Cupboard Rummage - Meatless Monday edition

For some reason Sunday's tends to be the day I eat the most meat. I don't know why it just happens that way. So I decided a while ago to adopt Meatless Monday. I haven't been the greatest consistency wise but I generally enjoy it.
As I began to think about what I would have for some reason my broccoli cheese soup sounded yummy. Its cold and gross and we are stuck inside so soup just sounded glorious (yes that is one of my favorite words) But I didn't have all the ingredients and with the weather (another advisory and white out conditions) I didn't want to run out.
So I did what I call a cupboard rummage. When I look through my cupboards and freezer (even the remote corners of questionable dates and "why did I buy that?" and whip up whatever I can. Sometimes it turns out wonderful. Other times not so much. . .
 Anyway I looked through everything I had and decided I had some decent substitutes for the ingredients.
I promise to post the original recipe in all its glory next time I make it. But for now here is my Cupboard Rummage version.

1 large onion
1 can chicken noodle soup (it was a condensed off brand in which the noodles are nasty so i didnt feel bad wasting them in favor of stealing the broth)
1.5 cup milk
1/4 block velveeta
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 bag frozen broccoli / cauliflower (I had just broccoli but I felt like adding the cauliflower too)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1.5 cups water


Chop the onion and put it in the pot with the broth strained from the chicken noodle soup, water, milk, garlic powder and parmesan cheese. Chop broccoli/ cauliflower mix (Size is up to you - I like mine a bit chunkier).  Once onion mixture is boiling add broccoli. Let simmer 20 mins adding mozzerella and velveeta in the last 5 min. Use a whisk to make sure the cheese melts in smoothly.

While this cupboard rummage wasn't as good as my original recipe it was yummy enough to satisfy the craving without having to run out in the craziness that is this Indiana weather.

And tomorrow when its not meatless Monday I will probably add a bit of ham to the leftovers.

Have you ever made the mad dash that is the cupboard rummage? I would love to hear about it in the comments. No matter how it turned out :)

Valentine's 2014 - Heart food x3

Valentines Day...
A day of pink and hearts and shout outs of both true love and single's awareness. I am in the former camp having been married to my love for just over 4 and a half years. (more about that on my other blog. . . ) I had the chance to try some new recipes and food ideas...

My husband is not a meat and potatoes guy... he's a healthfood guy with weakness for pizza and cheese sticks. So mostly easy to please especially with my penchant for italian food.

One of my hubby's fave recipes is these super easy Sticky Buns and then I saw this recipe for pull apart pizza bread. It looked perfect and I had an idea up my sleeve. Of course I tweaked the recipe a bit cause i dont think I've ever followed a recipe with out adding my own spin to it. Also the original recipe made a bit more than I needed for just hubby and I.


1 tube of biscuits
1/2 8oz package pepperoni
1/4 cup olive oil
1.5 cup shredded mozzerella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Italian seasoning
garlic powder

Dipping sauce:
1.5 cups pasta sauce
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
1/5 teaspoon garlic powder

Cut biscuits and pepperoni into quarters. In a bowl combine all ingredients making sure the oil coats everything well.  Top with additional cheese and pepperoni if desired and back 20-30 min or according to biscuit instructions.

Mix all dipping sauce ingredients well and heat.

Since it was Valentines I put pepperoni in the shape of a heart on top.

 I also tried making bacon hearts for breakfast which didnt work out that well. Only one of them turned out and it had to be extra crispy which thankfully is hubby's fave way to have bacon. (Don't worry though - no bacon was wasted in this attempt at mushy valentines stuff)

Along with the bacon I made pancakes. . . 

My Valentines was great. Hubby was wonderful and planned out a great date. We had lunch together, picked up a CD that we both had been wanting and saw the Lego Movie. We aren't rom com people so it was perfect. I plan on watching it again soon and reviewing it on my other blog which I am working to revive. 

Happy 2014!

Life's been a little crazy but I'm doing my best to post more. I've got lots of awesome plans of recipes and projects to try. 

So let's get started. 

Hubby had recently mentioned that he was curious about turkey burgers. So I figured we would jump in and try a basic recipe. 

I knew the biggest issue was making sure the burgers stayed moist. So I looked at a bunch of recipes. I picked and messed around a bit and came up with this recipe. 

1lb ground turkey
1 onion (i prefer red)
1 bell pepper
4 slices of bread or equivalent bread crumbs 
italian seasoning
garlic powder (or cloves)
salt & pepper
egg white ( optional )

Oil 

Chop half each onion and pepper.  With the other half make strips of green pepper and rings from the onion. 

Heat up a bit of oil in a saucepan. Add chopped pepper and onion. Add garlic powder (or chopped cloves) and 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning. 

Salt and pepper to taste and cook down. Remove from heat and set to side to let cool.

In a mixing bowl combine meat, bread crumbs, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, dash of salt and pepper and fully cooled onion pepper mixture. 

