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Layered Patchwork Soup Mix

I can’t take credit for this recipe.   I found it on here at Allrecipes.com.  I did alter it a bit and the altered version is here on my blog.  You can go to the above link for the original.  The picture as of today for that recipe is from me.

Before I gave the soup as a gift, I wanted to try it.  Actually, I made the jars first, then decided to make the soup with my leftover dry ingredients.  It’s definitely tasty enough to give out. A perfectly simple soup for a cold day.  I gave the jars as Christmas gifts to members of my somewhat newly acquired step-family.  The jars were fun and easy to make. I think they’re pretty too!

Layered Patchwork Soup Mix

Ingredients
* 1/2 cup pearled Barley
* 1/4 cup dried Green Split Peas
* 1/4 cup dried Yellow Split Peas
* 1/2 cup uncooked Brown Rice
* 1/2 cup dry Lentils
* 1/4 cup dry Red Lentils
* 1 teaspoon dried Parsley
* 1 teaspoon granulated Garlic
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
* 1 teaspoon dried Sage
* 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground Black Pepper

Directions
1. In a pint jar layer in order bottom to top: barley, green split peas, red lentils, lentils, yellow split peas, and brown rice.
2. In a small plastic bag combine the parsley, garlic, pepper, salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and sage.
3. Decorate jar lid and attach seasoning packet with ribbon to jar. Attach a recipe card with the following directions:

Empty jar contents into a colander and rinse.  Place contents in a large stockpot and cover with 10 cups water. Stir in 1 chopped medium onion, and the seasoning packet. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Check after 30 minutes and add additional water if necessary. This recipe serves 8.

My Notes
Jar Contents: I bought the dry ingredients at the bulk section of Winco Foods, but you should be able to find them at a normal grocery store in the dry beans/soup section. Line the jars up and measure out one ingredient at a time then move on to the next ingredient. Don’t shake the jars though, the layering effect will be ruined. Decorate the jar lid with a sticker or perhaps a cut piece of cloth between the lid and ring. A gift wrap bow would be cute too.

Gift Tag: I found several cute holiday tags at the Shabby Princess. I took one of them and used my Photoshop Elements program to put the name and directions on the tag.  As much as I’d like to include the tag here, I can’t because it would be piracy based upon their terms and conditions of use. I respect that.  So, if you want the tag, you’ll have to go to the Shabby Princess and download the files for yourself. In all honesty, I think you’ll love the other stuff that comes with the download, so click and check it out! As for the ribbon, I used 1/4″ craft ribbon that was cut to about 16″ long. The picture shows that I tied the ribbon in the front of the tag, but I decided later to change it after I’d taken a picture. I folded the ribbon in half, put the loop through the tag and spice bag then put the ends into the loop. I then tied the bow on the opposite side of the jar from the tag. I liked that look better.

Spice Packet: I found 3″ x 4″ clear treat bags in the wedding section at Walmart. I put the spices in, folded the top over, taped the flap down, hole punched the middle and attached it behind the tag onto the jar.

Homemade Brown Rice Milk

I’ve looked for a good rice milk recipe that I could make myself rather than buying it. I found a few, and I couldn’t seem to get them right. My husband was great at making it, so I let him do it for quite a while…then he made me make it myself! [Thanks, I love ya, honey!] It’s really easy, and very inexpensive to make! My kids love rice milk with their cold and hot cereals since they can’t tolerate the dairy. I use rice milk to replace milk in some recipes like smoothies, breads, cookies, cakes, frosting, etc… Water does just as well in most of those too. Rice milk doesn’t do as well with things like pudding though. We tried it with pudding and had just a runny mess. lol

Homemade Brown Rice Milk
16 cups Water
1 cup Brown Rice (organic long grain is the best)
Vanilla, to taste (optional)
1/2 Sucanat or other equivalent sweetener (honey makes it less dark)
6 clean quart Bottles, rings, and lids (used lids are fine) – or use other containers that hold 24 cups (1 1/2 gallons)

Cook rice in the water in a big stock-pot on medium-high for about 45 minutes to an hour until the rice is very soft. You can allow it to cool some if you don’t want to pour very hot rice water into a blender, but don’t cool for longer than an hour. Rice is food for bacteria and mold if left long.

Put boiled rice and water (DO NOT DRAIN!) in a blender (we have a Vitamix). Add sucanat and a touch of vanilla to taste, if desired. Blend and increase to highest setting for a couple of minutes to pulverize the rice and make it a syrup. A regular blender should work, but you may want to process it much longer than a couple of minutes. Caution: it will remain hot! If you still have some chunks left, strain them out. (With a good blender like a Vitamix or BlendTec, there is no need for that unless your prefer it.) Sometimes I blend in 2 batches because it didn’t boil down as much, but I make sure to pour it all together in a gallon pitcher before distributing it among the quart jars.  Some of my family (mainly me) prefer to strain it in a sieve before distributing it among the jars or sweetening it.

I check the amount of rice mixture I’ve blended and then divide it by 6. What you have blended will not fill all 6 quarts, but divide it among them equally. Then add some cool water to fill them to just below the bottle’s neck. Put lids and rings on. Keep refrigerated for up to a week. (Our rice milk rarely lasts that long.) Enjoy!