Crazy Dumplings Virtual Blog Tour

Today, I am hosting a tour stop for the Crazy Dumplings Virtual Blog Tour. Author Amanda Roberts has created a Kickstarter campaign for her upcoming cookbook, Crazy Dumplings. Below you will find information on Amanda's exciting project and detailed information about how you can participate.

From Amanda

Crazy Dumplings will contain 30 of my original dumpling recipes plus 5 dumpling recipes submitted by backers, the dumpling wrapper recipe, and several original sauce and dip recipes such as buffalo sauce, guacamole, and salsa. There are dumpling recipes for appetizers, main courses, and desserts. You could even prepare a whole Thanksgiving dinner totally out of dumplings with this book!

I am self-publishing this book, but cookbooks (largely due to the cost of a photographer and testing recipes) are far more expensive to produce than regular books. This is why I am turning to Kickstarter for help. There are some great reward levels including a digital copy of the book at only the $10 level, a physical copy of the book at only the $15 level, and the awesome dumpling dumplinger at only the $20 level (the most popular level for this campaign). But at the $50 level, backers can even submit their own awesome dumpling ideas to be included in the book.

Crazy Dumplings Virtual Blog Tour 

Click here to view the tour schedule and follow along as Amanda Roberts stops at different blogs sharing her experience cooking abroad and some delicious dumpling recipes.

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Author Bio

Amanda Roberts moved to China in 2010 to live out her dream of becoming an English teacher. Little did she know that the hardest adjustment to life in a new country would be the food! After three years, Amanda is ready to release her first cookbook, Crazy Dumplings!


Join Amanda Roberts on her journey:

• Crazy Dumplings Kickstarter
• http://www.twoamericansinchina.com
• http://www.facebook.com/TwoAmericansinChina

"Mama Doesn't Waste Vegetables" Soup

It is a cool and rainy day here in Olympia so I thought some veggie soup for dinner sounded delightful. I also have a bunch of vegetables that are on their last leg in my refrigerator.

I am the queen of sales, BOGO (buy one get one free), coupons ... I'm an all around frugal gal. While being thrifty is not a bad thing, especially with a family to take care of, I can go overboard with veggies when they are on sale because let's face it, buying fresh produce is not cheap.

That's when I make "Mama Doesn't Waste Vegetables" soup. I literally pile up all of the vegetables on my counter and prepare them for soup. The fun part is that the soup is different every time I make it because you never know what veggies are in the fridge.

This is what I have today.

I wash the veggies, cut them up, and then saute them in olive oil for a few minutes.

I normally make my soup with homemade broth but today I am using a store bought broth because guess what? I had a great coupon for them & I have 3 boxes in my pantry. Let's do this.

The only helpful thing Heath does in the kitchen is help himself to the food. I don't complain because I have a 2-year-old chomping & enjoying raw veggies, yay!

Finally, I add the delicious smellin' veggies into the slow cooker, along with the broth, pepper, and some parsley to taste. I let the soup cook for 6-8 hours on the low setting. Usually on the last hour I will add more broth if need be. We like our soup chunky though.

If I still have vegetables left over then I use them for homemade vegetable broth. It is a simple process! While my stock pot is heating up with a little olive oil,  I wash and chop the veggies I am going to use. I toss them into the stock pot to saute and if I have some cloves of garlic on hand, I add a few, too. Basil, pepper, rosemary, and thyme are great to include in the broth mixture. After a few minutes, I add 8-9 cups of water, bring everything to a boil, and then let it simmer for an hour.

I strain the broth into plastic containers to keep in my fridge for the next week and I also add some of the homemade broth into ice cube trays to freeze. These come in handy and will stay good in the freezer for around 2 months.