Bottom of the Bag

You know those broken chips that are always left at the bottom of the bag and nobody wants to eat them?  I just happened to have some baked Doritos and really didn't want to throw them out.  Hey, ya gotta pinch pennies where ya can.  

Use them as a garnish for taco soup, like this.

If you have potato chips, use 'em on top of tuna noodle casserole before you bake it.  Makes a nice crunchy topping.

There you have it, my tip for Tuesday.  Thanks for visiting.

Crockpot French Onion Soup for Sunday Dinner

There's nothing better than soup for dinner on a cold, snowy wintry evening, so when I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker site I decided to try it.  I've made French Onion soup on top of the stove, but never using my crock-pot.

Slice three large onions

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter

Combine onions and butter in crock-pot and cook on high for 30 minutes.

Mix 3 TB. flour, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 TB. Worcestershire sauce, 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Stir flour mixture and 4 cans (14-1/2 oz.) into onion mixture.  I didn't have canned broth so I used this

Cover and cook on low 7-9 hours or high 3-4 hours.

When you're ready to serve cut slices of French bread or in my case, Vienna 'cause that's what I had.  Top each slice with shredded mozzarella or Swiss.  I used slices of Swiss 'cause again, it's what I had.  Broil until cheese is melted.  Watch it carefully so it doesn't burn.

Ladle soup into bowls,  top with a slice of cheese toast and enjoy!

Although this is delicious, next time I make it I'm going to incorporate some changes.  I like to caramelize the onions on the stove first.  It gives the soup so much more color and brings out the sweetness of the onions.  I would also add a little sherry, which in my opinion adds a  more body.  Oh, and it was supposed to serve 8.  In whose world?  Not mine!  There were three of us that enjoyed a good size bowl full with, maybe a cup leftover.  Who eats just a cup of soup?  I would suggest doubling it if you're serving more than two people.

Thanks for visiting.

Pin It

Thirty One Giveaway

I wanted to take a moment and share a great giveaway with you.  Lori over at Thrifty Decor Mom is sponsoring a great giveaway from Thirty-One.  Go visit her, become a follower so you can enter to have a chance to win a Cinch It Up thermal tote like this.

Let's Make a Valentine Garland

It won't be long before Valentine's Day is upon us.  I haven't bothered decorating for V-Day in a few years now, in fact I even got rid of the few decorations I had in my garage sale last summer.  I'm not against this special day.  I just think going all out at Christmas (this is my favorite holiday), wears me out.  Well, this year I decided to put up a few things.................but wait a minute.  Did I not just say I got rid of everything?  Thank goodness I'm a crafter.  This morning I marched myself into my craft room and got busy.

I used some scrapbook paper that I found in Target's dollar spot last year, and I used some scrap pieces that I had on hand.  I don't throw out any pieces of paper.

Using my Cricut and my George Basic cartridge, I chose the heart and decided on 3".

Then I began cutting.  I wanted these to be double sided so I cut one heart with the paper face up and a second heart with the paper face down.  This is important so that the hearts match up when you glue them together.

I needed 7 hearts so I cut a total of 14.  I used 7 different papers.  Now that they are all cut out it's time to assemble.  I used 36" red and white baker's twine and Zig 2 way glue pen.  You can use any adhesive that you happen to have.  You may use more twine, it all depends on how long you want your garland.  The longer the garland the more hearts you will need.

Apply the glue and set the baker's twine near the top of the heart.

Lay the matching heart on top of the other one keeping the twine between them.  Just lightly press together.  Continue adding all the hearts in this fashion.  Leave a small space between each heart.

That's it.  It's all ready to hang.  I chose to hang mine on a mirror in our living room.  I used Simply Tacky that I bought at Hobby Lobby to hang it.  Just stuck it on the back of the mirror.

Thanks for visiting.  If you're a new visitor, I'd love it if you would "follow" me.  Have a great day!

I'm linking to these parties:

Beneath My Heart Best DIY Projects

Some Good Times: Some Good Stuff Party

Pantry Chalkboard

Remember this?

I picked it up at a garage sale waaaaaay back in June 2011.  I paid 2 bucks for it!  Since then I turned it into this.

I painted and distressed the frame the same time I was re-doing my kitchen cabinets.  Ever since then it has been sitting in the pantry leaning up against the wall waiting to be finished.  You see I'm not all that handy when it comes to using a power saw.  I'd like to keep my fingers..........I'm kinda of attached to 'em.  Come on.........I know it's an old joke, but a good one!  Anyway, back to my story.  Off to Lowe's I went to purchase a piece of wood to use as the chalkboard.  I ended up buying a 2'x4' piece of pine plywood that was 1/4" thick.  I also picked up (2) piano hinges that were 12" long and a satin nickel drawer cup pull.  Total cost $23.71.  Let's not forget the chalkboard paint that was $9.98 at Wal-Mart.  I refused to buy it at Lowe's.  Theirs was $14.98!  Ugh!  That price scared me.  I could have gone with a spray can for under 4 bucks at Wal-Mart, but I wanted to roll it on.  Besides it's mighty cold in my neck of the woods this time of year so can't spray outside and I like to breathe clean air inside my house so I wasn't about to spray inside.

After the hubs cut the piece to the appropriate size which was 24" x 36" he was kind enough to even sand it for me.  I could have done that, but hey, he offered.

Then I painted.  It required two coats with a drying time of 4 hours between coats.

I did this on a Saturday so by Sunday morning it was ready to be hung.  Enter the hubs for this job.

First he attached the piano hinges.  I had no idea what piano hinges were.  Yes, I had to ask for them in Lowe's.  They are used when you want something to swing open.  Oh, you already knew that?

Two pieces of wood were attached to the right and left sides of the fuse box, then the frame was attached to the left side using the piano hinges.

You can see how once the chalkboard is installed to the back of the frame it will hide the fuse box nicely, but still easily swing open when you need to gain access to the fuse box.

I, or rather the hubs attached my drawer pull upside down to use as a chalk holder.

Isn't it pretty and functional.  

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day!

 

I'm joining the party at:

Passionately Artistic