Enjoy these lessons I learned from Strega Nona. Blessings overflowing in our homeschool. Plus a comforting and easy recipe for rice water soup to sooth sore throats.
In a quick effort to soothe sore throats, I put some rice on to boil. Absentmindedly, I tossed in several scoops of rice with the unmeasured water. Uh oh. The water has mostly boiled away… add more water. Weepy child… Ah! the rice! Add more water…
Lessons from Strega Nona: Blessings Overflowing
What resulted was something that looked like Big Anthony with Strega Nona’s pasta pot. We are overflowing with rice. So, I am sharing lessons from Strega Nona and a comforting recipe for rice water soup.
We are also overflowing with sick children, dirty dishes and dirty clothes. It’s at these overwhelming times of overflowing duties that I must remind myself of the reason. The Lord’s blessings are overflowing in our lives.
It’s because we have food that dishes are dirty.
It’s because we have clothes that laundry piles up. And,
It’s because of children there’s a season of sickness.
So I’ll blow three kisses at that pasta pot and pray the blessings keep overflowing.
Lord, Please Bless Our Mess
Lord, please bless our mess.
Thank you for the spills because it means we have meals…
Thank you for the stacks left to be put away because it means we got away…
for the banners and discarded decorations because it means we celebrated a birthday…
for unfinished puzzles because little hands were trying and little heads were thinking…
for piles of toys because that means just playing…
for a nasty, wet towel because that means someone wiped up (and didn’t leave it for mama 🙂 – and even put the towel in the laundry room!
…for blankets and stuffed animals because that means someone was snuggling…
Please help me to see all of these and many more blessings amongst a multitude of messes. – Tricia
Comfort Food: Rice Water Soup Recipe
If it sounds bland then you’re right. When you are down and out this is just what a body needs. Rough measurements are on purpose.
Rice Water Soup Recipe Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- small amount of cooked chicken, very finely chopped (sometimes I leave this out)
- enough water to fill half a large stew pot
Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour or more. You want the rice to be a mush consistency. You may add bits of carrot if you like but the goal is to make it as bland as possible. May need some salt.
Serve with saltine crackers. And, as my Mama always said in a very sympathetic voice as she patted me, “Well… baby.”
And, like Strega Nona, blow three kisses at that pasta pot and pray the blessings keep on overflowing.
another recipe from that red-and-white-checked I’m Writing My Own Cookbook.
Repost from the Hodgepodge archives. I am back to boiling rice. Just a couple under the weather here. I’m most grateful we’ve had several months of good health. I pray that this week of rest, when we are missing parties and celebrations, results in fitness for Christmas.
-first published in the 2010 decade and updated by Tricia in 2024 when making rice water soup again.
It seems as though illness is hitting everyone early this year. Sending prayers your way….and we love Strega Nona!
Does rice help heal a sore throat, or just make it feel better? I have never heard of that!
Thank you Rebecca! Kim, my Mama calls it rice water soup. No particular measurements. You do add more water than you need and cook the rice a bit longer so it’s nice and soft. More soup like. It is kind of like chicken noodle but much more bland. Salt to taste. It’s the warmth that helps. And for those that don’t have an appetite, keeps them nourished. Good especially for the healing of stomach bugs. Ugh. Helpful all around.
I needed that today! Thanks!!
Ah! Good idea, esp. when one is out of chicken soup when the stoach bug hits. =)
Tricia, the rice water soup sounds like what *I* need about now!
And thanks for reminding me that sometimes our frustrations (dirty dishes, dirty laundry, etc.) arise out of our blessings. It’s my focus that needs to change.
Another thought…I used to get irritated with my husband for leaving his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor after a shower for me to pick up. One day it clicked, “Thank you Lord…these dirty clothes mean I HAVE a husband!” Now it’s just a daily habit, but I remember to thank God for him when I pick up those clothes, and remember how hard my husband works for me. =)
Kim – I love that wonderfully, practical idea! Being thankful while picking up the messes.
Your comment made me think about a little gratitude list I wrote way back, called Bless our Mess:
Lord, please bless our mess.
Thank you for the spills because it means we have meals…
Thank you for the stacks left to be put away because it means we got away…
for the banners and discarded decorations because it means we celebrated a birthday…
for unfinished puzzles because little hands were trying and little heads were thinking…
for piles of toys because that means just playing…
for a nasty, wet towel because that means someone wiped up (and didn’t leave it for mama 🙂 – and even put the towel in the laundry room!
…for blankets and stuffed animals because that means someone was snuggling…
Please help me to see all of these and many more blessings amongst a multitude of messes.