ColleensLife

I love to cook.  Especially soups!  I have three soups that I really enjoy that are made mostly from scratch. I will be sharing 2 more in the weeks to come.

About a month ago I went to Panera Bread (shout out to Panera) and tried their Black Bean Soup for the first time.   I enjoyed it so much that I thought I would try to make my own.   A friend of mine (shout out to Dave!) actually found a recipe for a Black Bean Soup that is similar to Panera’s and sent it to me via facebook (shout out to facebook!)  Here is the website Dave found the recipe on.  But i posted it just for you here on my blog.  http://www.recipezaar.com/Panera-Bread-Black-Bean-Soup-49737

Here it is.  Let me know how it goes for you!  OH!  The creator of this recipe says to use vegetable stock to make it vegetarian.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
• 1/4 large red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 small chicken bouillon cubes
• 1-1 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, undrained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 lemon, juice of
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Almost a year ago Brett and I began attending River Church.  Why this church?  How did we find this church?  What were we looking for?

What were we looking for?

Brett and I wanted to attend a church that practiced and taught the truth of the bible.  No added books, no added human thoughts, no man made rules.  We wanted a church who followed Jesus, practiced love, and understood the importance of authentic friendships (community).  That’s what we were looking for, that’s what we found.

Why this Church?

We picked this church because we found they practiced all of the above.  They truly follow Jesus, truly practice love, and truly want to be our friends.

How did we find this church?

Down below you will see a few pictures.  These are the wonderful friends who God placed in our life , who in one way or another,  eventually lead us to River.

This is Amanda and I.  Before I even knew River Church existed, she and I worked at a Starbucks together near Cleveland.  I can remember Amanda talking about her church from time to time but I didn’t realized it was River Church until the day Brett and I first attended.  I thank God for her and her wonderful husband who is our worship leader.

This is Phil, his wife Katie, Brett and myself.  Over a year ago Phil and Katie found Bretts company on Google while searching for a Wedding Photographer.  They loved his work and decided to meet with him.  While talking photography….Phil and Katie also mentioned they went to a church called River Church.  They invited us and the rest is history.

Some worship.  Notice the “love”…..its true….you will feel it there.

We have made many wonderful friends here.  God has truly blessed us.

I finally decided to blog.  I mostly started because I have realized I really enjoy cooking.  As I started to cook more and more, I decided I wanted to share these new found recipe treasures with my friends.

The other reason I decided to blog was to share my life in Cleveland (and wherever else) with whoever is interested in keeping up with it.

Here we are….

This is Brett, my wonderful husband, and I.  We were on vacation when this photo was taken.  He truly is the love of my life.

This is my first cat, Mookie.  I have more about her and her girly personality under “The Yacovella” page.

This is my second cat, Megtron.  Or you may call him Buddy.  Buddy is what he answers to.  As well, you can find out more about him and his “all male” personality on “The Yacovella” page.

Thanks for reading.  I hope to begin my recipe posts soon.