MOPS and potato-leek soup

This morning, it's official.

Thanks to a speaker cancellation and the invitation by a friend, I'm speaking to women for the first time. I've wondered if this was something God would have in store for me for a while. And perhaps because I've wondered, that meant He was preparing me for it inside.

So, I'm really excited and I wanted to share that with you. My heart breaks for women, particularly those of us who are overburdened and struggling to live the abundant life that Jesus talks about. Which, I think, equals nearly all of us.

I also wanted to say that I know many groups are beginning to line up their speaker calendars for the fall MOPS session. If you have an opening and are in the Southern California area, I'd love to come share my heart to the women in your group. I have a special love for MOPS, and attended for 7 years. I'd recommend that ministry to any and all mothers with young kids. It helped me get through a lot in those early years, and gave me what I needed most: encouragement.

And on another completely unrelated note, I also had to share a recipe I made this week for potato leek soup! It was so shockingly simple and cheap and healthy! So you need to try it. On the kid meter, it ranked about a "I'll tolerate it and eat most of it." Which is fine by me.

You need:

3T butter

6 large leeks

1.5 lbs potatoes (I used red), peeled, and cut into 1/2" cubes

4 C (1 box) chicken stock

2 T flour

1/4 C white wine

salt, pepper

1/4 C chopped parsley

Now, have you used leeks before? They are special because a lot of dirt gets down into the stalks. They need a lot of rinsing. Slice off the end of the root, and throw that away. Then, slice the leek into discs, using all the white and light green part. Throw away the dark green leafy part. Then take all those discs and submerge them in a bowl of water, and mix them around with your hands a little to get the dirt out of the circles.

While you're doing that, melt the butter in a heavy pot. When the leeks are clean, put those in the pot too.

Cook the leeks down for about 10 minutes, stirring every so often.

Sprinkle with the flour and cook for 1-2 more minutes.

Add the wine and stir, and then slowly add the stock, stirring the whole time.

Keep stirring once in a while until the mixture is bubbly, thickened and boiling.

Add the potatoes and simmer for 20 min until they are soft.

Then, take a potato masher and gently mash up all of the large chunks. You COULD just keep doing this until you had the desired consistency. But I then used an immersion (or stick) blender for about 10-15 seconds to make the consistency of mine a little more uniform.

Season the whole thing with salt, pepper, and add the chopped parsley, reserving some for sprinkling on the tops of the bowls when served. DONE. Easy, right?? And soooo good.

Here is my dinner, complete with iced coffee. Because I needed to get my MOPS talk writing ON!

Have a good day, friends.

{and let me know if you try the soup!!}