7 Reasons to Eat Soup

Need a reason or two to attend a CNC women’s soup potluck on Friday, October 7th?  Read on. And then call Debra to let her know you are attending.

1. Tribute. Haitians eat pumpkin soup January 1st to celebrate their Independence from France (1804). This soup is eaten early in the day “to celebrate unity and good fortune” (Missy Gauvin).

Missy relates that the French landowners had their slaves prepare pumpkin soup, but often forbade the slaves from eating it themselves. So upon the slaves successful uprising and overthrow of the French involvement in their country, the now freed slaves prepared and ate the pumpkin soup for themselves. The yearly tradition of eating of the soup continues as a tribute to the men and women who fought for and won Haitian independence.

2. Vegetables and Fruits. We’ve been told since childhood to eat our veggies and fruits because they are good for us. And they are. But sometimes it is hard to eat all that’s required for a healthy diet. Eating soup is a great way to get multiple types and 5-9 servings of vegetables and fruit into our diet. Try this quick and easy vegetable soup or Elise Gaube’s Ratatouille which is in our CNC cookbook. (You can buy a book from the church office.)

There are even great soup recipes which include fruit. There are many such recipes on the web, but here are two to get you started.  Peach Buttermilk soup is great for breakfast. This Watermelon Gazpacho also has tomatoes and celery.

3. Roughage. Beans provide roughage (as do veggies and fruits). “Meeting your roughage targets promotes the health of your intestine, combats high cholesterol and can curb appetite” (Ryan Devon). You can get packets of bean soup mix from the market. And of course the Internet has many, many bean soup recipes. One of my fave recipes is Sweet Potato Lentil Stew.

4. Diet Aide. Starting a meal with a healthy soup has been shown that the “eater” then consumes up to 20% less food. Soup fills you up some and so you are not as tempted to overeat. Bonus – you get extra servings of vegetables and fruits by including soup in your meal plan.

5. Body Coolant. I’ve read that taking a warm shower on a hot day is the best way to cool down your body. I’ve also heard that consuming hot and/or spicy food does the same. Make this Korean Summer Chicken Soup to test out the theory for yourself.

6. Overall Health. Consistently consuming enough fruits and veggies will positively affect your vision, heart, and blood pressure. It can also be a deterrent to getting cancer.

7. Community. A bunch of CNC women will be gathering on Friday, October 7, 2011 for a soup potluck. Go here for details. Contact me or Debra, if you have any questions. (If you don’t RSVP, come anyway.)

Your Turn  . . . What reason would you add to this list? Have a soup recipe to share?

Related Post

• Five Reasons Why Soup is Healthy for Dieters and Everyone Else

5 simple things bring gratitude

i have a notebook with purple pages. i have a flowy gel pen. i use these two to record a daily blessing. today is friday. i “belong” to susanne’s friday’s fave five. so i recorded 5 blessings from last week. easy peasy assignment since i have my
trusty notebook. here are my five.

1. my brother-in-law is a thoughtful, smart, patient, helpful guy. he connected my wireless internet. now i have uninterrupted internet connection anywhere in my home. i can connect with my laptop and kindle.

2. i spent time with my 9 y.o. niece TWICE last week. she helped me with some cleaning and cookie baking. we made lorna’s peanut butter cookies and reva’s pistachio thumbprint cookies. both were delish and are in cnc’s cookbook. we still have books for sale. (hint. hint. the cost is donation or $10-whichever you prefer.)

3. many ladies responded to my phone calls asking for their help. i wasn’t able to attend a dear friend’s
baby shower,  but i was able to find ladies to bring food, help with set-up and clean up and give a devotional.

4. i found my kindle. i read uncle tom’s cabin (a free ebook from amazon). (and glad i found a clear thinking brain – finally.) wow did that book affect me. i am embarrassed by america’s past position on slavery. i was horrified at how some of the characters were treated because i know they were based on real people and true events. i was touched by the gospel messages that was presented throughout the book. i want to be like eva!

5. advice from a friend is priceless. a dear friend that i’ve known for years came over to listen to my “problem” and then brainstormed some ideas with me. our time ended with prayer. she also came bearing gifts (bread and jam from 2 different ladies) and dove chocolate and pretty click pens from her.

of course there are more blessings than these: meals, one lady stayed with the meal to eat with me, a special lady is doing most of the children’s ministry oversight and another one is steering the speakers for women’s retreat. thanks to EVERYONE.

these are a few of my favourite things from last week. to share yours click here.

