Easy Peasy Chicken Noodle Soup

Okay, so I think you've got the point if you've even somewhat browsed my blog - I love soup. I always will, and my husband always won't. So, I made some for lunch since I'm feeling a little under the weather. I have to tell you about this recipe - I don't measure. I just throw stuff into the pot and put in whatever "looks right". These measurements below are approximate, so if you think it needs a little more or a little less of something, go ahead and change away!



2 TBL Vegetable Oil
1 Onion, diced
2 Tsp. Garlic, minced
1 Tsp. Dried Thyme
1 Tsp. Dried Bay Leaves
1/8 Tsp. Cayenne Pepper
2 Cups Shredded Carrots
8 Cups Chicken Stock
2 Cups Rotini Noodles (curly ones!)
3 Cups Shredded Chicken (if you're in a huge hurry, canned will be fine!)
Salt and Pepper to Taste
Diced Celery - optional

1. Heat oil, onion, garlic, carrots, thyme, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper (add celery too, if using) over medium heat until they start to brown - you don't want them to get soggy, because they will continue to cook as you add other ingredients.

2. Next, add chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil then add the rotini noodles and chicken. Simmer until noodles are tender - about 10 minutes. Season will salt and pepper. You can let the soup simmer until you're ready to serve.

Sweet Green Breakfast Smoothie

Sweet Green Breakfast Smoothie

Mmmmm. Smoothies! One of my favorite morning breakfast go-to's. This morning I threw a few fruits and veggies together that turned out to taste too good to be breakfast - almost like dessert!

1 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk
1 Frozen Banana
1/2 Cup Plain Nonfat Yogurt
1 Handful Baby Spinach
1 - 8 inch Piece of Celery, cut into pieces
1/4 Cup Pieced Mango

Blend and drink!

Italian Sausage Soup

Fall is coming. Cool mornings, warm afternoons, and low heavy clouds. That means it's time for soup! My hubby doesn't like soup very much, but I LOVE it. My college roommates used to tease me that my favorite foods were soup and hotdogs (the latter not so much anymore).

Anyways, let me get to the point that I had some leftover Italian Sausage and decided to make some soup with it. Here is what I threw together:

2 Italian Sausages, Casings Removed, Pieced
4 Cups Beef Broth (Or 4 cups water + 3 Beef Bullion)
1/2 Red Pnion
1/2 cup Green Pepper
2 Tbl Olive Oil
2 cups of Rotini pasta
1 can Tomato Paste
2 Tbl Red Wine Vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
salt
pepper

1. Remove casings from sausages and break links into pieces. Chop up red onion. Saute sausage and onion until sausage is browned.

2. In a separate pan, saute green pepper in olive oil.

2. Add beef broth to pan with sausage and onion. Add green pepper. Add in red wine vinegar, oregano, garlic powder and basil, and tomato paste.

3. Bring all ingredients to a boil. Meanwhile boil noodles in a separate pan.

4. Add noodles to soup, salt & pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Camping for Beginners: What NOT to Forget

Camping. That word makes me think of waking up early to the sun, snuggled in a sleeping bag with the smell of campfires smoldering nearby. My husband and I have been camping for three summers now. I had next to none experience before we began camping, my husband had a little more experience than I, but together, we had a lot to learn. We just completed our last camping trip of our summer and while we were hiking, we came up with a list of all the things we have learned since we started camping in 2011. 

Below is a list that seems pretty basic, but trust me, I'm sure we are not the only ones who have forgotten these things. Hopefully this list will make your next camping trip more enjoyable.

*P.s. I'm not claiming to be a camping expert, just providing advice from our lessons learned.

Don't Forget:

1. To Bring Kindling & Fire Sticks: We struggled getting our campfires started. Some times we would sit there for an hour trying to get our wood to catch on fire. What were we doing wrong? First, we learned we needed "kindling". Not grass or random sticks, but small pieces of a log that would burn long enough to catch our whole logs on fire. My husband invested in a hatchet that he now uses to cut up one or two of our logs into approximately 8"x 2" pieces. We keep a pile of these for the duration of our trip. But what has been our most successful method to getting these kindling pieces to catch fire? We found these awesome fire starting sticks. There are multiple brands - you can find them in the camping section at almost any sporting goods store. We first tried Coghlan's Waterproof Fire Sticks - they work great. They are cheap to - about $2 or $3 per pack. There are two ways we have been most successful in creating a fire:

