Fire Roasted Gazpacho for summertime . . . and some modern day frustrations (or maybe it's just me)

One of my very favorite things to have in the summer is Gazpacho. I used to absolutely hate the thought of eating a cold soup, and more so a tomato one! Something changed a couple of years ago and now I love to have this in the refrigerator for lunch. Don't they say your taste buds change every seven years or something? Or maybe we just outgrow liking only the junk stuff! Either way I can't take credit for this recipe. I can't remember where it came from, so if you recognize it from somewhere please give them the credit and not me! But you can thank me for sharing it with you.
It just took me all of 6 minutes to whip up a batch and begin the chill . . . .

FIRE ROASTED GAZPACHO

(14.5 oz) organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
1 1/2 cups tomato juice (sometimes I substitute Zing Zang for a little more kick)
1 small cucumber, peeled, chopped (1 cup)
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
2 T fresh lime juice

I throw all of the ingredients into my Vitamixer, turn it on and off until everything is nice and pureed. (is that a word?) Cover and keep in the refrigerator and eat!

nutrition information
Per Serving: cal. (kcal) 50, carb. (g) 10, fiber (g) 2, sugar (g) 7, pro. (g) 2, vit. A (IU) 972, vit. C (mg) 47, sodium (mg) 380, calcium (mg) 40, iron (mg) 1

To be completely honest, I am the only one in the family that will eat Gazpacho. That's fine with me. I can have lunch all week long!

**************************************************** This is a total change of subjects here, but something I've experienced lately. I recently read a couple of books by Ann Morrow Lindberg (She's the wife of aviator Charles Lindberg. I must say I've so enjoyed reading her and getting to know her. She's quite a force of her own!). During the 1950's she wrote about a frustrating dilemma she was experiencing. She had all of the modern conveniences of the 1950's at her disposal that were supposed to make her days more efficient and easier. She took care of five children with little help and a husband that was NEVER around. Her experiences led her to believe that these inventions that were supposed to allow her more time in her day to do other things or to multi-task often made the day more hectic. She often found that the washing machine wound up being broken, taking all of her day to get worked on. Maybe the next day her sink was leaking causing her to get out her tools and get to work on that issue. The telephone service was often unreliable so that it often caused more grief than convenience.

I began thinking of this observation. Nowadays we have all sorts of appliances, gadgets and technology that we have grown to depend upon. That dependence helps us structure our days and absolutely fill them to overbrimming at every hour - because we can. We can send an email while we listen to a voicemail. We can do a load of laundry while we make the beds or prepare dinner. We can have dinner in the oven and return emails. We can get so much more done because of the technology and inventions that help us do our tasks. Until they don't. I have spent the past week without a dryer. Therefore, I have been spending a lot of time washing clothes and loading them up to the laundromat. It's actually not so bad (with a good book). I just know I won't get a lot accomplished on those days. My ice maker has also been out for a week. I spend time every day scheduling repairmen and then waiting for them. Today I spent a couple of hours dealing with our cable carrier as we had no internet service. Lately, I feel as if I spend more time on these inventions that are supposed to make my life easier, when in reality they are frustrating my days. In the past, without all the modern conveniences we would simply block out certain hours in the day to take care of certain tasks, such as a laundry day, a bill paying day, or a telephone day to schedule all appointments. Now we get frustrated when we cannot do all of those things in one day, or one sitting, because we are supposed to have the modern conveniences to allow this amount of work to be accomplished. Have you ever experienced the same dilemma?

What's your favorite summertime lunch? How do you feel about Gazpacho? Or cold soups? Ever get aggravated with all of our modern conveniences? Been to a laundromat lately?

Have a great day!