Andrea, a friend of mine who is also a creative chef, sent me this recipe earlier this week and I thought it would be fun to share with you all. 

Tomato soup is really good (especially on a chilly Fall night, but I speak from memory only now that I live in Hawaii) but when you buy it canned it tends to contain additives like sugar, MSG, and artificial flavorings.  Making it yourself takes a little more time, but if you make a big batch and freeze it into individual portions you save time and money.  Here’s Andrea’s recipe.  Enjoy!   

1 28oz can of Diced Tomatoes (I use Muir Glen)
1/3 cup olive oil
2-4 whole garlic cloves
2 celery stalks diced
1 carrot diced
1 med onion diced
1 quart of Chicken Broth (I used home made – just make a chicken in the crockpot with celery, carrots, onions, salt and pepper and cover with water.  Cook on low all day and you have amazing chicken broth, not to mention lots of chicken to use for anything you like.)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes to taste
1/4 pint of heavy cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.  Strain the tomatoes reserving the juice.  Spread the tomatoes out in a casserole dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Place whole garlic cloves on top and bake for 15 minutes.

While you are waiting for your tomatoes, saute the celery, carrots and onions with olive oil in a large soup pan.  Once they are tender, add the chicken broth and reserved tomato juice.  Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes at this point.  Bring to a boil, to make sure your veggies will puree nicely. 

Once the tomatoes are done roasting, add them to the mixture.  If you have a submersion blender, puree right in the pan.  If not, transfer to a blender to puree.  Add the cream if you so desire.  You may want to add more chicken broth to get it to the consistency you like.  Add a little fresh basil at the end, if desired.

I have been finalizing my lecture for this weekend’s webinar on immunity and thought I’d share with you a few of the exciting things I’ve been learning while researching this topic! 

• Most people over 60 years old have natural antibodies to swine flu in their blood because their parents were exposed to the 1918 flu virus.

• Having sufficient levels of healthy bacteria in your gut makes it less likely that you’ll suffer side effects from vaccinations containing thimerosol (mercury).

• All of us have cancer cells in our bodies all the time, but for most of us our immune system continually identifies and destroys them before they are ever able to take hold and grow into a tumor.

• Occasional exposure to children that have chicken pox boosts your natural immunity and helps keep you from getting shingles, an adult expression of the chicken pox virus.

• Mild childhood infections (cold or flu, chicken pox, strep throat, etc.) help the immune system mature and may play a part in preventing autoimmune disease as an adult.

• Regular use of nasal irrigation, such as with a neti pot, can drastically reduce the likelihood of catching the flu even if you have been exposed to the virus because it keeps the virus from reproducing in the nasal cavity and causing infection.

This is just a “teaser” so if you want to learn more you have to attend the webinar!  To register, click here

Registration cutoff is Saturday morning, so make sure you get in before that!

I have heard a lot of people saying that lately they are more tired than usual.  This could be due to many factors – school starting, winter approaching, and heading into the time of year when there is less sun.  I did a little bit of research on fatigue and found this interesting (and short) article on using your diet to reverse fatigue. 

http://www.westonaprice.org/askdoctor/chronicfatigue.html

In it, the author discusses the role that eating too many simple carbohydrates plays in creating fatigue.  When simple carbohydrates are replaced with more nutrient-dense foods such as meat, dairy, and vegetables then many people find relief from fatigue. 

Please note that the author emphasizes the intake of raw dairy products which are wonderful (if obtained from a healthy cow raised by a farmer with reliable farming practices) but may be illegal in your state.  I know that raw milk is illegal in Iowa and Hawaii but is legal in California – if you live in a state other than those three you may want to do some research. 

Most states will allow raw cheese and butter to be sold, since they are cultured.  If you prefer to drink milk, then look for non-homogenized, low-temp pasteurized milk which is much easier for most people to digest than the homogenized, ultra-pasteurized milk that is sold in most grocery stores.

The recent addition of PureNutrition Red to our product line brought up a lot of questions from our customers as to how it compares to Red Alert, a product we have carried for several years.  Below you will find a simple comparison outlining the differences between the two.  Please use the comments section to share your experiences with PureNutrition Red, Red Alert, or both along with your favorite recipes with these products!

Click here for the comparison chart.