Soup Season & Some Spooky-ness

I love soups. I love making them, love the way they smell up the house, love the way they warm you up, love the amount of left-overs one pot makes for 2 people, and mostly I love eating them.

One of our favorites 'round this home is a minestrone recipe I got from my mom-in-law Deb. Since I made it the other day, it re-kindled our fondness of it and so I wanted to share it.



also made ghost shaped biscuts with it, because I quite enjoy any chance to make it feel like halloween and fall.

Minestrone Soup

1 lb. Italian Sausage
1 C diced onion
1 C sliced celery
1 C sliced carrots
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 (15 oz.) can Tomatoes
1 (15-16 oz.) can Tomato sauce
2 C. water
5 tsp. beef boullion
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1.4 tsp. pepper
{add at the end...}
1 (15 oz.) can red Kidney beans (undrained)
1/2 C elbow macaroni
1 C cut green beans
1 C sliced zuchini

In large pot, brown sausage. Add all ingredients EXCEPT beans, zuchini, and macaroni and Simmer for 20 mins. Add remaining ingredients, and let simmer until noodles are soft and cooked.

Also, if you are looking for super cheap halloween decorations, here are a few ideas. I got this first one (bat's in the lamp) from my sister Teigan, she's done it for a few years. And I have seen a few others, Martha Stewart has a how-to up about it also.


I used this as a template, re-sizing it once. Just cut out on black paper, and tape inside lamp. I don't have a normal lamp shade lamp, so I had to use the one above our kitchen table. Cam is so afraid of them:



Or just google "bat template", that is how I found it.

He is also "Afraid" of these:



again, just a template, cut out on black cardstock paper. These templates are from:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/glitter-silhouettes

there are links for all of them on that page. I didn't want to waste all that black ink, so I actually traced the outline on a regular sheet of white paper, cut that out, then used it to cut out of black card stock. If you have anymore decorating ideas, I would love them... I can never have enough!