My Way, No. 27

*If you’re new to my blog, you may want to read this for info on what ‘My Way’ posts are all about. 🙂 *

— Hope you’ve had a lovely day! Several Adventures in Food to share with you. Last week, I had a day I wasn’t feeling so hot. All I could manage to eat was a thin slice of a toasted bagel. I was looking over the Healthy Snacks Under 200 Calories post and thought the mango-lime sorbet sounded like something I could handle. I added a wee bit o’ rum (to keep it from freezing too hard), some red chile, and key lime zest. I tried to make it look tropical to cheer myself up. That’s also the reason you may see plates/dishes beyond my plain white on this blog — oftentimes, different serving wares give me a boost in mood. Perhaps this is why I have a hard time not buying every other set of dishes, glasses, silverware, etc., that I see, haha. I do love just the ordinary white plates, though, too — très simple.

What are your go-to meals when you have a ton of veggies (besides just eating them raw and unadorned)? I think pasta or salads come to mind first for me, also stir-fries, soups, stews, sandwiches/toast, and curries. A few weeks ago, I had potatoes that needed to be used, so I made these Mustard Seed-Potato Curry Lettuce Tacos: potatoes, black beans, tomatoes, garlic, quartered shallots, fresh coconut milk, apple, raisins, cilantro, lemon, yellow mustard seeds, and a blend of curry spices. Homemade Greek-style yogurt to top them off. They were very satisfying.

2 more dishes with potatoes: Grilled Summer Salad w/ Queso Fresco & Potato Croutons. My initial craving when composing this salad was raw squash, potatoes and grilled corn. I added to it a bit with spring mix, grilled asparagus & peppers, and roasted tomatoes. I used the queso recipe from this post, but with skim milk. I made a quick cilantro dressing and squeezed the charred limes over the top. Really delicious. I decided to add about a 1/4 cup more corn after I snapped the pic.

Gazing at the Healthy Snacks post, I also decided to make the Frozen Yogurt Blueberry Bites (simple and tasty!) and Skinny Pizza Potato Skins:

The pizza skins in the post were pepperoni, but I usually prefer veggie pizza. I made these on the spur of the moment, so I had to whip up my short-cut pizza sauce. I took the pic pre-oven as I was starved & knew a post-oven pic would delay my eating (toaster or convection ovens are a great option here). Toppings were sautéed squash & kale, caramelized onion, marinated artichoke, and the queso. Instead of cutting the potato in half, I just cut small rounds. I think I’ll go with the halves (as indicated in the recipe) next time. The small rounds were difficult to get enough of the toppings on. But, I think they would be fab party apps. These really hit the spot, and I will be making them again for sure.

I’m finding so many ways to use the homemade yogurt! I slathered a bit on a piece of fish for a pistachio crust:

I enjoyed this particular meal so much, I made it 2 days in a row. I had a flashback to culinary school (way back in the day) the first preparation. During one class, the chef instructor decided that I should be the ‘chosen one’ to filet a sturgeon. I just recall that it was HUGE — almost as big as I am, haha! Plums (raw) are a fruit that I have to be in the mood to have. Grilled, though, I could eat them every day. I served the fish with a berry-shallot relish, and a baby chard, spin, kale salad w/ berries, sunflower seeds, and a berry vin. For the most part, when I mention I made a vin on this blog, it doesn’t have as much oil as many recipes call for. I usually find some other flavor-packed liquid to sub & punch it up with other herbs, spices, etc. Oil, of course, has a certain mouth-feel and balancing quality, so I try to find things comparable. Also pic’d is a petite rosemary baguette (used this technique w/ my food processor) and rosemary tea. Just hot water & fresh rosemary. One of my fave comforting teas. Yes, it’s hot outside! But, there’s A/C inside, and I always prefer hot tea to cold when I can have it.

Last item for today: I finally had a bit of chicken, so I was able to make the grilled chicken with the Turkish spices. I used the same honey & balsamic mixture as the chickpeas. Yums! The Turkish spices were also great on home fries. I was inspired by the Grilled Chicken Caesar Skewers with Kale Pesto, as well. I used the same lemony-buttermilk Caesar dressing as in this post, and a baby chard, spin, kale, sunflower seed pesto. As with vinaigrettes, I usually lighten up my pestos by using less cheese & nuts and replacing some of the oil with stock. I might also add in some other wacky ingredients. Other skewers pic’d here are pomegranate molasses-mint, and homemade Italian dressing.

— Went to my friend’s fashion conference last week and all was grand. There was an Arabian horse show, as well as jewelry, accessories, and clothing galore. There are 3 class “break-out” sessions, so I chose to attend the Latin dance class the first session. It was SO fun, but I really should have come prepared with a workout outfit (instead of my vintage frock). There were also hula dancers for entertainment:

If someone can turn Latin dance into a fitness trend, I think the next one should be hula. It looks like it would be a blast.

This year, there was an award given for ‘Best Dressed,’ and one dress that had many of us “oohing and ahhhing” was this:
Sakura | Henkaa.com.

