A short walk to work...

I had such a nice weekend. I cleaned out our spare bedroom and storage closet and organized what is now our office. I also got a good start on spring cleaning and finished all of the laundry and ironing. For the first time in a long time I actually feel caught up on a Monday Morning.

As I was organizing the office I went through the books and counted all of the ones I haven't read. The grand total is 205 unread out of the 625 total. Yikes! This means I have a lot of reading to do. I was able to cross the first book off that long list this weekend. I finished The Joy Luck Club. It was a good book but I think The Bonesetters Daughter, also by Amy Tan, is my favorite of her books. Now I am starting West With the Night by Beryl Markham. This is a memoir and her life sounds pretty amazing. She was a female pilot who was raised by her father in Africa in the early 20th century.

My office is moving this week. Currently it is a 15 minute drive from my house and it is moving to a new building which is in walking distance from my house. I am very excited to start walking to work. I will save so much gas money and I can easily walk home for lunch.


I made a delicious easy soup on Friday. It is a vegetable beef soup that our Pastor's Wife, Beth, makes. It is quick, easy and cheap, always a good combination. Here is the recipe:

Vegetable Beef Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 Tb butter
1 Tb four, I used chickpea flour
1 quart beef broth, I used homemade
1 can tomatoes, I used ones with Italian seasoning
3 carrots peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
about 1 cup of frozen Lima beans
about 1 cup frozen green beans
about 1 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper
bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon basil

Cook ground beef, drain and set aside. In soup pot melt butter and add flour. Cook for a minute or so to make a roux. Very Slowly add broth mixing into roux. Add browned beef to stock. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil. Simmer at least 20 minutes or so. I simmered for about an hour. Taste. Season with salt and pepper. You could add any veggies you want. These are just the ones we had. I also think beans might be good in this soup.