Mix well and form into 6 patties. 

Heat a non stick skillet and cook until well done (about 4 min each side) they do better with a higher heat for a nice sear.

( I believe these would also bake well. Next time I will try it and let you know) 

I served these on wheat buns topped with raw onion rings (onion hating hubby left these off) and lightly sautéed green pepper strips with just a bit of mustard 

Yum!

Hubby's first turkey burger was success! 

I was pretty happy too! 

I wish this was the way all my recipe adventures turned out! 

Life Hack - Easy Mocha

Hey guys!

its been a crazy few months. If you want to know a little about why I have been absent feel free to check out my life blog post.



For my birthday last week my wonderful in-laws got me:

A keurig! I have wanted one forever but they are expensive! I am super excited cause it makes coffee and tea super fast and really easy. I love it. 

Of course you dont need one to make this super easy mocha but i was just so excited i had to share. 

The easiest way to make a yummy mocha?

A packet of hot chocolate! 

I have been doing this forever. I just mix a packet into a cup of coffee and maybe add just a pinch of creamer. Its amazing! And with all the flavored hot cocoa mixes that are out there I never get bored. 

I just found a multi pack that had plain, cherry cordial and salted caramel  varieties. It makes me happy cause as much as i love my coffee i do tend to get bored easily.  

Pony beads, and other exciting things!

Pony beads have never really been my favorite. They are great for kids projects but even as a kid I had my eye on swarovski crystals, czech glass and tumbled gemstones. So I havent worked with them much. Until I saw a pinterest project that snagged my attention. I cant find it now but the pin was these super cute hair clips made with melted pony beads. Now thats something I can learn to like. I love messing with things so they dont look the same as they were and I love taking risks. So I had to try it. 

So after Mr. Hubby went to work one night I decided to try it out. I dug out the few that I had arranged them in flower shapes and put them in the oven according to the instructions I found online. 

They turned out absolutely adorable. I just love them. Once I have the opportunity to attach them to bobby pins I will post some better pictures and will have some in my new shop. 

What's that you ask? Some of you know that I made an effort to sell my creations by way of a small shop I called RandomAnn Designs. It had some great moments and I was able to do some cool stuff with it. But I was recently approached by my friend Jen who wanted a partner for a similar shop. So  J & A Inspired Creations was born. 

It's still in the works but we are really excited about it and have lots of ideas. We hope to hit the craft fair circuit this fall and have our online shop up and running by then as well.  I am super excited to have more of an excuse to create again. I am also running the blog for it so feel free to check it out. 

Fix-it Friday - Making a cute shirt cuter!

This post is from a while back ago but I forgot to share it :)


It all started when I got this awesome shirt at the thrift store.

It was cheap ($2) I loved the colors and was in great condition. But I'm not the biggest fan of tube tops. I am always super paranoid they are gonna fall down. But I couldn't pass this shirt up. I loved the colors and there were no stains on it. So I took it home thinking I could add straps to it or maybe take out the smocking and make it into something I would wear.

It ended up being easier than I thought.

I remembered I had some ribbon that matched. and after some messing around I braided a fairly long strap. I decided to sew it in the front center. I used the same color thread as the stitching in the smocking so you cant even see where I sewed it on. I added a bead to the straps so I could either use it as a cinch (kind like a draw string) and left the strap fairly long so could have the option to tie it.

Pardon the messy background. It was a crazy week. 

I was quite happy with it and wore a it on a date with my hubby to Friends too, a local greek restaurant which is my favorite. Paired with my basic white cropped sweater I can even wear it to church! 

I love the colors and the length :) 

Food Faves - Don't read this post if you are hungry.

The last few months I have been lucky enough to eat some of my favorite things at some of my favorite places. And I have an odd habit of taking pictures of my food. Mr. Hubby laughs at me every time. But it makes a fun blog post. Or at least I think so....

Portillos!

Mr. Hubby is a booger and doesnt see how this is better than Arby's. 

He's crazy.

 

Starbucks! love the hazelnut frapps! best thing ever. 

Noodles!

One of my awesomely friends introduced me to this place a few weeks ago. 

I loved it! 

Then I won a little wager and introduced hubby to it. We both got "the Med" sandwich.

Mediterranean inspired food is my favorite. 

Their pasta dishes are amazing. YUM! 

Speaking of Mediterranean. My favorite restaurant ever is Friends Too! a local Greek place with 2 locations. These pics are from when I introduced my lovely friend Becky (who introduced me to Noodles) to it. The middle platter and bottom picture are Saganaki, an amazing appetizer of cheese flambeed  with rum. AMAZING and FUN! 

Wendy's now offers frosty's in waffle cones.

 YES PLEASE!

and a small fry.... 

Last but not least. Taco bell. 

Baja blast slushie. I love slushies and i love Baja blast. this is amazing