Paleo Roasted Tomato Vegetable Soup

So Christmas is slooowly (but not really that slowly) creeping up on us. Lets just say that last year during this time i seriously gained about 13lbs. THIS IS NOT A JOKE PEOPLE. I let my sweet tooth get the best of me and I ate cookies, cake, chocolates.. etc with NO self control what-so-ever. It has also taken me all year long to work all of that back off and get to where I want to be. This year I'm not letting that happen again. Ive already had a few slip ups and bombed out days but the only thing that you can do is bounce back and take on the next day determined and without guilt from the day before. Trust me on this. I am THE WORST at beating myself up over what I ate so this is the best advice that I can give: It's a NEW DAY to start over and give it your best!!!! I have found that the best way to control myself is to just PRAY. I rely on God so much throughout the day for strength, especially in tough situations, and saying NO to certain foods qualifies as a tough situation in my book.

Tonight was just one of those nights to be snuggled up on the couch watching Christmas specials (Saturday Night Live Christmas to be exact) in front of the Christmas tree with a fire going. And fuzzy socks. And bassett hounds. and my boyfrind. Oh and wine. Cant forget that. If you're having a hard time picturing this let me show you...

This is happening right now. Be jealous.

Along with this cozy day comes cozy food. What better cozy food than tomato soup???? I set out to find a homemade tomato soup because my days of eating shit out of a can are long gone. Homemade soup is 100000000x better tasting and better for you anyway. I came across this website http://blog.seasonwithspice.com/2012/08/homemade-tomato-basil-soup-recipe.html and thought that it sounded delicious. I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand so I kind of took her idea and ran with it and this is the soup I came up with. It was SOO GOOOD, it made the "best soup i've ever had" category by kyle, which is huge because his family is full of awesome cooks! This is one of those recipes that even the non-paleo eaters will go nuts over. trust me.

INGREDIENTS

• 5-6 ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
• 1 green or red bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 zucchini, cut into chunks
• 1 medium sized onion, cut into chunks
• 5-6 cloves of garlic, cut into chunks
• 1/2 bag baby carrots, coined (you could use 3 full sized carrots but I didnt have any)
• handful of spinach
• 2 cups chicken/vegetable broth
• 2 tsp -ish basil
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp butter
• olive oil
• salt to taste

1. Set your oven to 375. While that is preheating, cut up your tomatoes, onion, pepper, garlic, zucchini and carrots and spread them out on a baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over the top and sprinkle with basil, salt, & pepper. Place in the oven and let roast, it took about 25-30 minutes but keep an eye on it.

 

 

2. While those are roasting, heat the chicken broth, paprika & pepper on low in a large pot.

3. When the veggies are done roasting, add them all to a blender along with the handful of fresh spinach and blend together. I left mine a little bit chunky but you can blend until smooth if you like.

3. Add tomato mixture to broth and stir together. Cook on medium for a few minutes and then stir in butter and milk. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.

4. Serve hot

 

I made kyle a grilled cheese to eat with his but I cut up half of an avocado and added that to mine. It was ABSOLUTELY DELISH. I know I say this about all of my recipes but seriously this one is a MUST try! Especially for those cozy winter nights :]

 

 

Happy cooking!