Gourmet from Scraps

Last night I planned to eat watermelon for dinner.  Cut one up before church, ate until I was full, went to church.  When church let out I had to pee, then I was hungry.  Dango watermelon!  It didn't last long. Decided pretty late that I was hungry, but remembered I have extremely limited groceries in the house. Searched the cabinets and the fridge and the freezer, this is what I came up with:

Please ignore the ring on the counter...

Greek-style Green pasta with spinach

From the pantry:  Green spaghetti (made with spinach) and lots of garlic

From the fridge:  kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, last of the pesto, pine nuts

From the freezer:  salmon fillet

Boom!  Gourmet dinner in less than 20 minutes made from either staple ingredients or things leftover from other recipes.  Be creative in the kitchen.  That is one of my most favorite places to be creative.  I like crafty stuff but I'd rather be cooking any day.

What are your favorite kitchen creations lately?

Rum and Gardening

Spent the weekend at the lake and I didn't get as many pictures as I should have.  Brother-in-law bought a kayak for this summer and let me try it out to see if I actually want one for myself.  I loved it!  I am going to start looking for one on craigslist or Facebook or something.  Do you have a kayak you want to give sell me?

Hubs got a tiller attachment for the weedeater and used it to work the dirt in my flower beds.  Sadly spring is almost over and I hadn't started on my flower beds yet.

I did have a few plants in the bed that are still doing well.  This is amazing considering how brown my thumb is.



If anyone can identify these plants for me, I would love to know what they are.  The little purple one was a gift from Grandma, she said it's purple cabbage.  I hope that means I will get to eat it soon.  I call the fern Fern, but if you know what purple plant with her is, I'd like to know.  The other green plant was a gift from Neighbors.  No idea why people would gift plants to me, I have a REALLY brown thumb.

 

LOTS of grass roots pulled from the beds





My new friend, I call him Big Worm

  Got me a half-price slushy drink at Happy Hour.  Took it home to add my own touch, touch of rum that is. Mmm.  Lemonberry slush with guava rum, a refreshing drink to go with my gardening.

Neighbors had some seed they wanted to plant in one of my beds.  I told them a while back they could.  Turns out the seeds were for sweet corn and okra...  I put the seed in the ground, but I don't think I have ever successfully grown anything from a seed so wish me luck. 

How does your garden grow?

Keep Calm and Okie On

So the title isn't original, I stole it.  It's also my Facebook profile picture because it's appropriate today.  Today, as I'm sure you have heard, was a terrible day for the state of Oklahoma.  Not only were there tornadoes in the state again today, but they struck a couple elementary schools while school was in.  This is even more horrifying to most of us because so many young people lost their lives.  Princess asked me today why God would let there be tornadoes and let them hurt people.  I don't really have an answer for this.  I told her God has a plan.  We don't know God's plan and he doesn't owe us any explanation.  We just have to keep the faith and show His love to our neighbors. 

Verses that I hope will be helpful:

Psalm 34:18 - The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Isaiah 41:10 - So do not fear, for I am with you;

Matthew 5:4 - Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Matthew 11:28 - 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest'

John 16:33 - 'I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.'

I hope you find peace and trust in God even in times like these.  Pray for all those effected and show love to your neighbors.  If you want to help in the relief efforts pray first then check with the American Red Cross, Salvation Army or some other reputable organizations.  There will be scammers, so please be careful.

So.Busy.

It has been a while since I've posted anything.  It has been crazy busy.  What have I been up to, you ask, well here goes.

Recently I have realized that I have been out in this world for some time now and have never actually set up a home.  My houses have always looked more like bachelor pads; handed down furniture, nothing hanging on the walls, only attempted to paint rooms a few times and those were not successful.  We have lived in this house for over six years.  I have painted all the rooms the colors I want them, but not much more than that.  I'm not the greatest housekeeper, either.  So to remedy all this, I've hung mostly empty picture frames on the wall in an artful way.  I ordered some prints of our recent family photos from Walgreens, but have so far failed to pick them up.  I'll get those tomorrow and hang them this week.  I hung some lovely wine label decor pieces on the wall in the dining.  I've done nothing but clean (or so it feels) for the last couple weeks.  It all feels pretty good though.  I like that my house is finally feeling like a home for my family.  About the time I get every room completed, we will probably have found the next home we want to buy and I'll have to start over, but I will have collected a few things I can use in the next place.

What are your favorite things in your house?


I have barely been to the track in the last couple weeks, but I do have big plans in the new year.  More on that a little later.  I have managed to eat a little better and not add a bazillion pounds in my down time.  I'm actually on track with my weight loss.  I have been hovering around 185 lately, but today I was at 181.  I feel pretty good that next weeks weigh in will be even better even if I don't get to the track like I want to.