Homemade Tomato Soup

Last night we had our first hard freeze of the season and I was left scrambling to salvage the ripe foods in my gardens and protect the ones not quite ready. Since I had hundreds of paste tomatoes ready to go I decided to make soup. Making your own tomato soup is really quite easy and the perfect thing for a cold windy day like we were having.

I like to use this recipe, though I mostly just wing it and throw in whatever I happen to have. Luckily I have a lot of giant carrots in the garden, along with some onions. The only purchased veggie in this soup is the celery. I may try growing that next year as well.

The original recipe called for simmering for just an hour, I like to simmer for at least two hours to really get all the veggies softened and let them release the flavors.

Once it's all cooked to my liking, out comes the strainer and the fun mashing begins. My younger kids really like this part:) Since I don't peel or remove seeds before cooking, this part is necessary, unless you like chunky tomato soup. To each his own. My kids like it to look and taste just like the canned junk, so I do my best.

Then it's just a matter of seasoning to taste and it's good to go. I like to keep it simple and just use a few pinches of sea salt. Tastes just like Campbell's without all the excess sodium, preservatives, and other weirdo ingredients, and the best part is that it only cost me about $0.50 in celery:)

This batch made 4 quarts of soup. Perfect for 4 lunches and a few breakfasts for Pudge. Pudge is not an egg and bacon kind of kid but he loves to start his day with some soup;)

The Primal Lunch Box

Having trouble with the lunch hour? Yeah, me too. Trying to keep the whole family eating primal can be a bit of a challenge. Especially with those wonderful school lunch choices and all the snacks they are offered throughout the day. I try to get around most of it by sending lunches with my kids. The snack times are still an issue I'm working on. Most days I try to send a protein, veggie, fruit, and a snack. Below are some examples, carrot heavy since our garden has a ton of monster carrots right now;)

Roast beef slices, Colby cheese, carrots, blueberries, and cookie treats.

Beef pot roast, carrots, string cheese, and gluten-free chips.

Bacon, cheese, carrots, strawberries, and not pictured are two small, gluten-free cookies.

Ham, Colby-jack cheese, cauliflower, raspberries.

Trying to keep things interesting and making sure they have choices is important. Not all my kids will eat the same things, so their lunch boxes do vary, but the main idea is to provide healthy foods and keep them as primal as possible outside the home. I also allow gluten-free, kosher snacks on a limited basis. Many of the snacks I find have only 3 ingredients, all easy to pronounce and recognize. I could spend hours every week baking primal treats, but I really have better things to do, so convenience is sometimes necessary and as long as you pay attention to the nutrition info, you can often find some nice options.

Ideas always welcome:)

What's in your child's lunchbox?