Veggie Corn Chowder

This was super easy and took no time at all. I used my immersion blender as Lisa suggests, and I also used store-bought chicken broth (it's the first week of school for goodness sakes). My kids, my hubby, and I loved this soup. It was blended enough to "hide" some of the veggies for the pickier eaters in my crew and to thicken it up to the chowder consistency which is perfect as we are heading (hopefully) into some cooler Fall weather.

I have been following the 100 Days of Real Food blog for a while now, and I just got the cookbook that stemmed from the blog. I am SO excited to try some more of the recipes that use "real food." I know we are all more conscious of what we are putting in our bodies these days, and this cookbook has some great recipes that are easy and realistic to make for your family. A lot of my cookbooks are from our parents generation and use lots of canned items such as cream of you name it soup. Others are fantastic with recipes for clean eating, but a lot of the recipes are very complicated and only make sense for me to make for a special occasion or on the weekends when I've got back up with the kids. 

This cookbook truly gives you the best of both worlds...there is even a section dedicated the how and why this family started eating "real food" and one on their grocery shopping routine. You know that part of my cooking philosophy is one grocery store once a week. From what I've seen so far, I can get all of the ingredients I need at Lowe's Foods or Harris Teeter...obviously if you prefer Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, you're all set. The only ingredient that wouldn't have been on my normal grocery list for this meal was the whole wheat flour, but now that I have it, I can use it for many of the other recipes in this book. If you want to learn more, visit the 100 Days of Real Food blog and purchase this cookbook. In Lisa Leake's own words from her blog:

"I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about the recipes in the book, so all in one place here’s what you can expect…

• No white flour or any refined grains are used
• No sugar or any refined (or artificial) sweeteners are used
• No recipes call for packaged foods containing more than 5 ingredients
• Familiar and easy-to-find ingredients are used (you probably already have most of them on hand!)
• 71 recipes are (or can easily be) Gluten-Free
• 79 recipes are (or can easily be) Vegetarian
• 49 recipes are (or can easily be) Dairy-Free
• 42 recipes are Freezer Friendly (my secret weapon when it comes to packing wholesome school lunches!)
• A beautiful color photo is included with each and every recipe
• 70% new recipes – not previously published on the blog
• And lastly, all recipes were tested by 100 volunteer recipes testers – I think you’ll be really pleased with the results!"

Recipe, with permission, from 100daysofrealfood's new cookbook 100 Days of Real Food by Lisa Leake.

photo of recipe used with permission by 100daysofrealfood 

Happy Cooking!

I wrote this as a cookbook ambassador for 100 Days of Real Food with all opinions being my own.