Great Giveaway

Head on over to PS I Quilt to sign up for a great giveaway. This is another great quilter that has been featured in the Moda Bake Shop.

Favorite Blogs

I am very new to the blogging world. I spend so much time looking at all the great bogs and being filled with ideas that I forget to update mine. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite blogs that I enjoy gettting great quilting ideas from. The link below is for the most recent post. http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/07/charmed-gift-bag.html
Today they posted a great gift bag made by a fabulous quilter named Kimberly Walus. She also has a very fun blog that I just came across this week. I have added ot to my list of blogs to follow so I can glean from her wealth of ideas. If you have the time you should check her blog out also. She is having a giveaway right now for a cute gift bag.
http://bittybitsandpieces.blogspot.com/
Our family has been making gift bags to use at Christmas for the last few years. We use very little wrapping paper. This was Roger's idea a few years ago becaus ehe thought it was a waste all the paper and tape we used at holidays to just be thrown away. I think this bag would be great for replacing the gift bags we use to give gifts to others. These would be easy to make a few in holiday fabrics to have on hand. I think it makes the gift extra special. I hope to make one in a few days and post a pic along with pics of our gift bags we use each year.

Lasagna Soup

Tonight I was tired after a day of cleaning. I wanted to make something at home but I was not interested in spending a lot of time in the kitchen. This recipe is another one of those staple recipes I keep the ingredients for in my pantry. I received this recipe from a good friend of mine back in Kansas. This recipe takes a few minutes to throw together.

Lasagna Soup

1 Lasagna dinner kit 

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 pkg of hamburger meat

2 cups of frozen corn 

5 cups of  hot water 

1/3 cup of grateed parmessan cheese

1 cup of zucchini (optional)

Brown hamburger with onion and garlic or however you brown hamburger. I do this in the bottom of my soup pot and then I add the other ingredients that way I don't dirty multiple dishes. When the burger is brown I add the water, tomatoes, corn and the seasoning packet from the dinner kit. I let this simmer on the stove for 30 minutes. 5 minutes before serving I add the noodles from the kit, zucchini and the cheese. When the noodles are done enjoy this with your whole family. 

Smoky Corn Chowder

Today was a cool day. I opened my windows to air out the house and enjoy the cooler weather. It made me think of one of my favorite cool weather soups. I keep the items to make this soup in my home at all times.

1 can of cream corn
(I use the cream corn can and refill it with the following ingredients)
1 can of frozen hashbrown potatoes
1 can of frozen corn
1 can of milk
3/4 of a cup of diced ham
1 cap full of liquid smoke

Heat this to a slow boil on the stove.
5 minutes before serving add 1 1/2 cups of shededed cheese to soup. Stir until melted and serve this great soup for lunch to your hungry bunch. This recipe serves 3-4 people. I usually double it and save the leftovers. I have even froze them for a rainy day.

Taco Soup

This is a favorite recipe of mine that I like to make for dinner. There is usually enough for leftovers the next day which is always a good thing. I hope you enjoy this one.

Nikki’s Taco Soup

1 can Rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 onion

Puree all ingredients and then add:

1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained
1 can pinto beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can creamed corn
2 cups frozen corn or 1 can
1 envelope ranch dressing
1 envelope taco seasoning

Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded cheese and sour cream. Optional: Serve over Fritos or Tostitos for a yummy crunch.

This is a quilt I finished this last weekemd. It is a traditional double Irish chain quilt. I tried a new quilting pattern. I like to freemotion quilt with no set pattern. I basically like to doodle. You can not see the fabric real well but it had slight swirls to it. I liked the look so I repeated it in my quilting. I liked the effect so much I wanted to keep it for myself. It was hard to let it go. The lady in this picture was the reciepnt of this beautiful creation. It was a gift from her daughter for her 50th wedding anniversary. It was a joy to help my friend by making this gift for her mother. You can see more of my quilts at my website. www.nikkittyquilts.com