I try to keep chicken broth on hand, either canned or homemade. This always makes fixing a fast but healthy meal easy to get on the table. We like a lot of pasta in our soup and the thin, vermicelli pasta seems to work best for us. You can also pour the soup (without pasta) over hot, cooked rice or use any other shape, type of pasta that appeals to you.
Vermicelli Soup
Olive oil as needed
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, peeled, smashed, and diced
3 carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup of lentils
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried Italian herb mix
Red pepper flakes to taste
1/4 - ½ pound of vermicelli pasta (depending on how much pasta you like in your soup!)
Fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped, fresh parsley
Finely grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until tender in a large soup pot. Add carrots, celery, lentils, and chicken broth to the pot. Stir in the bay leave, Italian herbs, and pepper flakes. Cover and simmer until lentils are cooked through, about 20-30 minutes. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
To serve, portion out in soup bowls. Give each bowl a grind of black pepper and a generous sprinkling of cheese. Top with some parsley and serve to a happy family.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
A Wake Up Call . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVN2MMuiedI&feature=sdig
When you hear things like this and refuse to acknowledge that they are happening . . .
You truly have to wonder what people were thinking when our government decided to be a power struggle against the Church. God is behind, before, and throughout the real Catholic Church and the government might succeed in temporary ways but not in eternal ways to bring it down. It is an arrogant group of people who think they can ultimately take down a Church that is over 2,000 years old. That's when knowing your history pays . . . We read it and have hope and continue to pray. Politicians want what they want when they want it and forge ahead based on their narrow perception of the whole. History repeats itself and, even with persecution, the Catholic Church will still be standing.
We do, however, have a committment to prayer as devout prayer will help determine how far an evil can spread before it is conquered. Looking around the world, today, we have a lot of work ahead of us because our sense of convenience has caused it to extend further than it was ever imagined it could.
When you hear things like this and refuse to acknowledge that they are happening . . .
You truly have to wonder what people were thinking when our government decided to be a power struggle against the Church. God is behind, before, and throughout the real Catholic Church and the government might succeed in temporary ways but not in eternal ways to bring it down. It is an arrogant group of people who think they can ultimately take down a Church that is over 2,000 years old. That's when knowing your history pays . . . We read it and have hope and continue to pray. Politicians want what they want when they want it and forge ahead based on their narrow perception of the whole. History repeats itself and, even with persecution, the Catholic Church will still be standing.
We do, however, have a committment to prayer as devout prayer will help determine how far an evil can spread before it is conquered. Looking around the world, today, we have a lot of work ahead of us because our sense of convenience has caused it to extend further than it was ever imagined it could.
A smile to wake up an early Daylight Savings day . . .
"And remember, no matter where you go, there you are."
-- Earl Mac Rauch
-- Earl Mac Rauch
"Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I
think that I am.)"
-- Ambrose Bierce
-- Ambrose Bierce
"A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it's written on."
-- Samuel Goldwyn
-- Samuel Goldwyn
Daylight Savings Time Springs into our day . . .
I can never decide which part of Daylight Savings Time I dislike the most: 'losing' an hour in the Spring or 'gaining' an hour in the Fall. Either way, it seems that our sleep patterns are disrupted and we spend the next couple of days shaking our heads to get rid of the mental fogginess.
We haven't forgotten to observe the clock adjusting ritual too many times over the years. We get to Sunday Mass a bit earlier on both the Spring and Fall time change. Why? Because many people do forget and they either arrive for a Mass earlier than they intended or end up at the next Mass because they are late. Either way, one can expect a crowd of bleary-eyed people who are usually spread out more evenly over the schedule of Sunday Masses.
My husband dutifully went around the house, last night, and moved all the clocks forward the required hour. We went to bed happy in the thought that we had not forgotten and would be waking up in a timely manner. We tried not to think about that 'lost' hour of sleep and planned to just soldier on and face the day no matter when it arrived.
I got a new alarm clock since last year. It is an amazing thing. You don't have to do anything for Daylight Savings. It does it automatically. We forgot about this handy aspect and my husband included it in his time-changing rounds last night. My alarm went off two hours early this morning! By the time, we checked the real time, figured out what happened, any sleepiness had vanished. Still tired but now awake, I wandered off to take my shower and get ready for the day. If I'm late for Mass this morning, it won't be a result of too much sleep!
We haven't forgotten to observe the clock adjusting ritual too many times over the years. We get to Sunday Mass a bit earlier on both the Spring and Fall time change. Why? Because many people do forget and they either arrive for a Mass earlier than they intended or end up at the next Mass because they are late. Either way, one can expect a crowd of bleary-eyed people who are usually spread out more evenly over the schedule of Sunday Masses.
My husband dutifully went around the house, last night, and moved all the clocks forward the required hour. We went to bed happy in the thought that we had not forgotten and would be waking up in a timely manner. We tried not to think about that 'lost' hour of sleep and planned to just soldier on and face the day no matter when it arrived.
I got a new alarm clock since last year. It is an amazing thing. You don't have to do anything for Daylight Savings. It does it automatically. We forgot about this handy aspect and my husband included it in his time-changing rounds last night. My alarm went off two hours early this morning! By the time, we checked the real time, figured out what happened, any sleepiness had vanished. Still tired but now awake, I wandered off to take my shower and get ready for the day. If I'm late for Mass this morning, it won't be a result of too much sleep!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)