“Food is Medicine and a Little about Basil…& a recipe for ‘Yummy Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup’.”

♥Hi Friends!

Well, summer really has come to a close (almost) with the Labor Day weekend behind us.  And let me tell you that spending time in the mountains this holiday reminded me once again that Heavenly Father’s creations are HEALING!  The mountains are one of the most HEALING places for me (everybody really).  There’s lots of good energy floatin’ around up there from not only the Sun and Earth, but the plants, critters, rivers, etc (not to mention we are up and out of all the interference from our “electronic devices”) and I feel completely energized when I’m in them.

Two weeks of school are behind us and I’ve wanted to get a post out with HEALTHY school lunch ideas, but this article came through my inbox and I’m getting the feeling I need to share it, along with the idea once again, of the HEALING power of food!  Although this article is about prostrate cancer, you can find others all over the internet for just about every PHYSICAL and EMOTIONAL issue and it’s relationship to the food we eat.  If we eat the right kinds of course, food really is medicine, with the wrong kinds of course, creating disease.  And the best way to eat it is as close as possible to the way God created it.  So please click here and read this awesome and very informative article by Dr. Mercola, a leader in Integrative Medicine.

And Basil!  I want to share info about, and a recipe with, Basil.  Love, love, love, love Basil!  It’s one food that speaks to me.  Really, I feel like it must be something my whole me (SPIRIT, BODY and MIND) loves because I feel happy and excited when I eat it or cook with it.  And I feel peaceful when I walk by the totally awesome and amazing beauties I planted in my front walkway (as referenced in this earlier post).  In all reality, Basil should speak to all of us because it is one of God’s extremely HEALING creations.  Instead of me listing all its benefits, click here to read about it from people who know way more than I do!

Basil

Here’s me with 2 of my 4 Basil plants, and my only attempt at growing food this year.  But I have high hopes of becoming a “master gardener” one day!  I bought 2 of my organic Basil plants at ‘Whole Foods’ and the other two somewhere else (I can’t remember where).  They are so easy to grow.  I didn’t get these two in the ground right away and by the time I planted them they looked like they might not make it.  But, boy are they hearty!  With a little faith, and lots of love, I plopped them in my east facing front yard where they get a good dose of Sun for part of the day, and I pinched off the old leaves as the new ones grew in and low and behold they flourished!  Our good friends from northern California said they’d get really tall.  I was super excited until I remembered they have a long growing season.  Like all year!  Ha!  So I’ll enjoy my small but hearty Basil that grows in my shorter Utah growing season.

Basil1

Here I am picking my Basil.  I have some serious “Basil pinching” skills.  I’m looking lovely with no make-up and my hair pulled back.  (But really, this is how I look most of the time!)  I plan on transplanting them in a pot and bringing them in for the Winter and putting them in my front window.  Basil will freeze well in little batches for later use in things like smoothies, or my recipe for ‘ROASTED TOMATO & BASIL SOUP’ below.  I don’t recommend freezing it for pesto or Italian dishes though.

So my friends, continue down this amazing HEALING path, learning, praying, and studying as the Lord enlightens you to food and the HEALING power He’s created it with!

♥Love you!

P.S.  Click here for another great website from the University of Minnesota about the HEALING power of food as medicine!

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I absolutely love soups!  You can make big batches, eat them for a couple of days, and then freeze for a quick and easy meal later.  I will be sharing a lot of soups in the following months and I’m so excited for tomato season to finally be here so I could share this one with you!  Hoooooooly Cow!  This one is SO delish!  I love this recipe because you can use bits and pieces of tomatoes, old tomatoes, new tomatoes, and any kind of tomatoes.  Last year my neighbor let me ravage her tomato patch for the last of the tomatoes, and I brought them home, cut the damages parts off, and this soup still tasted amazing!  I think it’s probably due to the roasting of the tomatoes, which by the way you can freeze them after they are roasted for later use.  It’s simple and easy (it has to be because I came up with it), and by the end of the season, I’m still not sick of this delightful, deep flavored, warming and comforting soup.  It is pure heaven!  My neighbor was going to can some this year but the deer have been snacking on her tomatoes.  Point being, you can can it, or freeze it!

YUMMY ROASTED TOMATO & BASIL SOUP

  • About 7 lbs garden tomatoes for 6 lbs tomatoes prepared
  • ½ cup avocado or EVOO
  • 1 Tbsp Real Salt or 2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 10 cloves garlic
  • 2 cups basil
  • 8 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 pinches red pepper flakes
  • ‘Better Than Bouillon Organic Vegetable Base’
  • S&P to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Prepare two cookie sheets by doing the following.  Take two pieces of aluminum foil, a little longer than the length plus 2 times the height of the cookie sheet, and fold together two time down the length of the foil, so that when you open it up, it creates a large piece that you can line the cookie sheet with.  This is AWESOME for cleanup!  Wash, core, and cut tomatoes in chunks, or down the middle, or however, depending on how big they are, in to 2 inch thick pieces.  You should end up with about 6 pounds of prepared tomatoes.  Place in large bowl and toss with avocado or EVOO and salt.  Place in single layer on prepared cookie.  Roast in oven for 50 minutes, rotating pans half way through the cooking time.

Pour roasted tomatoes and their delicious juices in large Dutch oven size pot, along with all the rest of the ingredients, except ‘Better Than Bouillon’ and S&P.  Bring to a boil, turn to low, and cover. Simmer for 1 hour.  Remove from heat and blend with hand immersion blender until desired consistency.  Or, carefully process small batches, so the steam from the hot soup doesn’t explode out of the top of the blender.  Careful Friends!  Adjust flavor with ‘Better Than Bouillon’ and S&P.  Serve with whole grain crackers or bread.

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