Creamy Potato Leek Soup

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Georgina

Creamy Potato Leek Soup

Potato Leek Soup Header If I’ve said it once (and I totally have), I’ve said it 1,390,423,825 times.I could live off of soup.

Every kind of soup. I’m not even biased, it doesn’t even have to be “soup”, stews and chili’s are equally amazing to me.

Ever since my Vitamix came into my life, I’ve been obsessed with making “creamy” (with no cream) blended soups that are chock-full of nutrients and as easy as literally throwing all the ingredients in a blender and…..blending. It couldn’t get easier. Creamy Potato Leek Soup 4 This past week was Saint Patrick’s Day and every year it makes me think of my Irish family heritage. My grandma used to make a delicious potato leek soup and I decided to make a faux creamy version and make it thicker and denser but with the same nostalgic flavor.

Behold this amazingly delicious and a tiny bit spicy original Irish delicacy 😉

As you can see from the pictures you can switch your toppings up. One way is reserving some of the roasted veggies, another is the delicious sautéed mushrooms or you could do both! It’s all good because to be honest the real star is the soup itself. Creamy Potato Leek Soup 2 It’s thick and stick to your ribs-y (a made up adjective but you guys feel me, right??) it’s creamy and smooth but yet dairy free (unless you want to use dairy milk).
Creamy Potato Leek Soup 1 Creamy Potato Leek Soup Recipe Creamy Potato Leek Soup 3 Creamy Potato Leek Soup 5 Don’t forget about the ‘schrooms too. They’re good enough to eat alone!
Creamy Potato Leek Soup 6 Creamy Potato Leek Soup 8 Creamy Potato Leek Soup 7

There’s still a sweet spot in my heart for my grandmas version but this one is hard to beat. You haveeeeee to try it and come back to tell me if you liked it too! 🙂 Enjoy!

xoxo

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Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

Posted on March 12, 2016 by Georgina

Butternut Squash & Spinach Lasagna

Headers The weather the past week or so around here has been out of this world! In Wisconsin, weather fluctuates pretty extremely. One day could be 70 degrees and then you get snow the next. It’s a lot to handle sometimes.

You know what’s not hard to handle? This super duper easy and even more super duper delicious lasagna. It’s simple to make and a nice mix up from tomato sauce lasagnas.

I love to stock up on winter squashes and ~~hoard~~ save for use throughout the winter and spring. Some of them I chop and freeze (really just the butternut to have on hand for recipes) but mostly I just leave them in a cool, dark, dry place and I’ve never had one go bad before I get to use it.

These flavors will warm you from the inside out and the steps are simple. BONUS for you- in a rare chain of events, I actually documented the process (sort of). Feast your eyes and hopefully later your belly on this:

ONE: combine your butternut squash filling ingredients in food processor or high powered blender. Blend well until creamy. TWO: combine all of your spinach and cheese filling ingredients in a bowl. THREE: layer and assemble the lasagna. Follow those “layer instructions” below. FOUR: finish the layers and then top generously with cheese, because #Wisconsin.
FIVE: bake it, divvy up, and devour ❤Oh so delicious. I love nutmeg but some people are not big fans, you can omit if you would like, although I might judge your sanity because it’s so good. I could go on and on, but I’ll let these pictures speak for themselves. Hopefully you make this and love it too!If you’re not drooling now, something might be wrong with you. Here’s the recipe so you can make this for yourself. Recipe Cards

We’ve had a LOT of new views and new subscribers in the past few days because of the love from and a post by Madison Magazine. If you’re a new reader or just popping by, WELCOME! I hope you enjoy taking a peak around Eat Laugh Craft. Feel free to comment or send me messages, I love to connect with all my readers.

xoxo

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String Art

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Georgina

String Art Tutorial

ANNOUNCEMENT It’s been a while since I’ve shared a craft with you! Not that I haven’t been making any, but I forget to document them throughout the process. I made a bunch of stuff for the Holidays including all the crafts I did that were sponsored by JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store for the TV Segment back in December, but never really got around t0 posting them.

One of the things I did make for a Christmas gift for a friend of mine was a little cute string art heart. It was small (like 6 inches by 6 inches) but it turned out really good! When I gave it to her she decided we should have a crafting weekend (that is our “thing” we do together) so she could make something else for herself too! And of course I was up for it to actually make myself something too!

