Savory Tomato Soup

If you are a fan of tomato soup, then boy do I have a treat for you!  I love tomato soup but it often leaves me feeling unsatisfied and hungry.  My version adds onion and pasta shells to give it a little more heartiness and act as a meal.

A case of the cold virus is violently sweeping through our house.  This is my favorite soup to make when I am under the weather.  My second favorite is a good old homemade chicken and rice soup, which I will provide that recipe in a separate blog.  Back to the tomato soup....

To make this you will need:

1/2 white onion
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 16 oz can of tomato sauce
1 cup of small pasta (I used small shells for this one, but any small pasta will suffice)
Salt and pepper to taste


Chop the white onion.  In a large stock pot, saute the chopped onions in the vegetable oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, until soft.
Add the tomato sauce and two equal portions of water, bring to a boil.
Add pasta to the boiling sauce and reduce heat to medium for 5 - 10 minutes, or until the pasta is almost cooked throughout.
Reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes.  Add some fresh ground pepper and serve!

This is such a budget friendly and easy meal.  I like to whip up a batch of cornbread to compliment the soup and serve on a cold day!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

To follow up on my Homemade Meatball post, I am dishing out my family recipe for Spaghetti Sauce.

Sauce

- Saute in a little butter and olive oil:

1 white onion, chopped (preferrably in food processor)
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
8 oz. white mushrooms, finely chopped
1 zucchini, finely chopped

- Add:

1 lb. Ground Round (85%) - browned and drained separately
3 links Hot Italian Sausage - casing removed, browned and drained separately

Add:

2 - 28 oz. cans Crushed Tomatoes - (start with one can and if you want it saucier, add another - or use 2 of these and one tomato sauce)
2 - 28 oz. cans Tomato Sauce
1 - 15 oz. can Petite Diced Tomatoes - not drained
1/4 C. Red Wine
Dash of Cayenne Pepper - no more than 1/4 Tbs
Dash of Dried Oregano (or fresh) - i use approximately 1/2 to 1 Tbs
Black Pepper - same with oregano

Stir and Bring to a Boil, then simmer for a few hours

Add:

1 Bunch Fresh Italian Parsley, chopped - fresh parsley really makes the sauce - dried will work, but I don't recommend it.
1 Package of Dried Porcine Mushrooms, soaked in 1 1/2 Cups of hot water for about 30 minutes 
Remove mushrooms after softened and chop. Add Mushrooms and Mushroom Broth to sauce (note: i have made it with and without these...it's hands down better with them.  However, sometimes they don't fit into my shopping budget and I make without.  The sauce is still good without.)
Fresh Garlic, chopped - I use 1-2 Tbs...I LOVE garlic.  Use enough for your own preference.

Simmer for another hour

Jalapeno, Cream Cheese & Shrimp Appetizers

Every leading lady knows that the way to her man's heart is through his tummy.  My man loves all things spicy, cheesy and shrimpy.  I have made him many meals with these combinations, but the other day I wanted to use up a few ingredients in my fridge before they went bad, and they weren't enough for a full meal so I created an appetizer.  The Jalapeno Popper with a shrimp twist.

I started by mixing a softened package of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of shredded Mexican blend cheese, 1 finely chopped jalapeno, and a few precooked cocktail shrimp that I seasoned with Emeril Lagasse's "essence spice mix."

Then I took a package of Nasoya egg roll wraps, and cut in half, leaving me with two long rectangular pieces.  I then placed a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture and a couple of the seasoned shrimp onto the end of one of the wrappers, leaving enough room for me to fold the other half over and seal together.

To seal the wrapper, take your clean finger, or a brush and dip into water.  Run it along all the edges of the wrapper and press together until sealed.  Once sealed, drop the popper into a deep fryer or a frying pan filled with vegetable oil (or for a healthier choice, place in the oven at 350 degrees).

Once cooked, set aside to cool, and enjoy!

I would recommend using a deep fryer when frying these.  I use my Cuisinart, and love it.  There are other great brands too!

  

Crocheted Bobble Baby Blanket

I have never crocheted a blanket.  I know, it is hard to believe because most beginning crocheters start with a scarf or blanket due to the repetitive stitch pattern that is easy to follow.  But not me.  I learned how to crochet and went for the hard stuff right out of the gate.  Now, needing to make a gift for a baby shower, I decided I wanted a soft blanket, but not anything that looked like the standard "granny afghan".  So I played with a few stitches and came up with this:

This was such a simple stitch pattern, but took a lot of time.  I would estimate that it took me close to 15 hours to put this together.  It measures approximately 19in x 32in.  It isn't a large baby blanket, but I think it is perfect size to put over the baby in the car seat, or even to use as a diaper mat.  It is perfect size to roll up into a diaper bag :-)

Here is the pattern:

Yarn:  Caron Simply Soft in Heather Grey and Amber Red

Hook: Size 9 / I / 5.5mm

Begin by chaining 95, turn.  Sc in the second ch from the hook, triple crochet in the next. * Sc in the next, triple crochet in the next*.  Repeat from * to * to the end of the 95 chains.  Once you reach the end, ch1 and turn.  Repeat this pattern until you have reached your desired size.  

