Archive for the ‘the home’ Category

Yesterday dawned cold and rainy. I’m not complaining. I actually enjoy a cold and rainy day on occasion. And I really enjoy delicious aromas emanating from my crock pot on a cold and rainy day. So yesterday I decided to make my Taco Soup to which my children squealed “Yummy!” Being the Facebook lover that I am, of course I felt it necessary to update my status with the coming arrival of said Taco Soup.

It seems that a lot of my Facebook Friends also enjoy a good Taco Soup and several have since asked me for the recipe. So here it is. It was as good as always, as easy as always, and even garnered a recipe request from Magnolia. How can you go wrong?

Chicken Taco Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 16-ounce can chili beans
1 15-ounce can black beans
1 15-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1 can or bottle of beer
2 10-ounce cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (I usually use Rotel), undrained
1 package taco seasoning
3 whole, skinless, boneless chicken breasts
shredded Cheddar cheese
sour cream
crushed tortilla chips or Fritos

Put the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer and diced tomatoes in the slow cooker. This is the toughest part of the recipe. Opening all the cans. Add the taco seasoning and stir. Lay the chicken breasts on top of the mixture and slightly press down until they are just covered. Cook on Low heat for 5 hours.

Serve with lots of cheese, crushed chips and sour cream.

Easy and delicious. Enjoy!

I’ve always loved felt. I’m not sure why exactly except maybe it reminds me of being little and doing crafts. It just comes in such pretty colors and it’s so soft. I’ve recently discovered needle felting. I’m tempted to try to learn how to do it, but while I’m contemplating that, I’ve found some artists who do wonderful work with it.

So what is needle felting? From what I can gather (and this might not be much), you use a piece of felted wool as the base and then another bunch of wool yarn as the design and you use felting needles (which are like little barbs) to felt the pieces together. You just push the needles into the pieces, up and down, a thousand times. The top part becomes kind of fuzzy and three-dimensional. People swear it’s not hard to learn and I just adore the look of the finished pieces. But anything you have to do a thousand times… and I may be exaggerating a little but I know it’s a lot of times… doesn’t hold a ton of appeal to me. You can do lots of neat things with this technique and they are all so cute. Don’t take my word for it. Look at what my friend Kay is selling over at her shop on etsy.

This is her little Woodland Terrarium. It’s all made by hand and comes in a little glass jar. Love, love, love it!

Look at this fawn! I don’t how they do this kind of detail but it’s really amazing. Most items are made without a pattern but with a lot of imagination. This is so great for anyone who collects deer or just as a cute shelf sitter. I personally adore this little deer because she looks like Clarisse from Rudolph. And since this is my husband’s favorite movie and the only one I’ve ever seen make him cry (the Land of Misfit Toys gets him every year), I think I may have to snatch this one up for a gift for him.

I also love these sweet felted beads. My little princess would surely love these made into a bracelet. But they look good enough to eat, and she probably would try that, so maybe I’ll just keep them for myself.

Kay’s store is called Finger Stuck Felts. Kay is a mom of two (both under 4!) and is a self-taught artist. She has a lot of other really neat things over in her shop. She also has a stained glass store on etsy. Obviously a woman of many talents! So jealous….

Check her out!

I love etsy! There is such a luscious lot of beautiful, handcrafted goodies to peruse and purchase. One of my favorites is Kate at KnitStorm. She makes the most adorable hand knit & crocheted items, but I especially love her crocheted little tea cozies. Not only are they totally affordable (under $15) but the shipping is beyond reasonable and fast. I think they are a wonderful way to complement a hot cup of tea on a cold morning. Perfectly cozy and handmade.

I also fell in love with her knitted IPod socks. This Belle will be sporting a little hot pink number on her IPod but Kate has several other colors available. She also has an ecofriendly housewares shop that has crocheted cleaning cloths and little makeup removal pads. My friend Jen gave me a few crocheted washcloths that her Grandmother had made and I love them! If you don’t have a friend with a Grandmother that crochets and that likes to share, you can get yours from KnitStorm. Thanks, Kate!