Month: October 2020

Cooking

Soup For A Change

Iris Rose

I was going to write about a craft today but got sidetracked by soup.  We are following, and have followed for several years, a low sodium diet.  The weather turned cold here last week with the daytime highs at minus 7C or lower; today it is plus 14C, go figure.

 

Anyway, cold weather equals soup in my mind.  Using what I had on hand in the pantry and fridge, ham and bean soup sounded like it would fit the bill.  Getting back to low salt, all of the ingredients that I used are no or reduced salt but you can happily use what ever you like or what you have available.  I make my own chicken stock which is seasoned with poultry seasoning so that affects the flavour a little.

Ingredients:

Ham, 50g or 2 oz. chopped, love ham? use more

1 can mixed beans

1 can black beans

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 sweet potato peeled and chopped

¼ sweet onion diced

Handful of green beans, chopped

3 cups chicken stock

2 Tbsp flour

1 ½ Tbsp butter

½ tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dried cilantro

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp cumin

 

Open the cans so they are ready, drain the beans.  Melt the butter in your soup pot and add the ham and onion.  Cook until the onion is limp and stir in the flour.  Pour in the liquid from the tomatoes and stir until it starts to thicken a little.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until it comes to a boil and is thickened a bit.  Turn down the heat and simmer until you are ready to serve.

You can use what you have; no green beans, add some frozen corn or peas or both.  No sweet potatoes, add carrots instead.  No ham, use diced bacon.  I’m sure that you get the picture.

I let my pot simmer for a couple of hours but that is not necessary as the ingredients are already cooked.  This made enough for about six large bowls of soup, another words for the two of us, leftovers to freeze.

Serve it up with some crusty sourdough or biscuits and it is like winter pig heaven!

 

Have a lovely week and remember to be kind.  You never know who is having a horrific day and you might just brighten it with a smile and kind word..

Knitting

Finishing

Iris Rose

I have taken a bit of a hiatus from writing this last few months so my posts have been few and far between.  I have reached a point where I am ready to connect again so here goes.

My last post in the middle of September was about unfinished projects.  Well, I did some more tidying and, low and behold, my twenty one unfinished projects turned into thirty four, yes, that is correct, thirty four.  I obviously have too many project bags and hiding places for them when I get bored with a project!

I am happy to say that all except for two are finished.  One of the remaining, a cardigan, will be finished and the last one, that shawl started in January, is going to be frogged.  Maybe.

I finished all of the toys, wait, make that five unfinished projects, (what is wrong with me!), except for a doll, a tiny bear, and a chicken hat.  Here is an example of how something started and hated can be rescued with a little imagination and colour changes.

I made this monster, a free pattern in my Ravelry store, in orange and brown, my least favourite colour combination, a couple of years ago and just could not bring myself to finish it.  Look how a change of colour (the nose) makes such a huge difference to the overall look.  I added neutral fuzzy yarn limbs and I think he or she turned out to be a real cutey.

Moral of the post: don’t be afraid to try something different and you might be surprised how things turn out.  I know that seems simple but sometimes we just have to reach out from our comfort zone and give lime green a whirl.  I have officially been blogging for five years on the 25th; I never thought I had it in me to stick to this for so long.

Thanks for reading and have a lovely crafty and safe week.  Remember to be kind.