I added a single crochet border.  I used 4 rounds of single crochet stitches.  For the corners, sc 3 in each corner stitch to create a "corner" effect.

  Enjoy your new blanket!  I am sure this can be expanded to a large blanket by beginning the blanket with a longer ch string.  You might try ch 160, instead of 95.  

Crocheted Valentine's Headband

With Valentine's day right around the corner, I wanted to make something that was quick, easy and versatile since I am always short on time and love to create things that have multi-purpose.  I whipped up this headband in about 30 minutes and quickly realized that it could be used in so many other ways.  But this is a picture of my sweet 4 month old modeling it as a headband.

 

First things first, the pattern.  I wish that I could call this my own, but I found it here from Posh Pooch Designs.  I followed the pattern on the hearts, but instead of slip stitching the hearts together, I used a needle and threaded them together with all the loose ends.  This made more sense to me, as I needed to weave in my ends anyhow.

Once I had all my hearts sewn together, my next step was to ch 25 (twice, one for each end of the headband), and then slip stitch them into the last heart on each side, and weave in all loose ends.  This creates the ties that you will tie together to secure the headband.

I realized that the pattern was originally intended to be a dog collar, so I created a matching one for our sweet pup:

Then I realized that this can be purposed into a nice Valentine's Day garland as well, thanks to a suggestion from one of my amazing friends.  So now, I am working on increasing the size of the hearts to make a larger garland version of this cute creation.

Happy crocheting friends ~ Sara

Homemade Meatballs

I am pretty proud of my Italian heritage.  Both of my great grandparents were born in Italy and my family has handed down recipes through the generations.  This recipe is one of my husband's favorite.  It can be used with Spaghetti or on a sub as a meatball sandwich.  Heck, I even eat them by themselves for a healthy, carb-friendly dinner.

Here is my before picture:

These are the items you will need:

- 1 lb ground beef (85%)

- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

- 3-4 garlic cloves, or 2 Tablespoons of the minced garlic

- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder

- 2 teaspoons dried Italian Seasoning

-3/4 cup Bread Crumbs

- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

- 1 egg beaten

Mix all ingredients into a large bowl.  Form into 1-2 inch balls and place on a greased baking dish, such as a 9x11 Pyrex dish.  Cook at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until cooked throughout.

I like to plop these into my spaghetti sauce and then pour it all over my noodles:

Enjoy your meatballs!!!

Cat in the Hat Crochet Pattern

The other day, my sister-in-law requested that I make a "Cat in the Hat" themed baby shower gift.  I was up for the challenge and here is what I came up with.

The hat is a newborn size, and I will be giving the pattern here for free.  I will be working on the pattern for larger sizes and will update here, once I have them tested.  The diaper cover pattern comes from Repeat Crafter Me and was super easy to follow.  

Hat - Newborn Size:

Yarn: I used I Love this Yarn - Soft in red and white.

Hook Size: H (5.0mm)

Begin by creating a magic ring with the red yarn, Ch2 (ch 2 counts as the 1st dc here and throughout).

R1:  work 8 dc into the ring and attach with a slip stitch to the 1st dc.  (8)

R2:  Ch2, dc in the same sp as the ch2, 2 dc in the remaining, join to the 1st dc with a slip st (16)

R3:  Ch2, dc in the same sp as the ch2, *dc in the next, 2 dc in the next.*  Repeat from * to.* Join to the 1st dc with a slip st  (24)

R4:  Ch2,  dc in the same sp as the ch2, dc in the next 2, 2 dc in the next.* Join to the 1st dc with a slip st (32)

R5:  Ch2,  dc in the same sp as the ch2, dc in the next 7, 2 dc in the next.* Join to the 1st dc with a slip st (36)

R6: Ch2, working in the back loop only dc in the next and all remaining (36)

R7:  Ch2, dc in the next and all remaining (36)

Tie off and Switch to white yarn:

R8-9:  Ch2, dc in the next and all remaining (36) 

Tie off and Switch to red yarn:
R10-11:   Ch2, dc in the next and all remaining (36)

Tie off and Switch to white yarn:

R12-13:  Ch2, dc in the next and all remaining (36) 

Tie off and Switch to red yarn:
R14-15:   Ch2, dc in the next and all remaining (36)
Tie off and Switch to white yarn:

To make the Brim:

R16: Ch2, dc in same sp as Ch2, *dc in the next, 2 dc in the next.* Repeat from * to.* Join to the 1st dc with a slip st  (54)

R17:  Ch 2, hdc in the same sp as the ch2, hdc in the next 2, 2 hdc in the next.* Join to the 1st hdc with a slip st (72)

Brim should begin to fold up on its own.  Let the center of the hat fall down into the hat.  This will allow the hat to stand up firmer.  (The crown of the hat shouldn't fit like a normal beanie)

Happy crocheting ~ Sara