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.

Hey - It's HAY

Our goats still have plenty of pasture grass to eat - they don't like it much but it is nourishing and plentiful. I confess a need to overfeed everyone and everything, today we went down to a friend's place and bought some sudan round bales today. DH hooked up the big trailer and we drove about 17 miles south of our place. All went well - except the tractor with a bale spike on it wasn't starting today because we are having a cold weather spell. Typical country ingenuity,the guys figured out a way to use a heavy chain and lift the bales onto our trailer. Whew. Would have been a long trip for nothing if these men weren't clever - but DH and James knew how to solve a problem.

Once back at Buhlaland - the goats weren't overjoyed but once one ate a mouthful- wow! it's sudan - hey you guys - come eat some HAY.

EAGLES' REST: Yes, Virginia, This Really IS a Baptist Church

First time I've done a blog link - but Bob Cleveland over at Eagle's Rest uploaded a video clip to youtube that is more than worthy of mention. Crank up your speakers and devote 9 minutes to watching and hearing meaningful worship -

EAGLES' REST: Yes, Virginia, This Really IS a Baptist Church

Homemade Christmas Gifts

I think I've mentioned before that my dear husband can literally do almost anything - this year for Christmas he made these lazy susans - I get the red one and other was for someone else. They are like him - useful and attractive . (explanation of couch cushion sticking up there at an odd angle - only way to keep our little dogs from nesting on top of the cushion and breaking it down - we actually move the cushions into more normal couch position to sit there!)






One of his "lines" when he was courting me (or I was chasing him? - hard to remember which direction that went) was there were only three things he couldn't fix, the break of day, a broken word and a broken heart. At the time I thought it charming male malarkey but he has proven it over and over.

The small picture is one of my keepsake ornaments - a big deal here in Texas is the yellow rose (old song -the yellow rose of Texas).

Trees picture is the very last bit of sunlight on a blessed Christmas 2007. We had a lovely Christmas - life is good here on Buhlaland (and very early to bed - we were laying there reading by 8 pm!).