Grilled Cheese Soup!

So I love soup...and I've decided to see how many food I enjoy that i can turn into soup. This was my first test, and, total success! This was pretty basic and super easy!

In a pan cook 1/4 of a pound to 1/2 pound of chopped up bacon, depending on how much you want in the soup. I am a major fan of bacon so i used closer to half a pound. Strain the bacon out of the pot leaving the grease in.

Next add one onion chopped to the pot and cook til good and tender. Once that's done add 1/4 cup of flour and whisk to start your roux. Cook it for a couple of minutes to cook off the flour flavor.

Add 1 box of chicken broth and 1 cup of half and half. Cook til its thickened to the desired thickness. Whisk constantly and be patient. I promise it will thicken. Once that is done all you do is add 1 can of diced tomatoes, the bacon you cooked earlier and 12 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese. stir it all together til the cheese is all melted. This is best served with large homemade croutons. 

Get your cooking on!

The Hobby Housewife

Apple Pie...Personalized

So if you can't tell already...i love apples. Any and all kinds, however, my favorite apple food is my apple pie. This is the same recipe that I use for my apple pie as far as the filling goes. The only difference is that in this recipe i broke it up to make turnovers...kind of.

The recipe itself is relatively simple. You need about 3lbs of apples, peeled and sliced. I say use whatever kind of apple you like best. I usually use Fuji, but Honeycrisp are also yummy! You also need 1 Tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, and 3/4 c brown sugar. Thats right, brown sugar!

Now mix all the ingredients together. If you were making a pie you would pour the mixture in one pie crust, top with the 2nd shell and bake about 40 minutes at 425 degrees. However these are personal pies! You will need enough crust for two double crusts, that's a total of four, for the mathematically challenged. Roll out your crust and cut the first into six slices.

get one slice and top with the apple mixture. Make sure you give yourself enough edge space that you can take a second slice and pinch it together to the first slice of crust.

Place on a baking sheet that has been covered in waxed paper. Cut a slit in the top over each pie and bake at 425 degrees til golden brown. It should take around 20 minutes. Let them cool, or serve warm, but either way you don't have to share your pie!

Happy Baking!

The Hobby Housewife

Glitterific Pumpkins

So this year I decided that it was alot of work to carve a pumpkin and they wouldn't last very long. Plus I wanted something that would be able to stick around through Thanksgiving without looking like I left my Halloween decorations out. From this thought I came to the idea of ...glittering them!

I had no idea how my end product would look, all I knew was I was super excited about my plan. It turned out to be pretty easy, and now I'll be able to let you know what you can do that I didn't. First is the supplies. Obviously you need a pumpkin, or several, depending on how many your gonna do.

I was able to buy the rest of it at a craft store. Its just spray adhesive and glitter. You will need a larger thing of glitter, and you'll use it all. You can do them in any color you choose. I did mine in orange, black, and this strange but pretty mauve color...I promise its not your grandma's curtains mauve. Now I didn't get these but i HIGHLY recommend you purchase rubber gloves, like what you use when you scrub your floor or do the dishes. My hands, and the hair on them, would have thanked me. The adhesive spray I used was pretty sticky, and it took me a little while to scrub all the glitter and glue from my hands. Now on to the instructions!

Work in sections when you do this so you don't have to worry about the glue drying. Spray a section of the pumpkin with the adhesive.

Sprinkle the glitter on the pumpkin and then use your hand to spread the glitter and rub it in. Continue around the rest of the pumpkin. The bottom isn't really important since no one will see that part.

give it a couple of minutes to finish drying while you do the rest of the pumpkins. Once done, decorate and enjoy!

Have fun decorating guys!

The Hobby Housewife

Apple Cider Cupcakes

One of my favorite things about fall is apples. Apples are in season so you can go yourself and pick them at an orchard, it also means apple cider! I love apple cider so much I could easily make myself sick by drink too much. Since I love it so much I also love finding ways to put it in my cooking and baking.

These cupcakes are super simple. They are cheater cupcakes for when your in a rush. Its only five ingredients! I did use a box cake as my starter. Cake mixes go on sale at the grocery store all the time so the next time you see them on sale, pick up a couple! You never know when you'll have the urge for cake. I don't always use mixes, but sometimes you just don't have the time.

1 package white cake mix

2 tsp apple pie spice

3 eggs

1 1/4 c. apple cider

1/3 c. applesauce

Add all the ingredients together and mix! Fill 24 paper cupcake wrappers and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for twenty two minutes. Make sure you rotate your cupcakes halfway through!

