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Tortellini Soup

January 23, 2013 by Lacie

I’m always on the look out for lunch ideas.  Particularly things that my husband doesn’t really like.  That way I can still get my fill on them at lunch time…and he doesn’t have to suffer through them at dinner.  This is normally soups.  I love soup; butternut squash, clam chowder, chicken noodle.  I love soup.  Especially in the winter when it’s so chilly.  So this weekend I found this recipe and it was just too easy to pass up!

http://mrsschwartzkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/11/tomato-tortellini-soup.html

Ingredients:

- Olive Oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Pkg of refrigerated cheese tortellini
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cans tomato soup
- 1 1/2 cups milk (I used skim)
- 2 cups half and half
- 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (I pureed mine)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt

1) saute the garlic in olive oil until golden (beware burning the garlic)
2) then add broth, soup, milk, half & half, sun dried tomatoes, and seasonings
3) cook until blended – you’ll know
4) add the tortellini and cook for as long as on package (normally 8 minutes).  I left mine a little underdone b/c I knew I’d be reheating everyday at lunch.

and that’s all it takes!  And trust me…its delicious.  And filling with all those tortellini!

I failed at taking photos but let me know how yours turns out!

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Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

January 16, 2013 by Lacie

Two and a half months…

No, that’s not how long this project takes but instead how long its been since we’ve blogged. Bad bloggers! We/I needed to be punished for this gross and intolerable oversight. So what did I do? Banished myself to a day of chores and laundry. (oh wait….that kind of sounds like every Sunday…hum) Only problem, I was nearing the bottom of my Sam’s Club sized laundry detergent. What to do? I could just go buy more detergent. That’s what any sane person would do…but no. I remembered a project I’d seen months ago on Pinterest. Homemade detergent!

Now…if there is anything this girl likes…it’s combining things, dumping things out, putting them in other containers. I can’t really explain it. Since youth, I’ve loved sand art…this transitioned into my facination with containers (seriously…almost ever kitchen necessity I own must be put into a different container than what it was purchased in…I’m the proud owner of over 20 canisters). Nothing excites me more than when I run out of flour, b/c that just means I get to open a fresh bag and dump it into my old fashioned cracker canister…oh yeah! I’m getting off topic…

Back to the detergent – this is the original link that I found

http://www.howdoesshe.com/cheaper-and-better-diy-laundry-detergent/

I tweaked this a bit based on what I could find.

Here is what I used:

- Container of Oxi-Clean
- Box of Borax
- Box of Baking Soda
- Box of Super Washing Soda (didn’t even know this existed)
- Two bars of grated Ivory soap (most links say to use Zote but despite popular opinion…it is not easy to find. I found several articles that said Ivory soap was great! Plus side – it smelled just like the resort on my Honeymoon…weird
- Container of Purex Crystals laundry detergent (I originally wasn’t going to add this b/c I normally use Downy…or Snuggle…with a Downy Ball…that somehow magically dispenses the fabric softener on time. This was until a few weeks ago when my husband decided to do a load of laundry…maybe the third load he’s done in the 2 and a half years I’ve lived with him. Turns out he was confused…and used fabric softener…instead of detergent (he didn’t know fabric softener came in liquid form) and then tried to throw out my downy ball b/c it was “stupid.” So I decided to add the fabric softener crystals back in.. just in case some strange phenomenon happens where he needs to do laundry…there is now only one step to the process.

Ingredients

Ingredients

Then I layered all of the parts into a container (I used a small cooler that we never use). The layering helps make stirring/blending everything much easier. I got creative and used a vacuum attachment to stir with.

The Mixture

The Mixture

Last I put some of my detergent back into the fabric softener container since it was so cute. And the top is the perfect measuring cup for the powder!! So it should be a while before I run out of my cooler full of detergent! (PS this stuff smells good too!) My only complaint…I wish the fabric softener came in pink ;) so I could have pink crystals in my detergent.

Finished Product

Finished Product

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“Ric-Rac Tally Wack…” A Ric-Rac Bow Tutorial

November 1, 2012 by Lacie

I can’t resist rhyming…

During the last few months, I’ve had tons of fun learning how to make new and different hair bows for my very best baby friend! This one is a favorite of mine because you get to use Ric-Rac which is an awesomely swirly ribbon.  Warning: I was not a good photographer on this bow.  I’ll attempt to explain well enough that pictures aren’t necessary.

First, cut the Ric-Rac length in half.  Then, sew the two ends together and start to wrap together.  Photo below!!  Sew the two pieces together, continuing to “braid” as you go.

 

 

 

 

Once you’ve sewn the ribbon together, start from one end and start to roll.  Hot glue as you go along (don’t burn your fingers!!) Continue to wrap and glue until you get the size flower you want.  Then wrap the ribbon under the flower and glue!  I glued some ‘leaves’ under mine as well.  Once all the glue has set you can start to fluff the flower by brushing all the ‘petals’ outward.

Let me know if you have questions!!

 

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Hootin’ Hollerin’ Halloween

October 29, 2012 by Lacie

Do you know me?

If you do…you know that Halloween, for me, means Christmas is almost here.  That being said, my husband loves Halloween!! So he goes all out on the decorating.  I tried to add some not so scary elements :) The photos are of my additions…the video below the slideshow is all his.

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B’s haunting halloween video.

