Authentic Compassion

Monday, December 31, 2007

Chicken Soup for the body and soul




Feliz Ano Nuevo and or Happy New Year y'all! Tomorrow is our 8th wedding anniversary , amazing.

It is a little cool today so I decided to experiment with chicken soup recipes. Easy to make and you could freeze individual servings and microwave them for lunch this month.
Ingredients are in bold type
In a LARGE skillet heat two tablespoons olive oil,
1 cup of onion coarsely chopped
1 cup of diced carrot
1.5 pounds or two whole chicken breasts cut into small cubes
Add the onion, carrot and chicken to heated skillet and cook, stirring occasionally for about 8 minutes until lightly browned. Add 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic, then 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves. Stir until the spices and garlic are mixed in with the chicken - keep heat fairly high so chicken will continue to cook.
Add:
one 15.8 ounce can Great Northern Beans - drained and rinsed
one 15 ounce can Black Beans - also drained and rinsed
2 cans (4.5 ounce each) chopped green chiles (about one cup)
4 cups of high quality chicken broth
Allow this all to reach full boil, stir in 1/4 cup of ground yellow corn meal and stir briskly to avoid lumps. Keep temp up , the corn meal will begin to thicken the soup slightly. Add sea salt to taste and I added a teaspoon and a half of white pepper - you could use black pepper to taste also.
We served this with a dollop of sour cream on top - DH and I each added several shakes of hot pepper sauce but we made the soup NOT spicy on purpose so it could be jazzed up if desired. Would be tasty to add some corn and/or a handful of chopped parsley. Quick soup to make and flavorful, smells great. The 3 of us had a bowl which holds about a cup and there is enough left for almost that again. So I'm guessing 5 - 6 servings.
There is something elemental about making soup for yourself and people you love - feels like nourishing instead of feeding. We finished reading the bible today (DH and I have a discipline of reading the bible through each year - starting anew on the 1st ). I depend on that time each day to open the eyes of my heart - to see the world in a different way. If you show up here (and few do!) I pray that you will be nourished in some way - making a recipe, enjoying pictures or connecting to one of the books,blogs or resources available here. Feliz Ano Nuevo y'all - it is almost a new year and I'm grateful for the blessings of our life - the fun, peaceful times, and I'm beginning to understand about thanking the Lord for the trials. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (the Message paraphrase)"Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time;thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live." If you don't follow Jesus - I hope you will consider where you want to be when you leave (as C.S. Lewis called earth) The Shadowlands. I'm not a gifted evangelist - I only know what a change has occurred in my life and that it definitely was NOT me who changed - I'm still Linda Sue though not a beta version anymore - the real Linda 2.0
Here's to food, friendships, faith and faithfulness - and you are always welcome to visit Buhlaland.

1 comment:

Pam said...

Good job on being faithful to reading the Bible through in a year! I started that once several years ago, and stuck with it for a few weeks before falling off the wagon. At the season of life I am in now, it is a huge challenge to just read a few verses each day. Happy New Year!