6 Reasons to Buy a CNC Cookbook Today

Food interests everyone. Especially tasty food. The CNC cookbook is available for purchase and of course has recipes for tasty food.

They are in the office during the week or in the foyer on Sundays.

 Below are six reasons to buy your cookbook today.

1. 100% of the money goes to the Women’s Ministry fund. For every five books we sell, enough money is earned to give an average scholarship to women’s retreat.
2. There are a limited number of books left.You don’t want to be the only CNC family member without one.
3. This cookbook contains 350+ family-tested and family-loved recipes. You can cook any recipe and know that it’ll be a winner.
4. The kid’s recipe section is darling.There are 24 unabridged recipes from CNC children ages 4-11. Here a few . . .

• You’ll find a recipe for Seth’s Pizza Man (p. 248) which you’ll want to start today since it takes 30,000 hours to cook.
• Hannah’s Super Duper Homemade French Toast (p. 246) is a must try especially for those milk lovers as it calls for 7 cups of milk.
• John’s chocolate chip cookie (p. 244) ingredient list is easy enough with 1 c. flour, 3 c. regular milk and 2 c. chocolate chips.
• Have a hankering for strawberries in your eggs? Check out Emily’s Scrambled Eggs on page 242.

5.       It only costs $14.99. At this price you can even buy one for yourself and one as a gift.

6.      Some are already gift wrapped. Be one of the first to pick up a wrapped cookbook.

Bake Sale Opportunity Shows Our World Involvement

CNC is known for community involvement whether it’s in our own backyard or on other continents like South East Asia. That’s why I’m so excited about Sunday’s bake sale at church. The proceeds will go to field workers in Kurdistan to up grade their hole-in-the floor toilet to the decadent style of porcelain.

Please bring your baked good, sweet and/or savory, to Rudat Hall. We will sell the items between the two services and after the 2nd service. Be sure to bring money so you can take home food for Sunday lunch.

We are also collecting . . . . cell phones, used inkjet cartridges, DVD’s, iPOD’s and gaming machines. Even the broken ones.

Finally, if you’d like a great present, buy a CNC cookbook. 

All the proceeds from these fundraisers will go to missions. All 100% of the funds. Thank you in advance for supporting missions. Together we are spreading the love, mercy and grace of Christ.

Go to this post to see the three reasons why this fundraising event is important to you.

What surprise ingredient do you put in your eggs?

. . . horeseradish?
. . . sherry?
. . . seaweed?
. . . pureed vegetables?
. . . any and every leftover?

My 4 year old niece has a surprising addition, if you are game.

Below is her recipe for Arnez Scrambled Eggs.
You will also find it in the CNC cookbook coming soon to . . .
a Women’s Ministry team member near YOU!

1. Crack in two eggs in a big bowl that’s clean. Throw away the eggshells.
2. Take a fork and poke at the egg yolks. And then stir it.
3. You can put strawberries in. [The surprise ingredient.]

4. Put the eggs in a pan that has a fire under it.
5. You get a spoon to pick up the cooked eggs to put them on a plate.
6. Put catsup but not Ranch [dressing] on the eggs.
7. Put everything away and wash the bowl and fork out.
NOTE: Orange juice would be a good match for this breakfast.

by Emily Arnez – age 4

The cookbook has other recipes just as darling!

Doesn’t that make you want to grab your checkbook and send in $14.99 to the church right NOW!

Seriously, how do you like your eggs?
I like mine dry with lots of white pepper and two pieces of buttered, wheat toast. Please smear one slice with marmalade. Oh, and a cup of English Breakfast Tea steeped for 3 minutes with a slurp of milk.

Easy Recipe (Pasta Primavera) With Neat Tip

 

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I found a way to make my new favorite summer dish (Pasta Primavera) a tich neater. 

Here’s my basic recipe.

1. Steam frozen or fresh veggies (broccoli, carrots, zucchini, peas, corn).
2. Sauté onion, mushrooms, and peppers. I cook whatever is on hand until I have about 3 cups of steamed and sautéed veggies.
4. Make a white sauce while the veggies are cooking. I make 2 cups. This sauce is equally good with powdered milk, cow’s milk, almond milk, or soy milk.
5. Cook 1 lb. of linguine. Drain.
6. Put all the veggies and white sauce into the noodles.
7. Fold in 1-2 cups of washed and roughly chopped spinach.
8. Add handful of sliced cherry tomatoes.

Okay, here’s the neat tip: Before I pour the dry noodles into a pot of boiling water, I break the noodles in half inside the package.