I brought the supplies and told her all she needed to do was print off the image or pattern she wanted to do. I show up at her house and with no discussion about it, we both printed the exact same thing to do our string art with. The great state of Wisconsin! 🙂 At first I had plans to do a heart around the Madison area but then I decided I just wanted a plain jane one, which is more my style.

It’s really not hard to do it takes a little time and you need to do the whole “stringing” part in one sitting, but it doesn’t take a whole lot of “skill”.
STRINGARTTUTORIAL String Art Tutorial
Materials:

Soft (non hardwood) wood
Shape print out
Hammer
Short Nails ( I used ones similar to these)
String/thread (I used something similar to this)
*Optional small needle nose pliers

Instructions/Steps:

First things first, you need to find a piece of wood. Obviously whatever size you want but it’s also important to find a piece that’s not too hard as you’re nailing in a million little nails, you want to make it easy on yourself. Lots of craft stores actually sell cheap low quality (which is ok in this case) wood that is soft and perfect for these types of projects.
Next you need to find whatever shape you want to do. The first time I did a simple heart shape. For this one, I did the outline of Wisconsin. It’s really up to you. Pinterest is filled with ideas for this. Some of my faves right now are this, this, and this. Print out whatever shape or words you choose and then cut your image out.
Using one small piece of tape, place your paper shape cut outs on your wood. Begin pounding in nails just along the outer edge of your chosen shape. You want to try to space them as evenly as you can, but no need to drive yourself crazy.

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Sometimes it does get hard to pound in all the nails without pounding your fingers, especially when you get into tight areas (like the Door County of Wisconsin). If that is the case, you can use a needle nose pliers to hold the nail steady and in place while you hammer it in.
You want to pound the nails in far enough that they’re really “in there” but leave enough of the nail exposed so you a) don’t poke through the back of your wood, depending how thick your piece is and b) have enough nail to wrap your string around it several times.
Once you have surrounded your entire shape with nails, carefully remove the paper shape and tape. You’ll be left with just the nail outline of your shape(s).
Now comes the part that once you start, you can’t stop until you’re done. So take a bathroom break and get a snack 🙂 But for real, because you’re really just wrapping the string around the nails over and over and over again, pulling it tight(not tooooo tight) throughout the whole time, you can’t stop or it will all unravel.
Start by just tying a double knot with the string around one of the nails. Any nail, doesn’t matter, and you just cut the “tail” of the string off close to the nail rather than trying to get the end knotted perfectly around the nail. Now just start wrapping the string up, down, across, sideways, backwards, upside-down (kidding just running out of directions here) around the nails. Basically just weaving it all around the nails. Here’s a close up:
*As you can see, I’m not tying anything off, just continuously wrapping the string around and back and forth between the nails. You want to keep the string tight so it doesn’t unravel or come off the nails but not soooo tight that it puts too much pressure on the nails that they pull out. This will make more sense once you’re doing it.
Just keep going until it looks “full” enough and even to your liking. Once you are done just tie off the string on one of the nail and again, don’t worry about the “tail” just double knot and then cut off very close to the nail.
Then you’re done!! Hang on your wall and admire your handy work 🙂

This is a really fun and pretty simple craft that can be done in an afternoon and produces such a cute and customized finished product. If you have kids who you are worried about them with nails and a hammer, you could even do the outline of a shape in nails and then let them do the “stringing”.

I hope this tutorial was easy to follow but if you have any questions, feel free to ask away and I’ll do my best to help!

We will have a few other crafts to share soon as we were asked again by JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores and Madison ABC affiliate WKOW 27 to come back and do another on air spring crafting special! Could not be happier to be asked again and have the great opportunity to make some really adorable stuff again!!! If you’re in the area tune in on the morning of Sunday, March 6th to WKOW 27 Madison. I mean if you don’t want to wake up early for that, or if you’re not in the area, I’ll make sure to post a link to the video!

Thanks for checking out our string art tutorial!

xoxo

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My Kitchen Essentials

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Georgina

My Kitchen Essentials

essentials header Some things in life are just necessary. Besides the obvious sleep, water, food…..each person has their own things that they cant seem to “live without”. Some of mine are coffee, wine, coconut oil, new socks, mascara, salsa….not in that order of course 🙂

Now realistically we can all live without most of our “must haves” but there are certain essentials that we come to love and find ourselves reaching for time and time again. I find the same goes for the kitchen. I mean have you guys SEEN the amount of kitchen gadgets out there??? It’s ridiculous. Yesterday while shopping I came across something called a cookie shovel, not kidding….which honestly was just a spatula that was like 1 inch wider, of course it was $12.

