A Sweet Labor of Love Recipe Swap And Blog Hop

Hello to all my visitors from Danielle's Blog  and to my regular readers who came here expecting a Tuesday Craft Post, well you are going to get a delicious recipe instead!  I suppose cooking is kind of like crafting as you are creating something!  I haven't done a recipe post in so long, but if I do one I usually post them on Saturday.  But my good blogging friend Leslie asked me to join her in a recipe swap blog hop, so here we are!

Now I think Leslie's intention was that we were to make a romantic meal for our loved ones over Valentine's Day weekend and then post the recipe.  My sweetheart was actually sick all last week and he still had a little bit of sickness over the weekend.  We still celebrated the holiday, but we did something a little more low key.  We drove to the Twin Cities to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory.  You will hear more about that trip in tomorrow's travel post;  Because we took a small trip, I didn't make him a romantic dinner.  However, because he was sick I did make him SOUP! 

This is THE BEST SOUP TO MAKE IF YOUR SICK, because it's so spicy it makes your nose run!  Seriously, I can't eat this soup without a Kleenex nearby.  If spice isn't your thing, just switch out the Hot Italian Sausage for Mild.

My husband was thrilled I made this soup.  It is his favorite soup and he calls it "Restaurant Quality". I must admit, of all the soup recipes I've ever made (and I have made a lot of good ones!) this is my favorite too.  I make it every time my kids are home, and they rave about it.  And here's the best part:  It's a KETO recipe!  If you don't know what Keto is, it is the latest diet fad everyone is on right now.  I started eating Keto in the fall and LOVE it!  It is seriously the best diet I've ever been on because the food is so good!  A lot of people don't like Keto because they find it too restrictive.  I think those people just might not be cooking enough.  There are so many great books out there on Keto recipes.  You can also find a lot of great recipes on Pinterest, and that is where I found this one.

The name of this delicious soup is "Instant Pot Keto Tuscan Soup" and I found it on Eatwell101.  Now the recipe instructions are for an Instant Pot, however, if you don't own an Instant Pot don't fret, because neither do I.  I made mine the good old fashion way...on the stove top!  If you have an Instant Pot, feel free to follow the directions on Eatwell101, otherwise, follow mine below.

INGREDIENTS LIST FOR THE INSTANT POT KETO TUSCAN SOUP

• 1 lb (450g) Hot Italian sausage, casings removed (or turkey sausage)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bunch kale, leaves stripped and chopped
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, for serving
• Fresh chopped parsley, for serving

Stove Top Instructions:

1.  Remove the casings from the Italian sausage and brown the meat in a large soup pot.  

2. Add the garlic, onion, and oregano to the sausage and cook another 2-3 minutes until the onions are translucent. Be sure to stir constantly!

3.  Add the chicken broth and the sun-dried tomatoes.  Season with pepper to taste.  I have  found that you don't need much pepper because the Italian Sausage is already so spicy.  Cook for  5 minutes

4.  Add kale and stir until the kale is wilted, about 1 - 2 minutes.  I have also made this soup with fresh spinach, and it works just as well.

5. Stir in heavy cream and heat till warm, about 1 minute.  Then adjust the seasoning of the soup with salt and pepper to taste.  I added salt in mine, but I didn't add any more pepper.

Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese.  You really MUST serve with parmesan cheese as it doesn't taste the same without it.

This is such a quick and easy soup to make.  It only takes about 30 minutes to make and serves 4.
If you need the nutritional information, it is available on Eatwell101.

Now, head on over to my good friend Marilyn and see what she made.  Marilyn's a real food blogger and always has something yummy to share!

And if you came here first and want to start the hop from the beginning, start at Deb's Blog.    There are nine bloggers participating in this recipe blog hop, so you will get nine recipes at the end of the hop!  I'm always looking for good recipes, so I'm pretty excited about this hop, are you?

And here’s the total list of all the bloggers involved in this hop:

1. Deb Keyworth  http://debs14.blogspot.com/
2. Juhli Newkirk  https://boomergirlsguide.blogspot.com/
3. Danielle Park  https://familyloveinspirationeducation.wordpress.com/
4. Amy Johnson  http://www.amyscreativepursuits.com/
5. Marilyn Lesnik  https://www.marilynstreats.com/
6. Penny Struebig  http://pennyspassion.blogspot.com/
7. Anne Green  https://www.thecajuncouple.com/
8. Laura Bambrick  http://www.idodeclaire.com/
9. Leslie Clingan  http://onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com/

Oh, and you're welcome to share your favorite recipe with us too by joining the link party below!  Now get hopping and linking and have some fun!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

What I Wore In January

Once a month I like to do a round up of my daily outfits.  I always post my daily outfits to my Instagram and Facebook Stories, and at the end of the month I round them all up and show them on the blog as well.

