I hope that you are all having a great week with your families and friends.  I started putting away most of my Christmas decorations and all I have left is to take down two trees!  I know some of you are saying, just what exactly have you taken down then, but I had decorations is my kitchen, family room, bedroom, front hall and living room!  It feels so good to start cleaning it all up and organizing a bit.  I have decided that I have to clean out my clothes closet before I can hang up anything new in there, so that is really quite a challenge, since I have not gone through my closet  and really dejunked for a couple of years!  But the new year is always a good time to organize and start fresh, so that is my goal!  I am going to do one rod, shelf and drawer at a time so it is not too overwhelming!

 Are you tired of all the Christmas food yet?  I know I am ready to go back to the good old homemade soups and salads, etc.  Here is a recipe I found  for a Copycat Zuppa Toscana and then I adapted it to make it more the way that I thought it should be.  :)  This is a great hearty soup that is so good for you!  It is a meal in and of itself and all I added was a butterflake roll to make the meal complete.

Here is the recipe:

Zuppa Toscana Soup

4-6 servings

Ingredients:

1 lb mild Italian sausage

2 large russet potatoes, sliced in half, then cut in ¼ inch slices

1 large onion, chopped

½ cup real bacon bits

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups kale, chopped

2 cans chicken broth-14.5 oz

1 quart water

1 cup whipping cream or half & half

Directions:

1.  Brown sausage and drain off the oil.
2. Place the onions, potatoes, chicken broth, water and garlic in a pot.  Cook on medium heat until the potatoes are done.
3. Add the sausage and bacon bits and salt and pepper to taste.
4. Simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. Turn to low heat and add kale and cream.
6. Heat through and serve.
7. Can garnish with more chopped kale and course ground pepper.