Hearty Soup

Well, I'm just a day behind this week....it's one of those kind of weeks. So, for me, this is Monday...or Tuesday and Monday put together...or something like that. Anyway, you get the picture. My meal plan is getting a kink in it with hubby's work schedule and the fact that next week is Thanksgiving and I am in clean ot the pantry mode. So today, I want to share an easy, hearty, somewhat healthy, and way yummy soup with you that even my manly man who doesn't much care for soup, really likes and even requests. Enjoy!!

CHEESEBURGER SOUP

1 cup chopped onion, 1 cup chopped or shredded carrots

4 cups fine chopped potatoes, 1 cup chopped celery

1 lb lean ground beef, 4 cups chicken broth

1 tsp basil, 1 tsp parsley

1/2 cup flour, 1 cup milk, 8 oz. Velveeta

In your soup pot, sautee onions, celery, carrots in olive oil than add beef to cook til done. Than add basil and parsley, broth, and carrots. Cook til potatoes are tender (about 20 minutes). Separately, blend milk and flour, and add slowly to soup, stirring it in. Stir in Velveeta last until melted.

*Tips--I like to cut up my veggies and brown my meat ahead of time (I brown a couple pounds at a time and freeze it) so all I have to do is throw it together at dinner time.
*I most of the time, omit the flour and add more veggies than it says and it makes soup thicker and chunkier.
*I like the 2% Velveeta, but I don't recommend the light...not creamy!
*My husband does not like cooked carrots (unless he can't see them), so I chop them up really fine with my hand chopper (which also relieves stress, by the way) and he devours it! He has no idea there are that many carrots in it...good trick for kiddos too!
*If you do Weight Watchers, this is roughly 5-6 points per cup

Thrifty Thursday--Laundry Soap

This is tough stuff!!

 There are a million recipes on the web for how to make your own laundry soap and I found one that I personally like and began using it this past summer.
   The one I like is a recipe used by the Duggar Family and is on their website. I figured if it worked pretty well for 21 people, then it sure could work for the four of us!
   The recipe makes A LOT, so I decided to sell some at our local farmer's market and give it to people as well. I ended up basically having free laundry soap for myself, which is still a pretty sweet deal if you've been down the detergent aisle at the store lately and noticed the price! I like liquid, some people prefer powder, and there are thousands of different ways to do both as well as tutorials on You Tube. (Simply search for Homemade Laundry Detergent) I use it on all our laundry, including baby clothes and it works great! It even doubles as stain remover by applying it to set a while directly on stains before you wash!
   You might want to experiment if you like scents or don't like certain ingredients...there are lots of alternatives and most are a great "green" choice- environmentally and for keeping some cash in your wallet!

HAPPY WASHING!!

My homemade soap removed the poo stain!!

Crafty Tuesday--Easy Quilted Potholders

I actually made these cute potholders some time ago as I went through projects on an online sewing class. I didn't get all the project done, but out of some that I managed to finish, this was one of my favorites because you can whip out several and they'd make great gifts! You could even make them smaller for coasters.
All you need is some material squares (whatever size you desire your potholders to be), scissors, batting, thread, and your sewing machine!
Place your material with front sides facing, sew around edges all but about a 3 inch opening, turn right side out,  then put in the batting (be sure to flatten it out). Next, sew up the opening, then make your rows of stitches down the middle however you'd like. I did straight lines, but you could do any pattern and if you  machine is like mine with different kinds of decorative stitches, you can pretty them up even more. Have fun!!
Oh, and a plug for Freckled Nest where you can find some cute projects and who I thank for helping me blow the dust of my sewing machine and expanding my skill set!

Monday Meals

Whew! We had a great vacation, but time to get back in the routine! Here's some ideas for this week:

Monday-

Chicken Tortilla Soup--Super easy, used leftover grilled chicken, and cooked in the crockpot

There are tons of recipes for this out there...try one!

Tuesday-

Sausage Skillet Pasta--Another easy, one pan Italian dish

Wednesday-

Crockpot Beans

Thursday-

Leftovers Night

Friday-

Homemade Pizza

Saturday-?Suprise!

Sunday- 

Church Spaghetti Dinner--No cooking for me!