Recipe, Easter Shopping, Sunday Activities

At the end of my last entry, I said that there was something else I was going to blog about, but that it had slipped my mind. I remembered what it was later that evening.

While Charlie was in Texas, I decided that I'd like to make some bean soup. I had never made bean soup before and though I've had soup with beans in it, I had never eaten bean soup. I didn't have a recipe and didn't feel like looking for one. I wanted to make it up as I made it. So, even though I didn't use a recipe and even though I'm not a professional cook or trained chef, the soup turned out really delicious. Kelly, my mom, and I loved it! I told Charlie about it and he couldn't wait to try it, so I made it for him when he came home. He loved it, too. :-)

So here's my recipe.

5 cans (14.5 oz or 15 oz.) of beans, drained and rinsed*
2 boxes of chicken broth
1-1½ cans (14.5 oz or 15 oz) of petite diced tomatoes
1 yellow onion
1-2 medium carrots, sliced or julienne
1-2 stalks of celery, sliced/chopped
olive oil
1½-2 tsps. of basil
1½-2 tsps. of rosemary
salt
pepper

*The beans I use are 2 cans of pintos, 1 can of light red kidneys, and 2 cans of cannellinis. I may add another can of kidneys next time, making it 6 cans of beans. I may also replace some of the beans with lentils sometime in the future.

Pour enough olive oil into a large pot to cover the bottom. Add onion (I don't like a lot of onion, so I just add about 5 slices/rings. Less than half an onion.), carrots, celery, and salt, and cook until soft. Add broth, tomatoes, beans, basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Cook on a low boil for about 30 minutes or so.

Serves 6-7 if you don't get seconds. Which, of course, we do. So, I'll probably double the recipe next time so that we have enough for leftovers. And it tastes really good with parmesan on top. It'd probably be good with some ditalini or macaroni or rotini pasta in it, too.

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Kelly and I went shopping Saturday for Easter clothes for her and Sean. One of our stops was Dress Barn where I got myself a pretty dress for just $42. Now I'm trying to decide if I'm going to wear that dress or the mint green lace dress on Easter.

This dress covers my knees since I'm short. I will wear a white shrug over it.

 

Kelly got a red jacket/blazer at Macy's (50% off) and a white tiered skirt at Belk (40% or 50% off). She may wear the white skirt for Easter, but not the red jacket.

She got this same jacket in blue a week or two ago.

Two more things Kelly has gotten in the past couple weeks:

She'll wear a black shirt under this top.

She's short like me, so this covers her knees.

I got Sean a white dress shirt for Easter to wear with a suit he already has. I just need to get him a white undershirt and a tie.


We did this shopping after I vacuumed the church sanctuary (including the platform and behind the platform) and swept the foyer and after getting groceries. After we finished shopping, we had a late supper at O'Charley's. I had the honey-drizzled fried chicken, with extra honey on the side. So good.

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On Sunday, Charlie went to church with us again. I was beyond happy. It was an awesome service! We sang He Reigns (a Newboys song), Victor's Crown, and Oceans. Then our pastor's wife's father, who was visiting from Charlotte, preached a great message. Many went to the altar after the preaching.

When we got home, I made French toast and Charlie cooked bacon. He also made eggs over easy for Kelly. I took my usual Sunday afternoon nap after eating, caught the end of the race, and then I went to the theater to see the new Cinderella movie, which I really liked.

I thought the step-sisters were a little over-the-top with their foolishness/silliness/annoyingness and I would've preferred the animals that had been changed to humans by the fairy godmother had looked fully human and not kept some of their animal features (like the lizard footmen who still had tails and green skin and long tongues), but other than those two things, I thought it was a great movie. I loved the costumes. Cinderella's dresses were gorgeous! Even her old blue dress that she wore everyday after her father was gone. The settings were beautiful and there was very little singing, none of which was done like a musical. It was more natural, which I liked.

I also recently watched (rented) The Best of Me (eh), The Theory of Everything (it was okay; great acting), and Dracula Untold (also eh). Into the Woods is coming out at Redbox today. I plan on renting it.

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Charlie has been home for a little over a week (since Saturday, March 14th) and is having to leave again already. This time he's going to Kentucky. He usually isn't gone as long when he's east of the Mississippi as he is when he's west of the Mississippi, especially Texas. So hopefully he won't be gone very long this time.

