Friday, February 28, 2014

...Book Club...and Sister Love...

...of course y'all already know how awesome my sissie is...
...I always know when there's a package from her in the mailbox...as it's almost always wrapped in old aviation maps...love that!...
...and this little surprise was a book she is recommending for next month's book club meeting (at our house this month)...there are 8 'regulars' so each person winds up hosting every 8 months or so...

...so now I have the HUGE decision of what to read...I still have the Larry Ellis (In the Forest of the Night) book from last time...remember you can't read the book in advance - that's against the rules - so I kept it just in case...my sissie is recommending this one...

...so everybody let me know what's the best book you've read in the last year!...

...Thanks for all your help!

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, February 27, 2014

...Our 40th Snow...

...are y'all tired of seeing our house covered with snow...
...we're not...it reminds us of North Dakota...all the snow we've had...

...and the weatherman said last night that this was our fortieth snowfall this season...CRAZY!

...no school for Scout...again...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

...W.I.P. - Wednesday Cozy Coat Finished...

...this is the left front finished...and probably the best 'colour' photo yet...it really is just plain ole navy blue...not purple...black...or royal...
...and here's the finished vest...I agree with whoever it was that posted on Ravelry that the back was kinda 'funny'...if I had it to do over again I'd shorten the armhole bind off and make it boxier...at least on the back...I'm pretty happy with the front...and I'm not going to re-do the back either...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

...Taco Tuesday...Vegan Soft Taco Bake...

...I saw this kit at the grocery store (not my photo)...and thought it would be easy to veganize...it comes with a spice mix...a bag of melted cheese sauce...and 4 soft tacos...aka flour tortillas...

...and I had a box of Fantastic Foods Taco Filling in the cupboard...so that would make it even easier...

...but if you don't...a while ago...I posted about making a vegan seven layer dip...and I made a taco seasoning mix for that...
...so you make your taco filling...and just start layering things up...
...tortilla - filling...
...tortilla - filling...
...until you get to the top...end with filling...

...then I made a melty cheese sauce by simply mixing some Daiya Havarti with garlic and jalapeno and some Daiya Cheddar with some almond milk and microwaving it...it wasn't very creamy...sort of gloppy really...but you could make a proper creamy cooked cheese sauce if you wanted...
...and then just baked it at 350° for about 20 minutes...

...I intended to take some 'plated' close ups...but just got too busy eating I guess...but it really was easy and delicious...and we'll definitely be making it again...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, February 24, 2014

...winter returns...

...after a gorgeous spring weekend...we woke up to a dusting of snow...and 20° (-7°C)...and we're in for another chilly week...

...How is your spring?...

~Have a lovely day!

Saturday, February 22, 2014

...in the attic...

...we've been having a couple of days of absolutely gorgeous clear spring weather...so strange and so welcome...another 60° (16° C) day...
...so we spent the day in the attic...

...we're getting things ready for a ton of fluff up there to boost our R factor to about 45...(from a very sad 9)...

...so the Man replaced our makeshift attic fan...with a proper one...

...and I extended the tubes from the new bathroom fans over to the new attic fan...

...so now the attic is ready...we also cleaned out the gutters and took Jack on a huge walk...so we did get out and enjoy the gorgeous weather...

~Have a lovely weekend...

Friday, February 21, 2014

...Recycling...an Onion Bag Scrubbie...

...remember...way back when...a long time ago...I posted my Dishy Scrubby Thingy pattern...(wow...that was a long time ago)...

...I had bought the netting in North Dakota to stretch over our cabbages in the garden...to keep the little white moths from getting on them...so I had yards and yards of it...and we left it in the garage for the new pastor's family in case they wanted to use it in their garden...
...so I've been making my little scrubbies out of onion bags...it's free and easy and I always have them on hand...

...this is just your generic 3 lb. bag of yellow onions in a sort of plastic netting bag...
...I just snip off the little metal staples that close the ends...
...and you can see that it is just a rectangular tube of netting...
...then I just start at the bottom and cut it into one long strip about an inch wide...I must say that I'm not too careful with this - it doesn't have to be exact because you sort of scrunch up the strip while you're crocheting...

