Fake Zuppa Toscana Recipe

My husband loves the potato, kale and sausage soup they have at Olive Garden.  And, if you hadn't noticed already I think I am becoming obsessed with soup.  So, I hunted out a recipe and this one works!  It serves about a dozen people though and I have made a few modifications because I felt it came out too thick.   I think this could actually serve about 17 people now. I hope you enjoy.

Fake Zuppa Toscana Soup

Serves: 12

Time: 35 minutes

 Ingredients:

2 Bunches of Kale or 1 large bunch

12 Whole Red potatoes thinly sliced

1Whole onion (I ground mine to a pulp)

1 1/2 Lb of Italian sweet Sausage (you could go spicy too)

1/2 t Red Pepper flakes (you may want to use less if using spicy sausage or not)

4 C Low Sodium Chicken Broth

2 C Whole Milk
Or

4 C Half & Half
Or

1/2 C Heavy Cream

Fresh or dried Oregano to taste

Black Pepper to taste 

Need: 

 stock pot

sauté pan

ladle

spatula or spoon

food processor or just a chopping knife.

Let's get cooking.

First prep the Kale by washing it and tearing the leaves away from the stalk and ripping the Kale leaves into bite sized pieces. Put aside.

  Now prep the potatoes by washing them and slicing them with the skin on into thin 2 cm sheets.  Then boil until tender not mushy drain and set aside.

 Chop up the onion into small pieces.  My family prefers the taste of onion but no evidence of onion so I pulverized them in the food processor.

Take the sausage out of it's casing and cook until gray brown while continuing to break it into pieces.  Drain the sausage and then take the sausage and chopped it in the food processor until they were more pea sized to thumb sized bites.  You could also try cooking it in bite sized pieces by I found that hard to do.

Cook for two minutes the remainder of sausage and the ground onion in the sausage pan at medium heat.

Stir together in a stock pot the sausage, red pepper flakes, oregano, chicken broth, milk, and half & half and let simmer for 30 min or less. You just want to thicken up the liquid a little and bring together the ingredients.

 Add the potatoes and check the consistency and add more chicken broth or heavy cream if it is too thick for your liking or too thin.  Mix in the Kale last and simmer for another 10 or more minutes until the Kale is incorporated and slightly softened.  

Time to eat! 

You have a ton here so you could either have up to 12 serving of this or you could put some in the freezer for later.

Thanks so much for reading and keep on crafting kiddos.

October Book of the Month

Not ready for Halloween?  This is a great tutorial book for your Kindle and it is Free!

 **May not be free at time of download, please make sure before uploading.**

Easy Halloween Costumes (Instructables Halloween)

Click the above image to download this book. 

There are 20 quick, simple Halloween costumes in this book. With a few skills, tape and scissors you can make a really interesting costume for Halloween.

Enjoy and hope to see you again soon. 

Spray Paint Cell Phone Case

 

Take an ordinary cell phone case some spray paint and then some clear gloss acrylic spray paint to create a slick new cell phone case.

First get a hard shell cell case.  This is actually a flip cover case which I found will not hold the spray paint along the seam... *suggestion, only use hard plastic.*

 

1.Scuff up the surface with steel wool, or sandpaper.

2.Wipe down with a damp cloth and then let dry.

3.Spray down with spray paint of your choice... not to close, in a very well ventilated area. 

4.Let it dry then spray down once more.

5.Once that is dry spray a clear coat to help keep any metallic sheen and also seal the paint in.

 

Enjoy the possibilities and as you get bored re-do the steps using a different color.

In this example the phone is red so we decided to go 49Niner's theme with gold and red.

 

Thanks for coming by and keep on crafting. 

Epic Fail Shrinking Chip Bag

I used to shrink chip bags in elementary school.  It was a fun and useless  craft so, of course, I loved it.  What better time than now to try this technique again?  It was a miniscule failure.  *har-har-har* 

Unfortunately, I did everything wrong.  I put the chip bag in the oven leaving chip oil in the bag. I placed the bag a top a sheet of alluminum foil instead of a cookie sheet, and I used a low temperature setting for a long time instead of the broil setting for a shorter time.

Apparently the rules are 1. To clean out the bag really good because the oils and residue can cause bubbling.

Should be set to broil.