This and That

Charlie was in Texas for nearly 6 weeks. We missed him and he missed us, naturally. During that time, we had some quite cold days here in North Carolina. Some days with highs only in the 20s and 30s. That might not seem so bad to people living up north, but it is very cold for us North Carolinians. We also got snow 2 or 3 times in about a week. Practically unheard of down here. Thankfully, it wasn't a lot. And thankfully we didn't lose power like we did last year when we got that bad ice storm.

Anyway, things have warmed up quite nicely, for the most part. (It was in the 40s and rainy yesterday. :-/) Sunday was in the 70s and Monday and Tuesday, it was in the low 80s. Very beautiful, especially since we don't yet have the humidity of summer.

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Charlie came home from Texas on Saturday and we spent time outside Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday doing yard work. I bought a forsythia bush on Friday, something I've wanted for a long time, and Charlie planted it for me. I can't wait until it blooms. I also want to get a pink dogwood and some purple irises (which may actually be called "blue"). We planted a pink dogwood once, but it died. :-/ We later planted an eastern redbud in the same place and it has done great. I love that tree. I hope the next pink dogwood survives and does as well as our redbud has.

Charlie also went to church with us on Sunday. The first time in nearly 8 years. When I asked him to go to church with us, as I do every Sunday when he's home, and he said, "Okay", I couldn't believe my ears. "Did he just say Okay?" I thought maybe I had misunderstood him or that he had misunderstood me. So I tried to contain my excitement and told myself that I would believe it when I saw him dressed for church. And when I did see him dressed for church, I thought my heart would burst with joy. I kept looking over at him during church to make sure he was really there and that I wasn't dreaming. lol

So that was the highlight of my week and possibly the highlight of the decade. :-)

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Hmm. What else? I did some shopping on Saturday, but what else is new? lol I was shopping for Easter and found what I think is a very pretty dress at Dillard's. It's mint green lace and though I wouldn't normally buy anything that color, I thought it looked pretty good on me when I tried it on. I also saw a pretty black dress at Belk that I really liked and thought also looked good on me, but the cost of both dresses was more than I thought I should spend. But Charlie told me to go ahead and get it. He told me later that it was because he knows how difficult it can be for me to find clothes that fit me right and that I think look good on me, so he wanted me to have both.

I'm short, so these dresses go below my knees. Which is where I want them. :-)

I wore this Sunday with a black silky shrug.

The same day that I got the two dresses, I bought a cute white skirt at JC Penney on sale for a really good price. Less than $21. When I tried it on, I knew I had to get it. I've been wanting a white A-line skirt for a few years now and finally found one.

As with the dresses, this skirt goes below my knees.

About 2-3 weeks ago, I bought a white top at JC Penney and a casual dress Kohl's, both on sale.

The cami underneath doesn't cover enough for me, so I'm going to cut it out and wear something that covers more under the shirt.

Now I just need some new heels to go with my Easter dress, an outfit for Kelly (who is ridiculously hard to shop for, even when she's with me; and I would never shop for clothes for her without her with me lol) and a shirt and tie for Sean.

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I started helping with the cleaning at church about a month ago. I had been wanting to do that for a while, but figured they had all the help they needed. Then Pastor said during church that if anyone wanted to help clean on Saturdays to let Melanie know. So, I vacuum the sanctuary, including the platform and behind the platform. It takes 1½ to 2 hours to do that. I don't mind though. Someone told me that no one liked doing it, but I kind of do. The vacuum is a little loud and I can be in my own world for the most part. Something introverts like me love. That doesn't stop people from occasionally coming up to me to talk, but that's okay. I'm not an unfriendly introvert. lol Not that introverts are  unfriendly, but I reckon some people think we are.

Anyway, so I've been enjoying going to the church on Saturdays to vacuum. The kids are usually with me and I have them go down the rows of chairs and look for trash, which is always there. Water bottles, soda cans (seriously?!), candy wrappers, etc. The worst is when I find gum or candy stuck to the carpet or chairs. Grrr. Some people have no respect.


Seems like there was something else I was going to blog about, but it's slipped my mind now.