The Recipe Killer: Red Beet Smoothies

The Recipe Killer: Red Beet Smoothies: Hey green smoothie people, have you ever gone red? Try a beet smoothie! I've done it before, but this time I learned (from The Chew maybe...

Ugh

I love blogging, I love all the crafts, ideas, fresh ideas, emotions, raw energy and zanienous (is that a word?) I love to follow blogs and get ideas from time to time. I have realized over the years as I mature and become more myself that I am a follower not a leader; therefore, I love blogs. Blogs give me a chance to claim the game, to say I created this, its mine and not yours. Do I really yearn to do that, NOOOOOO. I love blogs. I love the tutorials, the complaining, the realism, the pictures, the copied pictures and the realism of it all. For this I am all so thankful. No worries attached

Brown Eggs and ham?

So in the spirit of keeping up with my cooking posts I would like to post one of my not so great moments. I beleive this was Christmas breakfast. I have found that when I am cooking more than one item I either become distracted or just plum forget my heat settings. In this case, who knows but I will tell you it still tasted good, just didnt look so good. I am indeed a very odd chef not for the fact that I am odd but have odd or acquired tastes. I think I am able to enjoy burnt food because I tend to burn alot of my meals. I have become so much better as the years of my marriage progress but yet again here I am with a burnt meal that has creeped in. I know there are so many others out there who feel my pain on this issue. I am not always gonna be a Rachel Ray or a Martha Stewart but at least I have the heart and settings of a good hostess.

Mantle

I have been wondering what to do with our corner mantle for some time. It seems to be a catch all for things like cleaning supplies, screws, nails and pictures. I finally took my 50% off coupon to Michaels and bought some dried grass and artsy flowers to put in a metal vase that I had bought a couple of years ago. I really like the outcome of this for a couple of reasons, one is that the flowers cover the speaker above the fireplace and two I was able to incorporate some artwork that my mother in law painted and passed on to us. I love the family photos of all of us sitting over the hearth and I think it makes for quite a cozy corner.

Still a work in progress this here blog. I keep taking pictures of food and scrap booking or other little things I do here and there. My latest craze is picking up hand-me downs from the thrift store and re vamping them to fit into the style of my home. My latest find is a huge basket to hold blankets that I bought from Hospice thrift. At some point I will post a pic but for now I will brag. It is huge and it came from Peir One origanally. I am so excited, again to get some pics posted at some point would be faaabuuulous. Well gotta run, dog is eating kids breakfast.

Figuring it out

I am having a hard time with these blogging things. Blogger.com has been somewhat challenging to navigate through and has me seeing red, hence the red writing on this one. I would love to design my own page as I have seen others do. I love the set ups that people have made for themselves but have had a hard time finding a "how to" guide on here. I thought I found one and I ended up making a bar for IGOOGLE, UGH! I am not giving up and I intend to work it out until I work it out. It sorta reminds me of personal projects I have still laying around that need work. There are projects that have been in boxes for years cause I cant get it down right and I am finally at the point where I want to give everything a go and just finish up what I started. One project in peticualr is a belly dancing costume but I am beginning to wonder if those days are over so should I use the material that is really luxurious on something else? Then there is the soft dolls I wanted to make for my daughter Arella that have been sitting in a drawer since her birthday in October. Ugh, again. So I cant back down from this and I will keep trudging along and hopefully I can make this blog as loveley as the ones I follow and have seen in the past.

Couponing

Ahhhh, I have just returned from my latest shopping extravaganza, well extravaganza may be to much of an exaggeration. I have recently learned the art of couponing. I know it is so the thing to do right now but last year my husband lost his job due to layoffs not once but twice so after considering that and the fact our bill for groceries have tended to be higher than our utilities there needed to be a change. I spoke with a friend who is tighter than a zip lock baggie and between her suggestions, and another friend who dumpster dives I began to work the system. "the system" of double couponing, combining coupons and freebies. I am not a pro like those you would see on the shows where they spend as much time saving money as they would working, it is not like that but my pocket book is happier. My trick since my husband is terrified of me dumpster diving is to get 2 sets of news papers each Sunday clip every single coupon not just the ones I want to use and wait. Yes wait, it takes so much patience but it is worth it. I usually end up with 4 coupons per one item so then when it goes on sale especially BOGO I use my coupons and if I am lucky I also combine more store coupons for extra savings. I have two small children so I can spend a ton of time working on couponing, cataloging and hunting down bargains but I can say what effort I have done has helped me to cut costs in half and get double the food. Speaking of time, gotta run my one year old is screaming

Muffin Tin Meals

I have a 3 and half year old boy who does not eat very well. It has been quite the journey to get him to try new foods, to eat a full meal and stay healthy while gaining weight. I researched on the internet some ways to get him to eat and came across an article that I found very interesting. Come to find out Tiny Tots will eat carbs vs protiens and vice versa? In this peticular article I also found one effective way to combat that through the use of a muffin tin. The idea is that you fill each spot with a nutritious option such as cheese, fruit, meat, rice, noodles etc. This gives your child the option to choose what they want to eat. Someone told me they didnt have time to do such a thing but I have found it to go very fast. I do string cheese, nuts mixed with raisins or cranberries, rice, noodles, lunch meat like ham or roast beef, left overs....basiclly you name it and you can fill it. I started to base my son Jesse's dietery needs on what he was getting per week and not what he was getting per day. Since having done this he has gained weight and shown interest in other foods. I would say we are at the point now where he is weaned from the muffin tin. I have a daughter that is 1 years old and she does so much better than Jesse when it comes to food but I know that if she does need it I have that option. There are times when I think "wow I would love to have a muffin tin meal myself" for the fact they end up looking so yummy.

Brazilian Hot dogs

So Damian and I have this crazy friend that visits us about once a year after he has traveled around the world or is done working in places like New York City, Iraq, Brazil, Columbia, California etc.... all the fun and exciting places for sure. This last visit he introduced to us a new and unusual dish " Cochorro Quinche" Brazilian for Dog hot or Hot dog. It takes a hot dog bun or sub bun and a hot dog and loads it down with things like potato sticks, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, onions, carrots, salsa and anything else you can think of. I was a little skeptical at first but after eating it I found it to be similar to that of a breakfast burrito. I would go so far to say that this is a once in a must try once a in a life time dish. If you do end up trying it or making it you will definitely have bragging rights on this one.