2. Put the bag on top of a cookie sheet, folded inside of parchment paper and sandwiched between another cookie sheet.  Remove any upper racks for the best exposure to direct heat. (not on foil like me)

3. Then cook the bag on broil until it has shrunk with the oven door open and ventilation going to protect from the fumes.  Beware of fire and close the oven quickly in case of fire.  This never happened to me as a kid and I always did this with the oven door closed so... idunno.

Another test kitchen idea here.

Can you see the bubbles and the weird points along the sides were the bag stuck to the foil?  Yeah, me too! Bleh!!

Done... sort of. :(

    I have also read that there is an option of doing this through the microwave but I would rather not risk the integrity of my precious microwave for a useless shrunken chip bag.  

Good luck to everyone who tries this, if anything at least it is something to do and who knows, you just might find a need for a shrunken chip back in your future crafts.

Don't forget to follow me and thanks so much kiddies for checking in.

My Birthday

Today is my birthday and I am so happy!  Suprisingly enough I thought I was going to have an awful birthday but the day started out just fine.  I had pleanty of time before having to be at work so my husband took me to get a coffee.  Then I show up to work and as usually my desk is decked out in streamers, confetti and ballons in really jazzy colors.  Loved it!  Just as I was about to walk my lunch over to the kitchen I was blocked by my co-worker with a handmade greeting card and a lovely message inside.

I was then asked to come to the front desk and waiting for me was a large bouquet of flowers from my husband!  Yeah! 

Tonight I will be going to Olive Garden with my family and Thursday I hope to eat out with some friends at Taj Palace an Indian Cuisine down the road for lunch.  It's turning out to be a great birthday.  Don't think I forgot my freebies... I already redeemed my free burger at Red Robin, I'm getting my free drink at Starbucks today, and I will be going to both Coldstone's and Baskin Robbins for my free scoop too.  Love my birthday and everything that comes with it.

Once again sending this through my phone so I hope it comes through ok.

Aladdin clay figures

I got back to my clay.

 

  I am currently trying to do Aladdin figures.  Up close you can see all of my finger prints but I have quite perfected my finger print smooth down and I definitely don't have any polishing paper but so far I really like the looks of these.  I would like to re-do Genie and Aladdin.  Aladdin's pants look more like a big diaper and Genie's hair broke off and he was made with a really mushy clay so my prints are more apparent and he is a bit mushy looking.  But, over all I was very happy with the directing of these and plan on painting in the faces on them and then glazes to see them finished.

Thanks for coming by and don't forget to follow me on Google +, Pinterest, or just by email.

 

 See you all Wednesday night.

Book cover debacle

I do book covers sometimes and I am often times told what the covers should look like.  I really like the ideas but can't always produce what is suggested.  This time I am trying it a different way first.  Here is my finished trial on top and below are my attempts at something a bit more complicated.

 Enjoy.

If you look into my eyes you will see more.

PS. I updated the eyes later to something a little less dramatic.

Maybe I will still do something like this with a flaming house in the background.

Don't mind the spelling... :(

I plan to have something a little less disconnected so this is were I stopped and started on a full face  image.

Thanks for checking in.  Hope to see you Sunday for something new.

Do you like her Eyes?

Let me know below...

Sick and tired

Finished these blankets last night for the triplets fourth birthday but, then my husband had to take the car and I got a massive headache.  Me and the blankets stayed home nursing my head and wishing I had junk food to comfort me.

Thanks for coming by and I'm sorry I have nothing new today.  

By the by, I posted this off my phone because I barely moved today.  I really have know idea how to use the app for blogger yet.

Also I finally started to take pictures with my phone and this piece below is no bigger than a nickle and it's pretty darn crisp.  Very happy with that.

No-Sew Loop-Tie Blanket

Tie-Loop Blanket DIY

Have you seen those tie blankets and gone, oh, that looks easy but I wish it was a little fancier?  Well, I have found it!  After seeing these blankets at work I decided to try for myself.  Now you can too.

Materials:

2x1 yards of fleece or more depending on how big you wanted it
(I used 2 yards per piece of fabric, that's 4 yards total)
Scissors and optional a rolling blade
Ruler

That’s it! Literally all you will need!
Now, onto the steps… Hooooo!

