I'm still here...promise!

Ah!  It's been over a month!!!  What's wrong with me?!?!  I'm going to whip my butt into shape - I promise!  I'm coming off Spring Break - depressed that I have to set my alarm for tomorrow.  Depressed that I have a bag full of school work that I didn't touch, which equates to a crazy week ahead of me. I got a lot of stuff accomplished over the break (non school related) and was even able to do stuff for fun and relaxation purposes!  Woo-Hoo! I'm going to come back later on this week and fill you in - for those of you who still come around, despite the fact that you've been hearing crickets in these parts.
Six. That's the number of weeks I have left in school.  Forty-Two. That's how many days there are until I start to feel somewhat normal again.  It's been a rough year - one that goes down in the books for symbolizing the old saying: "if it doesn't kill you, it'll only make you stronger"...my mom is reading this and smiling - that's a saying that frequents her lips.  Whelp friends, I'm not dead, so I must be stronger.
I'll share more thoughts, projects, ideas, inspirations, recipes, the whole-nine, soon...cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.  Ouch!  That'd hurt - see, I'm coming back so you don't have to do it!
Peace out.

Mmmmm! Minestrone

Sometime ago I told you that Stephen could eat his weight in soup.  He loves it. period. end of sentence.  It could be a 99 degree, muggy August day and Stephen would have no problem slurping down a big 'ol bowl of soup.  Needless to say, we're a bit different in that department, although I do love a good, warm soup to warm my bones on a cold, winter day.  Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we haven't had much of a winter here.  It's February 29th and the low today was 48 with a high of 72...seriously.  Good thing I made this soup on Sunday (when it was probably about 10 degrees colder) - oh well, I still loved it!

I found this recipe on Allrecipes, and you can find it here.  I made small alterations to it that I will explain below.

 Cast of Characters:

*3T Olive Oil

*3 cloves of garlic, chopped

*2 onions, chopped

*2C chopped celery

*5 carrots, sliced

*2C of chicken broth

*2C of water

*4C of tomato sauce

*1/2C red wine (optional)

*1 can 15oz kidney beans, drained and rinsed

*1 can 15oz green beans

*2C baby spinach, rinsed

*3 zucchinis, quartered and sliced

*1T chopped fresh oregano (I used 1/3T of dried)

*2T chopped fresh basil (I used 2/3T of dried)

*Salt and pepper to taste

*1 lb of pasta (I like the small tubular pasta - my favorite for this recipe: ditalini)

*Parmesan cheese for garnishing

*If you'd like to add meat, I made this recipe the first time by adding 1/4lb of pancetta (I got mine in the deli)

Before I get started, I like to chop up everything so it's ready (zucchini on the left, carrots and celery in the middle, onions on the right)

Chopped garlic cloves, ready to be used

Then I get going...

Stage Directions:

*In a large pot, over medium heat, heat olive oil and saute garlic for 2-3 minutes.  Add onion and saute for 4-5 minutes (or until translucent).  If using pancetta, add it to your pot here.  Add celery and carrots, saute for 1-2 minutes.

*Add chicken broth, water and tomato sauce, bring to boil, stirring frequently; add red wine.  Reduce heat to low and add kidney beans, green beans, spinach, zucchini, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.  Simmer for 30-40 minutes, the longer the better.

 (pre zucchini, spinach, and beans)

*Cook your pasta according to the package.  We like pasta in our house so we cook a lot!

*Put pasta in the bottom of your bowl and add the minestrone to the top.  Garnish with parmesan and/or Romano for an extra umph! :)

Who knows what happened when I uploaded my pictures onto the computer - they got a little bit cut up, but it did not effect the taste of this yummy soup! ;)

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I'm hanging out over with Mel at The Larson Lingo, checking out all the yummy soup recipes at her Soup's On Party!

Hand Painted Nursery Signs

I suffer from the I-Can-Make-That Syndrome.  I'm sure a lot of you suffer from the same thing.  It's a blessing and a curse.  I'll be out and about, see something that I really like, see the price tag and think to myself, "I can make that!" It's almost like a challenge against myself (yeah, I know, I'm cool!) to see how well I can make what I've found in the store.  A couple of years ago, I was acquainting myself with Etsy and I found myself drooling over these hand painted nursery signs.  They burned a mental image in my mind and I knew that I had to try my hand at them!  I had a few successes (here and here) with hand painting signs and then a big success with hand painting a sign for my nephew last summer (here).  However, these methods just took too long, and I wanted to try my hand at using my Silhouette to paint.  So, as soon as my dear friend Amanda found out she was pregnant, and my sister-in-law found out she was pregnant, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for them....