It’s a convertible dress by Henkaa. This style is called Sakura, but they have several other styles available. You choose your length and color, and they also have additional accessories to coordinate. I think the young lady demo-ing the dress said there were as many as 60 style possibilities. Now, that’s what I call a SQUEAL DEAL! Make sure to check out the website! *Edit: Here is a direct link to the young lady’s personal page for the Henkaa dresses. FYI, you can also host a style shoppe and earn 1/2 OFF items, as well as rewards dollars to spend on items from Henkaa. Awesome!*

I barely snapped ANY conference pics this year, but here are a couple of things I found interesting:

Rolling bag & the black fringe bag next to it

Handmade jewelry

I like these flowy prints (will Hello Kitty ever stop being so popular? I think not, lol).

— 67 Homemade, All-Natural Cleaning Recipes.

— And, I thought a cutting board is a cutting board is a cutting board. After seeing some of these beauties, I might have developed a new culinary product love. Why do people have to tempt you? Fabulous cutting boards and other kitchen goodies here (several items on sale & have a peek at the accompanying food blog while you’re there):
Products – Bowl & Pitcher

— Upcycled Furniture / awesome ideas! | Decorating Ideas | Pinterest.

— Today’s good eats: 
Impressive Date Night Desserts: Raspberry Souffle With Framboise Liqueur | cravelocal.com. 

52 Herbal Tea Recipes | adelightfulhome.com. Enjoy them hot or cold!

Seafood Lasagna Recipe For The Seafood Lovers | Taste the Food and Fruit.

Fermented Food for Kids: A Guide with Kid-Friendly Recipes | fearlesseating.net.

 Baked Mediterranean Fish | texies.co.za Easy Peasy

Salted Chocolate + Caramel Ice Cream Cake | Coley Cooks.

Cherry Tomato Sauce | frogsinmykitchen.com.

Ginger Sweet Potato Juice | Natural Thrifty.

Blackberry Gin Fizz Float | browneyedbaker.com.

‘Til next time!

My Way, No. 19

*If you’re new to my blog, you may want to read this for info on what ‘My Way’ posts are all about. 🙂 *

— Hope you had a lovely St. Patrick’s Day! This past week, I made the celery juice from this blog post, another batch of the Chunky Corn & Black Bean Falafel, as well as the Crab & Goat Cheese Guacamole posted some time back. All were delish! The falafel will frequently be in my rotation, for sure. After posting the Fruit & Herb Honey Syrups, I made one with fruits and herbs I had in the freezer: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, pom, lime, and purple basil. So far, I’ve just used it to top off a little sparkling water, and it’s very nice.

And, I made the cherry-vanilla. A cherry-vanilla float with my Holiday bourbon sounds good. These syrups are super versatile, easy to make, and do not require any cooking. I am thinking I might do pineapple-mint next. If you haven’t done so already, check out the honey syrups here.

OMGoodness, the Spicy Carrot & Hummus Sandwich from my Healthy Work Lunches post really hit the spot!

I made an open-faced sandwich on whole wheat sourdough toast. I used the No-Knead Whole Grain Sourdough (no herbs or garlic this time). The recipe actually calls for einkorn, but I still need to pick some up. One of the reasons I wanted to make this sandwich was that I had leftover garbanzo bean dip. It wasn’t actually a traditional hummus, but it worked. From the picture posted, I initially thought the carrots were raw, but they are sautéed until just wilted. I opted for the alternative suggested cumin vs. caraway seeds to flavor the carrots (as caraway seeds are not my favorite). I can tolerate caraway, but I have never really loved them. I added toasted sesame seeds on top, and it was quite a lovely sandwich!

Just an update, I made a few more ‘energy bites,’ this time chocolate-peanut butter. I made them in the style of the chocolate-orange, but baked them. So, I guess they were more like ‘granola bites.’ I didn’t have peanut butter, so I blended whole roasted peanuts with the rest of my wet ingredients: cooked sweet potato, egg (I had a bit already beaten I needed to use up), powdered chocolate, raisins, maple, vanilla. The dry ingredients were (I think): Oats, ground oats, ground chia & flax seeds, wheat germ, chopped peanuts, toasted coconut, and salt.

I can see using the sweet potato puree as perhaps a pie filling, maybe a base for a mousse, or just a pudding. The chocolate (and peanut butter) makes the sweet potato pretty much undetectable. Sweet potato puree is a great vehicle if you cannot have dairy, in that respect. You can use dates in place of raisins, but that’s just what I felt like using at the time.

And, the last bit about my eats for this post…I baked a few individual soda breads for St. Pat’s in ramekins on the weekend. I haven’t made another batch of the ‘green muffins‘ yet as I still have a few in the freezer. I think Irish soda bread was my first (non-yeast) bread-making venture. I’ve never made separate portions, though.