1. Even out the trim on the fabric by cutting off the machine sides.  (like the white trim and it’s opposing sides)

2. Then layer both pieces of fabric with the back sides facing each other.

3. Trim sides again if necessary to make them match up.  (I have not yet found an easier way of doing this than a foot at a time trying to keep the fabric flat as I go)

4. Now it is time to cut squares from each corner of the pieces of fabric.  I did 4” squares.  This is necessary otherwise you have weird triangles to figure out what to do with.

5. Leveling time.  Make sure you have a straight line to cut along or your blanket can turn out a little wonky.  I safety pinned every 24” to help keep my ruler straight.

6. After you level off than you can cut 2” wide strips down the sides of the blanket.  I preferred to do a side at a time.

7. After you have cut the strips you will need to cut in a hole at the seam of the blanket and the strip.  Right in the middle of the seam cut a small hole no bigger than a pea.  It is a good idea to cut along the seam and not down the strip.  I found that cutting down the strip causes a large gaping hole after you pass the strip through it.

8. Now that all the holes have been cut into the seams of each streamer you can flip the end of the strip into the hole and out the other end leaving a chevron and a tassel.

9. When you have repeated this step 3 more times you will have a finished blanket! 

 I have been assured that this will not unravel in the wash.

I’m off to make 3 more (this one was my tester) because I have triplet’s birthday party to attend this weekend.

Thanks for reading and keep on crafting and DIY-in kiddies.

Don’t forget to follow me through Blogger, Google + or Pinterest.

QUICK AND EASY CHICKEN POZOLE

Quick and Easy Chicken Pozole
(crockpot easy)

-Sabrina Castañeda

Recipe feeds 4-6

Ingredients:

3 Garlic cloves

1/2-1 small Onion (3 T chopped onion)
1 t Canola Oil
1 1/4 lbs Skinless boneless chicken (thighs are best)
10 oz can of Red chili sauce
1/2 t Oregano
2 c Chicken broth
15 oz Hominy (rinsed and drained)
1/2 T of Cumin
Garnish- Cabbage, onion, lime, chili pepper flakes, and radish.

 1. Crush the garlic, and cook with the oil and onions until a few of the onions are slightly transparent.  No need to cook through because they will be cooked more with the chicken and stock.

2.  Take your chicken stock, (I just used chicken bouillon) chicken in  bite sized pieces, garlic, Cumin, red chili sauce and onion and put into a stock pot. boil  on med-high until chicken is fully cooked. (may take about 15 minutes) **I used chicken thigh on the bone with the skin on, cooked almost all the way through than I removed the skin and cut most of the chicken away from the bone. (This isn't easier but I like the way chicken thigh tastes and it was on sale, plus my husband claims the bone adds more flavor.)
 

**You can also do this recipe in a crockpot on low for 8 hours, finishing the last 30 minutes off with the hominy and oregano.**

3. Now add rinsed Hominy, Oregano and let it simmer for a few minutes and you are DONE! 

I like to eat this soup with lime juice squeezed over the top, cabbage, and chopped radish.  Enjoy.
 

This has been the best recipe that both my husband and my family like.  I don't have to work on it for more than 30 minutes from prep to finish.  I love this recipe and I wanted to thank Sabrina Castañeda for it.

 

Hope you enjoyed reading and catch you crafting kiddies later.

Don't forget to follow my posts through blogger, Pinterest, or even just through email.

Photo Editing Apps

Do you want the best postable, pin-able, or just cool looking photos but don't have the best camera, or the money (or in my case time to learn how to use) for Photo Shop?  Then maybe for you an app will do.  Personally I have an iPad which really helps for photo editing because the image is nice and big I can travel and edit and I have a couple of my favorite apps.

One is InstaCollage which helps me get all those great title photos and with the help of Frame Artist I can make some of the best photo booth tutorials.  I recently used the free versions of these but the Frame Artist was limited to only 5 downloads free and the InstaCollage would change font choices and the frames were starting to wear thin.  So, I checked on the prices and InstaCollage is currently $.99 in the App Store and Frame Artist (which can kinda do both jobs) is $1.99.  Take a look and see what you think. 



Anywho, here are the names of the apps and some pictures I edited using it, including the originals.



Post editing.

 

Final edit with InstaCollage.

  

Drawings done by Brushes and then edited using InstaCollege and pasted together into one image using Frame Artist.

 

Thanks for reading and keep on crafting kiddies.