Florida Spring Cleaning.. In December

One of the hazards of living in Florida is the fact that it usually very hot, all year round. When you talk to most people that are from out of state, you find out that they miss the snow, the multi colored leaves in the fall, or just the overall sense of "change of seasons". Rarely, do you hear somebody complain about not having Spring, because in our spring, the weather is just gorgeous!

However, one of the things about our spring is the fact that it's too hot to open up the windows, air out the house, and clean the house from head to toe. Most of us northerners do it anyway, but complain that it's too hot or humid or just leave the house for the day so we don't have to endure the undying 80 + degree heat.

This week,  our weather is gorgeous.  A crisp, 79* at 8:45am...

Twenty days before Christmas,  I decided we are going to purge and organize our house. Our front shoe/coast closet took a day and a half,  and I'm starting to panic,  but there's too big of a mess for me to just stop now!! The good news is that this weekend it is community yard sale weekend. Bad news is that I have a lot of crap,  but I'm not quite sure any of it is worth selling.

I'm hoping tomorrow my husband can take our broken couches to the dump, so I can get the carpets cleaned, and the living room done before Christmas!

I moved a love seat outside and came in for an iced coffee because it was too hot. Pray for me, because at this rate I will be done by the time next Thanksgiving rolls around!

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Baked Potato Soup in the Crock Pot

Baked potato soup is one of those delicious comfort foods, that can make any kind of a day so much better, with just one spoonful. Even more so, if you don't have to stand, mash, and cook for hours. I have a family of five, and tonight we had an extra house guest. I love making this soup, and in this recipe, I made a half of a crock full of soup. You can obviously cut down the ingredients if you have a smaller family.  Enjoy my take on Crock Pot Baked Potato Soup:

 

 

Here's what you need:
1 medium onion, diced
5-6 white potatoes, diced
1 8-12 oz package of turkey bacon
1 boxed carton of chicken broth
garlic powder (or fresh garlic, minced)
salt and pepper (about a tsp each..to taste)
1 cup heavy cream

Dice onions and place into crock pot.

Wash, peel, and dice potatoes and add to the slow cooker.

Add salt, pepper, garlic (or garlic powder).

Add the carton of chicken broth, cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or high for 3.

About 30 minutes before you're going to eat, lower the crock pot to "Keep Warm" if yours has that setting. Add about 1 cup of heavy cream. Use your handheld mixer to beat the soup slowly. Be careful, because it might splatter out if you're making a large quantity. Don't thoroughly blend, because you want to keep some lumps. It's not going to look pretty, but it tastes amazing!

Cook your turkey bacon until it's crispy. (Real bacon crisps quicker, but the picture above is turkey bacon!)

Serve with crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, and scallions.

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