•  We create a tripod out of our "kindling" sticks. We break a fire stick up into two or three pieces and put it under the tripod. We use our lighter to light the fire sticks. They stay lit long enough to catch the kindling on fire. While this is happening, we gently place the whole logs in a tripod over the top of the kindling sticks. The kindling sticks stay hot and flame long enough to catch your logs on fire.
• The next way is to lay 4 logs in a square, kind of "log cabin" style so they are overlapping. Place four kindling sticks in the middle, each kindling stick should touch one of the logs. Lay pieces of fire sticks in the middle of the kindling sticks and start them on fire. It's a chain reaction. The fire sticks flame up the kindling, the kindling flame up the logs they are touching, and then you can add four more logs in a square if you choose to do so. 
• Make sure your flame has oxygen. Don't plop the logs directly on the flames, or your logs will smother the flame and you will have to start all over again.

2. To Check the Weather: We learned a big lesson on this. If you see a "chance" of rain in the forecast - even 10% chance, put your firewood, and anything you don't want wet (chairs, towels, shoes etc) in your car! We made a huge mistake and didn't even check the weather - we left everything outside, including the firewood, and well, let's just say we did not have a fire for breakfast the next morning! It doesn't take that much time to load your car with your stuff, and then pull it out again in the morning. 

3. To Plan Meals/Prepare Food Ahead of Time: Plan your meals out, or you may end up with a) not enough food or b) way too much food that is likely to spoil. Not only should you plan your meals, if you have food ideas that you could make at home before camping and could easily wrap in foil to warm over the fire - do it! This saves time and the amount of food you need to pack. For example, we have made pancakes multiple times at home before camping. Wrap them up in foil and heat them up over the fire for a nutritious breakfast. We made flatbread pizzas over the fire: cook sausage at home, and measure our your pizza ingredients before hand - then you don't have to bring a whole bag of shredded cheese, a whole jar of pasta sauce, etc - you will have the perfect amount, and no leftovers to spoil. Don't forget nutritious snacks like trail mix and granola bars for hiking.

4. To Keep Your Cooler Cold: Soooo our cooler isn't that awesome, and ice melts pretty quick. We have done the whole "bagged ice" thing, but it kept melting, and we had to keep buying more to keep our food cold. Solution 1: buy a better cooler. Solution 2: (our choice) Keep your crappy cooler, and use BLOCK ice. Our friends told us block ice takes way longer to melt - but why buy it when you can MAKE it!?! My husband's idea was fabulous - he filled my bread loaf pans with water, stuck them in the freezer and then we dumped out the frozen block and put it in a gallon storage bag. He had to shave the end of them just a tad to get them to fit in the bags, but still - it was worth it! The ice didn't melt as quickly and kept our cooler colder. Another idea is to freeze plastic water bottles and throw those in your cooler, too. Just remember to pour out an inch of water before you freeze them so the water has room to expand. Side note - keep your cooler locked in your car so animals stay out of your food!

5. To Bring More Bug-Spray Than You Need: We thought we could last a 2 day camping trip with a half bottle of bug spray. WRONG. On this specific camping trip, we had a "hike-in" campsite and walked two miles to our site. The bugs were really bad. By the time we got to our site, our bug-spray was gone. My hubby had to hike 2 miles back to the ranger station to buy more and then 2 miles back. Yikes. It's ok if you bring too much, but if you don't bring enough, the bugs will love you.

6. To Price a State Park Parking Pass: If you are going to go to multiple state parks during the summer, check out your state's yearly parking pass costs vs. daily parking pass costs. In Minnesota, it is a way better deal to buy the yearly parking pass for about $25.00 vs. paying for a parking pass every time you enter another state park. This can save you money, so check it out.

7. To Check the Low: Make sure you bring enough blankets and warm clothes for sleeping if you are camping in a cooler climate. That was a big oopsy for us. Although it can be nearly 80 during the day, the temperatures can drop significantly at night. We traveled north a few hours, and didn't realize the low was going to be in the 40's at night - and we froze! We only brought one pair of sweatpants and one sweatshirt so we had to wear the same outfit every evening. We slept in our socks, sweatshirts, sweat pants, hoods up with them tied tight around our face, sausaged in our sleeping bags, one blanket a piece, and I even resorted to pulling clothes out of my suitcase and placing them on top of me. Hello summer "up north".

8. To Bring a First-Aid Kit: We have always brought a mini first aid kit with us when we go hiking on our camping trips - but little did we know how much we would need it. My husband and I were hiking at a state park, the morning after it had rained. We both had on waterproof hiking boots, but it was still slippery outside. We were hiking along and all of a sudden, I slipped on a wet rock and crashed down on my knee and hip. I had a big scrape and a goose egg on my knee. We whipped out that first aid kit and covered it with a bandage until we made it back to camp. Once at camp we were able to clean it up and put some ointment on it. So glad we had that.

