Raise your hand if you have a little leftover ham from the holiday. I had some ham and a ham bone that I heard was good for flavoring soup. It has been cold here in the Treasure Valley so I thought a nice ham and bean soup would warm us up.

Add all ingredients and stir.

See all the water on the top? Let the soup simmer for a few hours until it looks more like this:


Ham and Bean soup
*Jodi Jenson

1 bag (2 lbs) great northern beans
3 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs; diced
2 dried bay leaves
1 cup diced ham
1 ham bone; optional
1 can vegetable broth

Rinse beans and pour into dutch oven or stock pot. Cover with water. Cook on med-high until boiling. Once boiling, place lid on pan and turn off heat. Let stand for 1 hour.

Rinse beans again and put in dutch oven or stock pot. Cover with water. Add bay leaves, ham bone, diced carrots and celery.

Let simmer 2 -21/2 hour. Remove ham bone and cut meat from it. Add ham to soup (add more ham as needed; 1-2 cups) and vegetable broth. Let simmer 20 min to incorporate.

Serve with crackers or crusty bread. Enjoy! Printable recipe

Ever since I saw the movie Julie and Julia, I have been enticed by Boeuf Bourguignon. I think they said "Boeuf Bourguignon" in the movie at least 100 times. Not only is it fun to say, but it is even more fun to eat. In the movie, Julie burned Boeuf Bourguignon the first time she tried to make it (from Julia Child's cookbook) and had to make it again. I think I may have been hungry when I saw the movie because it looked absolutely delicious... I could almost smell it. I saw Julie and Julia a long time ago but when I came across this recipe last month in the Martha Stewart Living magazine all of those feelings of wanting to taste Boeuf Bourguignon came rushing back. Let me tell you, this soup did not disappoint!

On a side note, I took some of this soup to my neighbor across the street and she said this recipe is a keeper.


Boeuf Bourguignon Soup
*adapted from Martha Stewart Living

1 lb extra-lean stew meat
2 tsp. cornstarch
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
8 ounces white button mushrooms, quartered
3 carrots, 2 finely shopped and 1 cut into 3/4 inch cubes
3 shallots, minced
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
2 strips bacon, thinly sliced crosswise
1 Tbs. tomato paste
2 thyme sprigs
1 dried bay leaf
1 cup burgundy cooking wine
8 cups beef stock
2 cups water

Season meat with 1/2 tsp salt and some pepper. Coat with cornstarch. Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Lightly brown meat on all sides. Transfer to a plate.

Add mushrooms to pot. Cook until browned,about 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; add cubed carrot.

Add shallots, celery, bacon, and chopped carrots to pot. Cook until caramelize, about 6 minutes. Stir in tomato paste.

Return stew meat with plate juices to pot. Add thyme and bay leaf. Raise heat to high. Add cooking wine. cook, scraping p brown bits with a wooden spoon, until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Add stock and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until beef is tender, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Add reserved mushroom-carrot mixture. Bring to a simmer; cook until cubed carrots are tender. Season with salt. Printable recipe

My mantra each day is "I'm not Martha Stewart". I have to tell myself that because I think I wish I was. In reality she has a team of people that come up with and execute "her" ideas. I am just me with simple ideas. So, when I decided to make play dough for my son's pre-school Christmas party, I actually thought Martha would have been proud of me. It was easy to make and the kids loved it (although they all mixed the colors and ended up with an interesting brown color). Try it the next time your kids are bored. They will think you are amazing.


Cooked Play Dough (I doubled the recipe for each color)
*Ashli B.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water (add food coloring to the water before you add it to mixture)
1 Tbs. oil
1 Tbs. cream of tartar or alum

In a saucepan, mix all ingredients. Cook over medium heat until mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan. Knead at least 5 times or until play dough consistency. Keep in airtight container.
Printable recipe

Hello everyone. No, I wasn't in the hospital with a wicked illness or out of the country for the past three weeks. It was the holidays. I seriously didn't feel like I had 5 minutes to myself to blog or to do much of anything else...that's why my toenail polish is chipped and I have dark roots an inch long. Anyhoo onward and upward to a new year and a new start! This recipe is a keeper. It literally takes about 10 minutes to make and it is delicious. I first saw this recipe here and thought "easy breezy lemon squeezy" (or in this case lime squeezy) I hope you enjoy it too!

Restaurant Style Salsa (as in Chili's or On the Border)
*adapted from Pioneer Woman

1 can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes with juice
1 can (10 ounce) mild Rotel tomatoes (don't skimp on brand...it won't be the same)
1 can (10 ounce) original Rotel tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole Jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin (seeds and all)
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
one bunch cilantro (trim stems)
1/2 whole lime juice

Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like - I do about 10 to 15 pulses. Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour. Serve with tortilla chips or cheese nachos. Printable recipe