Hearty Summer Soup

Hearty Summer Soup

Just because it's summer doesn't mean you have to skip out on a yummy bowl of soup. Especially when it is packed with fresh vegetables. This soup is hearty, delicious and satisfying. AND, a great way to use up some of those garden veggies!

Hearty Summer Soup

2 - 2 1/2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 Russet potatoe, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped large
6 - 8 cups of Chicken Stock
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup mini farfalle or your favorite pasta
Kosher salt and pepper
Freshly grated parmesan cheese
Fresh parsley

Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add onions and saute. Add chopped carrots, celery and potatoe. Add a large pinch of salt. Saute for 10 - 15 minutes to soften. Add minced garlic. Add zucchini and squash and saute for about 5 more minutes. Add another pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Once all the veggies are softened, add chicken stock to cover all of the vegetables by about a 1/2 an inch. Stir in diced tomatoes and pasta and cover with a lid until veggies cook through all the way and pasta is cooked.
Dish up and add freshly grated parmesan cheese and fresh parsley on top. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Scones... Thursday Cooking Day

Chocolate Chip Peppermint Scones...
Thursday Cooking Day!

Thursday's are our official cooking day for the summer. We had so much fun today spending time together in the kitchen. My little girl chose the recipe for today which came out of the "Pink Princess Cookbook" ... of course.
These scones were perfect for my little people to help make and they loved using different shaped cookie cutters. Plate these up with a big glass of milk, OR if you are in the mood, you could have a big hot cup of cocoa like my son did. It was just way to tempting for him. Luckily, we had a massive hail and rain storm right while we were enjoying our snack, so it seemed very appropriate. Try having a cooking day with your children... I promise it is time well spent!




Chocolate Chip Peppermint Scones


1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. whipping cream
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies
Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until well combined. Add chocolate chips and toss to coat. Pour 1 cup whipping cream into mixture, stirring just until ingredients are moistened. Turn mixture onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently until soft dough forms (about 2 minutes). Pat dough out to about 1" thick. Cut into shapes.
Place scones 1 inch apart on foil-lined baking sheet. Brush each scone with the remaining 2 tbsp. whpping cream and sprinkle with crushed peppermint candies.
Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until very lightly browned. Serve warm and dusted with powdered sugar.

Yields 12 scones

Steamed Vegetable Medley

Steamed Vegetable Medley

When I was a young girl, my mom would make this with a variety of veggies. I loved it and still do! I needed a side dish for dinner and had several zucchini's that needed to be used, so I came up with my own combo. It was the perfect addition and was so good that it almost became the main dish!


Steamed Vegetable Medley

1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
4 medium zucchini's, sliced
A large handful of Cherub tomatoes, whole
Mozzeralla Cheese
Salt and pepper to taste.

Melt butter and oil in pan on medium heat. Add onion and saute until it starts to caramelize. Add zucchini and tomatoes, salt and pepper. Add about 1/2 cup water and put lid on to steam. After veggies are cooked, top with a handful of mozzerella cheese and replace lid. Turn heat off and let sit for a few minutes to let the cheese melt and get oooey gooey. Delicious!

Cute Baby Burp Cloths

I just love these baby burp cloths. They are not only practical, but they are CUTE! I don't know a single mother who could have too many of these.

I was just invited to attend a baby shower for my new neighbors daughter. I thought this would make a great gift ...

Buy a pack of burp clothes. I like the kind that has padding in the center.

Choose your fabric. This is fun! You can get really creative here. Themes, Colors, Holiday ...

Cut strips of fabric into 15" x 3" (the sizes can vary depending on how thick you want the end product).

Cut all fabric the same size.

After all of your fabric is cut into strips, then comes the ironing. This is the longest part of the whole process. First, iron the ends in to fit the width of your burp cloth. Approx 1/2" - 3/4". Then iron the long part of your fabric about 1/4" in on both sides. Lastly, fold in half evenly and iron. This should make your strip of fabric fit perfectly on your burp cloth.

Phew! All ironed.

