Tag: quick

Recipes

Spicy Taco Soup

Jessica Smith

What I’m about to share with you is possibly one of the yummiest recipes of all time. That’s right, folks… it’s Spicy Taco Soup time.

I discovered this recipe years ago online and have since altered it to perfection. It is a staple in our house during the colder months and a staple at my mom’s house at Christmas time. It’s also way easy to make and not terribly bad for you. #Winning!

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs Ground beef/chicken/turkey: Use whichever meat you’d like and however much meat you like. I usually use 1.5 lbs because I like my soup to have a lot of meat in it.
  • 32 oz. Beef stock/chicken stock: Depending on whether you choose to make your soup with ground beef or ground bird, grab the corresponding broth to go with it. Also, I liked to get low sodium broth. It doesn’t affect the taste and it is way better for you.
  • 2 cans of petite diced tomatoes: Feel free to use petite diced tomatoes with green chillies or onions in it. Tomatoes must be petite!
  • 1 can of pinto/black beans: I use black beans in my soup and only one can. The original recipe I found online called for two cans of pinto and two cans of black beans. That was way too much for us. Grab low sodium beans if you can.
  • 1 can of sweet yellow corn
  • 1 cup chopped onion: Frozen or fresh works. You can add more if you’d like.
  • 1 cup chopped green/red/yellow peppers: Frozen or fresh works, and any color works! You can add more if you’d like.
  • 2 tbsp Red Pepper flakes
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • HOT SAUCE!!!: Add as much as you can handle 🙂

Directions:

In a frying pan, cook up the meat of your choice with the onions. Drain the grease.

In a large soup pot on medium to high heat, combine tomatoes (do not drain), corn (drain & rinse), beans (drain & rinse), peppers, red pepper flakes, and meat. Add in your broth (Note: I add a whole “box” of broth, but you can add however much you’d like. It will change the consistency of the soup. So, if you like chunky soup, don’t add too much. If you like a soupier soup, add all of it.)

Add hot sauce to taste.

Heat until hot! Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream on top — maybe even a few crushed up tortilla chips! Enjoy!

The best part about this soup is it is easily customizable without totally altering the taste. If you want more meat, add more. If you want less broth, add less. If you love green peppers but hate corn, the recipe will still turn out. I made it last night with three cans of petite tomatoes (total rebel, right?) and no green pepper (I forgot to buy them… oops!), and it was still delicious.

What are your favorite soup recipes? I also make a mean rustic tomato soup. Yummo. No soup beats my parents’ homemade chicken noodle, but Spicy Taco Soup is definitely my next favorite.

Craft Projects, Quick and Easy Crafts

Clothespin Candles

Jessica Smith

Pinterest is amazing, huh? I see some of the cutest stuff on Pinterest and I love when I get around to trying my own version of these creative ideas. One idea I’ve been wanting to try is making a candle holder out of a tuna can and clothespins…. except I think using a tuna can is sort of icky. Don’t get me wrong, I love tuna — but I think I would forever convince myself my candle would smell like fish, so that is a no go.

I made a project out of a mason jar that I haven’t shared with you quite yet ( it needs one last thing that I can’t seem to find anywhere!), but because of that project I had an extra lid lying around. Perfect!

I wanted to make a permanent candle holder, so I pulled out my hot glue gun to make sure no clothespins would fall of this bad boy.

I placed a bead of glue on the inside rim of the lid, then popped the clothespin on top. Once it dried, I did the same thing on the outside.

More than 30 clothespins later, I had a nice form for my candle holder.

Time to embellish — I pulled out my roll of twine and carefully glued it in the naturally created ring in the middle of the clothespins.

As a final touch, I added gold buttons around the twine and a small, glass tea light holder. Voila!

The fun thing about this candle holder are the shadows it makes on the wall and ceiling.

I also like the rustic look that the clothespins give off.

Craft Projects

Mod Podge Jewelry Box

Jessica Smith

I picked up this mini chest of drawers months ago when I went to the local art store closing. Originally $9, I paid $2.25 because the whole store was 75 percent off.

It’s been sitting in my craft room for months. MONTHS. And I’ve been so good at getting rid of things and tidying up my space down there — I’m so close — that each time I looked at it I wondered why I bought it in the first place and if I should just donate it to Good Will.

Well, I’m glad I kept it around because I was finally inspired to tackle this project and I love how it turned out.

1. Buy a little wooden chest of drawers at any craft store.

2. Remove the drawers and paint the outer structure of your box. I painted mine with chalk board paint.

3. Remove the little wooden knobs to prep the surface for Mod Podge.

4. Mod Podge paper or fabric onto each drawer face. I used sheets from a dictionary, making sure to choose pages with illustrations on each one. Place a layer of Mod Podge (I used glossy) on each drawer, then the dictionary page (already cut to size), and then one last layer of Mod Podge. Smooth out the bubbles (I used my fingers) and let dry. Then do one last coat of Mod Podge to give each drawer face a nice seal.

5. If you’d like to, paint the rest of your box. This probably should have gone with step 2, but whatever. For my box, I lightly brushed on my black paint so you could still see the wood grain through it. I also painted the edges of each drawer face so the black carried through and it looked a bit distressed. Paint your knobs as well, then re-attach with wood glue and a small hammer. They should fit right back into place.

6. Let everything dry overnight, then put your chest of drawers back together!

{A Smith of All Trades} Dictionary Page Jewelry Box