In My World

olive oil cooking spray or 1 tbsp olive oil (I use olive oil) 1 medium onion, chopped 1 can (1 pound) unsalted tomatoes, crushed (the big 28 oz can) 4 cups unsalted vegetable broth or water (I always use vegetable broth) 2 tbsp tomato paste 3/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning 4 ounces sea shell pasta 2 cups (packed) chopped fresh spinach (I usually use a package of frozen chopped spinach) 1/2 cup grated nonfat or reduced-fat Parmesan cheese Coat a 3-quart pot with cooking spray or olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the onions, and saute for 3 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth or water, tomato paste, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, cover and cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes, or until the pasta is almost al dente. Add the spinach to the pot and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes, or just until the pasta is al dente and the spinach ...

It's Time for Challenge #3 ~ Photos So, your paper is beautifully organized, your scraps carefully stashed or purged, and your desk is gleaming! You are starting to get organized. Doesn't it make you feel creative? Don't you want to get cropping? Well, you CAN'T scrapbook without PHOTOS! Our third challenge is to organize our photos. Photos can be easily damaged and sometimes irreplaceable. Here is an excellent article to get you thinking about how to organize those precious photos before we start to  S.P.A.C.E.  them: https://www.scrapbook.com/articles/organizing-and-storing-your-photos-and-negatives Protecting your photos means making sure your hands are clean and dry. Always hold photos and negatives by the edge.  When deciding where to store your photos you need to think about humidity, temperature and light. Your storage space should be no less than 15% relative humidity and no more than 65%. Dry paper from low humidity can become very brittle. High humidi...

1 frying chicken, about 3-1/2 lbs Stuffing: 2 tbsp butter or margarine 1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper 1/4 cup finely chopped celery 1 jar (2 oz) diced or sliced pimientos, drained 2 cups frozen or fresh or canned corn red pepper sauce 1/2 tsp dried thyme or sage leaves 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 1 to 2 tbsp soft butter or oil Remove giblets and rinse chicken.  Pat dry.  Sprinkle cavity with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, melt butter.  Saute the onion, green pepper and celery until softened but not browned. Stir in pimientos, corn, red pepper sauce to taste, thyme or sage, salt and pepper.  Stir.  Cook for a few minutes. Stuff chicken.  Close opening.  Turn the wings back and tie legs together, if desired. Rub chicken with butter or oil.  Sprinkle with more thyme, black pepper and red pepper sauce.  Place on a roasting rack in a shallow pan. Place in a preheated oven at 450 F.  Turn heat down to 35...

1 lb. ground beef 3/4 c. uncooked long-grain rice 1 large onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 (28 oz) can tomato cause 1/4 c. cider vinegar 2 tbsp. brown sugar, packed 1 tbsp. dry mustard 8 cups cabbage, coarsely chopped (1/2 head) In large bowl, mix together beef,rice, onion, garlic, salt and pepper.  In small bowl, stir together tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and mustard.  Layer 1/3 of the cabbage in bottom of 3-quart deep casserole.  Arrange half of the beef mixture on top.  Cover with another 1/3 of the cabbage and then add the remaining beef mixture.  Cover with remaining cabbage.  Pour tomato sauce mixture over top, but do not stir.  Casserole will be quite full.  Cover; let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.  Bake at 325 F for 2 hours, without stirring. Mom wasn't crazy about it.  I liked it quite a bit but I think next time I wouldn't use quite so much cabbage.

For 2 servings 7 cups baby spinach (120 g) 6 button (white) mushrooms, thinly sliced 1 tbsp. lemon, freshly squeezed 1/2 orange, pressed and zested 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil salt and ground pepper to taste Prepare the spinach and put it in a large bowl.  Set aside Prepare the mushrooms by thinly slicing them and transferring them to a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and pour in half of the lemon juice.  Set aside. Grate half of the orange to obtain the zest, then juice it.  Put the zest and juice into a small bowl.  Pour in the remaining lemon juice, mustard and oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste, then beat well using a fork, until the vinaigrette is emulsified.  Pour the vinaigrette over the spinach. Peel the remaining orange, cut into small pieces and add to the spinach.  Add the mushrooms and toss well.  Serve. From soscuisine.com

How did you make out on the first challenge? It's not too late to share your photos. Doesn't it feel great to start the new season with a clean work surface? Let's move on to the next challenge . . . Challenge #2  Did you know that a 1” high stack of patterned paper equals as many as 250 sheets of patterned paper? That’s a lot of paper. I don't know about you, but I have a lot more than 1" of paper. So here is this week's challenge: Your challenge this week is to S.P.A.C.E. your paper - - and I mean ALL of your paper: cardstock, patterned paper, specialty papers, and all those SCRAPS! If you are a quilter you need to S.P.A.C.E. your fabric. A knitter -- your wool. I think you get the picture. This challenge is for everybody! SORT :  Bring all of your paper to one area. Sort it all into piles: KEEP, SELL, DONATE, TRASH PURGE :  Bag up, and assign a price to paper bundles that you want to SELL at a garage sale or online, and put the bags in the garag...