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Navy Beans and Roast Tomato Soup

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As the weather cools and approaches Fall, I like to prep some soup for the family. The ingredients are basic pantry staples and is easy to prepare and makes for a hearty, healthy soup! Yum! Pairing it with some garlic bread is also good! I've included both recipes below. Easy Navy Beans and Roast Tomato Soup Ingredients: -3 tbsp vegetable oil for sauteing -1 whole yellow onion -2 tbsp minced garlic -1 whole head celery, chopped -3 cups navy beans (soaked overnight) -1 can tomato sauce -1 can diced roast tomatoes (I used Trader Joe's) -4 to 5 cups water or vegetable broth Seasonings: -half tsp ground coriander -half tsp ground thyme -half tsp chili flakes -half tsp ground cloves -2 bay leaves -1 tsp ground cumin -1 tsp ground paprika -2 tsp McCormick Italian seasoning -2 tsp McCormick Garlic Pepper seasoning - salt to taste 1. In a pot, saute yellow onion and minced garlic until golden. 2. Put in the celery, navy bean
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A Pleasant Surprise

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Just last night I had dinner with a good friend of mine and she mentioned she checked my gardening blog.  It has been a while since I blogged anything about gardening.  And so she urged me to continue to update it.  I was so busy with work that I was unable to attend to my garden.  Fortunately our maid at home have the green thumb.  So when I visited our garden this afternoon I was pleasantly surprised that my garden has some vegetables growing... Some tomatoes...   Harvested some good-sized tomatoes too....
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I wasn't able to focus on my veggie garden this year. I started seeding the tomatoes late, around end of January. From my past experience, seeding tomatoes should start in December, so that the seedlings are already a good height when I will be transplanting them come February, when the weather is just right for them to grow to their full potential, which is sunny but not scorching hot. This should last from February to mid-April. Well, that happens in a perfect world. My world however, is full of other things to accomplish besides gardening. Irrigating the garden is not that easy too since the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) announced that we are experiencing draught because of the effects of El Nino, so our water supply is cut during the day and only comes in at night. We have to save water we use during the day in a big tanks. So wasn't able to easily irrigate my garden. :-( As can be expected with scorching hot summer w
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After a year of Sabbatical.....

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Yes, I'm back! I was unable to update my blog after June last year since it was already the monsoon season in the Philippines. It was hard to maintain all the plants since the weather is just not cooperating and everything dies from being beaten by the rain so often. This lasted up to September last year. And by the time September arrives, I'm just too busy with work and everything else that's happening with my life since its the time to be preparing for the Christmas season. Yes, it starts as early as September! :-) Oh, and I also went on a 1-month vacation in Richmond, Canada(more of that later). So I was unable to plant til the new year! That was a six-month rest for me from maintaining the veggie garden. I was lucky enough that my boss allowed me to take a month of vacation leave to visit my sister in Richmond last October. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium since I always make it a point to visit an aquarium when I travel to a new place that has one. I just love every
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Garden Update After 2 Months

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After 2 months passed, there are some changes that have been made in our veggie garden. Being very prolific, we just planted our basil plants in spots where there aren't anything that's been planted on. My tomato plants are not yielding any fruits anymore from lack of nutrients in the soil and very hot midday sun. So we pulled them off and will let the soil rest for awhile and fertilize by adding a few garden/kitchen scraps and wait for another 2-3 months... which I have not yet done since I'm a bit busy as of these past few days. We have also added a third bed for bellpeppers, which can be seen in the foreground of the picture below. The 2nd bed: Bellpeppers and oregano, among others. My oregano plants. Very hardy and prolific. Lemon mint (I think...): The leaves contain menthol, these will be great for making massage oil since it really gives off a scent like Vicks. Rosemary plants have grown since my last picture 2 months ago. I used this recently in my porkchop dish
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My Fave Plants in the Garden

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Other than veggies, we have a few plants in our garden that I really love. These are just some of them... The Papyrus Plants. True papyrus are marshland plants, it can grow to around 3-4 meters high and have a clump of thread-like "leaves" on the top that make it fluffy-looking, almost like a feather duster. It was once used as the material to manufacture papyrus paper, the writing surface of the Ancient Eqyptians. My papyrus plant with some water lettuces, this papyrus plant is not the same kind as what you'll find in Ancient Egypt. A closer look.... it's already blooming. Dwarf papyrus.... but I'm not sure if it is a true papyrus plant, it sure looks like a miniature papyrus... maybe its in the same family. And as you can see it is not submerged in water. It will thrive as long as it is constantly watered. A clump with a baby plant. Baby plant can be planted in a new pot. As a marshland plant, the papyrus loves wet soil, but if its possible, the soil where it
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The New Additions

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Another week has gone by and you really feel that summer has arrived. The sun is more intense and you really feel the heat. Thank goodness the office maintains a "winter temperature" all year round with the aircons in full blast, but I can't say the same for the people at home and the plants in my garden. Although veggie plants love sunshine, around here, it really dries them up even if they are watered in the morning and in the late afternoon. The midday sun really is different today as compared to, say, 15 years ago? That is just one of the effects of GLOBAL WARMING!!! My tomato plants' leaves are already affected by it. They have shriveled a bit and are not the green, FRESH-looking, healthy leaves I saw just a week ago. Tomato Plants with new stakes and supports. We have prepared the second veggie patch last Sunday. We have put in some organic materials that should have increased the bulk of the soil, a few dried leaves and twigs and a LOT of banana leaves we go
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