Bean Soup

With Mother's Day just a couple of days away, I've been seeing a lot of interesting and delicious sounding recipes on-line lately. One website that really caught my attention is a post on the Beyond Blossoms blog about cooking with flowers. Not only can you send flowers from their website, you can also find some really unique recipes as well. One that sounds really good is Carrot Cake With Thyme flowers. I love carrot cake and will be giving this one a try very soon!

I'm expecting an order from Safeway.com in the morning so dinner tonight is a sort of "clean out the pantry and fridge" sort of meal. It's simmering away on the stove right now and smells really good!

Bean Soup

2 c. dried pinto beans, sorted and rinsed
1 link smoked sausage, cut into bite sized pieces
3 strips turkey bacon, cut into bite sized pieces
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 small can no salt added tomato sauce
1/3 c. pearl barley
1 Tbsp. soul food seasoned salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. dried parsley

Add all ingredients except seasoned salt to a large soup pot. Cover with water to about 4 inches above the ingredients. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer and cover. Allow to simmer 3 - 4 hours or until beans are tender. Add salt and allow to simmer an additional 30 minutes. Serve with rice or biscuits.