Month: February 2017

Take the Opportunity

What a beautiful day on the 18th of February!!  The sun is shining, there is a slight breeze and the temps are in the high 60’s.  The weather beckons me to come outside and soak up the sun.  Since I am babysitting my sweet one year old grandson, the ideal thing to do is, put him in the stroller and take a walk.  While I am smiling and deciding how far down the road to walk, I am oblivious to the cookies baking in the oven!  My focus had completely shifted and we were going on a walk.  I set my destination, the telephone pole up ahead.  My grandson fell asleep and my mind was free of distractions. When I arrived back in my kitchen, even the smell of burnt cookies could not displace these welcome thoughts of spring!  More chocolate chip cookies can be baked but beautiful days in February are not readily available.

The cookies were crispy and dark but still edible!

Opportunities cannot always be planned.  They seem unexpected and sometimes disturb the present realities.  Last August, there was a request for a Bible study by someone who had not previously been interested in seeking God or reading the Bible.  Inside of me I knew this was a priority.  Yes, it was another evening of the week to be occupied but it is a season in which we can share what has been given to us. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required;  Luke 12:48b

The blessing has been to be able to experience this evening with my husband, my friend and her family almost every week.  We read the Bible together and ask questions.  Our prayer time brings the sweetness and closeness of the Lord.  We are so glad we didn’t miss this opportunity!

Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.                    Colossians 4:5-6

 

 

Soup for a Winter Day

One of my favorite dishes to prepare is a pot of soup especially when the winter day is gray and gloomy.  There is no snow on the ground today and it is actually warm for the middle of winter.  But as I thought about what to prepare for lunch today, the thought of a savory soup came to mind.

The first thing I did was check out the soup section of my personal notebook of recipes to get some ideas.  Yes!! Cabbage Fat-Burning Soup sounded great!  I checked out my storehouse of food to see what ingredients I had available.

The freezer had frozen bags of shredded zucchini and cabbage from my summer garden.  Also a bag of cooked black beans.

Frozen shredded zucchini, black beans, and shredded cabbage were ready to be added to the soup.

Umm…I love making a cabbage soup with lots of other ingredients.  It seemed like a opportune time to empty the remainder of the bag of Swiss Chard into the soup.

 

 

The cellar yielded chopped tomatoes and tomato juice in glass jars.  I choose chicken broth in a cardboard box as the liquid base of the soup.

The jars of canned tomatoes remind me of the hot days September when I was picking and canning these red fruits.

The vegetable keeper in the fridge had the last bag of carrots from the garden.  Amazingly, they were still usable.  There was some chopped onion, extra stalks of celery leftover from a veggie platter, and cooked chicken breast with some broth.  To finish the soup, the kitchen cupboard had pearled barley and Italian seasoning.

I immediately started the process by sauteing onion and celery in coconut oil.  I added about 2 cups of the chicken broth, a pint of the tomatoes in their liquid, and 2 cups of the tomato juice.

Next, 1/3 cup of barley, about 1 cup of chopped carrots, the bag of black beans, the cabbage and zucchini were added.  I thawed them enough so they would break apart and not be one solid chunk.

While those ingredients simmered, I chopped and added the cooked chicken breast and Italian seasonings.  More broth was needed so it would not be too thick.  The soup simmered for about 40 minutes so the barley would be soft and all the flavors combined.

This would be considered a thick, chunky soup but not a chowder since it is not thickened with flour.  The barley seemed to add a bit of thickness so it not completely a clear broth base.

This soup is great for an easy lunch and full of nutrition.  You can do your own version with what you have on hand when you start thinking it is a soup day!

I would love to hear what soups you enjoy.

“My husband said that his favorite soup is my homemade tomato soup!”