Home Made V 8 Juice

My daughters are currently on the HGC diet and one of the afternoon snacks is a can of lo sodium V-8 and an apple. Well you know me, I think I can make it better. Low sodium v-8 is an aquired taste at best so I figured I would just boost the flavors while keeping the sodium low.

I started out with a stock pot of cut up veggies carrot, celery, onion and garlic. Just stuff I had on hand. Cooked it covered most of the afternoon. My blender died so all I have is a stick blender and it worked great. I blended all the veggies and there was enough broth to make the cooked veggies float before they were blended. I am out of my own canned tomatoes ( crap year) so I used 2 big (32 oz.) cans of crushed tomatoes. But any kind will do. I blended them all up and added spices. Use your favorite. i put in some fresh thyme and basil and cilantro that I have growing inside. Then I dug in the cupboard and added oregano about 1/2 tsp salt and a shake of pepper and 1/2 lime juiced. At this point it was a nice sauce so to give the grandaughters something for diner I took a couple of cups of this sauce and added some fat free cream cheese to it and blended it up added it to some whole wheat penne topped off with a little parmegiano cheese and we had a healthy meal that they loved.

With the rest of the V-8 sauce I poured into a sieve and extracted the juice while leaving me with a very versitile sauce/paste. I'm thinking pizza sauce here.

This all excites me so because the whole thing can be jacked up everytime you make a batch. I forgot to put zuccini in it and that would have been a great addition too. Use what you have keeping in mind to keep the flavors high and the salt down.

While the daughters are taking the HCG drops and eating very few calories a day they are doing well and seeing results. My oldest daughter weighs less than me now! So I have devised a diet for myself. Here it is;

Dr. Oz says to use repitition when planning meals I now get that so that said for breakfast I will make a smoothie with a banana, spinach and my homemade grape juice or soy milk. Its a pretty color of green and very tasty and satisfying. I never usually eat brakfast because on week days we have our big meal at noon before my husband ( sometimes referred to as Mr. fast and crappy or pa) goes to work. So now I make the smoothie by 9 a.m.. For the noon meal I plan 3oz. of meat and big servings of veggies keeping it low fat. Afternoon snack is apple and v-8 juice. Evening meal is veggies , rye crisp cracker, soup along that line. I also make popcorn for my weak moments when I want to mindlessly shove something in my face. I also have unsalted walnuts and almonds available to munch on. The popcorn I cook up with minimal canola oil then after its popped I spray with a butter flavor pam and sprinkle with a popcorn seasoning that is pretty low in sodium but read the labels. On Monday morning I weighed 189 on Wed I weigh 185! And I am not hungry all the time I am just adding more fruits and veggies trying to use as many raw foods as possible.

I know its been awhile since youve heard from me. Its been a long winter!