Maybe y’all already knew this one. I just discovered it last week while whipping up this dish (again). Doing it this way ensured that I didn’t drop even one noodle.Works-for-me.

Click on over to Kristen’s blog where Works-For-Me-Wednesday has MORE tips to make YOUR life easier.

 

Wahoo – It’s Day 6 of Friendship Bread Starter

According to the Friendship Bread Starter Recipe I get to . . .

“Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup of milk. Squeeze bag several times.”

In the past I have not been very successful with taking care of my Starter. It would get too hot and die. It would get too cold and not grow. Or I’d forget all about it – especially when it was nestled in my sock drawer.

But so far so good and I have some Starter to share.

My sister declined taking possession of Starter because she was sure she’d fall into the “forgetting all about it” camp.

After explaining to Lorna the care and feeding of Starter she said, “It’s like taking care of a plant and I kill plants.” She also declined – for now.

J was willing to give it a go. After giving some Starter to J, she and hubby talked about what they’d do with Starter this week. They have plans to go to Redding. In the end, it was hoped that their upstairs neighbor would give Starter the necessary squeezes.

So how’s it going with your Starter?

Don’t have any Starter and want some? Go here for directions to make your own.

“Starter” Is One Ingredient In Building Community

Something’s growing at CNC.

It’s easy to create.
It’s bubbling with life.
And it’s meant to be shared.

It’s Friendship Bread. Also known as Amish Friendship Bread and Herman bread.

According to Wikipedia, Amish Friendship Bread, “is the chain letter of the baking world [or like zucchini from summer gardens]. The idea is very simple: a friend gives you a cup of yeast culture (also known as “starter”) and a copy of instructions. Following the instructions, you add sugar, flour and milk and it rises.”

“Eventually, you end up with 4 cups of the starter. You use one to make bread, keep one to start a new cycle and give two to your friends. Each of your friends also gets a copy of the instructions for what to do with the yeast starter. The latter part makes it somewhat like a chain letter.”

The idea is simple: use some, keep some and give some away. A recipe like this can quickly get out-of-hand and that’s what Women’s Ministry is proposing. In fact, let’s see how out of hand we can get. And how quickly we can do it.

Pass it on
Do you think it’s possible for every woman of the church to receive starter? All those on the mailing list? Wouldn’t this be a fun way to connect with others? An unusual way to build community? Let’s see if we can pass it on to all the Family by the end of October.

“Hello, my name is Susan. It’s good to see you at church today. I’d like to give you a little something. It’s a Friendship muffin, (aha, you didn’t know you could make muffins with it, did you?), a bag of starter and a recipe to make your own muffins or loaf of bread.”“When you’ve made your bread, you can give your friends a sample and the starter that made it! Then your friends can make their own and pass it along to their friends. This is why the bread is called “friendship bread”.[1]

But wait, something else is growing at CNC.

It’s a cookbook. Women’s Ministry is collecting recipes for an all-church cookbook.

So while you’re passing out samples and starter, how about passing out reminders to submit recipes (need them by August 15) and reserve a copy of the cookbook. Hardcopy forms are on the Secret Sister bookshelf; an electronic form can be received by e-mailing cncwomensministry@yahoo.com.

Be sure to grow and pass on the starter you receive. Even better yet, why don’t you start your own chain? The recipe for the starter and bread is in a separate post. When you’ve passed it on, please let me know by commenting here or click on Cookbook and comment on the post titled – Friendship Bread – Pass It On.

Let’s see how long it does take us to pass it on to all the CNC community.

Maybe at CNC we could call it Community Bread. ‘Cuz that’s what we’re doing with our sharing – building community. That’s what we’re doing with our cookbook – building community. That’s what Pastor will be preaching on – building community.

Why? Because Community Matters in the short-haul, long-haul and in Eternity.

[1] http://www.armchair.com/recipe/bake002.html

Friendship Bread Starter Recipe

Ingredients:

1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar

NOTE: DO NOT USE METAL BOWLS OR SPOONS AND DO NOT REFRIGERATE (at this stage).

Directions:

Dissolve yeast in small amount of warm water. Mix all ingredients together in ample size bowl or jar – it will grow. (I put mine in a gallon-size ziplock bag).

This is day 1 of the recipe, then the next day go to day 2 and so on.

o DAY 1 Receive fermented starter in ziplock bag. Do nothing! Put bag on counter.
o DAY 2 Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 3 Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 4 Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 5 Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 6 Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup of milk. Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 7 Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 8 Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 9 Squeeze bag several times.
o DAY 10 In a large non-metallic bowl, combine batter with 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix with wooden or plastic spoon. Take two one gallon ziplock bags and pour 1 cup of starter in each.

