Author Archives for simplifiedbystacie

Vacation Simply

Do you have a bucket list of places you want to visit someday and things you want to do on a dream vacation? If not, why the heck not? Find a small notepad or start a new note on your phone or in your planner. Got it? Good, let’s dive in!


Everyone reading this has a different situation and circumstances. Some of you may be blessed enough to have the financial means to travel, some may struggle to put together enough money to buy a suitcase. Some of you may have nothing tying you down and are free to vacation while others have jobs and families and obligations galore that may make any personal time seem impossible. Finally, some of you may have the ambition to travel as much as you can and as far as you can go while others may have no desire to leave where they are perfectly happy. Let me tell you right now that this post is for every single one of you!


My husband and I have made it a point to try to get vacations of some kind scheduled regularly. We have done this since very early on in our relationship which means we made it happen when we were two broke college kids, when we had minimal worries in the world, when we both had careers, before and after we added our amazing daughter to our family, etc. Let me explain how. We got in the mindset that a vacation is exactly what you make it. A vacation can be to a local hotel with a cheap nightly rate but a great pool for the kiddo to swim and splash in. A vacation can be a road trip with no destination in mind. A vacation can be an all inclusive week long stay at a resort complete with excursions and transportation. A vacation can be at home with all technology off limits and time spent cooking or playing board games. Better yet, it can be time spent doing absolutely nothing. It can be a day trip or a week long. It’s what you make it and how you want it..no more, no less!

Furthermore, we have found that when committing to a vacation, the most important part is not getting caught up in the little problems but focusing on the overall good. Try not to focus on the inevitable things that go wrong because all it will do it distract you and tarnish the mood for what comes next. I can’t tell you how many times our best intentions ended up getting rained out or rescheduled. It’s incredibly frustrating when the anticipation built up is seemingly ruined and things don’t work out like the perfect picture in your head. Revamp and change course if needed but stay on track with the vacation, you earned it and looked forward to it for a reason!


Speaking of looking forward to it; don’t be afraid to have lofty vacation dreams. Just because you can’t do them right this minute doesn’t mean you won’t be able to at some point. Start that list with some stay-cations to enjoy while saving up money for those lofty goals. Build up that PTO or scheduled time away from work and make plans way in advance. Take that time to research what you’re planning on doing/where you’re going. By the time you end up going, you will have an even better time because you’ll be prepared with knowing exactly what you want to do! When friends, co-workers, family members, or even random strangers get to talking about something they did, somewhere they went, or their own dreams..take note! Literally. Write it down right then and there so you can remember it later.


I can’t tell you how strongly I believe in the power of vacation. There’s a reason employers give vacation time..use it people! Don’t have an employer? No matter how much you love your job or your life, it’s necessary to get a break once in a while and spend some time doing what YOU want to do. Break up your norm and try something new. Take advantage of those people who love you and ask them to take a trip with you or to watch your house or furbaby while you’re away. Look into credit cards that give you miles or cash back for every day purchases, sign up for all your favorite hotel’s and airline’s and rental car’s reward plans and take note of the offers they send. Set aside a tiny part of each paycheck or portion of each side job’s cash. Actually read one of those articles about upcoming events in your area and plan to attend something.


Bottom line, please take time for YOU. No guilt, no worries, just time set aside for something/somewhere you truly enjoy or have an interest in! Vacation simply 🙂

Simply Homemade: Creamy Italian Tomato Soup

Who remembers school day lunches with tomato soup? If your school was anything like mine, it was likely the off-brand plain tomato soup poured out of economy size cans and warmed up. I’m not 100% sure on the recipe to recreate that ‘fabulousness’ but I’d guess it’s tomatoes plain and simple. Purée until baby food texture then add water and cook down. Plop into a bowl and force kids to at least dip their soggy grilled cheese sandwich in before tossing the majority into the trash.

My grandma, bless her heart, would occasionally heat up a couple cans of tomato soup for a quick and easy lunch for us grandkids too. I vividly remember concentrating on how much I’d need to choke down before I could claim to be full so I wouldn’t hurt her feelings. Not sure why but, at grandma’s house, it was standard practice to have saltine crackers with a little smear of butter on top anytime we had soup. I was never more thankful for that than the few times we had tomato soup so I could blame my full stomach on the buttered crackers and not have to finish my whole bowl of “soup”. Can you tell how much I love traditional tomato soup based on those memories? 😉

As an adult, I swore I would never waste time with it. But, alas, my love of cooking and making soups with layers of flavor led me to the challenge of making a tomato soup version that I could tolerate. When I told my husband that I was going to attempt a new and improved version of tomato soup he launched into his own similar memories of boring school lunches and him trying to force down a bowl of “warmed ketchup” so as to not hurt his great-grandma’s feelings. He then asked me, in his typical blunt fashion, why I would bother trying it when we both know we don’t like it. I responded that it’s just too great of a dipping soup to ignore and we all love a delicious grilled cheese or toasted sandwich. He agreed and grudgingly said he would try it but doubted he’d like it. Him and my dad both share the thought that a meal isn’t a meal without some kind of meat so I promised sandwiches would be served with it too.

With such enthusiasm behind making this, I set out to research what other people have done to make better versions. The first thing that caught my eye was creamy tomato soup. It’s rare I meet a recipe with creamy in the title that isn’t an improvement because of the milk based ingredient addition. From there, I decided I needed to make it have some sort of flavor beyond tomatoes and water. I figured I was already deviating with the cream so may as well deviate with a flavor profile sure to please myself and my family…Italian!

