French fries baked in coconut oil with garlic dill kefir cheese.
Kefir cheese is made by straining the whey off of freshly made milk kefir. Donna of Cultured Food Life uses it for all sorts of fun things, even ice cream. It turns out a lot like cream cheese, and you can season it a number of ways. For this dip I used dried dill from my garden, a clove of garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and then whipped it with a hand mixer.
I've completely departed from processed sugar, and even try to avoid it in small amounts. Ketchup contains a lot more sugar than any of us imagine, so even though I love it on my french fries, I decided to find something healthy to use instead. I certainly did not miss the ketchup with this spicy yumminess on my taters!
Also, we don't eat a lot of potatoes, but do not avoid them! We also had sprouted mung bean soup with these fries which was loaded with turmeric, cumin, coriander, garlic and ginger which was actually a Dr. Oz recipe. Of course, I probably doubled the spices, but that's just me. Herbs and spices are true medicine. No mung bean soup pic...I pureed mine and it just looked like green goop. Delicious green goop!
A new coloring book arrived this morning...also known as, the Google Fiber manual.
A young man wired yet another device to our house and a certain little Miso was thrilled to receive this new coloring book from..."The Google Maaaaaannnnn!!"
I was checking for hidden cameras. They've documented just about
everything BUT the insides of our houses and I wondered if they'd
outfitted their installation techs with cameras to make even the private parts of our homes and lives...available for all to inspect! My insightful husband
simply commented with "No, that's called Facebook"! Yes...self-imposed lack of privacy!
We'll see what brother has to add to the book today. He's usually in charge of deconstruction, but maybe he'll want to leave his mark instead.
I'm humming right along on my desk caddy. It's going to take many layers of paper before it's satisfactory. I've had to put my beloved crafts aside the past two days because when I do my grocery shopping, there's always a lot of food to prep.
Yesterday I made paleo chili. I'd love to share the recipe but I read 3 different ones and then used the salad bar technique to make my chili. I had random tomato products that needed to be used, a nice pound of grass-fed beef, freshly made beef broth and a TON of spices. No beans, but I did add sour cream and cheddar to the top. My kids loved it despite begging for more and more water, and eventually they needed milk to put out the fire.
Today I'm making Indian food...chicken tikka masala, and mung bean soup. The mung beans have been sprouting on my counter for a few days so hopefully they won't give any of us "issues"!
Pinterest...either you love it, or you avoid it for one of many reasons. It's endlessly fascinating to me, but it can suck your time up like the fiercest Hoover ever built. Currently, I have 54 boards, 1,712 pins of inspiration, ideas, loves...and craft projects to try, someday! Someday when I'm not busy sitting on my can clicking away at pretty pictures, that is!
Someday finally came...completely on a whim. I started with this project pinned from gingerbreadsnowflakes.com which is a tutorial on weaving in the Saori style. Cardboard and yarn, I have lots of those!
This was my first...I went wild with color, picking every little crazy scrap of yarn I had.
I'm in the St. Valentine's Day mode, can you tell? It seems I rotate my craft projects based on the approaching holiday. My husband commented that this weaving has now replaced my winter craft of crochet. I try, I try...but my brain cannot make sense out of the directions for crochet projects. I need something hands-on and very forgiving...which can be "messed up" a little and still look good! Oh!...all the scarves I've made with the uneven ends and skipped stitches, bahhh!
I also love projects which allow me to use power tools. :) Deeply embedded in my heart, is a love for tools. I love tools corded...battery powered...hand powered...from small pliers to radial arm saws, my heart goes pitter pat. I'm downright twitterpated for tools!
This project for an artsy desk caddy made from tin cans inspired me to finally do something cool with the huge collection of tin cans I've saved. They've been on my drafting desk for years...filled with Sharpies, and markers, and pencils....on my desk, eating up valuable space. I wanted something portable, sturdy and spacious. And of course...I needed my cordless DeWalt, various hand tools and a "serious" hot glue gun...not one of those low-temp craft store ones that you could practically squirt ON your hand and not even feel it! Low-temp glue also dries too fast, and the pieces eventually pop apart. The hot glue gun I have growls when it heats up (kidding) and it squirts out glue so hot, you could give yourself a 3rd degree burn in seconds (NOT kidding). Rabid hot glue guns bring back fond memories of gluing hundreds of gaudy jewels onto set pieces for the Branson sensation, Shoji Tabuchi's wife...Dorothy! She had a glorious shell with glittering (plastic) jewels which held her as she "emerged" into view...Glamorous!
I drilled some holes so I could join 2 sets of the larger cans with baling wire to a wooden purse handle, then hot glued every can together. Bashi watched with delight as the cordless drill whirred loudly...when the drill bit went through the first can he let out a revered..."whoa"...yes son, I know! Anyway, it's solid. Here it is for now...
My plan is to decoupage dress pattern paper all over the sides, which will not only make it look sweet, but will give it an added level of sturdiness. This pin for the "altered tin can" made me happy...I hope mine rust on the edges too.
Lastly, I'd like to address the fact that I've been non-blogging since September! I started a few posts...but either they were too personal, or I was just complaining. :) I've decided that sharing my current craft projects would be the best direction to take this blog. With two toddlers, and a little one on the way...you'd think I wouldn't have TIME for arts and crafts. But I must make time...or I'll go crazy. And that's a fact.
