Loving Cooking Playing: Vegetarian Borscht and a New Bike

I make Borscht quite often. First, because it is my husband's favorite soup, second, because it reminds me of my roots, and third, because I am hoping that if I make it enough that my kids will love it too. Tosha says "Mom, I think I don't like it, but when I taste it, I like it." That's good enough for me:) I've been making it without meat lately, and I really like it. I don't have it written down anywhere, it hasn't stayed the same, the recipe keeps evolving over time.

Vegetarian Borscht
4-6 Servings
8 cups of vegetable stock
2-3 medium potatoes (medium dice)
1/4 of a head of a cabbage
2 medium carrots (shredded or diced small)
1/2 of a medium sweet onion (diced small)
1 red bell pepper (if you have some fire roasted peppers in a jar - they will work great too) (diced small)
1 can of white beans
2 medium or 1 large beet root (shredded)
2 Tbsp of Ketchup
1/2 cup good Marinara sauce
1 Tbsp of Sugar or Agave
1 Tbsp of Vinegar
2 cloves or garlic (pressed)
1-2 Tbsp of dill (chopped fine)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Olive oil for sauteing
Sour Cream
Start out with sauteing onions, carrots and bell peppers with some olive oil in a heavy bottom pot (dutch oven) for about 10 mins. Pour in the stock and bring to boil. Put in potatoes and cabbage. In a small frying pan heat some olive oil (1Tbsp) and start sauteing shredded beet root for about 10 mins sprinkle it with the sugar, then add ketchup, and marinara. Now it's ready for the soup. Add it to the soup, then add the vinegar (this will help preserve the nice dark red color), turn down the heat to low, and let it cook for about 5 mins. Wash the beans until they stop foaming and add to the soup. Add in the garlic, and dill and turn it off. Don't cover it. Let it just sit there for another 15 mins. Serve with a dollop of sour cream. This soup is even better the next day, so make enough for two days.
My Dad used to eat it with a piece of white onion or a green onion, he would dip it in salt a little and just bite it. I also saw a video where they showed how to make an authentic Ukrainian Borscht and they ground together some garlic, lard (SALO), and herbs (dill and parsley) with mortar and pestle and put some of that into the bowl, and then poured the borscht over that. I haven't tried that but maybe I will someday.

We FINALLY bought Alicia a "big girl" bike. She was SO happy and SO thankful, and did such a great job riding it. We had to go to the park to test it out right away.