If you aren’t that familiar with cooking utensils or tools, you might not know where to start. If you’re just getting your own kitchen started and are on a tight budget you might not know what’s most important.

Walking into kitchen sections or even whole stores dedicated to kitchen tools can be overwhelming!! And 9 times out of 10 you see something so “smart” and you just “have to have it” and then you use it once (or never) and it sits in a drawer or cupboard taking up space. (It’s OK, we’ve all been there).

Lately I’ve really been feeling inspired to minimize my life a little and ~~get rid of~~ donate some of my excess stuff around the house. It all takes time and it’s a slow go to be honest but then a few weeks ago Blue Star Cooking reached out to me with an idea for a post. What are your kitchen and cooking essentials? I have a lot of stuff, but what do I really think is essential? I really put some thought into it and while there are lots of things I think are cool and that I like, I tried to only list the items that I reach for over and over and over again that help make cooking fun and easier for me. And of course, I had to include a few wish list items too! I’m making due with my rental home appliances for now, but SOMEDAY I swear I’ll have my dream kitchen.

So first off here are my favorite things I currently own:

Kitchen Essentials

Chef Knife (similar): This is my go to knife for everything. No matter the task, big or small it does the trick. Perfectly balanced in my hand and doesn’t hurt even after a lot of chopping.
Paring knife (similar): Sometimes I feel a little obnoxious using my big #1 knife for small stuff so this little paring one is perfect for smaller tasks (think peeling apples).
Cast Iron Dutch Oven : I LOVE cast iron. LOVE. I use this on a regular basis anytime I need a big pot. I don’t boil water in it for pasta or anything but pretty much everything else.
Cast Iron Skillet: Again, LOVE cast iron. I use this almost every day. It gets the most gorgeous sear on meats without sticking!
Stainless Steel Skillet Pan (similar): There are some things I don’t want to use cast iron for or when I need a really deep skillet for something. Stainless steel is my second favorite material for pots and pans after cast iron. As a general rule I stay away from nonstick pans because of the hazardous toxins used in their coatings that leach into your food.
Wooden Spoons (similar): I feel like everyone has these but I really use them for everything. There’s just something about a well worn in wooden spoon that you can’t beat.
Vitamix : Oh I know. They’re pricey. We received ours as a wedding gift but holy cow they’re worth the money. This thing can do anything. Obviously I use it for all of my blending needs but my favorite thing to use it for is the outrageously creamy (without cream) soups that you can create with this. Velvet smooth and out of this world. I can’t remember my life before it 🙂
Spiralizer: If you haven’t jumped on the spiralizer bandwagon yet… you need to. I use this little guy every. single.week. And not just for zucchini noodles. I’ve done spiralized potatoes, squash, carrots, you name it. I love how easy it is to use and NOT expensive at all.
Non Plastic Cutting boards (similar): I threw out all my plastic cutting boards the day that I was scraping up some minced garlic off the board and saw red plastic scrapings from my board mixed in with my garlic. GROSS! I don’t want that stuff in my body! Now I only use wood or bamboo. I have about three different sizes that I use. Just clean well (as you normally would) and you don’t have to worry about those false reports that wood is not as sanitary as other materials.
Honing Steel Knife Sharpener (similar): hands down the MOST IMPORTANT kitchen tool is good and sharp knifes. Sounds counter intuitive but the most dangerous knife is a dull knife. Sharp well balanced knifes can make cooking so much more enjoyable and easy! I have good knifes but even good knifes need sharpening. I’m sure you could Youtube a video how to use a honing steel if you don’t know what the heck this little stick is, but it’s my favorite method to keep my knifes sharp.
Glass measuring cups (similar): Pretty standard item here but I love mine. I have 1 cup, 2 cup, and 4 cup ones and while the 1 cup gets used the most, they’ve all got some good miles on ’em.
Zester Pod: Oookkk, this little guy is one of those random kitchen gadgets that normally sit in peoples drawers unused. I don’t even remember when or where I picked this up but I am obsessed with it. 9 out of the 10 times I use it, I’m grating ginger but it’s also grate (get it.. 🙂 🙂 ) for zesting citrus fruits, making garlic paste etc… Plus it just goes in the little container below for minimal mess!

