Tasty Tuesdays: Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

I made this delicious soup last weekend.  What a great lunch for a cold winter day.  It was easy to make and is loaded with vegetables.

{ Original recipe from the Jan/Feb issue of Cooking Light.  I did adapt the recipe to include carrots and broccoli }

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon butter

- 1 cup chopped onion

- 3 tablespoons flour

- 3 cups chopped redskin potatoes

- 2 medium carrots, sliced

- 1-1/2 cups broccoli florets

- 1-1/4 cups low fat or skim milk

- 1 cup chicken broth or stock

- 1/2 cup water

- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese { I used a combo of sharp cheddar & gruyere }

- salt & pepper to taste

- green onion, chopped { optional }

Directions:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Sprinkle with flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add potato, carrots, broccoli, milk, broth, and water to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add cheese and salt and pepper to taste; cook 2 minutes or until cheese melts, stirring frequently. Top each serving evenly with 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped green onions, if desired.

Serve up and enjoy!  I thought the soup was especially good with a slice of delicious artisan bread. 

 



 

What did you cook this week?

 

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1.  Add a link to the post you are linking up back to this post.

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Wood Shim Sunburst Mirror

Happy Sunday guys.  Did you think I was ever going to post anything other than Tasty Tuesdays?  I wasn't so sure.  New job = very little time for blogging & blog reading...it's definitely taking some getting used to!

I made a wood shim sunburst mirror for my mom for Christmas.  I may be the last person in blogland to make a sunburst mirror, but I'm definitely a big fan of the sunburst.  I have a one hanging over my bed that I bought when I moved six years ago.  I remember it was one of the first accessories I bought.  Also, I recently was going through my portfolio from college, and in my very first studio class I used a sunburst mirror!  I was 18 years old and it was 1995.  We had to chose a quote for the project and design a room around it.  The quote I chose was "Keep your face to the sunshine and you can not see the shadows" from Helen Keller.  Hence - the sunburst mirror!  Anyway, my point is - I don't think sunburst mirrors are a trend - I think they are here to stay!

I pinned a sunburst mirror from Shelley of Crazy Wonderful a while ago and kept looking at it knowing I wanted to use her project as inspiration.  There are a lot of DIY sunburst mirrors out there, but in my opinion, Shelley's is definitely the best!  Her project and idea was the start and inspiration for mine.  Check out Shelly's mirror right here. 

I started with 8 packages of 15" long shims and a few bottles of Gorilla Glue.  I ended up only needing 6-1/2 packages of shims.

I glued the shims together in groups of 5 and 7.

Then I started laying out the pieces to determine the pattern and placement.

After laying them out, I realized that the pattern the shims were creating was going to be too big.  Talk about frustrated!  I ended up having to saw off a couple of inches from each grouping.  Ugh.  But, it went quicker than I thought - but my arm was a little sore!

Here's what I came up with:

Next, each piece was primed with Zinsser.

And then, each piece was painted with Valspar's Metal & Patina Glaze in Bronze.  I never even knew this stuff existed until I read about it in Shelley's post. 

Each piece got two coats of the glaze.

Then I cut a piece of plywood to be just about the same size as the mirror I bought.  I can't remember, but I think the diameter of the mirror is 18".  I drew two center lines on the plywood to help with the laying out the shim pieces.

Next up, gluing - this part took lots and lots of Gorilla Glue.

No pictures, but after all the pieces were down and glued, I put another board on top and then a few bricks and let it dry overnight.  The next day I used more wood glue to attach the mirror.  The mirror I bought was white, so I primed and painted it as well before I glued it down. 

Here is the finished product.  I'm really happy with how it turned out and more importantly, my mom loves it!



Have a great week!

I've linked this project up to Remodelaholic Friday

Tasty Tuesdays: Farro with Butternut Squash & Gruyere

Welcome to Tasty Tuesdays!

Have you ever cooked with farro before?  I hadn't, and I was really intrigued with this recipe from the January 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  { click here for the original recipe }



This recipe is like a risotto, except you use farro in place of the traditional arborio rice.

Ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced leek (about 1 large)

- 1 cup uncooked farro

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 1/2 cup white wine

- 4 cups water, divided

- 4 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash

- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage

- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

- 2 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup packed)

- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add leek; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently.

2.  Add farro and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3.  Stir in wine; cook 1 minute or until wine evaporates. Add 1 cup water; cook 8 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring frequently.

4.  Add 2 more cups water, 1 cup at a time, stirring until each portion is absorbed before adding the next (about 30 minutes total). Stir in remaining 1 cup water, squash, sage, salt, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until squash is just tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese; sprinkle with nuts.

Serve immediately.

I really enjoyed this meal - it was really hearty and made the perfect winter dinner.

What did you cook this week?

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1.  Add a link in the post you are linking up back to this post

or
2.  Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to the post you are linking up.  You will find the button and code on my side bar.  Thanks!

Tasty Tuesdays: Celebrating One Year!

As I was thinking about Tasty Tuesday this week, I realized that we have reached the one year anniversary of it being here @ 33 Shades of Green!  Thanks to all of you who come here each week to link up your wonderful recipes and those of you who stop by just to take a look at all the recipes.  And of course, thanks to Alicia of Project Alicia for passing along Tasty Tuesdays to me.

I thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the recipes I've posted over the past year.

{ Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Pasta }

I loved this pasta....I really need to make it again!

{ Beef, Cheddar, and Potato Pie }



Another favorite that I really want to make in the next couple of weeks.  A perfect winter meal.

{ Roasted Beet Salad }

I've been making this a lot lately....I never get sick of it.

{ Pizza Margherita }

How can you go wrong with this pizza?  You can't!  It's delicious and I loved the tomato sauce.

{ Spring Green Risotto }



Amazing risotto.

{ Shrimp Pad Thai }


{ Blueberry Crumb Bars }

These dessert bars taste like Summer.  I'm actually still enjoying these.  I wrapped individual squares in wax paper and froze them in a plastic freezer bag.  They still taste great even after being in the freezer.  When I want one, I just pull it out and let is defrost on the counter.

{ Chocolate Cream Cheese Bars }

{ Banana Cream Pie }

 

Those are just a few of my favorites.  And now, I am really hungry! 

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1.  Add a link in the post you are linking up back to this post.

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2.  Add the Tasty Tuesdays button to your post.  You will find the button and code on my sidebar.

Paper Craft: Home is Where the Heart Is

I made this easy project for my sister for her birthday.  Even though she lives in Chicago, she is definitely a Michigan girl at heart!

First, I used Google to search for a Michigan image.  I searched for "Michigan map outline" and then clicked on 'images" and had lots of options to choose from.  After I found an image I liked, I printed out a few different sizes until I found one that worked.  Once I had the right size, I printed out the image on card stock.

Then, I cut out the image, careful to cut out all of the black lines..

I used tape adhesive to attach my image to a piece of card stock.



Then I cut out a heart and attached.

I made this little banner on my computer:



I attached the banner to the mat and framed it up.  Pretty easy project, right?

My sister loved it.  In fact, it may have even brought a tear to her eye.

In completely unrelated news, I have one week at my new job under my belt!  So far, it's really been great.  Here is a portion of our interiors library:

I hope you are having a great week!