This month, I didn't get out much so I don't have a whole lot of outfits to show.  And when I did get out, it was either super cold or snowy so I have mostly "extreme cold snowy" outfits this month.

First up is an outfit I wore the day after we were hit with a monster snowstorm.  The roads were clear the next day, so it was safe to drive, but there was still a lot of snow on streets and parking lots so I wore my snow boots.

It was a warm day, so I went without a coat and just wore a thick puffer vest with a warm sweater and hat.

I first tried this outfit with a burgundy Pom Pom hat, but the burgundy in the hat clashed with the burgundy in the vest, so I changed the hat to a black/grey one.

I wore this outfit to run errands.  Grey skinny jeans, a black v-neck cable sweater, and black combat boots.

It was below zero the day I wore this outfit shopping and out to lunch with the hubs.  I've had my OTK boots for several years now, but I still don't feel comfortable wearing them so I only wear them on extremely cold days.  These OTK boots keep my legs so warm!  I never feel cold air on my legs when I wear them.  I wore burgundy skinny jeans with the boots and a beige cowl neck sweater.

And finally, an outfit I wore to church and then over to a friend's house for lunch.  The sweater is a chenille belle sleeve and is so soft and warm.  My pants look dressy, but they are made of a legging material so they are very comfortable.  I completed the look with black booties.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Willowbrook Wildlife Center

Last fall when I was visiting my daughter in Illinois, one of the places we went to was Willowbrook Wildlife Center.  

The Wildlife Center is located in Glen Ellyn.  "It is a native wildlife rehabilitation facility that provides care and medical treatment to injured and orphaned wild animals. It also serves as a resource to teach DuPage County's residents about living in harmony with local wildlife."

It's a great place to take young children to see animals and also to learn more about them.  There is no formal admission fee, but they do ask for a donation.

There are both indoor and outdoor exhibits.  There are windows where visitors can watch the staff feed and care for he animals.  There's also plenty of small animals on display like turtles, snakes, and birds.

This is a large bull snake.  He was quite large, but still a few inches short of one that my husband found in our basement one year!  They are completely harmless, but they can grow quite big!

My favorite part of the indoor exhibit was the small birds.  The large glass cage seen behind my daughter housed some of the birds, the rest are behind smaller glass windows.  When the birds in the large cage saw us, they would start to sing to get our attention.

The center also provides educational programs throughout the year where children and families can learn about birds of prey, mammals, and insects.

Outside of the Visitor Center is a lovely nature path.  We were there in the fall, and although the foliage was pretty, I'm anxious to go back in the summer and see their butterfly garden and flowers.

There was a koi pond in the butterfly garden.

They also had a lovely bridge going over a scenic stream.  It's a lovely place to spend an afternoon.

The outside held all the birds of prey like this falcon.  I think there was also some type of wild cat when we were there too, but he was sleeping at the time so I couldn't get a picture.

If you have small children, it's a great place to take them to get out of the house for a few hours as it's enjoyable for the whole family and it's free (but please put something in the donation box).

Atticus slept through the entire visit to the Nature Center, but maybe when we go back this summer, he'll be more interested.

I see herons everyday at home as there is a lot of backwater from the Mississippi in my neighborhood.  But it was nice to get this close to a heron.  They usually fly away if I get to close at home.

The foliage on the grounds was just breath-taking.  Alethea had a lot of fun walking on the dry, fallen leaves.

Alethea had so much fun she didn't want to get back in the car and go home.  She ran up the front lawn and started to walk on the ledge as if it were a balanced beam.

And now, as promised in last week's travel post, I'm going to announce where I'm going in 2020!  Nothing is finalized yet, but we hope to go to Smokey National Park in the spring, hitting the Columbus Zoo and The Creation Museum/Ark Encounter in the same week.  I don't know if it will be possible to hit all three places in one week .  We're still trying to figure the logistics of it all now.  In the fall we will be going to Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.  I am so nervous about bears!  The Smokies have a ton of black bears.  I just watched a documentary on the Smokies on Hulu and did you know there are 1,500 black bears in the park, or two black bears for every mile of the park?  That's a lot to me.  And Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons have grizzlies.  That makes me even more nervous.  I'll definitely be buying bear spray repellant when we hike there.  I'd love any advice on how not to be afraid of the bears so I can enjoy hiking in both places.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!