So there you have it, my most used and most favorite items in my kitchen. I definitely feel like I have a well stocked kitchen full of great stuff that I’ve acquired over the years but there are definitely some stuff I’m still dreaming about getting my hands on. Some will have to wait until we buy our first home but others…wellllllll, hopefully before that.

Kitchen Wish List

Fancy Fridge– I have been dreaming of a beautiful french door fridge since I moved to college. Ever since then I’ve been renting and dealing with not even full size fridges people!! Feel bad for me please 🙂 I personally do not care for water and ice dispensers in/on fridges so this one is perfect for me. With just the right amount of drawers, door space, and sections and not an astronomical price tag. ❤
Kitchenaid Mixer: Ok this little guy has been giving me so much grief over the past year. I have almost bought one like 10 times. You know what my problem is? And the proof that I might be the worst decision maker ever? I cannot, for the life of me, decide which color to get. I love green, but the glossy red is beautiful, but so is white, and so is black…but you like green, but would that go with you future kitchen you have no idea what it looks like…..and that same cycle of that over in my head 10 times. It’s paralyzed me and I haven’t bought one yet. I should make that my 2016 goal. JUST. BUY.THE.DAMN.THING.
Kitchen Scale: So many times I have thought, “I really need a kitchen scale”. For both cooking (hello all recipes not from the U.S.) but also for home and beauty products too. 2 oz of this….4 oz of this…. I think a scale is a staple in every kitchen and I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. This particular one was on Oprah’s 2015 Christmas gift list, so gotta be good, right?
Baking Pans : Ok to set the record straight I do own baking pans, I just don’t like the ones I have. They’re warped and bent. Eventually I want the industrial style high rimmed ones that can hold all the roasted veggies my heart desires 🙂
Hood Vent : I take back what I said about the fridge. THIS is my biggest pet peeve about renting. I mean what is even the point of over oven fans that just recirculate the air???? There is no point- plain and simple. I dream of days where I can cook bacon, sear steaks, make chicken piccata without my clothes in my closet down the hall smelling like said food item for a week. Blue Star Cooking has so many options from size to style to color. I can’t wait for the day I get to actually pick one out and not just stare at their website dreaming.
Glass Bowl Set: Ok this is another sort of lame one, I have some bowls but I’ve found I really like glass over metal for some things and I just want a nesting set of them because…well if you saw my cupboard you’d understand. Anything to help me organize is a good thing!
Gas Stove : Lastly of course, the bread and butter of the kitchen, a stove. Not just any stove, but a gas stove. I envy everyone who has these and cannot wait until I have one of my own. Real flame cooking your food and real control over temperature. Blue Star Cooking has over 750 (not a typo) of color combos you can pick from and order. Above is a beautiful green number I designed. Ahhh someday…someday.

The Blue Star site has a lot of cool stuff including where you can design your own oven! Click here to design your own. It’s fun!

So those are my current wish list items. Not too many and some are totally do-able price wise. It just comes down to making decisions and biting the bullet.

What are your favorite must haves and things on your dream kitchen wish list? Anything you can’t live without that I missed? I’d love to hear from you!!

xoxo

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*I haven’t been compensated in any form for the above products or links. All opinions are my own.

WE WON!!

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Georgina

ANNOUNCEMENT Ummmmm, you guys. Some big news to share over here.

Remember last fall when some of you voted for Eat Laugh Craft in Madison Magazine‘s Best of Madison contest??

Well……….the results………are………in.

*drumroll*

Thanks to everyone who voted, Eat Laugh Craft has been named the SILVER award for the Best Food Blog and Best Local Blog category in Madison Magazine’s 2016 Best of Madison awards!! BEST-OF-2016-silver I’ve known for a little while now and I’m so excited to share it with all of you, because if not for you, we wouldn’t have won!! 🙂 BOM Announcment If you live in or around Madison, you’ve no doubt heard of or at least seen the Best of Madison (BOM) logo’s around your favorite places. I could not be happier to be part of this esteemed group of people and organizations. I also couldn’t be happier that so many of you love coming to Eat Laugh Craft to check out my ramblings and see the stuff I make.