I then decided to simplify it by using pesto rather than fresh garlic and basil and spices. One ingredient instead of multiple equals happiness! Let me tell you, adding pesto and a little cream entirely changed the end result of this dish! I didn’t include this option below but, if you have the time, make and use roasted garlic (game changer!). It’s also delicious with the addition of tortellini at the end of the cooking time so it’s a more filling dinner. My daughter and husband are both now huge fans and request this soup regularly during the cold winter months. I especially love making this and using provolone cheese in the grilled cheese sandwiches and it’s fabulous with meatball subs too!

If you are also a lover of Italian flavors and are open to a twist on an original staple soup recipe, please give this recipe a try and let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Creamy Italian Tomato Soup

  • Servings: Approximately 10
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Simply delicious twist on a traditional soup!

Ingredients

-4 cups chicken stock

-8 cups stewed tomatoes (including juice)

-2 tablespoons pesto

-1 teaspoon onion powder

-1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

-1/2 teaspoon pepper

-1/4 teaspoon salt

-1 1/2 cups finely shredded Parmesan cheese

-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

-Sandwich fixings for soup dipping!

Directions

1) In large pot, pour in the chicken broth, stewed tomatoes, garlic, onion powder, and pesto and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

2) Use immersion blender or mixer to (carefully!) blend hot soup into smooth consistency.

3) Add in Parmesan cheese and heavy whipping cream and stir well then cook for an additional 10 minutes until warmed through and cheese is melted in.

4) Serve with grilled cheese or sandwich of choice to dip in!

Simply Homemade: Hamburger Barley Soup

This recipe came to our family via my mom. I would love to post the original recipe and show you the feed-an-army sized measurements but, for the sake of saving you all from doing math and cutting it down, I went ahead and gave you the reasonably sized version! The size of the original recipe gave it automatics credit in my book. I mean, if you’re going to share a recipe that calls for 4 quarts of tomatoes and 4 pounds of hamburger then it’d better taste good, right? In the case of this particular recipe, that’s the truth! I’m not sure when I would ever have the need to make a batch as large as the original recipe calls for but I wouldn’t hesitate in doing so knowing how great the taste is!

Please don’t let the list of ingredients scare you away from making this soup. There are quite a few shortcuts you can use when prepping it and it’s really mostly a matter of adding the ingredients to the pot and letting it simmer away so it can do it’s thing and build flavors. Besides cooking the hamburger and chopping the veggies, it does not involved a lot of hands on time. You could even save time with the veggies by purchasing a frozen package of veggies that are already the combo you want/need. Hello smart grocery shopping, goodbye extra time in the kitchen!

There are all sorts of variations you could do with this and some tips I’d like to share with it as well. For example, if you are wanting this to have a little extra nutritional value, go ahead and toss in some chopped green beans or peas or even some beans. Try it with ground turkey instead of hamburger if you’re a turkey fan. If you don’t have barley or prefer something a little heartier you can use cubed potatoes instead. Serve it on its own or with crackers or (my personal favorite) a delicious loaf of crusty bread that’s been warmed in the oven!

Have extra time to let it cook but no patience for sautéing veggies? No problem! Add the veggies in from the get-go, add a couple hours of simmer time, and there’s no need to sauté. Need this meal quick? Go ahead and sauté the veggies to start the softening and you can have this ready in around a half hour! Don’t wanna mess with that sautéing nonsense? Or, if you are my hubby and not entirely sure on what that word means… Put the veggies in a microwave safe bowl with a couple tablespoons of the broth, cover, and microwave for about 3 minutes. I use that trick alllllll the time to shave off a little of the hands-on cooking time. Works great with most recipes and you can either use a little of the cooking liquid from the recipe or a small pat of butter works fabulously too. You can cook this on low for a long time or on high for a shorter time. Just be sure to add the barley (or potatoes if you prefer) in the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time before you are ready to serve so they are the right consistency.

Whether you choose to multiply this recipe a couple times for a big batch or use this serving size below, I hope you give this soup a shot! It is truly all that is good in the soup world – simple & delicious & comforting! Enjoy!

Hamburger Barley Soup

  • Servings: Approximately 6-8
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Simple soup with a great base that can be made quickly or simmered for hours of you prefer!

Ingredients

-1 pound hamburger meat, browned and drained

-1 quart (4 cups) stewed tomatoes (including liquid)

-1 quart water

-1 can tomato soup

-1/4 cup ketchup

-1 teaspoon seasoning salt

-1/2 tablespoon dried basil

-1 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon pepper

-1 bay leaf

-1 beef bouillon cube

-1 cup onion, chopped

-1 cup carrots, chopped

-1 cup celery, chopped

-1/2 cup barley

Directions

1) In large pot, put all ingredients except last four (set aside barley, onions, carrots celery unless you are wanting to make this low and slow and cook for a couple hours in which case you can add in the veggies and set aside just the barley to add later). Set burner on medium heat and cook stirring occasionally.

2) Sauté onions, carrots, and celery with 1 tablespoon butter in small saucepan or use trick mentioned in post above and microwave with a bit of the stewed tomato liquid instead. Add veggies to large pot once mostly softened. If cooking low and slow you can skip this step!

3) Cook contents of large pot for approximately 15 minutes longer (can go longer if you have time but not necessary) stirring occasionally.

4) Add barley into pot, stir, and cook about 10-15 minutes until barley is softened then serve!

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