Once there done wait about a minute and then pull them out of the pan. Let cool completely before you frost them. I used caramel frosting sticking with the fall theme of candied apples. Cream cheese frosting goes on these really well too though!  Happy Baking Everyone!

The Hobby Housewife 

Taco Soup

At the start of September I generally start what I refer to as Soup Sunday. I love soup and love to create new soups and what better day than Sunday?!  Its football day, its the day to attend church so to me soup is a great thing for getting family together.  Therefore in the tradition of this I decided to start blogging about my many soups. This week was Taco soup. Its a lot closer to being called Taco Chili, but, po-tay-to, po-tah-to. So for the first installment in my Sunday Soup Recipes here it is:

2lbs ground beef

1 onion, chopped

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can chili beans

1 can rotel

1 can corn, drained

1 can tomato sauce

1 1/2 c. chicken or beef broth

2 Tbsp chili powder

3 Tbsp cumin

So start with a large pot at med high heat. cook the meat and onions, until the meat is completely browned. Once that is done just add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil. Once it starts to boil, turn the burner down and simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Easy right?! So simple and yet super tasty! I suggest serving with mexican blend cheese and sour cream. I also served mine with cornbread muffins.

It takes no time to cook up and in no time I was watching the football and enjoying the Chiefs first win...but my thoughts on that can be saved for another blog day. So enjoy guys!

The Hobby Housewife

Falling Into Fall

So this year for the fall holidays I decided to get a little creative with my front yard decorating. The theme I am going for is pumpkins, pumpkins, and more pumpkins!  I will be doing a few more installments of my pumpkin decors, but first on the list...Hanging pumpkins. I have two giant trees in my front yard and wanted to figure out a  way to decorate them to for fall.  So I went to the store and picked up a couple of packages of fake mini pumpkins. Figuring that the real ones would start to get sad looking eventually and knowing my luck they would break the yarn and I would wind up with a lump on my head. I'll show you how I did this...and I will tell you, its a two person job. I got my wonderful husband to help me...he has a much better throwing arm.

First thing first. We found a rock in our rock garden that had a hole in it that was perfect for tying yarn to. I think any rock that you can firmly tie yarn to will work.  Don't cut the yarn, you'll probably need more than you think.  Once you have it tied pick a spot on your tree to aim for and throw!  It took us a coupple of tries with a few of them but once you get it, cut the yarn from the skein at the height you want your pumpkin to hang.

Tie the pumpkin by its stem as that will be the most sturdy spot.  I was able to loop the yarn just under the stem so it stays nice and tight. Then you'll cut the other side of the yarn from the rock a little bit higher than the pumpkin. Then you will tie the two strings together so that it will hang from the tree.

I don't recommend doing this on a windy day. I did but next time I will choose a calmer day.  Once you get the rest of your pumpkins done step back and enjoy the work you've done! I can't wait to show you the rest of my pumpkin projects this season! Enjoy and love a little something different about life every day.

Have a great fall day!

The Hobby Housewife

The Hillbilly Taco

So even though I was born a yankee in Michigan, growing up in the Kansas City area there is barbecue on every block practically. Between that and my stepdad who is from Tennessee, the hillbilly in me has grown and thrived to make me love all things fried and to add a southern twist to anything I can get away with.  The basics of the taco are pretty simple. A normal taco usually consists of a shell, meat, beans, cheese, lettuce, and sauce.  This taco has pretty much the same ingredients:  shell, meat, beans, lettuce and sauce. See what I mean, its a taco, hillbilly style.

So we'll start with the meat. Pulled pork is super easy to make and you really only need three ingredients.

1 onion, sliced

3-4lbs pork, either a pork roast or country ribs

1 cup apple cider

just add all the ingredients to your slow cooker and set it on low for 10 to 12 hours or high for 5 to 6 hours.

Once that is done you just shred the meat by pulling it apart with two forks, and trust me it will fall apart so easily.

Next comes the sauce. You can use anything from a bottle or create your own bbq sauce. Here is my recipe if you feel adventurous.

1 cup ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider

2 tbsp molasses

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp garlic

Combine all of this in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved.

For the shell I just used a corn cake.  Just pick up a box of corn muffin mix and double the amount of milk. Then you make them just like pancakes! See...easy!

The beans are just baked beans, use your favorite. Then just fix up some coleslaw and you are ready to create a Hillbillly Taco!

So the order goes: cake, beans, meat, sauce, and then top with the slaw and Voila! You have a plate of yummy delicious barbecue with a mexican flair!