Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Shoes, Studies, and Soup




This whole week is full of stress for me, though I try not to make it evident! We have tests all week long. I've already taken two (and felt stupid) and have four more to go. Sunday when I was studying I had Josh Groban playing in the background. The song that got stuck in my head was an Italian song. Although I have sung Italian, I don't understand it. Anyway, I was walking upstairs after getting some water and realized that I was singing this Italian song...however, the words I was singing were not Italian...they were drug names! "Trastuzumab..." THAT is how you know you've been studying a long time!

In addition, my feet have been torn up by shoes in the past week. One day I had to wear shoes that I KNOW give me blisters because the other closed toed shoes (requirement for lab) were wet from rain. So, I have blisters from that. THEN I decided to break out some new NB slip on shoes. Well, they have given me blisters on the top of my feet. SO, for anyone out there with new shoes...use prophylactic band-aids (for prevention of blisters)!

Now to the soup. Last Monday it was dark, rainy, and blah! The perfect weather for soup. So, I pulled out some veggies and used this recipe to make some soup. I changed it a little because I didn't have the dressing mix but it turned out great! I've eaten on it all week. Next time I might do a little less water or add some more tomatoes, maybe even Rotel, that would be really good! Because of all the wonderful veggies, this is my entry for Sweetnicks ARF/5-A-Day round up. Be sure to check out the other entries!

Cabbage Vegetable Soup

4 cups chopped green cabbage (1/2 of a small head)
2 medium carrots, sliced (I used about 20 baby carrots, chopped. Just guess-timate)
2 medium celery stalks, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen green beans, thawed slightly
1 can (15-1/2 oz.) cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
6 cups water
2 cans (14-1/2 oz. each) chicken broth
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes, undrained (I used one can of stewed tomatoes b/c that's what I had. I'd use more next time)
1 env. GOOD SEASONS Italian Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix (Just made up a combination of Season All, oregano, basil, and Natures Seasoning and taste as I went.)

PLACE all ingredients in 6- or 8-qt. stockpot. BRING to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low. SIMMER 30 min. or until vegetables are tender. Serve with crackers, grilled cheese, or salad. Top with Parmesan cheese and enjoy!

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I could so eat this on my diet...yay.

Anonymous said...

((Claire))

Sending some test-taking and de-stressing prayers your way.

You know, sometimes the best way to remember something is to put it to song... there's definitely worse things than Josh Groban. :-)

Although I wonder how he'd feel knowing his beautiful Italian song is being used for drugs.

Unknown said...

Peabody - Yes! You can use this recipe...full of vitamins and tastes good too!

Erika - Thanks SO much! There is no way that I can do this school thing without God's strength and prayers from others! :-) I really didn't mean for the song thing to happen...it just did!

Lauren said...

yuuuum. I've been wanting to make vegetable soup so badly lately considering I've been eating so much soup and paying way too much for it. this looks like the perfect recipe!

Becky said...

This soup looks so yummy! Good luck with the studies :)

Anonymous said...

Ouch on the shoes, hope your tootsies feel better soon! Good luck with all the tests :)

That soup sounds delicious! My husband loves vegetable soup, but I usually make it with meat. I definitely want to try this one, the addition of the cabbage sounds so good to me :) Thanks for posting it!

Have a good day and week!

Unknown said...

Lauren - I LOVE soup and this one was so easy to make...it makes a lot too!

Becky - Thanks, glad you stopped by!

Stacy - Thanks for the test wishes! I'm just ready for them to be over...visiting the parents this weekend! Do try the soup. It's good and you could maybe serve it with a grilled ham and cheese or something to add some meat without putting it on the soup, if you wanted.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your tests - hope all goes well for you. Take care of your feet too.

That soup looks so tasty! If it ever decides to get cold here I'll definately be putting it on the menu. (Going on my del.icio.us list!)

Anonymous said...

Claire, I know you'll do great with your tests but I'm saying a prayer for you with all your work. I think the song thing is a good idea/way to learn it! That's how lots of us learn our abc's, so it should work for lots of things.
The soup looks good! I checked out the link with the recipe & noticed it said you could freeze it; have you tried that? Stacy & I were talking about that last week b/c I made a crockpot cabbage dish & had way too much & I wondered a/b freezing it.
Sorry about your feet....I guess you tried New Balance ones, those tennis shoe looking slides maybe? I know tons of people that wear those crocs for their dr/nurse/pt jobs....they don't look great but so many people have told me how comfortable they are; tried those out yet?

Annie said...

Claire, The soup looks great. I have been thinking about making soup, I just haven't found the time. I don't know how you do it, with all the studying and classes!

Well, good luck and don't forget to put on your bandaids!

Emma said...

Yummy! This soup looks delicious and is perfect for the cold weather we're getting here in Atlanta!

Unknown said...

Alisha - It is satisfying...that homey, soup taste and feeling all the way through!

Gail - I hope I did well! I did notice that you could freeze it but don't really know if my freezer is big enough...apartment refrigerator! The shoes are the New Balance ones. They are SO comfortable except for that one spot. I've seen the others and they ARE ugly but are like having something hug your foot...great!

Annie - Cooking is a destressor for me...plus, you gotta eat! BTW, I did remember my band-aids today! :-)

Emma - We've had the same chilly weather come through MS. It's been rainy and fally recently. It's about time! Hope you like the soup.

Linda said...

This is very doable for me. I love soup loaded with veggies.

I hope that all goes well with your tests. I really don't miss taking them!!!

Unknown said...

Linda - I think that if I had stopped school before going to medical school, I wouldn't have wanted to come back...tests are no fun! I agree...veggie soups are the best. They're so good because you can basically put whatever you want in them.