 tsp fresh thyme

- 5 cloves garlic

- 3 tsp Mrs. Dash Table Blend (or your favorite seasoning)

- 1 zucchini, chopped

- 2 cups peas

- 2 cups corn

- 2 cups green beans

- 1 bay leaf (1/2 tsp crushed)

- ½ cup alphabet pasta (or similar small pasta/rice)

1. Combine broth, water, diced tomatoes, carrots, celery, potatoes, leek, onion, thyme, garlic, Mrs. Dash, and bay leaf in a large crock pot. Stir well. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.

2. Add corn, zucchini, peas, and green beans. Stir well, recover and continue cooking on high for 1.5 hours. (This is when I had to move mine to the bigger pot. I cooked it on a medium/high level)

(OVERFLOW!!!)

3. Add pasta, cover and cook for another 15mins.

 

Serve in a bowl and enjoy! Perfect for warming tummies on a cold day!

*If you used a full bay leaf remember to remove it before serving.

**I served with french bread that I sprinkled some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on and toasted.

Resolutions...

Everyone posts their resolutions this time of year. While I know what my resolutions/goals for 2010 are it took me a bit to be ready to post them on the internet for the whole world to have access to. I have a problem with making long term goals and feeling let down if I don't keep them. So by posting them here it makes me feel like I have to keep them or I will be letting someone down besides myself...which a lot of "people" say is a good thing to do. I've decided to try it and see what happens. So, here they are (in no particular order):

1. Continue being the best me I can be (this is something I started in 2009 and plan to continue).
     a. This year this will include losing weight. I want/need to lost about 60lbs. About a 2 years I joined www.sparkpeople.com and lost close to 20lbs on their program with diet and exercise. Then, I met a guy, fell off track and gained it all back. Well, I know I can do it and I plan to complete my goal this time! I have bought "The Spark" and a few "light cookbooks" and already started reading/using them. If you are looking to get healthy, I fully recommend SparkPeople and the great program they have set up.
    b. Exercise 3 times a week (rather it's walking, swimming, pilaties class, or a full workout at the gym I need to get this butt moving)
   c. One soda a day. I NEVER drink "whole"soda, only diet. However, I know that still isn't good for me but it's the only way I get caffine so I'm thinking 1 day isn't really going to be all that bad. I might just drop it all together. We'll see what happens.

2. Be more open to new people, ideas and things.
   a. I have found that as I get older I get more close minded and quicker to judge to others. For me, this is part of the American society...where if it isn't "inside our norm" we automatically reject it.

3. Cook more/better
   a. Cooking is something I truly enjoy...especially cooking for the people that are close to me. I want to start having Sunday night dinner at my house with friends and loved ones...plus, then I can share the things I make with you my, dear reader :). Which also keeps me blogging, which is #4 on this list.

4. Blog more
   a. Life is exciting and needs to be shared, whether it's with people you know, or have never met.

So that's it. That's my list. Now let's see what happens!