Awesome-Tasting Food!! // chicken noodle soup

Being winter, you just have to have chicken noodle soup at least once...or twice.  It isn't my favorite thing in the world, but it tastes great on a cold night.

Chicken Noodle Soup

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 4 cups cubed peeled potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
• 2 cups uncooked yolk-free wide noodles
• 1 cup fat-free evaporated milk

In a stockpot, saute the onion, carrots, and celery in oil for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the flour, oregano, thyme and poultry seasoning until blended. Gradually add the broth, potatoes and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in chicken and noodles; simmer for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Reduce heat. Stir in milk; heat through (do not boil).  Makes 8 servings.

And speaking of cold nights, has anyone been getting snow? For some reason this year Kansas hasn't gotten a lot of snow. Usually we get enough to make forts a time or two. This year our snow hasn't even stuck to the ground. Kinda sad.


~Susanna

Sad news and something to make you happy

I regret to inform you all that the giveaway I had planned for today will have to wait until who knows when. I'm sorry. Some things happened to where I can't contact the sponsors I needed too. Now don't think that I'll never do another giveaway, because I WILL (just not now). And I will say I'm sorry to the sponsors I had lined up. I have no way of getting a hold of you. Hopefully you see this.

Do these faces remind you of the old Walmart logo?

 With that I need to make you all happy, so here is a picture of the sunflower cake Addy made for Kansas Day, which was yesterday.  I got her to let me help just a teeny tiny bit by putting some of the chocolate chips on top. 

We had a ton of company for lunch Sunday afternoon. I happened to get home from church before she did. So, I got to add the little touch to the twinkies. By the way, we never EVER have twinkies in our house except for this Kansas Day cake.

The cake actually tasted really good.

Speaking of cake, do you like cake? You can vote on my poll at the right. If you were to have cake would it be chocolate, white, or something different?

~Susanna

2. Pinterest Favorites!!!

I'm linking up to The Vintage Apple for the Pinteresting Wednesday.

I think all of these pictures explain themselves... :)

Source: joannagoddard.blogspot.com via Susanna on Pinterest

Source: piccsy.com via Sidra Ahmad on Pinterest

Source: bakerella.com via Cassie T. on Pinterest

Source: oprah.com via Rebekah Day on Pinterest

Source: google.co.uk via Susanna on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: vi.sualize.us via Nela on Pinterest

Source: smells-like-home.com via Katie on Pinterest

There you have it.  Which was your favorite?

Don't forget to vote on my new design!! (to the right)

~Susanna

Awesome-Tasting Food!! // chocolate chip scones

I know what you're thinking. This is Tuesday, not Wednesday.  But if you saw my last post you would know that I'm changing Awesome-Tasting Food!! to Tuesday, instead of Wednesday. Sorry, it is a little confusing.

Now on to the food part. If there is anything that I love to make and is EASY...that would be scones. They're super easy to throw together and roll out.
 Before I had had a scone I thought of them as cranberry-filled, dry, triangular biscuits. (notice I don't care for cranberries)  One time, on the spur of the moment, I was looking through our big kid's cookbook. Some of our best recipes came out of that book!! This scone recipe was in there so I decided to try it. I changed the cranberries to chocolate chips and the results was great! The scones were soft, NOT DRY!

Chocolate Chip Scones

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips
---
3 tablespoons flour

In a bowl mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt for 15 sec, set this bowl aside.
Melt the butter in a separate bowl. Add the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla. Stir real well until ingredients are well blended.
Mix the buttermilk mixture and flour mixture together. Add chocolate chips and then stir for another 30 seconds or until mixture gathers together into a ball.
Sprinkle flour on the table. Take the dough ball and place on floured surface. Knead dough at least 8 times.
Place kneaded dough on a baking sheet. Pat or roll the dough into a big circle. Cut into 8 wedges.
At 425 degrees, bake scones for 10-15 minutes or until a light brown.

If you don't have buttermilk make your own by mixing 1 c. water, 1/4 c. dry milk, and 1 T. lemon juice. Mix well and then let stand for 2 minutes before using.

Now sit down with a good book (or movie) and a glass of this. And don't eat the whole pan! :)

On Monday I've got a big giveaway for you all! So look out!

~Susanna

new look? oh yeah!

Yep, it's a new look alright.
What do you think? If you can't tell...I love limes!! :)
I have more to say on that subject, but that will have to come later because I'm getting tired and need to go to bed. Make sure you vote (to the right) and tell me what you think. Hopefully, beginning next week, I will have a giveaway for you. So stay tuned.
 

Oh, and I'm changing the Awesome-Tasting Food!! posts to Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

~Susanna

High Five for Friday!!

So, it's Friday, which really doesn't mean such to me except that I decided to link up with Lauren for High Five for Friday!!  Here we go...


1) This is a really cool photo of a sliced lime. I love limes!!

2) Awesome hair spray, called CHI Helmet Head, that really works!! Addy says it smells funny. :)

3) The book I'm reading: End The Fed  by Ron Paul
very interesting...

4) Stride gum. Maybe it seems funny to have it as a favorite, but it is.

5) As I said earlier this week the Wichita youth symphony started up for this semester. I'm really excited about it!!! One of the pieces is a clarinet concerto and the girl playing clarinet is awesome!!!

Happy Friday!!

