Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Amazing! Curried Sweet Potato Soup

Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring or bland. I found a recipe yesterday for what seemed like a really simple soup with few ingredients. I like simple. Sadly, I can't locate the original recipe, but once I do, I'll add the link here to that site!

Ingredients
* 1 large onion (chopped)
* 2 sweet potatoes (cubed)
* 1 apple (we used Fuji, cubed)
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* Pinch of Salt
* 2 tsp Curry Powder
* 3-4 cups of broth (we used Better Than Broth Chicken)

That's it! First, you need to heat up the oil in a large pot (nonstick is best). Sauté the onion until lightly browning. Add the sweet potatoes and apple with the salt and curry powder. Cook until you see that some of the sweet potatoes and apple scorch on the bottom of the pot and stir often.

sweet potato love
Don't worry if the pot seems dry, as soon as you see some scorching, add the 3-4 cups of broth and bring to a boil. We used about 3 because I wanted a thicker soup. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. I chopped them into small pieces, so they cooked quickly. Once the potatoes are soft, puree the soup.

hand blender works best
If you don't have a hand blender, you can transfer everything from the pot to a blender. You can puree as much or as little as you want. I like a fairly smooth soup.

time to eat!
I should've waited for my boyfriend before digging in, but I had a taste and WOW. The flavor of this soup is so amazing. I had a bowl right away. And then another. I wanted more, but decided it would be just as good tomorrow. Can't wait for lunch tomorrow!

yummy-goodness

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Etsy Shop!

After hearing from various people that I really should open an Etsy shop, I finally did! I made several flower clips today that could be used for headbands, as baby props, on shirts or bags and even flip flops!

just a few that I made today
I made this as requested by a friend for her photo shoots and I hope she likes them! They were fairly easy to make, but quite time consuming because I had to cut out about a million circles in satin, tulle and cotton. I managed to get strings of hot glue EVERYWHERE. Am I the only one that has this issue?

my favorite one
These were a lot of fun to make and I still have a lot of fabric, so hopefully things will pick up at my Etsy Shop! I attached alligator clips to the backs of the flowers so that they can be easily added to almost anything.

alligator clip
These are the only things in my Etsy Shop right now, but I'm hoping to add duvets, pillow cases and jewelry items soon! If you or anyone you know has ideas or things they need, I would love to make it for them. Just let me know!
fun colors!

Your feedback is always welcome! :)


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Window Herb Garden. Love.


It's so nice to have herbs in my kitchen!

I, like many of you, have officially become a slave to Pinterest. I try not to, but I end up spending at least an hour every day looking at the amazing DIY projects people are doing, new recipes to try and funny pictures to bring a smile to my face. I have repinned so many DIY projects that it will take me the rest of the year to get around to all of them...except by then, the list will have just grown larger!

A few weeks ago, I came across this beauty:


Greenhouse Window - Martha Stewart

I knew I HAD to do this with my own kitchen window, but traded the glass shelves for easier-to-work-with and far less expensive wood. I embarked on my mission by first buying some window film online so that I could get as much light as possible through the window without worrying that my neighbors (or potential thieves) could see into my townhouse. I decided to go with the Etched Leaf Window Film from Amazon (free shipping!) and I'm glad I did because I love it! It was really easy to apply and it lets so much light in.


My window - before (nice view, eh?)

I picked up some wood from Home Depot and had them cut the pieces to fit my window. I also bought some moulding to serve as the "ledges" to hold up the shelves. I spray painted everything white for a crisp look. After screwing in the ledges to the sides of the window walls, all that was left was to pu the shelves on top. Of course, after the first shelf went in, I noticed that it wasn't quite level, despite my checking the level of the ledges. Turns out my house is lopsided. Something to do with the ground being clay here in Texas, causing foundation issues. Good to know!

I had to reattach the ledges to be level with the window, which seems strange, but it's more pleasing to the eye. I decided to leave them loose rather than attaching them, so that if I needed to remove them to clean the window, it would be easy.


Almost done!

I wanted a little valance at the top of the window for a finished look, so I sewed this one up in just a few minutes with some leftover fabric. Cute, right?

I guess now's a good time to mention that I completely failed at documenting the items needed for this project/cost. I think it was around $75 for everything, including the herbs/planters, which is not bad!

I bought several different pots for the herbs for variety. They were all about $5 each at Marshalls and TJMaxx (LOVE those stores!). The last step was planting the herbs and placing them on the shelves.

Herbs at your fingertips!

I love the way this turned out and I've already gotten a lot of use of the fresh herbs. One DIY project down, about 3 million to go!