March 2017

Salsa Soup

Salsa and leftover vegetables combine to make a quick, super easy soup.

Soup and a sandwich is a classic meal.

But who really wants to take all that time to make soup? And soup from a can is always a little iffy – many of them are full of sugar (seriously?) or are weirdly oily when you open them.

Enter the magic of salsa soup.

Yup, that’s pretty much the entire recipe right there. A couple of spoonfuls of good salsa, any leftovers you want, and some water. (Jacques Pepin calls water “Chateau Faucet” in his great French accent which makes it sound so much more upscale!

Salsa, water and leftovers combine to make a quick, super tasty soup

Microwave until really hot, top with crushed tortilla chips and cheese if you like, and serve with a half sandwich of your choosing.  It might not be pretty, but it is super (soup-er?) tasty.

This also travels really well for lunch. Put all the ingredients except the water into a microwave safe bowl that has a tight fitting cover. Refrigerate until lunch time, and then add water and stir just before microwaving. Every time I make this at work at least one person comments on how good it smells.

 

Salsa Soup

  • Servings: 1
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

  • 3 Tablespoons Chunky Salsa
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup leftover veggies of your choice.
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • Dash of Trader Joe’s 21 Salute (or seasoning blend of your choice)
  • Dash of Red Chili Flake (optional
  • Crushed Tortilla chips and shredded cheese for topping if desired

Directions

  1. In a medium microwave safe bowl bowl combine salsa, veggies and spices
  2. Add water. More water makes a thinner soup. Less makes it thicker
  3. Stir together.
  4. Microwave until nearly boiling. Adjust microwave cooking time if using frozen vegetables
  5. Top with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips if desired.

March 23, 2017 by In the Kitchen

Show and Tell: Tissue Paper Flowers

Tissue Paper Flowers from Hey Let's Make Stuff

One glance at Pinterest or Instagram will tell you that paper flowers are in right now.

Rolled paper flowers are the most popular, and everyone is offering their tutorials on them. I’ve referenced one version before, which I liked, but wasn’t sure I could commit to the entire project.

Another blogger (Jennifer Maker) has offered up a whole series of these, and with her encouragement (and her videos) I’ve been pretty successful in making some pretty flowers. I have a few project ideas in mind for spring decorating that will use those.

You know when you start looking at one thing on Pinterest it keeps on serving up more pins in that genre, so it wasn’t long before I saw a pin that landed me at Hey Let’s Make Stuff, on a post where she makes Tissue Paper Flowers four different ways. In it, she describes how she turned to paper crafting for decorations for her wedding. And she made 500 flowers for table pieces.

Yup. 500.

I have a vague memory of making these before. Maybe with a babysitter? Anyway – I searched the craft bags (I store my craft supplies under my desk in Chipotle paper bags), and turns out I do not have any tissue paper.

Bummer. But I do have a bunch of shoeboxes that I was getting ready to cut down into good cardboard squares. And inside? Tissue paper!

Cori’s post about making Tissue Paper flowers is easy to follow. The photos step you through the folding, and while it isn’t rocket science, it is a little tricky to get started. I really liked how she showed how changing the cutting on the edges totally changes the flowers. And I love a forgiving craft – if you pulled too hard and tore the sheets a little, the flowers just ended up a little more rustic.

I made three in about three minutes. And then made myself stop.

Because suddenly 500 didn’t seem that weird after all.

 

March 21, 2017 by From a Tutorial I made this In the Craft Room

Sparkly Spring Sign

A sparkly spring sign to mark the new season comes together from colorful papers.

And we made it!

Seriously, Winter is a long one here in the Midwest.

It starts out as a minor change to the fall, and the beginning of it is caught up in the fun of the holidays. And then it gets colder. And darker.

The weathermen go crazy if it snows. And they go crazy if it doesn’t snow.

Spring-like weather teased us in February. And then Winter came back.

But today, it’s for reals. Even if it snows again (and history says it might), it still is Spring.

Time for a new door decoration!

Continue reading…

March 20, 2017 by I made this In the Craft Room Using my Silhouette Cameo

Sunday Scrolling: March 19, 2017

  • My sister and I had a Lego collection that was pretty impressive. I still have a small selection; she has a ton of old and even more new for her kids. While pursuing the weekly list at Shutterbean this weekend, I saw this – might be the first time I actually participate in a startup fund project.
  • My first job out of college was copy editing at a newspaper. Back when newspapers were still thriving. This is the kind of thing copy editors used to debate while they waited for new stories to come in to edit.
  • And this was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long, long time. The first kid is funny. The second kid is funnier. And the mom? Oh my goodness.
March 19, 2017 by Links and Things To Remember
I'm a Pre-Press Super Hero by Day. A mild-mannered nerd at night. The SuzerSpace is my place to showcase all that I enjoy and want to share.

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