Monday, January 2, 2012

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!  I don't know what the new year holds, but I do know who does.  :)  I put my trust in the Lord to guide me and take care of everything.  I just walk one day at a time and do what I know is right and good to do. 

We live in interesting times don't we?  I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us in the coming months.  The Bible tells me that all good things come from above.  (James 1:17) 

Today my family is starting back on the path of good nutrition.  Boy did we eat a lot of junk/sugar over the holidays!  We all feel so much better when we are eating foods that are as close to possible to the way God created them.

I thought I would share with you one way we use those canned vegetables we work so hard all Summer and Fall putting up. 

To start with we had roasted whole chicken for dinner night before last.  I saved the bones and left over meat to make soup.  I put this in a pot with enough water to cover the bones and meat.  Brought it to a boil, added some chopped onion and garlic.  Remove the bones from the broth and put any meat back into the pot.
This is what it looks like after deboning and adding the onions and garlic.





I chose a quart of green beans, a quart of carrots, a pint of corn and a pint of tomatoes from the pantry.  I opened these and added them to the pot, liquid and all.

Then I took a sweet potato I had in the fridge, a bunch of fresh parsley from the garden, and a bunch of kale from the garden.  These fresh vegetables boost the nutrition level of the soup.  Some nutrition is lost during the canning process, so I like to add what ever fresh ingredients I have to the soup.  Kale and parsley will grow all winter here in the Pacific Northwest.  Ed did have to cover the parsley with a sheet when the temperatures were down in the 20's awhile back.

I peeled and chopped the sweet potato and added it to the pot, then chopped the kale up and added it as well.  The parsley I just picked the leaves off the stems and toss them right in without chopping.  Next I tasted the broth, added a little sea salt, black pepper and a couple of shakes of Bragg's organic kelp seasoning (kind of like Mrs. Dash only better).  I also broke a few fetuccini noodles and put in.  Sometimes instead of the noodles I will put in  brown rice, or barley or even  soft white wheat. 
Soup's on!  This pot of soup will feed my family for two day's worth of lunches.  Thank you Lord for the bountiful harvest this last year.