Dutch Meatball Soup

This was a classic growing up and it is especially handy to have in the freezer on days like this. The thermometer is still reading minus 22C at 930am.
It's a pretty simple recipe but you need to get the ingredients from the Dutch store. And you need to be able to read a bit of Dutch or find a package that has the English translation on it.
I'll spell it out for you, just in case you want to make it yourself.

*I usually make a double batch

You need these ingredients. Dutch Vegetables (2) Vermicelli (1/2 pack) and Vegetable soup (2)

Boil amount of water on package. Meanwhile mix lean ground beef, a few bread crumbs and salt and pepper and make tiny meatballs and drop into water. Boil for about half an hour.

Then add soup mix and vegetables and one can of tomato paste. If you want more noodles add a bit of Vermicelli but remember it puffs up a lot.

Enjoy immediately or freeze for future consumption. Eet smakelijk!

An Evening of Card Making

I recently spent an lovely evening of Card making with my local Stampin Up Instructor. Thanks Micheline. It was my first time attending such an event and as I'm not that familiar with the products, it was fun to see what's new in the catalogues and learn some new techniques.


I adored the coloured and printed vellum that this card used.

This card used a fun froggie and the best part was that the clear hearts could be coloured with markers! Who knew?

I loved the layering technique of this next card and the coloured image was beautiful also...

The next card used a beautiful die and lovely foil paper. I left it kind of plain as I'm not sure how I will use it so I haven't added a sentiment and additional hearts yet....

The background is a really subtle embossing folder. Hard to see in the photo.

So lots of fun and I'm looking forward to trying this again.

Nineteen in Nineteen and a recipe

Well I'm finally getting around to thinking about my Nineteen in Nineteen. I was considering not doing it this year as it keeps getting longer, but its fun to refer to over the year and I look back on them to see how I did.

So a couple of my goals last year were a little unrealistic eg. 100 Blog posts and Participate in 4 challenges a month. Even my book count was a little too high so I've redone what I think is a bit of a challenge but also doable.

I've already started the year off by finishing 2 books, I've got 10 on request from the library and I'm currently reading this one...

I'm only a few chapters in and I think its going to be excellent. Sam was born with a rare genetic condition that resulted in red eyes. That's all I'm going to say about that but I think its a rare jewel like Wonder. With a strong start, I think I can meet this year's goal of 40 books. I'd also like to participate in a Readathon which I think is just basically laying around all weekend and giving yourself permission to ignore the chores and read.

I also would like to instigate a bit of a cleaning routine. This one looks like it is pretty straight forward....

Some of them are so complicated, forget it. I'd be spending hours everyday with 2 shedding dogs. I also want to try and not leave dishes in the sink. My dishwasher is broken and I don't want to replace until I redo kitchen so it's a challenge to not let them drip dry.

You can read my other goals on the sidebar if you're interested but another one that I've started already is only use the freezer for main meal item and other things if possible for the month of January. Early in the year, I cleaned out and organized it with oldest items up front and its been working great now that I know what's in there and I don't grab meat etc just because its on sale. It will be interesting if it lowers my grocery bill. Which leads me to turkey... I usually have one or two on hand but I've cooked them up and had a lot of chopped meat left over which I used up in this yummy casserole..

Turkey Noodle Casserole

2 cups of cubed turkey or chicken
1 condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (light is ok)
chopped onions/mushrooms/red pepper (optional)
1/2 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste
I add at least a cup of milk or water as it tends to dry out in a large open casserole
16 ounces of egg noodles, cooked

Mix all together and place in a greased 9x13 baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or you can freeze unbaked (but then you'd be back to having another freezer item to use up, lol)

You could put some buttered breadcrumbs on top or crushed Ritz crackers but I thought it was already decadent enough.


I should also say that I'm running another major Fundraiser in April for Autism Dog Services so a lot of my time and energy will be dedicated to that. 

December Card Swap

I was going to title this the first card of 2019 but it seems as if we always work a month behind. We have the month of December to create the card and exchange them near the first of the following month. So while we are keeping the tradition alive, this is still last year's cards. Whomp!

Keri created a shadow box type card using Birthday Chicks from MFT, that a certain friend may have gifted her from Florida. Don't you love the rainbow ice cream cones? She had to cut some of the stamps to make it work. I love it!

I'm always looking for more ideas for Sympathy/Thinking of You and I had this new stamp and die set from Your Next Stamp that fit the bill.

These cards seem simple but there are a lot of steps. I fussy cut the vase and coloured the flowers with Copics. The bow is sparkled but you can't see that too well.

Cherry Shortbread Squares

I thought I would post another Christmas staple even though I'm sure everyone is into NO SUGAR mode as it is Jan 1st. This was a later addition to my Christmas baking repertoire and now I have to make it every year. It doesn't always look the best (the condensed milk goes brown) and the bottom sometimes separates from the top but it's so good, I have to make them. Another fun fact - well not really fun is I always buy candied cherries at the start of the baking season thinking I need them for this recipe, when actually its maraschino cherries that I need. The recipe calls for red and green but you can get away with just red. (How long do cherries last anyway??? They're not a high demand item)

Cherry Shortbread Squares
1 cup butter
2 cups all purpose flour (or slightly less as mixture is dry)
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup white sugar
2/3 cup coconut
2/3 cup red and green maraschino cherries, cut up fine
1 can condensed milk

Butter an 8inch pan. Cream butter and sugar together. Add flour. Pat dough evenly into prepared pan.
Pierce with a fork every half inch. Bake 30 min at 350F.
Combine remaining ingredients. Spread evenly over shortbread. Bake 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan and cut into squares. *I cut the edges off so it looks nicer but they're still yummy!

If you want to see the process I posted this recipe in 2012. Whoops!