Soups and smoothies... whatta ya got?

[Tom]

I'm going to make a million dollars with my new brilliant diet to lose weight. Eat anything you want but we're gonna make your throat hurt so you won't want to actually swallow it.

It looks like for the next six weeks or so soups and smoothies are going to have a real attraction. Show me your favorite recipes, I have never even owned a blender before this week so I have no idea.

[Too Tall]

Tom, you got the grip? Hope you are ok.

I'll give you the short course in making d@mn near any vegetable into a smooth soup.

1. Make a roux > use a heavy sauce pan, equal parts butter and flour. Melt the butter gently and stir in the flour using a whisk. Keep the flame low. Once it starts to make little bubbles it is done, the color is white and this is what you will use to thicken your soup. If you want more depth, just cook the roux until it is darker.

2. Super easy veg. prep. > heat the oven to 450F. slice veg. into manageable pieces (peppers, zukes, carrots etc.) toss the veg. with some EVO and spread onto a cooking sheet and cook in the oven until you see some color and everything is cooked thru'ish.

3. Everybody into the pool. > in your best soup pot place all the cut up veg. and cover with stock (make your own or use something like "Better than Stock") or just water. Add a bay leaf and simmer until it smells good and cool.

4. Into the blender or use a immersion blender.

5. Back into the pot, bring to a slow bubble and slooooowly whisk in the roux. A neat trick to prevent clumping is to put small amounts of the roux into a heavy bowl and ladle in hot soup and whisk that back into the big soup pot.

6. Giddyup

Asparagus or Carrot should be pretty soothing. Carrot soup will love india type spices or nothing and finish with a hit of heavy cream?

[Tom]

I have a couple big bags of carrots in the fridge. Definitely doing this tomorrow.

Today will be two full weeks down, four to go. We're into the grind now, that part of a long day where you're already tired and you have many miles to go. It's been a good reset for my mind, though, I've been needing something like it for a while.

[Tom]

So I made a fruit smoothie for breakfast. One cup frozen fruit, one cup yogurt, one cup pineapple juice.

I turned on the blender.

It frightened me. It's one of those big Kitchenaid pro versions. I think all the lights in the neighborhood flickered and went dim. It's like a big jet engine on my counter. It's great.

[guido]

Tom, you got the grip? Hope you are ok.

I'll give you the short course in making d@mn near any vegetable into a smooth soup.

1. Make a roux > use a heavy sauce pan, equal parts butter and flour. Melt the butter gently and stir in the flour using a whisk. Keep the flame low. Once it starts to make little bubbles it is done, the color is white and this is what you will use to thicken your soup. If you want more depth, just cook the roux until it is darker.

2. Super easy veg. prep. > heat the oven to 450F. slice veg. into manageable pieces (peppers, zukes, carrots etc.) toss the veg. with some EVO and spread onto a cooking sheet and cook in the oven until you see some color and everything is cooked thru'ish.

3. Everybody into the pool. > in your best soup pot place all the cut up veg. and cover with stock (make your own or use something like "Better than Stock") or just water. Add a bay leaf and simmer until it smells good and cool.

4. Into the blender or use a immersion blender.

5. Back into the pot, bring to a slow bubble and slooooowly whisk in the roux. A neat trick to prevent clumping is to put small amounts of the roux into a heavy bowl and ladle in hot soup and whisk that back into the big soup pot.

6. Giddyup

Asparagus or Carrot should be pretty soothing. Carrot soup will love india type spices or nothing and finish with a hit of heavy cream?

Thanks TT!

[Too Tall]

NICE work Guy.

[slwrnu]

breakfast. as someone said above, a smoothie to get started is excellent. chop a banana, add some semi skimmed milk, add some frozen berries of whatever sort, add some avocado and maybe some plain yoghurt. squish some lemon juice and whizz with a cheap handblender. very nice as the days get warmer, you can sipp on it till mid/late afternoon when you can start planning your supper, safe in the knowledge that you have most of your five a day in the bag.

[Blue Jays]

• base liquid (apple juice / oat milk)
• a dozen or so frozen strawberries
• scoop of strawberry protein powder
• two tablespoons peanut powder
• big dollop of regular peanut butter
• two big handfuls of raw spinach
• sprinkle of raw oats
• blend until smooth and ENJOY