by ESG Flourish House residents

Hello ESG Community!  It’s Amy, Aidan and Thomas here and we would like to share with you some of the ways we have been making the lockdown meaningful at Flourish House. 

Each week we have two staple rituals that we use to ground ourselves in faith and community.  These rituals include cooking and sharing soup together on Wednesday evenings, which we like to call ‘Soup at Six’ and  engaging in a weekly spiritual practice or vespers every Sunday evening.  Through ‘Soup for the Soul’ we hope to offer you a new recipe to try and a moment of spiritual reflection.  

This week’s recipe: Thai Coconut-Peanut Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 can green chilis
• 1 large garlic clove minced
• 3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
• 1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped
• 1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
• 1/3 cup natural peanut butter
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• salt to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 lime cut in wedges

Instructions

1. Heat oil, add onion and garlic, sauté until soft.
2. Stir in curry paste.
3. Add sweet potato, cayenne, green chilis, peanut butter, coconut milk and broth, let simmer until sweet potato is soft.
4. Let cool then blend until smooth.
5. Serve with lime wedge and enjoy!  

Our shared meal times at Flourish House offer valuable opportunities to connect informally as a community and build our repertoire of delicious recipes. Amy’s sweet potato soup, shared above, has quickly become one of my favourites! In addition to those gatherings, the three of us convene weekly to engage in spiritual practices, set goals for ourselves, and check-in with each other in an open and honest way. This space of intentional connection is so helpful to us in a time where isolation and loneliness are all too common. It is lovely to be able to grow together spiritually each week!

One Sunday ritual we enjoy together is the simple act of sharing a Rose, Thorn, and Bud from the previous week; the Rose being something positive, the Thorn something negative, and the Bud something in the future you are excited about. While it may sound cliché, engaging in this activity is a great way to debrief the past week and get reassurance and support from our fellow housemates if we need it. With most future plans stalled because of the pandemic, regularly getting excited for small things on the horizon is a welcome and refreshing exercise. Like the warm and spicy flavours in Amy’s delicious soup, our weekly ritual time is nourishing for the soul!