~Susanna

Awesome-Tasting Food!! // white hot chocolate

This time of year is when my family drinks a lot of hot chocolate. Notice I said "my family". I would rather drink coffee. Every once in awhile I drink hot chocolate and to tell you the truth, I think white hot chocolate is pretty good. In the middle of a freezing cold day this sounds pretty good and........it is. Now if we could only get Kansas to see some winter this year. Oh well...

Creamy Hot White Chocolate

6 cups half-and half cream, divided     you can also use whole milk or cream.

1-1/3 cups white baking chips

2 cinnamon sticks (3 inches)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash ground nutmeg

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions: In a large saucepan, combine 1/2 cup cream, chips, cinnamon sticks, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook and stir over low heat until chips are melted. Stir in remaining cream; heat through. Discard cinnamon sticks. Stir in vanilla. Pour into mugs and enjoy!!

Makes: 8 servings      Total Time: 10 minutes

And if you're like me, you'll top all this prettiness with whipped cream!! Yum!!  Or you can use those chemical-filled-things-called-marshmallows. I eat those too on occasion.

Have a awesome rest of your day. Oh, and tell me if you make this and what you think of it.


~Susanna

2 important things

I got on my blogger account this afternoon. You see, I'm trying to limit myself to the afternoon for "pleasure internet". That way I can get more things done in the morning (like all my school).  :) Anyway, when I got on there were two really neat blog posts I thought you all should know about.
 

 1) The Small Things Blog has a new hair tutorial on loose waves. Something I'm not really good at.  In this tutorial the hair turns out so cute and pretty.  You need to go watch it here.

And in case you didn't know The Small Things Blog is my favorite right now!!


2) Recently I started following a blog called Spice Up Your Blog. This one has a ton of great tips on blogging, how to increase traffic, how to get more followers, etc. Today there is a post with 8 really good tips on making your blog a success. You can find that here.  (They must not have a button, because I couldn't find one.)

 Now I've got to go practice flute. My orchestra season started up again, which is a good thing. I really like the music this time around and I need to practice more. Have a good afternoon!

~Susanna

Awesome-Tasting Food!! // cornbread

This evening there is a Men's Chili Feed at our church. (yeah, that's means I don't get to go, but I'm going CATO shopping. So who cares!!!)

I get to make part of the cornbread for the event and I thought I'd share the recipe. This cornbread recipe has always worked for us so far. But I like this cornbread  the best!!

Cornbread

1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/4 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.Mix all ingredients well. Pour mixture into a greased 9 by 13 pan. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cut cornbread and spread with butter and honey. Yum!!


~Susanna

crafts for twenty-twelve

I just love to learn how to make things. So this year I picked out 12 different foods or crafts I've never made before. What I what to do is make one each month and hopefully I'll post about it and how (or  if) it turned out. :)  I had a problem with being reasonable about which projects to choose. Took awhile because there are way too many. If you want some ideas just look on Pinterest.

Here are the 12 things I plan to make:

January: Fabric Key Chain  from Infarrantly Creative

I've got the stuff for this one, so I'm set to go!

 February;  Notebook  from Simply Vintage Girl

March: Decorate a Clipboard something like this:    here is another clipboard idea.

April:  Sourdough Bread   Has anyone had good success with a recipe?

 May: Make a  Strip Quilt

June: Travel Trash Bag 

 July:  Travel Cover for my hair straightener

August:  Make Gelato!!   here is one recipe

September:   Make myself a cute apron

October: Make Lye Soap.  Anyone got a good recipe?

November:  Make REAL Chai Tea like my friend Lydia.    here is another recipe

December: Learn how to make a pretty Cheesecake.  Has to be chocolate of some kind. Any suggections on recipes?

Okay, I'm done. What did you think? Are you  going to make anything new this year? I'd love to know.


~Susanna

latte art

The other day my brother sent me the link to this clip on latte art. It is very fascinating to watch being done and very beautiful.

So far my successes have not been good at this art.
BUT,
I'm going to keep trying. We'll see what happens...





What did you think?   Are you going to try it?  If you do tell me how it goes.


~Susanna

Awesome-Tasting Food!! // stromboli

How's everyone year going so far? Seeing as we're only 4 days in it should be going good I think. :)

Stromboli is a good thing to eat in the winter so I had to post it for you. We also had it yesterday for supper and it was on my mind. If you're like us, then you change every recipe around until you like it.

Stromboli
Prep:20 min + standing time Bake: 30 min

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110° to 115°)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3/4 to 3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

pizza sauce

sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, and anything else you want to top it with

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about  6-8 minutes. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; roll into a 14-in. x 12-in. rectangle.

Transfer to a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Spoon pizza sauce to within 1/2 in. of the edges. Top with sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, and cheese. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal and tuck ends under.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.  Yield: 1 loaf

For a Italian Stromboli, spread dough with Italian dressing instead of pizza sauce. This is my favorite.


~Susanna

you are probably tired...

...of hearing me talk about Christmas. So, this will be the last thing I've got to tell you about.

For Christmas all the kids left at home in my family draw names. This year Addy got my name and I got her's.  Just you wait and see what she gave me. 

When we were Black Friday shopping I saw the most adorable espresso set ever! I had seen a set like it at another store, but not so cute as this one. We have an awesome Espresso Machine and I knew it would go real well with it.

Now don't you think that looks cute?!? I love how the edges of the plate scoop up.

You can probably guess by now what she gave me. Yep, that espresso set of cups and plates with the cute little stand. It is just AWESOME!!

If you can't tell I'm having a ton of fun with it.

 Between my whole family and I we've used it at least once or twice a day.

Thanks again Addy!! I love it!!

~Susanna