Five Things Friday

It is time once again for Five Things Friday! Today I can throw an eclectic bunch of thoughts at you at once:) So, what do I have to share today???

• We are still eating (and yes, I'm bragging) tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, beets, strawberries, raspberries, eggplant, butternut squash and kohlrabi from the garden! We haven't had a frost yet though I know it's coming. We generally get the frost before November 15. Today I will be making my All You Can Eat Soup  with goodies from the garden for lunch...yummers!
• We will definitely be purchasing the Janome HD3000 sewing machine sometime before Christmas:) Yay and Woo Hoo! I decided I want a travel bag for it so I can take it to my daughter's and to crafting get-togethers. This is the one I am looking at although there is a nice rolling bag at Joann's that is tempting...

• My starter for the Artisan bread I have been itching to make died:( Or I think it died anyway. I am going to give it till Monday and if it doesn't really get going I will start over again. I might need to put a propagation mat under it (slightly heated for starting seeds) to keep the temperature consistent. Our house gets chilly at night because we let the fire go out so I'm thinking we need to try to keep the starter environment closer to 70 degrees (F).
• I am making a pair of boot toppers and they are so easy and fun! This will be a great gift idea for the ladies on my gift-giving list:) I am currently lusting over this beautiful Pink Elephant "Resilient" Superwash Merino Sock yarn from Expression Fiber Arts only I want to use it to use it for a beautiful lacy scarf. The drawback right now is the yarn is $24 and I am trying to only spend on Christmas gifts right now.
• I just started If I Stay last night and it is sooo good! The writing is incredible; the kind of book you don't want to put down! I checked it out from the online library so need to finish it soon. Speaking of books, I LOVE paper books that I can hold in my hand and turn the pages however, I have come to appreciate the Kindle App on my iPad. My brother-in-law introduced me to Book Bub. You set up your account and your preferences then you get an email every day with suggestions for you in your chosen categories! There are e-books on the list from FREE to $2.99; I don't think I have ever seen one for more than $2.99. If you have a Kindle, Nook or other reader, check out Book Bub!

Well, that's it for this week's Five Things Friday! I hope you have a great weekend and I will be back on Sunday for Carla's Sunday Night Chit-Chat over at My 1/2 Dozen Daily.

Thanks for stopping by:)

Kat

For All Things Peekaboo Window Card

I was thinking...since Tuesday is Tasty Tuesday, maybe Wednesday should be Wacky Wednesday! However there is nothing Wacky about my post today or should I say no wackier than usual:)

We have RAIN today! We have had a dry spell or mostly so. It did rain on Monday but not enough to brag about. Today I think we might get some bragging rights. But since we only get about 12 inches of rain per year on average, any rain is a welcome sight!

I got another new recipe today that I can hopefully share with you next week. I want to make it first to be sure it's as good as it looks. The recipe is for Homemade Wheat Thins! I love Wheat Thins and to be able to make them at home would be great!!!

My card for you today is one we made at our Happy Stampers Club meeting last Wednesday. I like this style of card so much I made 4 of them! I made a birthday card using black and white that I will show you next week.

It is called a Peekaboo Window Card and you can see why in the next photo...

Please forgive the photo as I was holding the card open with one hand while trying to take the picture with my iPod Touch. 

My thanks goes to Dawn Griffith for the wonderful video tutorial for this card! You can view the video at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts. Her videos are amazing...easy to follow along!

For this card I used the following Stampin' Up! supplies:

• Paper: Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Mossy Meadow and Blackberry Bliss cardstock; Color Me Autumn Designer Series Paper
• For All Things stamp set
• Ink: Blackberry Bliss, Crushed Curry and Early Espresso
• Punches: 1 3/8" Circle, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch
• Big Shot with Chalk Talk Framelits
• Other: Dimensionals and Sticky Strip

Well, I'm off to clean my house before company arrives later today! I also plan to make a big pot of All You Can Eat Soup and a couple loaves of Whole Wheat Bread so I best get busy! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Kat

Tasty Tuesday

Good Morning and welcome to my very own Tasty Tuesday! I have decided that I will share one of my favorite recipes with you on Tuesdays...some old and some new! For some reason I am not always able to link to past recipes so just might repeat some of those for you.

Today's recipe is a family favorite and works really well on my "fast days" when I only eat 500 calories for the whole day. The pot above is a 2 1/2 gallon stock pot and is nearly full so if you have a small family or don't want to eat soup ALL week, you might want to cut the recipe in half.

The soup is called All-You-Can-Eat Soup Diet Basic Recipe and I got it from RealAge and they got it from Good Housekeeping. The Good Housekeeping link will take you to a printable copy of the recipe with nutritional information.

These are the carrots I dug from our garden today. They were nearly one pound EACH!!! Oh my! A little side note here, dogs LOVE cooked carrots! They are dog candy. If you doubt me, try it but be careful or your dog will take your hand off with the carrot!

All-You-Can-Eat Soup Diet Basic Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound carrots, sliced
1 1/2 pounds onions chopped
4 stalks celery, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, crushed with press (I double this)
2 cans (28 ounces each) whole tomatoes in juice (or equivalent in fresh chopped)
1 pound green cabbage, thinly sliced
3/4 pound green beans, trimmed and each cut into thirds
48 ounces chicken broth (I use vegetable broth)
6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (I used 1 Tablespoon Sea Salt but salt to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (I omitted)
3 small (1 1/4 pounds) zucchini, sliced into half-moons
2 bags (6 ounces each) baby spinach leaves (we have also used Swiss Chard and Collard Greens chopped)

Directions:

1. Coat 12-quart stockpot (or 2 large saucepans) with nonstick cooking spray or just a little bit of Olive Oil. Over medium-high heat, add carrots, onions, celery and garlic; cook 8 minutes or until vegetables soften, stirring occasionally.
2. Add tomatoes with their liquid, breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon. Add cabbage, green beans, broth, water, salt and pepper; heat to boiling over high heat, stirring occasionally.
3. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to high, stir in zucchini and spinach and heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until all vegetables are tender.

Each cup of soup has 45 calories and 1 gram of fat! 

Note: for a heartier soup we add potatoes, cut in chunks; canned beans; barley and/or corn.

I hope you enjoyed Tasty Tuesday and I look forward to your comments! Have a great day!

Kat