A Christimas Wreath

I know we are all just now recovering from Christmas, but since all the craft stores have everything Christmas practically for free right now, I thought I would share with you my latest wreath.

I wanted to make something classy, but had a babes in toyland type of feel to it.  In looking at all the pieces, I went to Hobby Lobby and had a blast down their ornament aisle.  Have they have aisle dedicated to large ornaments, so I stocked up on these Santa belly ornaments, and light ornaments and just went to town with a glue gun.  Thank goodness my Mom is the best bow maker ever, because the ribbon is just so sweet.  Next year, I will add lights!!  So, go stock up on the sales and start gluing!!

The Pantry Soup

We have all walked in the door from work, needed to cook something for dinner, didn't have much in the fridge or pantry, and there is no way you are going to the grocery store.  This is how the Pantry Soup came to life.  You just take what you have on hand.

The Pantry Soup
1 lb of hamburger meat or ground turkey
Fresh okra sliced
1 can of french style green beans
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of diced green chillies
1 can of ranch style beans
Beef broth
1-2 tbsp depending on how hot you like it of Tony Chachere's Seasoning
4-5 dashes of Cholula hot sauce
1 tbsp of onion powder
1 tbsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper

Saute okra with a bit of Pam until tender. Add to pot with all cans of items.  Then brown hamburger meat with Tony Chachere's seasoning to taste.  Add to the pot. Add in beef broth to cover the contents and more if you would like. Add in onion, garlic powder, Cholula hot sauce and salt and pepper. Let simmer together for at least 30 minutes.

Just a little side note about Tony Chachere's, I LOVE this stuff.  It is so good and if you are not sure what to seasoning to put in something, you always put this and people will ask you what the flavor is.  Great $3 investment.

Meal Cost: $12

Lasagna Soup

I found this recipe from Paula Dean and decided to give it a try.  Who doesn't like lasagna?

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chuck (I used lean ground beef, you could use turkey)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper chopped (or any bell pepper you have on hand)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced (I use already minced garlic to save time)
• 1 teaspoon thyme (this can be fresh or dried)
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 (32-ounce) box chicken broth
  
• 2 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning (I used Herb De Provence)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups broken lasagna noodles
• 1 (5-ounce) package grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

 Garlic Crostini Recipe

• 1 thin French baguette
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2 cloves smashed garlic
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a dutch oven combine the meat, bell pepper and onion.  Cook on medium heat until the meat is cooked through.  Then drain your meat.  If you don't have a dutch oven, then a large stock pot will do just fine.

Stir in thyme, brown sugar, broth, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Add noodles, and simmer until noodles are tender. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

How to make the the Garlic Costini:  Preheat the oven to 350, cut the bread in 1/4" round slices.  Place on a cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper,  and bake till they are golden brown.  Take them out of the oven, let cool, and rub with a smashed garlic clove.   Make a lot of these because they are yummy.  I cut the left over ones up and used them as croutons.  This was an awesome recipe and fairly inexpensive.  

Paula suggest you ladle the soup into individual oven proof bowls and top with the mozzarella cheese, and broil until the cheese is melted.  Now my husband does not need anything that fancy, so I just topped the hot soup with the mozzarella in a plain old bowl and topped with the garlic Crostini.   If you choose to go the fancy route, remember the bowl will be hot so let it cool before you serve.

Meal Cost: $18

Valentines Day Ribbon Wreath

I saw this amazing ribbon wreath on Pinterest and decided I had to give it a try just because I have an obsession with ribbon.  I did a Valentines day themed wreath, but this would be so cute for a little girls room and adding their name to it.

Here is what you will need.
- A ton of ribbon.  Pick any color and size that you would like.  I even used some wire ribbon.  You will probably need about 7-9 spools of ribbon.
- A straw wreath.  I had trouble finding this, but Michaels had a ton of them.
- A glue gun and glue sticks.

1) Start off by cutting the ribbon into 4.5" long pieces. 

2) Then glue the pieces into circles with hot glue.  In the picture you can see that I did loops, but while I was creating the wreath, I found it easier to work with circles.

3)  I wrapped my wreath in red ribbon before I started gluing the individual circles, but this is not a must.  I would go ahead a tie a piece of ribbon on the top to use as a hanger.  Then start gluing on the circles.  By using all of this pretty ribbon, there is no way it is going to look bad.  I used the wider ribbon first and then filled in the spaces with the other ribbon.

And your done.  I added some cute glitter hearts to it that I picked up at the dollar store.

This was probably one of the more expensive wreaths I have done.  I got all the ribbon half off at Hobby Lobby, so the total cost was about $45, but it is pretty darn cute I have to admit.  Happy ribbon wreath making!