Football Away Game Soup – Minestrone

 A damp fall day, where yellow leaves fall and beautiful orange pumpkins stand out bright against the golden browns of the season, is the perfect season for hot minestrone soup. This hot soup full of veggies and swirly pasta is hot in the Crockpot and ready to savor.

Have you ever sat down with a group of strangers, soon to be friends, and reveled in the differences and similarities? I have had that opportunity not too terribly long ago. It is such fun to find that our differences are not as wide as we originally think, and that our commonalities are so much greater. Sitting down over a meal and sharing a little bit of our lives can create something beautiful and sustaining. 

 

Minestrone is a great fall soup that is full of the mix and match of fresh ingredients still available in the Midwest as the temperature cools. There is not a right or wrong mix, just add your favorite ingredients and enjoy. 

In a hot skillet, add Italian seasoning and one pound of ground pork. Stir the pork in the skillet, until it is cooked. I prefer to let larger chunks of the ground pork remain unbroken, adding an additional texture to the soup later. Let the pork cool and add it to the Crockpot. 

On a cutting board, coarsely chop one pound of carrots. Slice mushrooms into large slices and garlic into small slivers. Peel and cut large chunks of zucchini. Slice a dozen cherry tomatoes in half and quarter two large sweet onions. Add the vegetables to the Crockpot and stir. Open up a favorite jar of spaghetti sauce and add it in. Mix everything together. Then, pour beef broth into the Crockpot to make the desired thickness of soup. 

Turn on the Crockpot and let the soup cook.  When all of the vegetables are tender it’s time to prepare the pasta. Heat water in a large saucepan until boiling, I chose campanelle because of its fun curly shape. Once the water is at a full boil, and bubbling along merrily, add the pasta. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.  After the pasta is completely cooked, add it to your hot soup.  Use a large spoon to mix everything up, pull out your favorite soup bowl and enjoy.  Or even better, share it with someone else!

Football Away Game Soup – Minestrone 

1lb. ground pork

1 lb. carrots

1 package of mushrooms

1 medium zucchini

2 large sweet onions

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1 large can beef broth

Italian seasoning

Garlic

12 cherry tomatoes

1 box campanelle pasta

Mind Your Lines

I am a people watcher in stadiums, airports, shopping malls and just about everywhere else. I don’t really think about it, but just seem to soak in observations of the characteristics of people around me; people often watching other people. Children in particular are watchers, with their seeming affinity for teenagers, watching these newly semi-independent and driving high school and college students. They have much in common, but yet the world of the teenager and young adult has expanded in ways that children dream of. Children, they seem to see everything. I know we are all unaware at times (maybe most of the time) of how our daily actions, words and choices can impact others. So, I want to encourage us all to mind our lines.

I did the marching band thing, so I heard a lot – A LOT – about each persons’ feet being in the designated spot at the designated times. Watching and paying attention to how individual choices impact the whole encouraged all of us to mind our lines. One person standing a half-foot off of the mark, and voila, the next thing you know a third of the line is off as well. 

Mind your lines in marching band because there is a child watching and dreaming. They are seeing themselves on that field in the future. You can make sweet music of possibility. 

Mind your lines on the cheerleading team as you go through carefully choreographed routines. You are displaying graceful and dynamic strength. 

Mind your lines on the football field as you choose how to play with heart, reacting to challenges along the way. You are showing sportsmanship.

Mind your lines in the stadium as you call out encouragement to the team, those words can get carried away in an instant.

It is not group conformity, this minding of lines. It is much more demanding. It is leading with good choices and setting an example.  It is making these good choice even when the others around you are stepping off on the wrong foot and miss the hash mark on the marching step.  Mind your lines, set an example. There really are others watching and learning, it’s an incredible opportunity to make a positive impact. 

Football Soup Season – Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I love autumn. I think it may just be my favorite season, minus those snowy nights that are perfectly still and quiet, with bright full moons shining down. The ever changing hues of fall are something which attracts my eyes; as leaves change from green to orange or yellow, red or burgundy. Corn stalks are burnished gold in the sunshine. Leaves fall, sounding like rain drops and are great fun to try to catch. The smell of rain is different, not made up of the thawing smells of spring or the hot misty smells of summer. 

Beyond the feel, sounds, and smells of autumn – I love the flavors! Crunchy apples with each bit ranging between tart and sweet, I have to pause to enjoy each bit and each apple’s fragrance. As the temperatures cool outside, the warming influence of a bowl of soup is lovely and welcoming. A soup that is easy to put together and is a handy crockpot recipe as well.

In the crockpot, add a bag of frozen chicken breast; this is a great recipe for one of those big bags that you can get a good deal on. With that, add a bag of frozen green beans and another of corn. A family size can of Cream of Chicken soup should be spooned in, adding water to the can and pouring it into the crockpot as well. 

Peel approximately a pound of carrots and about a dozen yellow potatoes.  Chop them coarsely and add them to the pot of soup.  Include two large white onions, cut into quarters.  I finish by flavoring my soup with red pepper and a little rosemary.  

Cook until chicken and vegetables are cooked through.  The potatoes and carrots will be tender when cut. Add milk to richen the broth and cook about another twenty to thirty minutes. The chicken pieces will be very tender to either pull apart with a large fork, or remove them with a slotted spoon, cut them up and add back in. 

Chicken Pot Pie Soup - enjoying the warming goodness of the pot pie filler without all the extra calories of the crust.

1 bag of chicken breast, skinless and boneless  *

1 family size bag of frozen green beans

1 family size bag of frozen corn

1 lb. of carrots

1 medium size bag of yellow roasting potatoes

1 family size can of Cream of Chicken soup

2 large white onions

1/2 cup of milk     

Red pepper and rosemary to taste

*If I had had time, I would have used a whole chicken to make this soup.