9. To Make A List: Keep a master list of everything you need to pack for camping. Continue to add to it after each camping trip, or cross things off you realize are not necessary for camping. This makes packing sooo much easier.

10. To Bring Flip Flops: If you want to use the showers at the campground, it's a great idea to bring flip flops. The shower floors aren't the cleanest, and it makes the process a whole lot easier.

11. To Grab a State Park Map: Grab a state park map at the ranger station. These have all the trails and mileage for each trail which makes it much easier to navigate your way around.

12. To Save Your Battery: Most of us have smartphones these days. They are really nice to have while camping for weather updates, maps, and taking photos. However, when you are out in the wilderness, there is usually low or poor signal that leaves your phone searching for signal - and that drains the battery really quick. If you're tenting it, you probably don't have much access to outlets besides charging it in your car. To save battery, put your smartphone on "Airplane Mode". Just remember, when your phone is in this mode, it means you won't be able to make calls/send texts or receive calls/texts. Take your phone off airplane mode to use those functions. It's great to put it in this mode overnight when you are sleeping and don't need your phone.

13. To Bring Fire-Proof Utensils: So many times we have forgotten utensils for flipping and stirring food on the fire grate. A plastic spoon will not do- it will melt. Consider hot dog/marshmallow roasters that are long enough so you won't have to get your hand too close to the fire to roast them.

14. To Make a Reservation: In the summer, campsites fill up so fast! Yes, there are some non-reserveable campsites that you can get the day-of, but that is a big risk if you aren't the first handful of people to arrive at the campground. If you go online to the campground website, there will be a way to reserve your campsite ahead of time. You will also be able to pick a campsite with your preference: close to a lake, close to the bathrooms, secluded, etc.

15. To Bring Games: Without a doubt, you will have some downtime while camping. Bring some board games and card games to entertain yourselves. Some of our favorite games include Ticket to Ride, Sequence, and Pit.

16. To Bring Aluminum foil: This is my best friend while camping. But make sure it's the non-stick kind. (I've used the kind that isn't non-stick, and I had to peel the foil off of the food - not fun.) Wrap food in the foil and place it directly on the grate to bake it or warm it. Line your pans with the foil for easy clean up.

17. To Bring More than Enough Water: If you are at a campsite with close access to drinkable water, you don't have to worry about this. But if you choose to go to a hike-in/backpack-in campsite, MAKE SURE you have more than enough water. One of the hike-in campsites we went to, we were severely low on water and had one small bottle left for our 2 mile hike back to our car with all of our gear. We cut it really close. Water is crucial.

Spicy Green Bean Zucchini

My hubby and I are trying to eat healthier. We've been camping a lot lately and have had a few too many s'mores, chips, and hot dogs. So today I developed this veggie dish that was so delicious.

Ingredients:

Half of a medium zucchini, in 1 inch chunks

1 handful of fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch strips

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 Onion, diced

6 pieces of diced jalapenos

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp fresh basil

salt

pepper

1/4 c. shredded cheese

1. Heat oil in a pan over med-high heat.

2. Toss in the zucchini, green beans, and onion.

3. Saute veggies for 5-10 min.

5. While veggies are sauteing, add jalapenos, crushed red pepper, basil, salt, and pepper.

6. After the zucchini is tender, remove the pan from the heat. I thought the dish was too spicy, so I would recommend taking out the jalapenos - the flavor will still be in the dish.

7. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and let it melt.

Enjoy!

19 Pounds of Strawberries

Mmmmmm, it's strawberry picking time!

It was the first time my husband and I went strawberry picking. I had no idea how many to pick. I thought four containers would be perfect....and 19 pounds of strawberries later, I wondered what I had gotten myself into!

You might be laughing to yourself thinking, "That's a lot of berries!" (and work!). But this is what I did:

1. Strawberry Jam

2. Strawberry Ice Cream Topping
3. Chocolate Covered Strawberries

4. Frozen Strawberries for Smoothies

5. Fresh

Keep reading to see how I was able to whittle those strawberries down to only 6 cups to eat fresh...

Strawberry Jam Yield: 4 Half Pint Jars

Step 1: Get those jars, lids, and rings sterilized! Boil in water for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Find a recipe to use for your strawberry jam. 

I used the recipe from the Ball RealFruit Classic Pectin container. 

Measure out your strawberries into a small layer.