Put your burp cloth inside your strip so that the strip is equal on both sides and pin down. Sew across. You can use a zig zig if you'd like. I just used a straight stitch. Do this on each end of the burp cloth.

I just couldn't resist this cute little puppy.

Wha La! Give this a whirl, your expecting Mom's will love them!

Kitchen Island Make-Over - Project #1

Kitchen Island Make-Over - House Project #1

We just bought a new home :) and we are slowly starting to up-date portions of it. We started in the kitchen. The kitchen was all light maple with brass hardware. First we changed out all of the hardware to a dark venetian bronze. We love it and that alone made a big difference. The island in the kitchen is large and has a beautiful piece of granite, however, with all of the light wood, the granite basically disappeared. We thought it would be fun to paint the island black for a little contrast with the cabinets and help the granite POP out. It worked. Before we started, we added some molding around the bottom and on the sides to add texture and depth. It made a big difference in the over all look of the island. We removed all of the gloss with a deglosser and painted the cabinets with Behr Premium Plus. Here is our new look. What do you think?
We still have more to do in the kitchen: paint, add new appliances and hang a chandelier, but I think we are off to a great start!

Hootenanny Pancakes - A Real Kid/Crowd Pleaser

Hootenanny Pancake

I love this recipe! It takes me back to my childhood when on special occasions, my mom would make this for us. It was always so exciting to see the pancake puff up in the oven... and there were always dibs on the corner pieces with all the yummy, buttery crusts. Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as this is one of my children's favorite breakfast now. Anytime we have a birthday or holiday, a Hootenanny Pancake is what they want to wake up to.

Hootenanny Pancake

In blender, beat

10 eggs

1 C. milk

1/4 tsp. salt

Whip about 9 - 10 minutes

While the egg mixture is blending, place 1/2 cube butter in a 9x13 inch baking dish in a 425 degree oven until the butter bubbles and sputters up.

After waiting about 10 minutes for the egg mixture, gradually add 1 1/2 cup flour and continue to beat another 3 -4 minutes.

Pour the batter into the butter. Bake 25 minutes at 425 degrees. Remove and serve! The outside edges will rise up like a large souffle. Use syrup, jam or your favorite fruit topping and enjoy!

Penne with Creamy Roasted Vegetable Sauce and Bacon

Penne with Creamy Roasted Vegetable Sauce and Bacon

I always look forward to lighting up the grill when summer hits. I love being outside with my family and I love the smokey flavor the grill adds to the food. However, by the end of summer, if I see one more grilled burger, hot dog or vegetable, I (almost) want to turn away, run in the house and grab a good ol fashion bowl of cereal. So, recently, when we had a ton of grilled veggies left over in the fridge, I had to think of something different to do with them so they wouldn't go to waste. My children were NOT about to eat re-heated veggies ... and frankly neither was I. So, I came up with this recipe. Not only did we not waste a drop of the veggies, we inhaled them and wished for more. Actually, my children had NO idea what they were eating, they just knew it was delicious. Make good use of YOUR extra grilled vegetables by giving this recipe a whirl. You'll be glad you did!

Penne with Creamy Roasted Vegetable Sauce and Bacon

1 - 1 1/2 lbs. cooked penne

Roasted Vegetables. I used zucchini, onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and yellow squash

2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes

Splash of heavy cream.

Salt and pepper to taste

Mozzerella cheese

5 - 7 pieces of cooked, crumbled bacon

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drizzle with a splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil to prevent sticking.

In a sauce pan, add your vegetables and two cans of fire roasted tomatoes. Blend together with a hand blender and bring to a simmer. Add cream and salt and pepper. Blend until everything is incorporated. You can either make this a thick and chunky sauce or blend it until it is smooth. I blended my sauce to be fairly smooth.

Add sauce to noodles and toss together. Spray a casserole dish with a little cooking spray and add noodles and sauce. Top with Mozzerella cheese. Cook in 350 degree oven for about 20 - 30 minutes or until cheese starts to bubble and brown. mmmmm yummy. Add crumbled bacon on top and serve. Enjoy!