Curry Chicken Vegetable Soup

I made a new goal this year to try lots of different recipes. I like my usuals, but I figured it was time to branch out a little and find some new stuff to eat. Also, I wanted to try to keep it as healthy as possible.

My first new recipe was this curry soup. It was easy to make and really really yummy. And at just 94 calories per 1 cup, it is very healthy.


In a large Sauce pan heat:
1 1/2 tsp olive oil on medium

Add:
3/4 cup Finely chopped celery
3/4 cup finely chopped onion

Cook for about 3 minutes, stiring occasionally, until starting to soften


Add:
1 Medium cooking apple (such as McIntosh), peeled and grated
2 tbsp all-pupose flour
1 tsp curry powder (I added more, because I love curry and wanted a stonger curry flavor)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Heat and stir for 1 minute

Add:
1 cup low sodium prepared chicken broth.

Heat and stir until boiling and thickened.


Add:
4 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I used part of a rotissaire chicken)
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies (I used an entire bag of oriental mixed frozen veggies)


Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for 8 minutes to blend flavours

Add 1 tsp lemon juice. Makes about 8 cups.

I served it with Naan bread. and it was so good.

For really good Naan bread. I buy the packaged bread from the store. I think this brand was actually dempsters. I put the bread on a foil covered baking sheet, and brush the bread with melted butter. Then I put on some italian seasoning and sometimes parm. cheese. Bake at 35o degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cut in quaters and serve.

Chicken Roll-ups

This is an all time favorite dinner of mine. Infact I like it so much that I had it served at my wedding. Not only is is good, but it is easy to make, and you can make a lot and freeze them.



3 cups of chicken or turkey cubed (you can either use 3 chicken breasts or I like to use a whole chicken- I just buy the rotissarie chicken from the grocery store)



Add:
1 cup carrots minced
1 cup celery mined
1 cup onions (you can either put them in raw or fried)
1 can mushrooms minced

cream in 1 8oz pkg of cream cheese

mix until it is all blended and no large chunks of cream cheese



You'll need about 8-10 pkg of pillsbury cresent rolls (regular size, not jumbo)

open 1 -2 pkgs at a time and seperate into triangles.
Place a spoonful of the chicken filling in the center of the roll



Fold in all the egdes covering all the filling and roll it.

dip in a bowl of 1/2 cup melted butter- roll it around to completely cover

(I actually mix in 1/2 cup of skim milk with the butter, so that it is not just pure butter I roll it in)

The roll in a bowl of bread crumbs

Place on a baking sheet.

If you are baking them at this point, bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown

If you are freezing them, place them in the freezer on the pan and then once they are frozen tranfer them to a freezer safe container or a plastic ziplock bag.

To cook from frozen, just place on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with 1 can of cream of chicken soup. Place the soup(do not prepare the soup with water or milk- just use right from the can) in a bowl and microwave until warm and serve as a sauce.

It is the perfect meal with salad and/or some steamed vegatables.

Snowballs

I forgot to post this before Christmas. Sorry


These 'cookies' were my favorite as a little girl. I have pictures of me making them with my Grandma when I was 4 or 5. They are easy for kids to make, but adults truly enjoy them. I had to include them in my Christmas baking. I gave away christmas treats to my friends and everyone loved these snowballs.

The recipe is so simple.




Blend well together;
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 1/2 cups fine coconut
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp almond extract


It will all come together and be basically the consistency of butter. Roll into small balls.

Cut Marachino cherries, chopped in 1/4 or 1/6

Insert a piece of marachino cherry into the center of each cookie. Re-roll into a ball.

Roll in more fine coconut.

Chill; keep in the refrigerator.



The cherry is such a nice surprise inside.

Mokkans (soft gingersnaps)

My Christmas baking has begun.

These are cookies that are a must have at Christmas. It just wouldn't be the same without a gingersnap cookie. And these are so soft and chewy.


Cream together:
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar



Add:
4 Cups Flour
4 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Ginger
1/2 cups molasses



Chill the dough for one hour.

Roll into balls

And roll in Sugar. Do not flatten when you put them on the pan.

Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Do not overbake.

I love the crisp sugary outer layer, but the inside is still so soft a chewy.

Super Simple Ball Wreath

For years I have been wanting to make a christmas ball wreath. I just always thought that they were really hard. But I finally heard about one that is so easy I would be crazy not to make it.

A friend of mine told me how to make this wreath and I am so glad that she did. I love it. Not only does it look so cute, but I really can't get over how easy it was to make.

The supplies are simple;
-Metal wire hanger
-glue gun
-Christmas balls in a variety of sizes (approx 80)
-ribbon

You can use one solid color of christmas balls or go multi colored. You can use glass balls or the shatter-proof ones.

Dig a metal hanger from your closet. Luckily I had one. If you need to get one, just take some clothes to the dry cleaners and they usually return your things hanging on a metal hanger.

Bend into into a circle. As close as you can get. Unwrap the top to open the hanger up so that you can thread the balls on.

Depending on what kind of balls you use and how the tops are attached you may need to put a dab of hot glue under the cap of each ball. Just to make sure that they don't come unattached while you are putting them on or afterwards.

Then you just thread each ball onto the hanger through the hole in the cap. Loosly arrange them as you thread them on. Use all the sizes you have and use the smaller balls to fill in open spaces.

Once you have filled the whole hanger make sure all the balls are arranged how you would lilke them and the majority of open spaces are filled. Push the balls as close together and as tightly as you can. Just make sure you don't break any. Bend the tips of the hanger to create a hook.

Then hook the two sides together and wrap smaller wire around the closer to ensure that it stay fastened.


I think it looks great. Just one thing missing...

...Ribbon.

You can tie your ribbon in a simple bow or get creative and make something complex. You could even just thread the ribbon inbetween the balls and tie a bow at the top and hang your wreath like that.

To hang my wreath I tied a short piece of ribbon at the top center (under my bow) and had an inch loop sticking out the top and used that as a hook to hang it on the nail.

I think the finished product looks so classy. I love it.


Perfect addition to my front entry.

Name blocks

I know it has been months since I have posted, but I am back. Summer was way to busy to be crafty and with a house that heated up to way to high tempuratures when the oven was on, there was no baking. But like I said I am back and ready to work.


I actually made these blocks awhile ago and never posted them. They are a really cute project that can be as simple or as difficult as you want.


I found these wood blocks at a craft store. Depending on what name or word you are wanting to spell, you will need a block for each letter. You can get various sizes, just depends on how big you want the blocks. Just make sure that the letters that you chose also fit the blocks.


You can paint the blocks any color you want. I chose to do cream with a pink stripe and dark chocolate brown on the backs. This is the part that you can make easy or hard. The easiest would be to paint them all one color. If you are more crafty and artsy paint different colors or different patterns. Also make sure that the color you chose will allow the letters to be seen.


I started by painting the fronts cream.



After I let them dry I took the easy way and used painters tape and taped where I wanted my stripe to be. I taped each block.



Then painted the exposed block pink.



Let it dry and peel off the tape. You can do any pattern you want or no pattern at all.



Each block is done.



It is hard to tell in this picture, but the backs have been painted dark chocolate.


Once it is all dry apply your letters. I also found these letters at the craft store. There are a variety of letters that you can chose from. And a variety of colors. So have fun with it.

Here are a few variations of blocks that you can do.

This is a long block that I have just painted black. I found different silver words in the scrapbooking section of the craft store, but thought that they would be cute on the block. Really easy, but it looks so cute.

This is the same size of long block as the one above. I painted the whole block cranberry color and then, using some embellishment glue, glued scrapbook paper to the wood and then stuck my letters on top of that.