Veggie Soup with Rice

Hello, everyone! It's good to be back, and I really hope this posts well, and I can comment on my site and on yours. Thanks to Vegan Flower, we added on Firefox, and that's what I'm using to create this current post. Since this is my first post using Firefox, I have a new question: how do we upload pictures so that they stay in the order we want? I've tried two times so far. The first time, Firefox loaded them alphabetically, not the way I had intended. So, then I went back and changed all my pics names, so that they were alphabetical and in the order I wanted them to upload. But now Firefox hasn't loaded them alphabetically! This will be important when I have a post that has recipe steps involved with photos; I'll need them to be in order. Anyone? Vegan Flower?

I thought I'd give you a very short summary of what's been going on with us in the last couple of months. G's toe's skin has finally healed, but his toe joint and foot are still in pain. SR's wrist is still in pain, even after a cortisone shot. I'm trying to talk her into acupuncture. I pulled a calf muscle, the same one three times now in two years. And, I'm just healing from a back sprain. Ugh. I did earn my certificate to become a birth doula; that was a two and a half year process. We celebrated SR's, JK's, and both my parents' birthdays, as well as their anniversary, so we've been twirling in frosting over here. Both girls graduated from the last and highest level of swimming class, and JK is proud to be a guppy! We've had appliance repairs, auto repairs, and everyone but JK got new glasses, yay. Our garden went kaput. I took pics in June, and very soon after that, the dogs ate the grapevine and most of my nectarine tree, and the almond tree died. Both pups got spayed and had cone hats at the same time, very funny. What about you? What have I missed? I've been offline, not just on blogging, but pretty much everything - just trying to enjoy the summer with my kids.

Below the photos is a simple soup recipe that is a winner every time. You can use it as a guideline to build your own delicious soups. :-)

Veggie Soup with Rice

A simple wrestling cake for JK's 5th birthday

Strawberry Tall Cakes for SR's actual 14th birthday

Cookies 'n Cream Cupcakes for SR's party - GR's grabbing one!

One of our artichoke plants, while it was thriving

Veggie Soup with Rice

Ingredients:

8 to 10 cups of fresh and/or frozen veggies, choppped
We used: broccoli, cauliflower, orange carrots, yellow carrots, red bell peppers, green beans, corn, and celery
1 - 32 oz. box of No Chicken Broth
1 - 15 oz. can of chopped tomatoes
1 - 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
(In a pinch, I'll use spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce V8 or tomato juice)
1 - 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans (or any beans you have on hand)
Water to cover everything by one to two inches
1 Tbs. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 to 2 cups of leftover rice (your rice should already be cooked, or else it will soak up all the broth)

Directions:

Heat all the ingredients, except for the rice, in a large pot over medium heat for thirty to forty-five minutes. When it is bubbling, and everything is tender, add the rice. Turn down the heat to medium low, and add a bit more water if needed. Simmer for about ten more minutes, until the rice is thoroughly warmed up. Easy squeezy. Delicious and feeds five hungry vegans!