Football Soup Season – Ham & Beans

Football season in my house means cheering on the UNI Panthers and preparing away game soup. Away game soup is a meal for our neighbors after they travel back from an away game. You know how it is the day after a trip - no food in the fridge and too tired to make something for dinner. And soup is perfect football food, especially as the weather is turning colder and fans are also turning colder as they cheer on their teams. That is where the away game football soup tradition started, and I’m already looking forward to trying new recipes!

This year kicked off with a white bean and ham soup, complete with veggies and a nice thick broth. To top it off, it is a great Crockpot recipe too. This recipe is one that can be prepared ahead of time, turn over the cooking to the Crockpots later the next day.

Start by rinsing and soaking one pound of navy beans overnight. Leave plenty of space and water for the beans to grow.


I start by soaking the beans and then use the opportunity to prepare the other vegetables before mixing them all together. 

Earlier in the weekend, I had a chance to dig out fresh potatoes and onions from the garden, like finding buried treasure! Of course, all the mud needed to be removed, but once done – they really are quiet beautiful. You can't judge a potato (or an onion) at first glance.  Just like people.  You really may just see the environment they are growing in.

A good potato brush and tepid running water removed the mud and left a bowl of beautifully cleaned up little potatoes.

Setting aside the potatoes to be added later to the Crockpot, they reminded me of a trip to the Byward Market in Ottawa.  The vegetables there were arranged with great pride, each so beautifully shined and cleaned that I would have felt comfortable taste testing the fresh foods throughout the market.

Pull out a cutting board and a sharp knife to prepare all the vegetables. I added mine directly to the pot of the Crockpot and mixed after all of the vegetables were added.




















During cooking times, my helper was quite happy to keep an eye on me from the comfort of her pillow. With a view into the kitchen, as long as I remain within eye range, she is content to watch and relax. A break is in order to go pet that fuzzy face!

Break is over...  Peel and chop five large carrots, pausing to enjoy the wonderful smells and beautiful color. Then, add them to the Crockpot.

Quartering potatoes and onions, add them as well. Wash the kale thoroughly and remove the leaves from the stem.  I crushed them just a little with my hands to help them soak in all the good flavor and share its own savory taste.

1 lb. white navy beans
5 large carrots, peeled and chopped
5 potatoes, quartered 
3 onions, quartered 
1 cup kale
1 precooked ham
water and broth 
rosemary and bay leaf

Rinse the beans thoroughly. Soak them in water and set them aside. Quarter onions, potatoes, and chop carrots. Add them to the crockpot or soup pot. Remove the kale leaves from its stem and lightly crush with your hands. Add it to the soup pot. Pour the beans and water into the mix and then place the ham in the pot as well, pouring in broth as needed to finish covering all of the ingredients.  Finish this off with one bay leaf and a sprinkle of rosemary. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the ham is completely heated.

Between the Game

   I will admit that I am not the biggest football fan out there. It’s not that I’m opposed to football, I just don’t really understand it. I was in band and my personal thought is that the football game is the entertainment for before and after halftime. Okay, okay… I can practically hear people groaning. Anyway, yesterday was the Super Bowl. I watched the interview with the president and the reading of one of our great founding documents.

   The Declaration of Independence, what an amazing document. Written and signed by men who represented colonies of people, nearly separate countries in their thinking and economic planning. This is such an amazing declaration in part because the possible severity of what would have occurred to the signers if the events had been different. If you have never actually read the Declaration of Independence, I would encourage you. There is a list in there of grievances against the king. Stating the complaints, the colonies declared their separation from the thing which was causing the problem.
   Do you need a Declaration of Independence? Do you need to declare yourself separated from the trouble in your life? Where does trouble come from? Well, if God is peace then the opposite of that is being troubled; therefore the devil brings the trouble, sin brings trouble. What do we do then with that realization. I propose that we sign off on the declaration of independence, the acceptance of salvation that God provides us. I hope you enjoyed the game and watched the commercials. But, between the game and commercials and the reassertion of your normal schedule, I hope you think about your declaration of independence.
   Oh, and I will admit – I do enjoy watching my neighbor play football because I can sort of follow him around the field, or at least I am learning to.

Football Etiquette

   I attended a local high school football game last week, had a great time. The kids played really hard, working together as a team. However, I found that some of the folks in the stands might benefit from a little football etiquette.

1. When a player is injured, be quiet. Stop and say a prayer for that person, the parents that have just gone  into full blown adrenaline rush, and their friends that have become worried. I applaud the players who took a knee on the field and the woman who shushed someone near her who was continuing to talk. And as far as the referee who called over the people to measure where the ball was while a player was still down – well, really?

2. There is a pseudo adult section and a student section. The adult section is really full of high school students floating in and out, and younger children who are sitting with their families. So, with that in mind, adults let’s leave the playground language at home. Come and be enthusiastic, emphatic, and have fun! Come and cheer, yell, or clap and stomp. But, check the language at the gate. If you don’t want your children to hear it, chances are that someone else will not want their children to hear it as well.


3. When the band is playing, give them some attention and respect. This is not the free for all run around time. These kids have worked hard, spent hours in practice and learning their parts. The comments about “band kids” are not needed (especially from adults).


4. When you have trash, put it in the trash can. Yes, someone else will clean it up, but it won’t hurt you to do your part.


5. Enjoy the game! Cheer the team on! Clap, stomp, yell, encourage. Enjoy the smell, and perhaps the taste of a hot chocolate and a pretzel with cheese or some nachos.