potato soup

It's winter out there! I'm back to drinking 3 cups of tea a day to keep warm. I pull an apple out of the fridge and run it under hot water before slicing. I live in my knee-high socks. I'm tempted to bake with the oven door open.  Those snuggies don't look like such a bad idea :) And we make lots of soup. Potato has been the soup of the week, mostly because we still have a box of these babies I bought in the fall for 4.25 from a farmer up the road. 

And because Andy owned this cookbook (the Creative Cooking Collection) before we ever met, which I find completely cute.  

Potato Soup

1 small onion, chopped

2 cups water

2 cups red potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 T. butter

3 T. flour (I use GF rice flour blend)

Black pepper

Smoked paprika

3 cups milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup cubed smoked ham

Chopped fresh parsley

Bring water to boil in large pan over medium-high heat.  Add potatoes and cook until tender when pierced with fork, 13-15 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion; cook and stir 4-5 minutes until onion is tender but not brown.  Add flour.  Season with black pepper and paprika; cook and stir 3-4 minutes.  Set aside.  Drain potatoes, reserving 1 cup of liquid (add water to make 1 cup, if necessary).  Gradually add onion mixture, milk and reserved liquid to potatoes in large saucepan; stir well.  Add cheese and ham.  Bring to boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low.  Simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently.  Garnish with parsley.

Jude's new favorite song is My God is so BIG, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do.  I've needed that reminder this week. Because we saw an extremely amazing deal of a house come on the market a few days ago. It wasn't even out 24 hours, and we offered more than they were asking, but they accepted another offer. I had some woe is me moments where I let the feeling of being unsettled and all the unknowns overtake me. I wanted to believe others when they said something better was out there, but doubted. That day I turned to Luke 12.22-34 (from the New Living Translation) and read just what I needed to hear:  Don't worry whether God will provide it for you.  These things dominate the thoughts of most people, but your Father already knows your needs.

I still could not get that house off my mind.  So, I continued to pray that God would do the impossible, even if there was another accepted offer. And the call came today! The realtor said they would reconsider our offer. I have no idea what happened with the other offer. They originally told me it wouldn't fall through because they had offered cash. 

At this point, it's not even about getting the house. I can honestly say I'm at peace if we don't. Because I've seen God's hand. And that has been enough for me to be reminded that He IS so big. There's nothing He cannot do....and that includes leading our family.