Wednesday, February 29, 2012

EASY Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

Ugg.  Everyone at my house is sick with an awful cold that just seems to never want to leave.  I have taken 2 out of my 4 children to the doctor for ear infections, and that is never fun.  And so as I was debating about dinner last night my hubby called with a hoarse voice and lots of coughing just to see how we were doing. "Light bulb!"

 "How about some homemade chicken noodle soup?" I asked
 "Mmmm..., with homemade noodles?"  He asked. 
"Of course!"  I answered. 
"Yeah, that sounds good. " He replied.
And so my dinner plans were made!   A chicken noodle soup with a homemade noodle recipe that comes from my MIL, who is an AMAZING cook.  This is the chicken noodle soup my husband grew up with and lets face it, one that I haven't been able to beat.  It is guaranteed to have magical healing and soothing properties for the worst of cold symptons (if only temporarily.) 


The only problem was that it was 3:00 and I didn't have time to slow cook my chicken and make my own chicken stock...  So on to plan B.  I ran to my local grocery store and purchased a rotisserie chicken and two boxes of chicken stock.  And started cooking.

First pull all of the meat off of your rotisserie chicken.  Feel free to snack as there is more than enough chicken for your soup.  Combine chicken and chicken stock in a large soup pan.  Also if you want you can pour in the drippings from your chicken using a strainer to avoid any unwanted bones from falling in.  You can also add any additional fresh veggies here and let them cook now too.  I was too lazy.


On to the Homemade Noodles your ingredients are:
2 tbs. of milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
2 + cups of sifted flour

Combine the first 3 ingredients into your mixing bowl. 


Next sift your flour.  I use my MIL's method using a wire basket and a sheet of parchment paper and 1 cup of flour at a time.


Next pick up two side of your parchment paper, making a U-shape and pour in the flour while mixing.


Once combined, prepare your second cup of flour and add.  When the mixture starts stick together and begins to clean the sides of the bowl stop mixing.  The dough should be fairly sticky.  You may need more or less flour at this point. In my mixer 2 cups was perfect.  Flour your work surface.  Divide your dough into 2 sections.  Cover both sides in flour.


Roll out your dough, picking it up and flipping it over to prevent it from sticking to your work surface.



Using a rolling pin, roll out to about  1/8 to 1/16" thickness--it's up to you!


Cut dough into strips using a pizza cutter and then let them sit for 20 minutes.


 Bring stock and chicken to a boil and add your noodles.  Stir and add more. 

  

Until your pan is filled with noodle deliciousness!  Mmmmm....


Now we have to have at least one vegetable here, we use frozen peas.  Of course you can use whatever frozen veggies you would like.


Add a little parsley for color and your soup is ready to eat.


I love this recipe.  It is one that any picky eater will eat.  My children eat this soup better than any other soup on the planet and that makes me happy.  My hubby loves it, of course.  And it was even better the second day.  Mmm Good-- Campbells has nothing on us.

For variations try adding cream to the broth at the end, or serve your soup over mashed potatoes. My MIL always serves it over potatoes and that my friends is what puts the word Comfort in Comfort Food.   


This recipe feeds any where from 5-8 people depending on the portions.

Thanks for visiting!!  I hope that this soup will bring as much comfort and soothing to your family as it did to ours!

Linking to:  It's Overflowing

 Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles
1 Rotisserie Chicken deboned
2 cartons chicken stock or 6 cans chicken broth
1/3 package frozen peas
2 tsp Parsley

Combine chicken and stock and simmer over medium low heat while making noodles. 

Noodles
2 tbs milk
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
2 + cups sifted flour

Combine first 3 ingredients in your mixer.  Sift flour and add carefully 1 cup at a time.  Too much flour results in extra firm dough that is difficult to roll out.  Once the dough begins to clean the sides of the bowl, remove from mixer and divide into two parts.  Flour your work surface and roll out dough, flipping to avoid sticking.  Cut dough into strips and let sit for 20 minutes.   Bring chicken stock to a boil and add noodles a few at a time to.  Noodles will take less than a minute to cook.  Add frozen peas and parsley.  And your soup is ready to be served.  Also can be served over mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!


Monday, February 13, 2012

Hand Printed Fabric LOVE


Prepare yourself for some major Eye Candy!

Since I am a little ;) obsessed with hand printed fabric right now, I thought that I would share some of my favorite fabrics and designers that create them.

** Also I don't want to take credit for this gorgeous inspiration so if you pin, PLEASE go to the link at the bottom of the picture.  THANKS!

First up Galbraith and Paul are fabric designers based in Philadelphia that print their own fabric, wallpaper, rugs, paper and more.  I love to look through their textiles and installations and get inspired by all the beauty!!  Their products have been featured in many magazines including House Beautiful, BH&G, and Domino. These are some of my favorites!!

http://www.galbraithandpaul.com/textiles.php?title=Diamond



http://www.galbraithandpaul.com/textiles.php?title=Small%20Star

And for some awesome Galbraith and Paul wallpaper!!




Next up LES INDIENNES designed by Mary Mulcahy.  Gorgeous designs that are both classic and modern!  I love her curtains and upholstered furniture.






And last but not least-- Etsy Shop Giardino
Have you seen her work? GORGEOUS!!






And there you have it.  AWESOME, GORGEOUS hand printed fabric!  Are you inspired?  I am. 

Have a beautiful day!


