Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

Kate here again with another recipe. Soup is a frequent guest at our table in the fall.
serve
This is one of my family's favorites. To get started you’ll need 3 strips of bacon, chopped or …
bacongrease
if you have some bacon grease that will work just fine. The bacon grease adds the flavor we’re looking for. We don’t necessarily need the bacon.
celery
This soup requires a lot of chopping, so I do all the chopping before anything else. Dice two celery stalks.
potatoes
Peel and chop 1 potato.
carrotsncabbage
I like to send 2 carrots and 1/2 a head of cabbage through the coarse grating disc on my food processor.
sauteoniongarlic
Mince 1-2 cloves of garlic and chop 1 medium onion. Then saute in the bacon grease for 1 minute with 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley. I’m using dried parsley today so I’ll add it later.
saute
Turn heat down to medium. Add the celery, potatoes and saute for 10 minutes. Then add carrots and cabbage and saute for another 10 minutes. (If using chopped instead of grated carrots, add with potatoes and celery.)
basil
Add 2 quarts soup stock or 2 quarts water plus 2 Tablespoons beef or chicken bouillon granules to a slow cooker. (Stovetop directions are at the end of the post.) Today I’m using bouillon cubes with water. Then add 1 teaspoon basil and 1 teaspoon salt. Here is when I add dried parsley, too.
blend
blender
Add 1 28-ounce can tomatoes. To make the tomatoes slightly blended, I use this little gadget. Next add 1 15-ounce can kidney, white, or pinto beans.
addveges
Add the vegetables to the slow cooker, stir, and cover. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or 6-8 hours on low. Add 1/2 cup noodles of your choice 1/2 hour before serving time.
bowlI love how this smells. Enjoy!
Minestrone Soup
3 slices bacon, chopped or 1-2 Tablespoons bacon grease
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup minced parsley or 2 T. dried minced parsley
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced or grated
1 large potato, diced
1/2 medium cabbage, finely sliced (or coarsely grated in food processor)
1 28-ounce can tomatoes, slightly blended
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can kidney, white, or pinto beans
2 quarts soup stock or 2 quarts water plus 2 Tablespoons beef or chicken bouillon granules
1/2 cup noodles of your choice
In a stock pot fry bacon but not until crisp. Or melt 1-2 tablespoons of bacon grease in a stock pot and add garlic, onion, parsley, celery, carrots, potato, and cabbage. Saute for 20-25 minutes, stirring often until vegetables are tender but crunchy. Add tomatoes, basil, salt, beans, and stock. Simmer for 45 minutes. Add noodles and cook for 10-12 more minutes.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Easy Christmas Card

Hi blog friends!
Kristie here from 
This month I have another easy Christmas card for you.
Have you started those Christmas cards yet?
If not, this is a very quick and easy card to make.
Can you guess from the supplies what it will be?
Here's what you need.
White card stock 11" x 4 1/4"
Red card stock 5 1/4" x 4"
Black card stock 5" x 1"
Silver paper 1 1/2" x 1 1/4"
White card stock 2 circles about 3/4" 
you could also use buttons rather than card stock circles.

Score your card base at 5 1/2" to form a 
5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card

Using a pencil draw a line on either side of the black
paper onto the silver paper.
This is the easiest way to know the size to cut.

Mark about 1/4" in from the each end and mark where the center of the silver piece is.
in the center, draw lines equally away from the center mark on each side as shown in the picture.

Using a craft blade and a straight edge, I like a metal ruler,
cut along the lines so you will have a piece like shown below.


Slip the black strip through the silver piece,
weaving over the center "bar"

Use tape to secure it on the back. I just used a little piece
of craft tape, you could use scotch tape or whatever is on hand.

Position the "belt" where you want it and turn the whole
piece over.

Fold the edges over to the back and secure with tape or glue.

Place the white circles (or buttons if you prefer)
 above the belt and glue them into place.
Adhere to the white card base.

You now have an adorable Santa suit Christmas card.
Now how quick and easy is that?

Thanks for stopping by today.
I hope you try making some of these quick and easy cards.
I'd love it if you'd stop over to my blog, 
 and see what I've got going on there.

See you again next month, until then
have fun crafting!