Step 3: Smash the strawberries with a potato masher or pastry cutter (like me).

Then add more strawberries (for 4 half-pint jars I needed 2 2/3 c. of mashed berries).

Step 4: You want the berries to be quite mashed, but still chunky so you can tell what you're eating.

Step 5: I measured out 2 cups of white sugar, 3 Tbsp Ball RealFruit Classic Pectin,

 with my 2 2/3c. strawberries.

Step 6: Before I started cooking the jam, I set out the jars, lids and rings.

Step 7: Pour the strawberries and fruit pectin into a saucepan over med-high heat. Stir occasionally.

You are going to want the mixture to come to a full rolling boil that cannot be calmed down when you stir it.

Step 8: Once it starts to boil, add the sugar and stir constantly. You want the mixture to return to the rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute.

Step 9: Remove from the heat and begin ladling the jelly into the jars you have prepared.

Step 10: Wipe off the rim of the jars with a wet rag or paper towel so the lids will seal tightly. Place the lids and rings on the jars - only tighten with your fingertips, not your whole palm (that will make the lid too tight).

You will place the closed jars in a canner and process for 10-15 minutes, depending on your canner. 

Once the jars have processed, take them out and set them on the counter. You may hear them pop and seal right away, but some may take 24 hours to seal. Just let them sit, don't mess with them - it could take 2 weeks for the jam to set! Mine set almost right after they cooled.

The next day I made 5 more (half-pint) jars of strawberry jam.

Next I made some Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

I melted 1/2 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips over low heat in a saucepan on the stove. I picked strawberries that were firm and used a toothpick to poke them and dip them in the melted chocolate. I then placed them on a wax paper covered plate. I placed them in the refrigerator to harden. Yum.

Third, I made Strawberry Topping - I found it on Brown Eyed Baker's blog. I decided to can this strawberry topping recipe into three pint jars - so I had to triple the recipe. It smelled amazing! I can't wait to put it over vanilla ice cream.

Lastly I Flash Froze strawberries for smoothies. A very common mistake that people make when freezing fruit is they put fresh fruit in a freezer bag and throw it in the freezer. Bad idea. All the fruit will stick together. Flash Freezing is the method that allows each individual piece of fruit to coat itself with frost, preventing them from sticking together when you put them in a freezer bag. 

Flash Freezing:

Lay berries out on a cookie sheet in a single layer - try to keep them from touching (this will make it easier in getting them off the cookie sheet). Place a piece of wax paper (same size as cookie sheet) over the berries on the pan. Place another layer of berries on top of the wax paper. This creates two-layers of fruit on one pan to freeze more berries quickly. Place the pan in the freezer for an hour or two, until you feel a coating of ice on the berries. Once they have an ice coating, pull the berries off the top layer of wax paper and pull them off the pan on the bottom layer. Pour them into a freezer bag and pop the bag into the freezer. Boom. You have strawberries for smoothies - and they won't be sticking together.

After all these strawberries were processed how I wanted them, I still had 6 cups left for fresh eating.

After all, I believe 19 Lbs of strawberries was perfect!

Coffee Table Turned Ottoman

Last year when my husband and I moved, we went to Ikea and bought a bunch of furniture for our new apartment. Overtime I've noticed that the tops of our coffee table and other dressers are getting some scratches. We considered buying those glass tops to cover them. But then I had an idea - how about we turn our coffee table into an ottoman! We put our feet on it all the time anyways, but that sharp edge always digs into the back of our calves. A comfy ottoman would be awesome! I figured there had to be blogs online of how to do it - I couldn't possibly have been the first genius to think of this. I decided to Google search this: "how to turn Ikea coffee table into ottoman" - and boom, I found the perfect blog with picture directions!

So without further ado, here is how we did it. Yes, my hubby decided to help me, but I will not let him take credit for the idea to do this to our coffee table - that was all me. ;)

1. I went to JoAnn Fabrics (they are having a HUGE coupon promotion right now) and bought these items:

• Richloom Studio-Presidio Water Fabric: 2 Yards
• Originally 29.99 per yard, but on sale: $17.99/yd
• I decided to splurge on the fabric because A) It matches our living room theme/color exactly  B) We were upholstering a huge item in the living room for all to see C) I wanted it to last since we will always be putting our feet up on it.
• Heavy Duty Staple Gun & Staples:
• Staple Gun: $10.50 (50% off coupon)
• Staples: $2.30 (50% off coupon)
• Low-Loft Batting (This is where I stood in the store the longest, very unsure of which "loft" to get for this project.
• Batting: On Sale for $7.49
• 2" High Density Foam (2 squares)
• Foam: On Sale $6.99 each
• Other supplies: Utility Knife, Duct Tape, Scissors

Richloom Studio-Presidio Water Fabric

2. First, my husband measured and cut the foam with a utility knife to fit the table. I read somewhere online that spray adhesive doesn't work very well to get the foam to stick to the table. We used a few pieces of handy duct tape - and it worked great! It kept the foam from sliding as we put the batting on.

