Recipe(tried): Health in a Bowl and Irresistible Irish Soda Bread - Delightfully Healthy Soup and Bread

Hello Everyone!

Gee, it's been a long time since I last posted and I have missed being here. I have had a lot happen to me since last I posted, foremost, my darling Mama is no longer with us and I think of her everyday, especially in the kitchen! I want to thank all of you for your sweet messages; truly a great comfort to me. You sort of got to know a little about her through my postings and I feel like she was the best mother in the world. She indulged all of my whims and then some!

Then there is the ongoing Master Bathroom project which began on June 19th and hopefully it will be over in the next 3 weeks. The 2 vanity mirrors get hung up next week and 2 plantation shutters get delivered and installed also next week. Meanwhile, the plumbers still have to return to finish up the job with the tub and shower fixtures. It has been a smooth job except for the plumbing...I had problems with items I ordered over the Internet. The people working on the project were marvelous though!

Then my poor DH had to experience excruciating pain as he passed a kidney stone 2 weeks ago and spent a week at the hospital. Can anything else happen here?

I am looking forward to going to Georgia in the next few weeks just to unwind! I don't have to tell you how incredibly hot it has been in our neck of the woods. Fortunately, I have been collecting rain water in barrels and that helps tremendously with my flower beds. Contrary to popular belief that everything down here is "fried", not so, all is green and very "Florida-looking". Yet the heat wilts you!

Now to the recipes...

Yesterday we enjoyed a bowl of this very tasty soup with a slice of Irish Soda Bread. The soup recipe came from The G.I. Diet Cookbook by Antony Worrall Thompson. The cookbook has more than 100 low glycemic-index recipes for healthy weight loss. There are pictures that go with some of the recipes that are very enticing! I made the soup 2 days ago and I must admit it gets better! The rutabaga adds a certain sweetness and the broth is out of this world! And for those of you who love to chop-chop-chop like me, this soup is for you! There is a lot of chopping involved but remember, chopping is therapy!

Hopefully you all are keeping cool in this weather and looking forward to Fall like me!

Enjoy! Gina

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HEALTH IN A BOWL
Serves 8

1 lb. thick-cut ham on the bone, chopped (found at publix)
10 cups chicken stock (get low sodium b/c of the ham)
1/4 cup barley
2 tbsp. lentils
1 medium onion, chopped
4 to 6 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium parsnips, chopped
1/2 medium rutabaga, chopped
ground black pepper
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
2 garlic cloves, minced
sprig of parsley
3 red bliss potatoes in their skins, chopped
1 small cabbage, chopped
1 leek, washed and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed.

Place the ham in a pot and cover with broth. Bring to a boil, skim any scum, then add the barley and the lentils.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the onion, carrots, parsnips, rutabaga, pepper, thyme, bay leaves, garlic and sprig of parsley. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer gently for another 15 minutes.

Add the potatoes and cabbage and return to a boil. Simmer until they are just tender (another 15 minutes.)

Add the chopped leek and parsley and cook for another 5 minutes or until the leek is just tender.

Add the beans and warm through. Cook for another 15 minutes on simmer and then ladle into bowls.

Per portion: 265 cal, 3 g. fat, 97g. sodium, 42 carbs.

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IRRESISTIBLE IRISH SODA BREAD
source: Allrecipes.com

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter
handful of craisins

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. (I made mine in a 9-inch black iron skillet pan)

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for 56-70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours or overnight for best flavor.

Note: This is really yummy sliced, lightly buttered and heated through on a baking sheet in the oven at 350 til lightly toasted.