Soups were originally made from leftovers, or so history tells us. So, to go back on old times I came up with a quick, easy, and yummy leftover potato soup. Well, because I had leftovers and today is nasty, rainy, and dreary. Perfect day for pleasurable tummy warming soup.

Look at this soup like a base which in itself is tasty, but that you can improve on.

Ingredients:

Leftover Mashed Potatoes
Leftover Bacon Grease
Leftover Chicken Stock (or store bought)
Shredded Cheese
Salt
Pepper

Preparation Instructions:

Just slightly warm mashed potatoes. If they are cold then mashed potatoes tend to get hard or chunky, so then it is hard to tell how much chicken stock to add. If you add the chicken stock to cold mashed potatoes then you may over add and have very very thin soup. So, warm your mashed potatoes then slowly add chicken stock to desired viscosity (word of the day, must see how often I can add it to a sentence). Or desired thickness of your soup. Next, add bacon grease. I add about 3 to 4 tablespoons for flavor. If you have any of the bacon left from frying the bacon then I would crumble that up and add it too! But, who in their right mind has leftover bacon? (the reason I didn’t add it to the ingredient list) Now, the next part is entirely up to you, because people differ on how they like their cheese. On top or gooey melted inside? I prefer at this point to add my cheese, then stir all of these ingredients together and pop it in the microwave and nuke for about 30 seconds to a minute. If you prefer the on top method, then I would stir all the above ingredients together and nuke them and then sprinkle cheese on top.

Extra yummies to add:
green onions
bacon bits
more cheese
chives
sun dried tomatoes
leftover cheese artichoke spinach dip – yes, I tried this method and it was extremely tasty

I have been sewing for a gallery opening in March, and I have finally finished the purse I was working on. I just thought I would share this one project piece. I started out with the idea of just black with a cowgirlish print for pockets and the strap. The more I thought about it the more I wanted to add. So, I decided to do some fabric paint stenciling.

(Using freezer paper and a exacto knife)

I did a cowboy pic and some lettering…

I really liked this kokopelli petroglyph looking fabric. You?

(These are the pockets)

Finally, the finished project.

And, the other side.

(It says, “True Forward, Energy, Intention)

How many of you love to get good deals. ME ME ME! I just love sites like Groupon. Actually, Groupon was the first site that I remember ever seeing that was a daily deal site. Now they are popping up everywhere. I just thought since I like them so much, you might too. Here are a few of the daily deal sites that I frequent.

1.Zulily. Deals for Moms, Babies & Kids – up to 70% off!
2.Groupon. Coupons for your local area with savings up to 90%. Plus, make sure to look at other locations for their online deals.
3.Baby Steals. They sell one quality baby or maternity product every day at up to 80% off until it sells out.
4.One Kings Lane. Private sales on home decor, accessories and gifts. Prices are up to 70% off every day.
5.The Clymb. Each week, they bring world-class apparel, footwear and gear to their members at prices as low as 70% off retail.

I have personally bought from Groupon and One Kings Lane. The others I frequent and many times they have great deals and I have missed out because they are sold out or I am out of cash for the month. Boo-hoo! Have fun shopping!

Don’t miss the next homeschool swap. Head on over to “The Homeschool Post”and sign up.

Sign up by February 25th (this Friday), then get your present in the mail by mid-March. Photograph your loot when it arrives and post a thank you on your blog… then email them the link! Their next sign-up won’t be until April 2011. Mark your dates on your calendars!

Its all Ponyo’s fault. Well the movie Ponyo, which is exceptionally cute and well made. I am pretty sure I loved it a lot more than my kiddos. My son was watching it and I was folding clothes and I happened to look at the movie where the mom is making dinner for the kids and she makes ramen with ham and egg. I immediately had a craving for ramen. I knew that I didn’t have any ramen in the cabinets, but I thought I had some udon noodles, which I thought would work nice. Boy, was I disappointed when all I had was some wheat spaghetti noodles. Although, I was at the determined and salivating point where I was going to have something similar to what was served on the movie.

So, this is finally what I came up with. It was tasty for the quickness, but I will definitely try ramen or udon noodles next time.
Yummy!

Our first tea party!

Well, the kids actually drank juice!

I was so excited when I finally found a tea set for me and the kids. I have looked for a while now and all I could find was the cheapy plastic sets at Toys R Us or really expensive nice ones that I would always be afraid to use. Another blog steered me towards One King’s Lane. I would look on there from time to time and one day I just happened to notice they had china tea sets with extra plates and totally within my budget. I was super excited. I bought it without thinking twice. My little old man, loves them and asks all the time when are we having our next tea party. What he doesn’t know is that I am making scones this weekend for our next tea party. I cannot wait.

Today is Mega Swagbucks friday! WIN FREE PRIZES just by searching the web. SWAG BUCKS are digital dollars that you earn just for doing the things you’re already doing. Register now to get started. It’s totally Free.

Their are some mommy bloggers out there that buy almost all of their Christmas presents with Swagbucks. How cool is that?

So, last night at my Mom’s Night Out, I found out about Homeschool Work Boxes. I am so excited about trying this technic. My oldest I think would love this. He asks me every morning, “Mom, what are we doing after breakfast?”, “And, after that”, “and, after that”, etc. If I used this system he would know what he is doing for the entire day. I love it. I googled homeschool box system and it brought up all kinds of mom blogs with pics and ideas for this system. If you have a child that needs order or a list of what to do for practically every minute of every day then I highly recommend this. I hope once I am set up with mine then i will post pics.

Okay, when my first son was born we decided to play classical music every night via CD every time he went to bed. My daughter, she couldn’t stand anything playing and it would only keep her awake. For some odd reason for our new baby we picked to put Cinderella the movie on loop to play all night (audio only). So, whenever he gets up to nurse at night I hear Cinderella and I have heard it so much now that I have started analyzing it. This is when you know that you have heard way too much Cinderella. I have done this long enough that I even brought up aspects of it to my husband one night. I definitely think it might be time to switch movies, or at least put a CD of some such on.

So, what do you use if anything for your children?

Thoughts on Cinderella – If Anastasia knew that Cinderella talked to the mice, then she would have no doubt to think that Cinderella put Gus Gus in her tea cup, right?

Being in my thirties now, I have had plenty of time to realize that eating well is so much better for my body in so many ways. Normally, I do pretty good and here lately I have been doing close to excellent (in my book anyway). I had decided after this last baby that I was going to work really hard to lose the weight quickly and get in decent shape. I was doing great, even getting my kiddos switched over to eating raw fruits and veggies every night with dinner. This went on for a few months (that is pretty good, right?) Then, out of nowhere I get this huge craving for coca-cola, which I cannot have because of a nursing baby. Which I would also normally totally ignore anyway. I just couldn’t ignore it this time. I went to the store and bought a small case of caffeine free coke. What is wrong with me? Why is it so hard to eat well. Is it the variety? I honestly would not chalk it up to taste. I really love the taste of my smoothies in the morning and all of the raw fruits for lunch, plus the raw fruits and veggies for dinner. Plus, I know without a doubt that I have more energy and feel better overall when I eat this way, which honestly should be enough reason to eat better. So, I guess I have a question for any readers out there. Do you have any recommendations on how to stick with a healthy raw diet?