My love of animals brings me to a short entry today as I am anxious, having already fed Blaze, to walk him and give him a shower this morning. While he doesn’t love the shower, he does love all the attention he gets once he is clean so he cooperates and pretends to be enjoying himself while I sing the B-I-N-G-O song. He may not come when I ask if he wants to take a shower, but as soon as I say BINGO, he knows…
Tonight it is mushroom, barley and lentil soup. This week I decided I have had enough experience with soup recipes, and made up my own recipe, based mostly on foods I already had in the house. I am sure I am not remembering it exactly, but what I have learned is IT DOESN’T MATTER!!! It went something like this:
2 large onions, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
a few cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of lentils
1 cup of barley
1 box of sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas, but most recipes call for button, crimini or both–also, next time I would use 2 boxes)
8 cups of vegetable broth
water as needed
2 bay leaves
some dried parsley and thyme (I used fresh from my herb garden and I didn’t measure)
salt and pepper to taste
Saute the onions, garlic and celery for about 5 minutes. Add the lentils and peas and saute around until they start to toast a little bit. Add the broth and spices and bring to a boil. Turn down, cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and cook another half hour (covered) or as long as needed to ensure that everything is tender and the consistency is as you like it. Add water, a little at a time, if needed.
This soup I did NOT blend at all. After about an hour of cooking I shut the fire and just let it sit. It thickened up nicely and much later in the day, we reheated to eat. I froze the rest for a few days and am defrosting, now, for tonight. It made about 12 cups. Always remember to remove the bay leafs before serving!
I’ll be serving the soup with salad, grilled veggie subs and some fresh fruit.
If you are still drinking diet soda, STOP! The publicity about it just gets worse and worse. Take charge of your own health so that you don’t have to be at the mercy of our health care system. Please.
Thanks for your feedback on the site changes. It is always work in progress. Aren’t we all?