Friday, February 26, 2010

Soup’s On!

DSCF3530-015 Last night I put a pot of vegetable beef soup on the stove and let it simmer all night. We won’t be eating it today because its Friday… and its lent. But it’ll be oh so yummy to nibble on all weekend long. I’m a big fan of soup, any kind really, but this home cooked vegetable beef soup is scrumptious! I make a HUGE pot of it when I do because we never can get enough of it!

Here’s how I make mine:

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Brown your stew sized cut up meat, I sauted my chopped red bell pepper and onion at the same time. Adds moisture to the mix and gives the meat a lot more flavor. I used one large red bell pepper and two medium onions.  I am using a three pound package of stew meat for this recipe.

DSCF3515-001 Add Tony Chachere’s to the meat and veggie mixture while its browning as well. Season to suit your own taste.

DSCF3517-003 Make sure you get a good dark brown on the meat, saute the veggies til they’re clear. There should be a good amount of brown on the pot, thats the good stuff that makes a superb brown gravy.

DSCF3518-004 I add my tomato paste, two small cans when the meat is good and brown. I use two small cans.

DSCF3519-005 Then I add my frozen vegetable mix. I used a five pound bag of veggie mix with carrots, peas, corn and green beans in it. I also had a mushroom stems and filling from some mushrooms I cleaned for stuffed mushrooms we’ll be cooking on Sunday. I added the mushrooms just as the meat was almost browned.

DSCF3520-006 Finally I add three 32 ounce packages of beef stock to the pot along with 60 ounces of water. Sometimes I use beef bullion instead, if I do this, I reduce the amount of salt I add to the pot when browning the meat.

DSCF3521-007 The longer you cook it the better it tastes.

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I love a little cup of soup, especially served in a pretty little bowl.

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Grab a spoon and have a bowl of soup with me! Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Zoo Trip for the Littles

Alex, Eli and Kali went to the zoo a few weekends back and had a fun time checking out the animals and playing in the petting zoo. Their friend Riley also went to the zoo at the same time and they all went out to lunch after. DSC05499-002 DSC05500-003 DSC05506-009 DSC05518-021 DSC05520-023 DSC05521-024 DSC05524-027 DSC05525-028 DSC05527-030 DSC05529-032 DSC05530-033 DSC05531-034 DSC05534-037 DSC05535-038 DSC05536-039 DSC05537-040 DSC05540-043 DSC05541-044 DSC05543-046DSC05542-045

Monday, February 22, 2010

Jumpin’ Fun

A few years ago for Christmas we bought a jumping toy for Kali, the boys are just the right age for it now, Alex and Eli loved playing in it with Kali a few weekends ago. Here they are jumpin’ around like crazy!

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Good times at the house with the little ones is THE best way to spend the weekend!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Pajamas from Lolli

I decided to make little pajamas for Kali and her tea party guests and they came out just too cute. with the help of Keisha and Barbie we made white tanks with appliques of the girl’s initials and black and white check shorts trimmed in pink rickrack. The girls all loved them. I also made hair bows to match their pjs. Here are a few photos of our girls modeling their pjs, bows and the little bags they came in.

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Kali MarieDSCF3405-002 DSCF3407-004Claire   DSCF3408-005DSCF3410-007Ella Marie DSCF3409-006 DSCF3412-009Riley Ann DSCF3411-008

DSCF3414-011 Kayla Ann

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