A Bright Spot

Sunday started out pouring rainy, windy and cold. By the time I ventured to take a photo the rains and wind had stopped.

Later in the day, the sky turned blue like the photo below and the sun came out!

To top off my day, I was treated to an early moon in the sky (I think it shows up better if you click the pic).

 

 It helps to have a beautiful day in which to run errands. It is after 6 p.m. and look how bright it is outside.
It's so great to have longer days of daylight now.

In My World this week, I am busily trying to prepare to visit my mom. I'm also linking up with Smiling Sally for Blue Monday.

Happy Earth Day and happy week ahead to you all.

Left Over Soup

Yesterday, I decided to skip another trip to the fabric store.  I need one more piece of fabric for mom's skirt and some plastic bobbins but I can go early next week. It was an overcast day as you can see in the photo; the kind of day that calls for home made soup.

The church steeple is undergoing a face list. It's height has been increased by at least 10 feet and it now has a Celtic style cross which lights up at night. I like the changes.

I had to throw out some veggies earlier this week because I've been too busy to cook them. I resolved to use up some of rest in the crisper before they go bad too.

The soup simmering on the stove.  The sheen on the top comes from the overhead light, not oil.

Ingredients:

- 3/4 cup brown rice
- 2 cleaned and diced carrots
- 2 cleaned and diced stalks of celery
- 1/2 cup red quinoa (uncooked. This was left over from Thanksgiving)
- 1 medium chopped onion
- 1 large can of stewed tomatoes
- 1 medium-large can of kidney beans (rinsed)
- 1/2 cup cooked cabbage left over from earlier in the week
- splashes of hot sauce and soy sauce to taste
- water (as needed and depending how thick you want your soup)


First, boil the brown rice and water together for 15 minutes or so.  Brown rice takes longer to cook so it needs a head start.

When the rice is boiling, add diced carrots, onion and red quinoa and let all the ingredients boil together for another 20-30 minutes.  Next, add the rinsed canned beans, tomatoes, left over cabbage, hot sauce and soy sauce.

After boiling together for a few minutes, do a taste test and add more hot sauce and a very small bit of sugar to cut the heat if needed.  There was only a wee bit of hot sauce left in my bottle but it was a little too much so I added a about 2 teaspoons of sugar. Finally, simmer everything together for another 10-15 minutes or until the brown rice is fully cooked.

The soup is very tasty and healthy.  There is no oil and no added salt, other than what is in the prepared sauces in this soup.  There is also no meat but it is high in protein with brown rice, red quinoa and kidney beans.  Finally, this soup is very easy on the budget.

This week I hope to link up with Homemaker on a Dime when the new linky opens.