Making Soup

On Saturday afternoon, I decided to make soup. I'm on a quest to perfect my soup. It's part of my new healthy eating, hippy lifestyle that I've taken on this winter. I worked with beans a few weeks ago, and now, my quest is good soup.

I think the trick to soup isn't following any particular recipe. It's about understanding the formula. You either have creamy soups or chunky soups. Chunky soups are easier, so I'm working with them first. A good chunky soup starts with the key vegetables – onion, carrots, and celery. Then garlic, if you like. Then a box of quality organic chicken broth, and not that College Inn stuff, which is basically tasteless. Then I throw in whatever's in the fridge. I had fresh rosemary, so that went in. Mushrooms. From the spice rack – a bay leaf, dried oregano, pepper. I had left over rice and broccoli. On a whim, I threw in some Parmesan cheese and croutons.

A good soup should be part fresh vegetables, part broth, part spices and part leftovers.

I just came back from the gym.

For the past three weeks, I've been going to the gym every morning after the school bus pulls away. To make sure that I don't get distracted by the computer, I have my bag all packed up and sitting by the front door. When I get there, I run two miles on the tread mill and go. That's it. I don't fool around on the bikes or at a class. I just run two miles.

At first, I was mostly walking those two miles, because my knees are crap. But the muscles around my knees are building up and now I'm running the whole way. To celebrate, I signed up for a few local 5K races.

Now that I'm home full time, the gym is pretty much of a necessity. When I was teaching, I moved around more. Just the walk from the parking lot to the office to the classroom was enough to get my brain working in the morning. I'm not getting that anymore. If I don't get exercise, I zone out in front of the computer for hours and before I know it, the kids are home from school and I accomplished nothing.

After the gym, I have about four hours before the kids come home. An hour is blown on chores. With the remaining three hours, I blog, write, and read. I really need to finish an article by the end of the week. 

The rest of life isn't so well planned. The kids insert too much randomness into the schedule to be that disciplined. But, in general, we're making a point to cook more, socialize more, and touch the computer less.

This balance is a new thing for me. In the past, one great need dominated life – managing two jobs, helping Ian with his disability, getting out of poverty. Even though I'm a strong believer in the old Greek saying — moderation in all things — I'm an intense person and tend to overdo everything. So, now I'm overdoing moderation and balance, but that's the way I roll.