3. Next we laid the batting out on the floor - I had enough to fold it in half for a little extra loft on the ottoman. We flipped the table upside down onto the batting. At this point we realized we had to take the legs off the table - so we did. After the legs were off, we used the staple gun to staple the batting around the table, pulling it tight. There was quite a bit of extra batting on the underside of the table, so we used scissors to cut some off. Next we poked/cut holes in the batting so we could see where the legs would go for later on.

We were almost done stapling the batting on the table and we got a jam in the staple gun! A bad one! It took my husband over an hour to get the staples out of the staple gun. This was not a quick fix -he had to take the whole thing apart! We were finally able to proceed after his wonderful effort to fix it.

4. After the batting was securely fastened, we laid the ironed fabric on the floor. We used the staple gun to securely fasten it to the underside of the table as well - doing our best to make "clean corners" (I need to look more into this on our next project). I got really excited as the finished product started coming together. Next my husband cut holes in the fabric so we could screw the table legs back in - and as he did, the knife slipped and he cut his finger! (not "Emergency Room" bad)

After we bandaged his finger up, we screwed the legs back into the table (above).

And here it is - our first upholstery project ever!

Our next project is to cut the legs down a few inches for a
more comfortable level. But for now, it's just fine.

Crochet Collection

I learned how to crochet in November 2012. This post has a sample of some projects I have done since then. As time goes on, I will begin to share the patterns that I use. Stay Tuned! (many of these have been gifts, so some may look familiar :)). 

Both booty sets (Pink/Yellow Set and Grey/Yellow Set) are inspired by several different patterns.

Pink Hat is designed by Kate Alvis on Ravelry.com

The pink and gray booties are from Lion Brand's website, here.

The Big Flowers on the hats are from this website.

 I really wanted to make an infinity scarf. I found the pattern for the cowl on the right from this blog. I found it to be really tight, so I made one twice as long, with the same beautiful (back loop) half double crochet stitch (on the left). It is much more comfortable. I used Lion Brand Hometown USA super bulky yarn in Grand Rapids green. For the cowl on the right I used Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky in Wheat (a little scratchy). 

This is a hat with a brim pattern that I found on Red Heart's website. I wouldn't wear it in public, but it was a fun project, and fun to wear around home.

Above and below are some of my very first crochet projects. It is fun to look back and see how far I have come since I learned in November 2012.

Left: Double Crochet hat with pom pom. Top Right: Hat and Gloves (Lion Brand Pattern) set for my sister. Bottom Right: Chunky Scarf for my sister-in-law.

Hearty Breakfast Smoothie

In a Blender combine:

1 Cup Skim Milk
1/2 cup Lowfat Strawberry Yogurt
1/3 cup fresh pineapple
1/4 cup quick oats
3 ice cubes

293 Calories

Mini Veggie-Chicken Pot Pies

I just finished eating these for dinner, and I couldn't wait to put the recipe on here. This recipe is adapted from several different recipes I've found, and these are delish.

1 1/2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 bag of mixed frozen veggies
1/2 can cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 cups of pancake mix ("Just Add Water" kind)
1 1/2 cups of water
2 TBL Olive oil
Shredded Cheese
Rosemary
Parsley
Salt, Pepper
Seasoned Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350, and spray 12 cup muffin tin.
2. Season raw chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and seasoned salt. Bake in oven on 350 degrees for 1 hour.
3. Shred the cooked chicken breast. Put chicken in a skillet with 2 TBL olive oil, the frozen mixed veggies, a dash of water, and the cream of chicken soup. Heat on med-hi until veggies are cooked through.
4. In a small bowl, mix pancake mix with water, stir. Add in parsley and rosemary to season.
5. Pour a spoonful of batter into each cup (2 or 3 TBL). Pour 1/4 cup of chicken/veggie mix into each cup. 6. Pour another large spoonful of batter over each cup in the pan. Sprinkle with cheese.
7. Bake on 350 for 25 min.

Adapted from:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/Tips/TipsLibrary/Cooking-Tips/Create-Your-Own-Signature-Mini-Pie and 
Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Complete Mix Box Pot Pie recipe