Give these two starters, with a copy of instructions, to CNC women.
Make a loaf of bread (or muffins) with one cup of the starter.
Keep one cup of starter so you can start the cycle over again.

Recipes for the bread will be posted next week.

All Church Cookbook is Simmering On the Stove

“First you make a roux” is the way many Cajun and Creole one-pot main dishes start. And there is no further explanation of making a roux. Making roux and all the dishes that start with one is a hand-me-down tradition.

Passing down recipes from one generation to the next is a hand-me down tradition that occurs in all cultures. This ritual binds one family member to the next. It forms a connection; links the past to the present and then to the future.

Community is formed. And community matters.

This is one reason why Women’s Ministry is putting together an all church cookbook. We are collecting more than instructional how-to’s on making certain foods. So there are three more reasons we are putting together this ccokbook.

We are collecting memories: “This pork chop casserole was one my grandma always made when we visited because my dad thoroughly enjoyed eating it. I, however, was fed up and once asked, “Grandma, is this all you know how to cook?”

We are remembering those who have passed on: “While working in the nursery one morning, Betty and I started talking about recipes using persimmons. She told me that every Christmas she sent persimmon cookies to her family because it was the most requested one. Betty brought in the recipe for me to try and I loved it… The best part is having the handwritten recipe card from her to cherish.”

We are sharing the best recipes from each family: “Sometimes when I look at a new cookbook, I’m not sure what will turn out well. But when I look at recipes in a cookbook like this, I know my kids will eat it.”

Please submit all recipes by August 15, 2006. We want to have the books back in time to buy as Christmas gifts.

Pick up a hard copy form at the Secret Sister bookcase at church or email cncwomensministry@yahoo.com for an electronic form. You can also call Marsha Thompson if you have any questions.

Please share with me other ideas as to why collecting recipes for an all church cookbook is a good idea.

Well, I’m going back to the stove to do some more work on the cookbook.

4 Reaons To Submit Recipes to Cookbook by Lynette, CE Director and Guest Columnist

Four Reasons
Do you like to eat?
Do you like to cook?
Do you like to read? (Cookbooks make interesting reading material)
Do you need Christmas gifts for the all your friends & relatives?
If you answer yes to at least one of the above, then Women’s Ministry needs your recipes.

Anyone can contribute
Husbands, kids, grandmas & grandpas. This is not just for women. Dig out your favorite recipes, get our kids involved, fill out the form and turn it in by August 15.

Forms readily available
See anyone one on the Women’s Ministry team with questions: Marsha, Shirley, Susan, Heidi, Lorna, Reggie. Pick up a hard copy recipe form at the Secret Sister bookcase at church or email cncwomensministry@yahoo.com for an electronic form.

Pass the word to anyone who does not have e-mail and let’s get the kid’s involved as well. Sunday School teachers pass the word to your class next week. I will have forms for you in the classroom.

Get out those treasured recipes and support Women’s Ministry.

P.S. Look for German Apple Cake from me.

When Life Gives You (too much) Pineapple Make Cake

What do you do when . . .

you’ve added three eggs yolks and ½ cup sugar to a can (16 ounces) of crushed pineapple with juice, when it should have been added to an 8 ounce, drained, can of crushed pineapple?

• I thought of taking half the mixture out, but what do you do with the other half?
• I thought about forgetting it altogether, but that would be wasteful and I still needed to bring something.
• Double it? Didn’t have the necessary pan or extra ingredients.
• Then I remembered what Marie Antoinette once said when she was in a pickle, “Let them eat cake.”
• An hour later I had one fragrant 13×9 and four 6×4 pineapple cakes with cream cheese frosting. And a hotter kitchen!!! (It is in the triple digits today and the ac was struggling, even before I decided to bake.)

I learned some things today . . .

• Carefully read and check the label of all ingredients. Don’t assume anything.
• 8 ounce cans of crushed pineapple exist. Despite what I used to believe.
• You cannot substitute a 10 ounce can of crushed pineapple with juice for an 8 ounce drained can.
• You can make the best of any situation – it’s a choice.
  

Oh, I also learned that Marie Antoinette never uttered those thoughtless words, on the eve of the French Revolution, “Let them eat cake.” See Urban Legends and Wikipedia for (some of) the true story.

Finally, here’s something, she really did say to the priest on her way up to the guillotine,

“The moment when my troubles are going to end is not the moment when my courage is going to fail me.”

This is a good note to end on while I go eat cake.