Here are my supplies: a $4 board from Hobby Lobby (sanded and wiped down), push pins from my desk drawer, a can of Krylon satin white spray paint, 3 different colors of acrylic paint, and a spool of decorative and coordinating ribbon (wired ribbon works best).

I first stuck the push pins in the bottom of the board so that it is easier to spray paint.

Next, I spray painted it until I was happy with it.

Using my silhouette, I cut out my niece's monogram and attached it to my painted sign to be used as a stencil.  

Then I took my deeper shade of purple and painted the monogram.  I waited for it to dry and then peeled it off.

I then started painting the birth stats (lighter purple).  I made sure I had a small paintbrush (that's the key!) and painted the middle name first (to be sure it was centered).  After I painted her name, I thought that green polka-dots would be great along the edges (I was making this up as I went).

Along the bottom, I added the birth stats.

And then hand painted a flower that was on my sister-in-law's baby shower invitations.  Lastly (with paint) I filled it in with polka-dots.

When I was finished, I spray painted the sign with a spray paint Lacquer by Rust-oleum.  I did this for 2 reasons: to protect that acrylic paint, and also to add shine to the sign.

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After it dried, I used a staple gun to attach the ribbon to the back of it so that it could be hung on the wall.  

Ta-Da!  I'm done!

It was a wonderful Christmas present for my sweet niece, Sophia!

After I made that one, I got right on the sign for my sweet friend, Amanda and I followed the same steps.  Here are the results:

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If you're interested in a great, personalized gift for a new mom, I highly recommend doing this!  If you're not suffering from I-Can-Make-That syndrome and would like to give a new mom this gift, email me!  I'm taking orders!

I'm partying here this week

Craving Pizza?

Last month, Stephen and I had Stephen's sister and her husband over for dinner and a game of Settlers of Cataan.  In an effort to please all people involved, and to spice things up, I decided that we would all be making our own personal panned pizzas.  I had a great "Chicago-Style Pepperoni Pan Pizza" recipe from The Cook's Country Cookbook that I had made back in the Spring for my Chicago Small Group  that turned out to be quite a hit.  The only problem with it was that the pizzas it made were only 9" (and they weren't intended to be personal pan pizzas) - not that big.  The more I thought about it, the better that was - with a smaller pizza, we could all make our own and have a pizza exactly the way we wanted it!  Here are pictures to show the progress; recipe to follow:

My pizza toppings: sauce (recipe to follow); mozzarella; mushrooms; green pepper; onion; Italian sausage; pepperoni

The dough before it started to rise

Cutting up the toppings to prepare for the dressing of the pizzas

Dividing the dough among 4 8" cake pans - be sure you rub them down with olive oil first

Once you've divided the dough, push and pull it to cover the entire bottom of the cake pan

Assign everyone their own pan and allow them to make their pizzas to their liking and then bake in the oven

Enjoy! - YUM!!!

Ingredients for dough:

(To make an 8" pizza for 4 people, I doubled these recipes)

*1/2C olive oil *3/4C plus 2T skim milk heated to 110 degrees *2t sugar *2 1/3C all-purpose flour, plus extra for the work surface *1 envelope rapid-rise or instant yeast *1/2t salt

What to do:

*Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position and heat the oven to 200 degrees.  When it reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Lightly grease a large bowl and coat two 9-in cake pans with 3T of the oil (I used 8").

*Mix the milk, sugar, and remaining 2t oil in a measuring cup.

*Mix the floud, yeast, and salt using a standing mixer and a dough hook. Turn the machine to low and slowly add the milk mixture. After the dough comes together, increase the speed to medium-low and mix until the dough is shiny and smooth, about 5 minutes.

*Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, shape into a ball, and place in the greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the warm oven until doubled in size (30 minutes).

*Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, divide in half, and roll each half into a ball.  Take 1 ball of dough at a time and spread it across the bottom of your cake pan.  Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot (not the oven) until puffy and slightly risen, about 20 minutes (oops!  I forgot to do this - still tasty!).  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

*When the dough is ready, cover it with your favorite toppings and then put it in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the dough is browning around the edges.

*Enjoy!!!

Simple Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

*1T olive oil *2 garlic cloves, minced *1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes *Salt and pepper

What to do:

Cook the oil and garlic in a medium saucepan over low heat until fragrant (2 minutes). Add the tomatoes, increase the heat to medium and cook until slightly thickened, 10-15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  

I promise, this is sure to please!  Who doesn't like to be able to make their own, tasty personal pan pizza?!  It sent me right back to elementary school and collecting book-its to take to Pizza-Hut!  I hope you love it as much as we do!