Soy Barley Porridge with Umeboshi

What a crazy weekend! I'm not sure why, but I seem to have a habit of making really ambitious weekend plans, and come Sunday afternoon and I'm absolutely exhausted. I mean, of course there are those things most of us do on the weekends because there is simply no time during the week; like cleaning or doing loads of washing. On top of these weekly chores, however, I seem to add more and more things I'd like to get done.

On this weekend's list there was the simple sounding task of sanding and painting three dining chairs, sewing a new curtain for our bathroom and, while I'm at it, why not a new runner on the dining table as well. I had also listed at least 5 dishes I wanted to cook, and of course I needed to catch up with the blogosphere as well.

Every Sunday night I swear I will not do ANYTHING the following weekend, just relax and take it easy, but somehow as the week progresses, my "to do this weekend"-list just keeps growing. Don't get me wrong, I've tried having those lazy weekends, but I seem to get so bored I just can't take it. So I'm not complaining I've been busy, I'm just saying ;-)

Anyway, so after morning exercise and cleaning, and in between getting ready to head out for dinner, I managed to squeeze in enough time to whip up this soy barley porridge I had had in my mind for a whole week. In Finland I used to make barley porridge all the time, using regular milk, but this time I've used home-made soy milk and added umeboshi for some extra tang. I fell in love with umeboshi, those sour pickles, whilst travelling in Japan, and it's delicious with this porridge!

Soy Barley Porridge with Umeboshi
(Serves 2)

1 litre home-made soy milk
2ooml water
130g pearled barley
pinch of salt
2-4 umeboshi, for serving

In a large saucepan, bring water to boil. Add the barley and cook for a few minutes or until the water has soaked into the barley. Add soy milk, bring to boil and let simmer on low heat for about 40 minutes. Keep stirring every so often and be careful not to let it boil over! Once the barley is tender, and the consistency is porridge-like, take the pan off the heat and add a pinch of salt. Serve with umeboshi!

Enjoy!

PS. By the way, I did end up finishing two dining chairs (though taking a short-cut and not bothering to sand them, just paint), making 3 out of about a gazillion dishes I wanted to make, finishing all washing, grocery shopping and cleaning and squeeze in a dinner with friends :-) Here's looking forward to the next weekend!