Bean Soup!

I had yesterday off, so today's more like my usual Monday. You guessed it! the washer is humming and I'm getting ready to fix make-ahead food for the week. I'm hoping to tackle a major clean-out project this week-our walk-in closet! Please keep me in your prayers that I make it back out alive (ha!) It really is in need of attention. Hubby will sort out his clothes, of course, but I just dread my half of that closet. It was our Christmas "hidey hole", too, so that added to the mess.

The Senior Appreciation Lunch that our teens hosted at church this weekend went very well. It was so encouraging to see how much the young people enjoyed the time spent serving others. As usual, the folks who came out to enjoy the lunch were very complimentary and expressed their thanks. It's so great when young people get positive feed-back because they've done a good deed. If you've never done a Youth/Senior activity at your church, I highly recommend it!

We had Chili and Chicken Noodle Soup at our luncheon on Saturday, so I pulled several of my soup recipes from my file last week. Here's a good one for bean soup:

Navy Bean Soup

1 lb. dry navy beans
2 qt. chicken broth
2 TBSP minced fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled


To take the gas out of beans:

I soak my beans the night before in water with a little baking soda. Then rinse, add fresh, cold water to cover; repeat fresh water rinse, again.
Alternate method: cover with cold water in soup kettle (I use a Dutch oven)bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; cover and let stand for 1 hour. Drain and rinse beans, discarding liquid.


Soup directions:

In a large saucepan, combine the broth, beans, parsley, bay leaves and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Add onion, carrot and celery. Cover and simmer for 20-25 min. or until vegetables and beans are tender. Stir in bacon. Pull out bay leaves before serving. Makes 8-10 servings.

***Book I'm reading: The Blind Side by Michael Lewis***


I'll be at these recipe swaps today:

BlessedwithGrace
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam.com
Gypsy'scorner
Raising4GodleyMen