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Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes

October 11, 2012 by Lacie

I had a dream…

A dream that my two favoritest things would somehow collide…then I woke up and realized.  It’s possible…a cinnamon roll cupcake.

Oh my goodness gracious the delicious-ness of these cupcakes is completely mind blowing.  However they are not super easy. I guess it’s true – nothing worth having comes easy

I’ll be honest – the search for these cupcakes was not easy.  Try me!  Google cinnamon roll cupcakes.  You end up with tons of recipes that aren’t actually rolls.  They are more like cinnamon muffins with icing.  I’m sure these are yummy but not the same as a CINNAMON ROLL!

So here is what I did (sorry – there are no in process pictures – I was a bit lazy)

Ingredients:

2 cups warm milk (I used skim)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
6 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 eggs
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1) Mix milk, sugar, and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  Add salt and two cups of the flour and beat for two minutes (This would be a good time to mention – use your kitchen aid mixer!!)

2) beat in eggs and butter, stir remaining flour in a half cup at a time. (did I mention…use your kitchen aid!! – I thought I would use my hand mixer because my Kitchen-Aid bowl was dirty – bad move – My hand mixer started smelling like burnt rubber and smoking!! – this dough was too much for it to handle!)

3) turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth.  Place dough in a large bowl in a warm place to rise (not too warm…)

4) let dough rise for 40 minutes

5) then roll dough out into a long rectangle about a quarter inch thick (it will be a long long rectangle)

6) then spread filling on top

Filling Ingredients

- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup sugar sugar :)
- 3 tbsp cinnamon

7) roll the dough up from the long side

8) cut the roll as if you were cutting them to be cinnamon rolls! – place the roll in a cupcake liner – you might have to fold it into a c – or squish it slightly :) Depending on how high you want your rolls – would be how big your slices should be – mine came about even to the top of the liner before the second rise.

9) let rise another 40 minutes

10) bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until done!

11) top with a powdered sugar glaze … yummy to my tummy

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Yummy Salted Caramel

October 8, 2012 by Lacie

I’ve been wanting to make salted caramel ever since seeing a recipe for salted caramel cupcakes.  I do want to make the cupcakes as well but I thought how great it would be to use a piece of salted caramel as the decoration on a salted caramel cupcake.  Original…I know :) .

I had originally found a salted caramel by the Barefoot Contessa but I decided to use a recipe by Alton Brown instead.  Not Jaclyn’s favorite food network chef but definitely one of mine.  It might be that he, like me, is a University of Georgia grad.  Or could just be that we both have southern roots.  Either way I like him both on Good Eats and on Iron Chef.  So here goes Alton’s recipe.

It’s not super easy – but it’s not hard either.  The key is the candy thermometer…without it you just don’t know what’s going on :) .  Trust me…I know.  I tried one batch thinking I would just know the steps based on the color of the sugar.  I didn’t….so go get a candy thermometer :) Trust me on this.

Ingredients

  • 14 1/2 ounces sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 cup heavy cream, room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Step One: – Line the pan (you may have time to do this while the sugar is cooking but I did this first so I wouldn’t feel rushed later ;) ) My pan was 8 inches by 8 inches.

 

Step Two:  Mix sugar, water, corn syrup, and cream of tarter in a dutch oven (the white bottom makes it easier to see the color of the sugar and the cast iron distributes heat better….bazinga).  Place on high heat until sugar is dissolved.  The cover the dutch oven and cook for 5 minutes.

 

Step Three: While the sugar is cooking mix the cream and soy sauce in a measuring cup – have it on stand by along with the butter!

Step Four: Remove lid from sugar mixture and attach candy thermometer.  When sugar reaches 230 degrees reduce heat to medium and cook without stirring until syrup is goldenie brown and delicious. Once sugar is at 300 degrees you can gently swirl the pan to remove any hot spots.

Step Five: When the temperature approaches 350 degrees F, the syrup will turn deep amber. Remove the pan from the heat, and gently swirl again to break up all of the hot pockets. Cool for 2 minutes.

Step Six: Add cream, soy and the butter into the pan. Stir to combine. Return the caramel to medium heat, stir until the butter is completely melted, and continue cooking until it reaches 255 degrees F. Remove from the heat and pour into the parchment-lined pan, tap gently to release air bubbles.

Step Seven: Cool on a rack for half an hour.  Then sprinkle on the sea salt (I used the coarse kind of course :) )Continue cooling on the rack for an additional 3 1/2 hours. I even put mine in the fridge as well.  It makes it much easier to cut.  Wrap in parchment paper

- BEWARE THE STICKY AWESOMENESS - 

 

 

 

 

 

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Headband for Baby

October 1, 2012 by Lacie

I’m a firm believer that accessorizing should start early in a girls life. :) There is nothing cuter than a baby girl with a bow in her hair…

I wanted to make Baby C some headbands for her congrats-on-being-born gift.  I found this idea on Pinterest!  Link below:

http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2010/07/baby-headband-tutorial.html

I’ve included the steps in the slideshow.  These were so much fun to make and very very easy!  They make a great shower gift – unless of course you are a procrastinator like me and gift them to the lucky mom a week after baby is born.  I guess that’s cool too :)

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My Beautiful Model!!

I will admit to not making the bow part of this headband.  I found the fluffy part at Joann’s and just turned it into a bow.  Credit for using existing resources?

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