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Recipes
for Ministry
By Jerri
Phillips
When we last heard from
our author, Jerri, she was making soup
for her family with an extra batch to
take to her neighbors, who were also ill.
That was in February. Where has she been?
What has she been doing? Why doesn't she
write? All this and more coming your
way...now.
Well, let me start by revisiting my last
Munchy. In February, I wrote about being
a Souper Neighbor, and I asked readers to
share their recipes for soups or food
that would work well to take to someone
in need. Three people were kind enough to
do that, and I am adding their recipes in
this post.
Susan is a dear and precious friend of
mine. I have had the pleasure of eating
her cooking, and I can attest to her
abilities in the kitchen. You'll love
this one from her.
Vegetable-Beef Soup
1 lb. beef (your choice)
1 141/2 oz. can tomatoes
2 carrots, sliced or diced
2 to 3 stalks celery with tops, sliced.
2 med. onion, diced
1 to 2 med. potatoes pared and diced
3 c. water 1 tsp. salt
4 whole peppercorns (or just pepper)
3 beef bouillon cubes *
1 10-ounce pkg. frozen mixed vegetables.
* I use the canned Campbell chicken
broth. It is the only broth with out MSG.
All others even the cubes have MSG
Put all ingredients in crock pot Cover
and cook on low 12 to 24 hours. I also
add other things, like rice, noodles.
just experiment. I do cook it 24 hours on
low. In the morning of the second day if
the liquid is used up I add more broth
and water. I also use celery seeds from
Watkins because they are wonderful and I
don't always have celery on hand. Take
this basic recipe and run with it and
have fun. Hope you try this and it works
for all of you.
Susan also says: I suggest to all that if
you experiment with soup you sometimes
get the best tasting. For me instead of
using canned beef broth or what ever
because it contains MSG I use the canned
chicken broth by Campbell and it does not
have the MSG and no one knows. Gives the
beef soup a wonderful taste. Try it
sometime and see if you can tell the
difference. I love to cook for my
neighbors. I love to cook period.
Dianna is also a treasured long-time
friend of mine. Again, I've enjoyed her
cooking, and she did, indeed, bring this
soup to me and my family when we were
ill, and it was delicious!
Chicken Noodle Soup
multiple cans of low-fat chicken broth
(4-6 depending on the size of
the batch)
4-6 large containers of canned white-meat
chicken - drained
4 or 5 large, peeled carrots
1 T. roasted minced garlic (can be found
in jars)
1-2 large bags extra-wide egg noodles
fresh herbs (rosemary, bay, or lemon
thyme leaves work well), salt,
pepper (I prefer the freshly ground
peppercorn)
Open cans of broth and pour into large
soup pot. Add equal number of cans of
water. Cut carrots into small pieces and
add to liquid. Add drained canned chicken
and garlic. Heat to a low boil and salt
and pepper to taste. Allow to boil until
carrots are cooked. Rinse herbs and tear
into pieces. Add to soup mixture when
carrots are cooked. Do not boil herbs,
but turn off the heat and allow the herbs
to remain in the heated mixture.
Cook egg noodles according to package
directions and drain. Rinse thoroughly in
cold water (this halts the cooking
process). Add drained noodles to cooled
soup mixture. Divide into containers and
freeze or refrigerate.
I have not yet had the chance to be with
Diane in person, but she has been a
wonderful minister to me via the
internet. If cooking comes from the
heart, this is going to be a marvelous
soup. I look forward to trying it myself!
Vegetable Soup
1 beef soup bone (the bone and
left over meat from Sundays pot
roast??? Or an oxtail will do)
4 potatoes, diced (unless there are
potatoes in with frozen or
canned vegs)
1 Onion, chopped
1 lb bag mixed vegetables (frozen) OR 1
can mixed veggies
1 cup chopped cabbage
1 can diced tomatoes
1 32 oz tomato juice
6 oz can tomato paste
Cover soup bone with water, cook on
simmer 1 - 2 hours till meat fall easily
off the bones) Remove soup bone and
excess fat from broth (straining gives
clearer broth) and add potatoes, cabbage
and onions. Cook on simmer till
vegetables are tender. Add mixed
vegetables, simmer till tender (if using
frozen veg.). Add diced tomatoes, tomato
juice and paste. Simmer till heated
through.
Now, to answer some of the other
questions. Concerning where I have been
and why I seemingly fell off the face of
the earth. I took a needed sabbatical.
While there were several contributing
factors, the greatest was that God told
me to put the writing away for a season.
I needed a spiritual fine-tuning. The
Lord needed my full attention, and I
needed Him to have my full attention.
Just as Jesus had to go away by Himself
and pray and commune with the Father, we
have to have time like that as well.
Sometimes we just have to lay down
things, even things we know we are called
to do, so we can have more intimate time
with the One Who called us. I know
personally I have held on to things too
tightly and too long when I "knew it
was my calling" because I didn't
realize that sometimes God calls us to
lay things down so we can become
unencumbered and move up to higher
glories with Him. I had one of those
seasons.
I quit writing. I quit speaking and
teaching. I quit leading women's
meetings. I was learning to be like Mary
at Jesus' feet instead of Martha up
running around doing good things.
Strangely, it wasn't as hard as I thought
it would be. In fact, I did not realize
how overwhelmed I had been until I had
nothing to do except care for my family.
I began finding great joy where I had
been finding a lot of "have to"
and "need to". It was a good
season, a hard season, an easy season, a
God season. And I liked it, but through a
series of confirmations, God has
demonstrated to both Rob and me that we
are moving into a new season, and this
season includes writing and ministering
again. Again, I feel joy and excitement,
and I feel like the possibilities are
endless, which is how it should be. I
don't feel overwhelmed by my many
responsibilities any more. In fact, I
feel quite calmed by them. That just
leaves me amazed, honestly. God can do
wonderful things, can't He?
Now, I must be honest. I am not sure what
God is doing exactly, and I am not going
to try to figure it out or put God in a
box. I know this season includes writing,
but I don't know how often, and I think
it includes teaching and speaking. I'm
not completely sure, though. I feel like
a wide-eyed child again opening each day
with a new anticipation of what is
coming. I don't want to ruin it by
defining what God is doing, when, in
fact, I see only a tiny part, and I see
that through a dim glass. I'm excited to
see more, though, and if you are up for
it, I hope you'll join me on this
wonderful adventure.
I look forward to "seeing" you
again soon. Thank you for the emails.
They bless me greatly.
Blessings to each of you,
Jerri
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