...I get about 18 feet of 'yarn' from one onion bag...and it takes 2 onion bags to make a good sized scrubbie...
...even a little bag of shallots yields several feet of 'yarn'...
...so I'll just use that up to keep from throwing it away too...
...then I just crochet a basic circle...

...when I come to the end of the first strip...
...I just lay another stip on top of it and keep going...
...I just crochet until my 'thread' runs out and I don't worry too much about any colour variation between the bags...
...it's so handy to keep a scrubby thingy beside the sink...

Dishy Scrubby Thingy Pattern

Chain 5 and join to form a ring.
Rnd 1: 8 sc in ring.
Rnd 2: ch 1, 2 sc in ea sc around. Sl st in first sc, to join.
Rnd 3: ch 1, (sc in next sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. Sl st in first sc, to join.
Rnd 4: ch 1, (sc in ea of next 2 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. Sl st in first sc, to join.
Rnd 5: ch 1, (sc in ea of next 3 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. Sl st in first sc, to join.
Rnd 6: ch 1, (sc in ea of next 4 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. Sl st in first sc, to join.
Rnd 7: ch 1, (sc in ea of next 5 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. Sl st in first sc, to join.
Rnd 8: ch 1, (sc in ea of next 6 sc, 2 sc in next sc) around. Sl st in first sc, to join. Pull the little tail of yarn back through the stitch and tuck it into the crochet and you're done...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

...W.I.P. Wednesday...on Thursday...

...just some progress on the left front...the interesting thing about this pattern is that the two fronts are knit the same...they're reversible...only you knit buttonholes into one side and not the other...it's still pretty fun and easy...and believe it or not...the colour is still not quite right in this photo...this looks like a royal blue to me...and it really is just navy...

...F.O. coming soon...

~Have a lovely day!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

...Single Serving Vegan Tuna Salad...

...this is something I make a lot...but I don't think I've ever posted about it...
...y'all know how I freeze my homemade beans in little individual size cups...

...well...I just thaw out one little muffin cup of beans...mine are about 1/2 cup each...
...and mash them with a fork...leave them a little bit chunky...
...sprinkle on some Nori...or dulse...for bit-o-the-sea flavor...
...add some vegenaise and sweet relish - about a teaspoon of each...
...some chopped celery and green onion...again about a teaspoon of each...
...this time I stuffed a whole wheat pita...
...and had some tomato soup and carrot sticks...and my new favorite tea...it's called Iced Passion...
...this is so good...I may have it for lunch again today...

~Have a lovely day!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

...Cilantro...

...I got a big ole bunch of organic cilantro at the health food store over the weekend...
...so I stripped off the leaves...
...bagged up some for the freezer...
...and filled up the dehydrator...
...in no time at all I had a quart jar full of fresh dried organic cilantro...
...we love cilantro...do you?...

~Have a lovely day!

Monday, February 17, 2014

...salt roasted beets...

...we had some beets from Capitol Market...and I heard someone mention salt roasted beets somewhere and thought I'd give it a try...
...just rinse the beets and while they're wet...coat them well with salt...and bake for about 1 hour...I love roasted root vegetables...
...then peel...
...and slice...
...and add a bunch of Earth Balance...
...we had ours with some baked tofu...fried cabbage...mashed potatoes and cornbread...
...delicious...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!...

Saturday, February 15, 2014

...Daiya Swiss Cheese...

...so I tried the Daiya Swiss Cheese...
...just about the simplest way I could...
...I had it on some whole wheat toast with a salad for lunch...and it was really, really good...a little sweet like Swiss should be...and the little holes are so cute...now I'll have to find one of Julia's recipes to use this swiss in...it will be perfect...

...I also tried the zevia pop (the Dr. Zevia one - I still have the cream soda one)...and it was all right...didn't blow my hair back or anything...but don't take that to mean that you shouldn't try it...I'm not much of a pop drinker...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, February 14, 2014

...Valentine's Snow...

...the big east coast storm that was supposed to just skirt by us to the south...and give us 1 - 3 inches of snow...
...sort of stalled right over us...
...so we woke up to a lot more snow...I love the little ridges of snow on the cushion-less chairs...
...and late in the day when it finally stopped snowing...Scout shoveled us out...

~Stay warm and have a lovely day!