Linked to:  Freckled Laundry

Thursday, February 9, 2012

My Slipcovered Sofa

BBB (Back before blogging)  I had these two couches, which my husband and I purchase when we were first married.  They actually don't look to bad in this picture.  But in person they were a mess.  With spots and stains (from my beautiful children) and faded yellow spots from sun damage, they needed lots of help.  My husband just wanted to replace them. But aside from the cosmetic damage and the dark green color they are in really great condition, just needing a face lift.  My goal?  To slipcover them. 


 I started with Miss Mustard Seed's slipcover tutorials, then moved on to free Youtube videos, and figured out how to make them piece by piece. There are also slipcover tutorials that you can purchase, that I am sure save you a lot of time, and I was wishing I had bought one...but it is possible to do it without.  I will warn you that making your own slipcovers takes HOURS and HOURS!!  One night (because I have 4 kids to take care of) I stayed up the entire night just to get ahead and to work on them without interruption.  But now they are finished and as imperfect as they are I still love them!  

The best part is that I can throw them in the washer and they look like new again!

The worst part?  They were so close fitting, they can be difficult to take on and off!
I really struggled with the zippers--being an intermediate to beginning sewer this was the most difficult part for me!  Also the skirt was challenging.  But that is because I had to guess how to sew and fit them myself.
 I used close to 30 yards of fabric at $5.99/yard for both the sofa and loveseat. 

And here is my loveseat again all finished.  The damask pillows I printed and made myself, you can read that tutorial here






Thanks for the visit!  This project was time consuming but SO worth it!  And yes, I would do it again, just not right away.  ;)

Thanks for the visit!


PIY Damask Pillows


PIY stands for Print It Yourself

Hurray!  I am back and I have an awesome tutorial for you!!  It is how to print your own fabric!!  For the last little while I have been searching and searching for the perfect fabric.  The challenge, was that nothing was within my budget.  I have no desire to spend hundreds of dollars on the perfect fabric.  So instead,  I am obsessed with printing my own fabric and checked out every book on the subject from my local library.

There are many ways to print your own fabric, most of which use stamps or making your own stamp using a lino block.  But did you know you can also print using stencils?  Well, you can and here is how you do it!!


The secret is using "block printing ink."  The ink that I used is a Speedball Block Printing Ink Set   You can buy block printing ink at most craft stores.  I bought mine at Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon.  I also bought my stencil at Hobby Lobby using a 40% off coupon (different trip.)  The price on the stencil was $2.99 before the coupon, the individual inks are $4.19 before coupons.   There are other fabric inks that you can buy and if you are doing a large project it is more economical to buy large bottles of ink! 

My fabric is a light gray poly/cotton mix(guessing) that I bought from WalMart, at an easy $1.50 a yard.  Have you ever looked through WalMart's "Undetermined"  fabric?  Its kinda fun.  I will do a post on that soon too, as it is another great way to save money on your craft projects.  So here we go...

How to Print Your Own Fabric:


Supplies:
Fabric
Sponge
Stencil
Block Printing Ink
Iron
  
  1. Prewash and dry your fabric!!  Don't forget this step!!  This will help the ink sink into the fabric better.
  2. Mix your block printing ink.  I used a combination of white, blue and black to make a light gray blue.  I used almost a full tube of white to do just over a yard of 55in fabric.  To get the most uniform look try to mix up as much ink in the beginning as possible, because unless you measure or keep track of the exact mix it may be difficult to match your first color.  Also the ink WILL dry lighter than your original color mix and some WILL wash out.                                                        
  3. Once mixed, keep your ink covered, I used a small plastic bag to cover, in between ink dips.  It dries quickly.  Also you can help this by adding TINY amounts of water(and I mean like small drips) .  Just be careful not to use too much or your print will wash out or bleed all over your fabric.  Another good reason to start with $1.50 a yard fabric--at least until you get the hang of it!
  4. Tape your stencil onto your fabric or use a stencil adhesive. 
  5. Dab your sponge into the ink and blot it to get most of the ink off of your sponge before applying it to the fabric.
  6. Gently blot the sponge with ink into the fabric.  I applied my print by hand, and eyeballed where to put each stencil.  You can make your design more uniform by using a grid in disappearing ink before applying your design.                        
  7. Pick up the stencil and move your stencil to the next spot and apply again. If the stencil overlaps any previous design make sure it is dry before applying.
  8. Apply your design over the entire fabric let it dry to the touch, and then heat set it.  Either by putting the fabric in the dryer for 10 to 15 minutes or ironing the opposite side for several minutes. Make sure to use plenty of heat so that the ink does not wash out!

    Once the fabric is heat set you can wash it or cut and use for any project.  Make sure to use plenty of heat so that the ink does not wash out!  To wash use the hand wash setting on your washer.  Plan on some color variation depending on how well the ink was mixed.


     This is a great way to create your own fabric designs.   I like using ink better than fabric paint, or a fabric medium/paint because the texture, once washed, feels just like the original fabric.
Yea!  At a $1.50 a yard plus supplies, options are endless!!  It is easy, fun and beautiful!! 
I made my fabric into some quick and easy pillows...

Cut 2 18.5" x 18.5" squares. Sew fabric right sides together leaving a fist sized whole open, pull the fabric inside out and stuff with filler Use your sewing machine to stitch the opening together and VOILA!  So easy and gorgeous!



What do you think?  Are you going to try this?  I would love to see what you do with your own fabric!

Happy Printing!