Taco Soup from Create and Decorate???

I picked up a Create and Decorate magazine on a whim a few weeks ago.  It is the January/February 2012 issue.  The snowman on the front caught my eye.  My decorating taste is very eclectic but he would fit in just fine at my house!

I used to get this magazine when I did a lot of decorative painting.  They always have a project or two in there and still do.  What I was most amazed about is a new regular feature called  "for your country kitchen".    The recipe in this issue is for "Taco Soup".  The recipe came from Lyn Slade at Charlotte's House B&B Bolton, MA.

I made it today and it is really awesome!

I added some grated cheddar and a few multi-grain tortilla chips to mine.  It is really delicious.

Here is the recipe.

2 lb ground beef or turkey
1 T oil
1 large onion chopped
2 ribs of celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
15 oz can of kidney beans ( I used beans in a chili sauce)
15 oz can chopped tomatoes ( I used 2 10 oz cans of Rotel because we like spicy)
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet dry original Hidden Valley Ranch mix
3 cups water

Brown the ground meat, drain and set aside.  In the same pan add the oil and brown the onion, carrot, and celery.  I put all of the ingredients in a soup pot and simmered it for a few hours.    You can garnish the soup with chips, cheese and sour cream.

It is a perfect soup for a cold winter day!  Enjoy!

TAST Button Hole Stitch

We are in week two and soon will be in week three of  TAST.  I joined this challenge because I want to learn embroidery stitches.  I was doing the stitches on a scrap piece of fabric but was encouraged to create something with them by another person in the challenge.  I decided to make a small heart from a scrap quilted pillow case.  The fly stitch was week one and I did it on the seam of the quilted piece.

 

I used waste canvas which was pretty cool to use.  I always wondered how they got the stitches so uniform.  It is always about the tools!

This week we did the buttonhole stitch.  I did the buttonhole stitch around the yo yo flowers in yellow.

It is more fun to be creating something than to just try the stitches! Check out the other stitchers on the TAST Flickr site!

Wool Felting

Always wanting to try something different... I started playing with a wool felting needle and some wool! 

I love making the wool felted balls.  So fun!

Blessings

I have been thinking about my word for the 2012 year.  I wanted it to be something positive and forward moving.  I love the philosophy of thinking yourself into what you want to have happen in your life... but I am a bit pragmatic. 

I have been reminded through situations in my life that I am already blessed beyond measure and that there is little that I should want to change.  I work in a church office and we often have people come in asking for help.   I don't directly deal with most of the folks but I do hear the conversations that take place.  There is a fine line between helping someone, enabling someone, and just plain being taken advantage of by someone.  It takes loving discernment to recognize what someone truly needs.   One conversation I overheard was that if a young woman did not get money to pay her electric bill she was thinking about prostituting herself.... I was sick to my stomach and get sick just thinking about it... she was serious. 

Our pastor in his wisdom always reminds us that we cannot fill every need and will never be able to... we do have a Thrift Shop and a Food Closet in our church and we also have connections to resources to get financial help to those in need.  So we do offer alot to the people that ask for help.

As I was thinking about my word for the year and the path that I would like to take I realized that I need to look back and not just forward. So I have my word for this year..."blessings".  I have been so blessed.  With all of the media advertising in front of us it is easy to focus on what we don't have... so I am going to be very purposeful and think about what I do have.  I am going to focus on the positive things that have happened in my life, all of the awesome people in my life, and all of the wonderful "things" that I already have!  I found this quote on Pinterest by Jamie Mitchell.  I think it sums it all up!

I wish for blessings in 2012 for all of you my blog friends and most of all that you will find lots of  "truth, beauty and quiet joy"!

Circus Fun

Lots of beads and lots of fun!  The multi colored beads were a shared effort with a bead friend.  She was going to make a bracelet with them and decided not to... so I couldn't resist putting them on a neckpiece!

They remind me of a Circus!

Lots of color and texture!

These polymer beads have a wooden base...

Color and fun from the front...

To the back!

Circus Fun!

Bits and Pieces

I love putting together bits and pieces of pretties together. 

Makes me think of summer with the aqua polymer beads...

and sea shell charms...

and an old button to hold it all together...

This one will brighten up a winter's day!

Take a Stitch Tuesday

Ok so I am trying something new!  I have been interested in doing some embroidery work.  I really love crazy quilts and want to make some small crazy quilt pieces... maybe even some jewelry if I can do something small enough. 

I have done alot of cross stitch but not alot of embroidery work so I found a challenge at Pin Tangle to learn and try a new embroidery stitch every Tuesday.  The challenge is called Take a Stitch Tuesday or TAST.  There are 100's of others joining in and there is a TAST Flickr site with photos.  Check out the beautiful needlework on these links.  Remember I am a beginner so my stitches are not so breath taking!   So here we go!

My first Fly Stitch

 

I am left handed so I always have to think through directions.  This was easy for me though.  I can tell that it will take time to have a comfort level with a stitch... especially to get it consistent... but I am  not unhappy with my first try at it.

I also tried another stitch that was referenced in Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary  the Oyster Stitch.

This took me awhile to get but again I am happy with my three little oyster stitches!  It is alot of fun and takes me back to my childhood.  My Grandma used to make embroidered pillow cases.  Wish I would have kept one of them!  Happy creating to you!