My goal today...

... is to shop less, bake more.

Kevin has to work this weekend, which normally means I spend the majority of Saturday and Sunday wandering aimlessly around several nearby stores and spending ridiculous amounts of money on things I don't need.  Sounds like fun, doesn't it?  It is.

Since we are trying to save some money (and since I am planning to do some epic Black Friday shopping later this week)... I decided to try to take a break from my retail therapy habit.  Since I have to do something (and studying just doesn't sound like fun)... I thought I would bake instead.... and bake I did.

I enjoyed some delicious cookie brownies and pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.  Oooh yes.  I would post recipes, but I cheated and used boxed mixes... no fun.  Tomorrow I might try my hand at some *real* baking... you know, the kind you actually have to measure stuff for.  We'll see how that goes.

For dinner, I made one of our favorites... Garbage Soup.  Yes, that's really what we call it.  Why?  Well, because it looks a lot like garbage.  But it tastes delicious.  It actually tastes a lot like Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden.

Garbage Soup

• 1 lb hot sausage, browned and crumbled
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 1 large container of chicken stock
• 2-3 large potatoes, diced and boiled until knife-tender (not too soft)
• 4-6 large kale leaves roughly chopped

Brown the sausage and onion together.  I use a potato masher to break the sausage down into little pieces.  Meanwhile, in a stockpot on med-low heat, add the chicken stock, boiled potatoes and chopped kale.  Once the kale is wilted, turn heat to low.  Add brown sausage to soup and let simmer on low until ready to serve.

I like to serve this with a loaf of crusty Italian bread.