I still use the same recipe from way back in the day, but I replaced the AP flour with whole wheat pastry flour and butter with coconut oil. The recipe calls for caraway seeds, but I’ve never included them (as I’ve said, they’re not my fave). I love soda bread for toast. SO good! I wanted a hot cup of Irish coffee to go alongside (I didn’t add too much liquor), but ended up with an Irish coffee frappe/smoothie-type drink. I had a few sips hot, then blended in frozen banana, non-fat homemade yogurt, oats, flax, chia, wheat germ, and almonds. I topped it off with a coconut cream-yogurt whip and blackstrap molasses (I am not really fond of chocolate sauce, so I decided molasses would be nice). I forget how nice Irish coffee is until I’ve had it again!

— I made my folding side table! I wanted this to be a table I could quickly set up when needed, then quietly tuck it away. As it wasn’t meant to be a stable piece of furniture, I just wanted it to be presentable without much expense. To achieve this, I decided to re & up cycle as many items as I could. Pic:

Several years back, I cut down and stowed away a large piece of bamboo. It was meant to be a curtain rod, but I ended up using another (thinner) piece (of bamboo). I decided to pull it out of storage and use it for the table base. I cut it into 4 pieces, and put holes (to join the pieces, with glue) in 2 of them. When I was cutting the holes, I thought, Oh, I should make a flute (even though I don’t play the flute, lol!). I made the holes a little smaller than I wanted, then carved away a little at a time for a snug fit. I drilled a hole to adjoin both legs, put a screw through it, then secured it with a washer and nut. I wish the screw was a little shorter, but I used what I had. I purchased 4 rubber leg tips to keep the base from moving around. I then glued two sides of a pic frame to the top of the legs. The spray paint I used did not have primer, so I primed it first, gave it a coat of (leftover) black then a light coat of (purchased) gold. I tried to allow some of the black to show through. Then, I sprayed alternate wisps of black and gold until it looked the way I wanted it to. I do not care for the finish of a lot of metallic spray paints, so I dulled the shine with leftover frosted glass spray. I’ve used it before for other glossy spray paints as well.
The top: I used a picture covered with one of my many fabric remnants. I was going to use wallpaper (as was suggested in my Using Wallpaper Remnants post), but this fabric seemed to fit the space better. I made it waterproof by brushing on melted oil & wax (method found here). You can use beeswax, paraffin, perhaps soy wax, and any fixed drying oil. Some of these are healthier options than others. More on that in an upcoming post. I staple gunned the fabric to the frame and added decorative nails (originally intended to re-upholster a chair. I did it freehand, so some are a bit wonky. I will go back & fix them later. I just wanted to take the pic while I still had a little sunlight). The top is not attached to the legs, so I added “stoppers” (synthetic corks) on the back of the picture to hold the top of the legs (the frame sides) in place. All in all, I think I made out pretty well with just the purchases of the rubber leg tips and gold spray paint!

— I love macrame! There are tons of vids out there if you want to learn how to craft something for yourself. I think you could totally DIY something like this: Glass & Twine Lantern Set | shopterrain.com.

Here’s a sweet macrame bracelet tutorial: DIY Shamballa Style Macrame Bracelet Tutorial | rings-things.com.

— I have tons of plaid. It’s one of my fave things. This is a cute idea: DIY Clothes DIY Refashion: DIY: Ombre Dip Dyed Plaid Shirt | Pinterest | Lacy Hall.
This dress sort of encompasses several styles. A versatile piece, I think: Streetcar Dress in Black Plaid (with pockets) | trendvee.com.

— After looking at the ‘supoon’ and ‘clongs’ from the last ‘My Way‘ post, I checked out some of the other kitchen products they have available. Some really neat items like jots, onpots, teafus, levoons. I love this Scizza | Dreamfarm Products. 

— I saw that Bibi won the election in Israel. Yay! I am not that political of a person, but I like him because he’s dashing, charming, handsome, suave, and did I mention dashing? 😉

— I read an article that mentioned “fashionable food,” meaning certain food, dishes, etc., should (not just do) go in and out of style. This wasn’t referring to dining out. I thought this an odd concept. I mean, it’s one thing if you want to be “trendy” to sell things….but, common folk usually eat (or prepare for others) what is readily available to them, what is at the market during the time of their visit, and what they can afford (if they can afford to eat at all). The average person doesn’t live in a restaurant or test kitchen. They are not usually concerned if their meat and potatoes, beans on toast, Grandma’s prize dessert, or whatever, is “in style,” haha! Most people do not care that much about their clothing being in style, let alone their everyday (or even special occasion) food. It seemed like the article was targeted at your average person, but perhaps not. Perhaps it was more like people who struggle with dilemmas such as, “Should I take the Bentley or the Benz”? Or, more importantly, “Should I ask Jeeves or Parky to pull the car around when I make my decision between the Bentley and the Benz? lol 😀 Anyway…Here are Today’s Featured Recipes (fashionable or not, I couldn’t say…they just looked darn good to me!):

Breakfast Stuffed Peppers | eatwell101.com.

Fugazetta (Argentine Pizza) | Bourbon and Brown Sugar.

Lemon Meringue Pie with Poached Oranges and Basil | Great British Chefs.com.

Corned Beef and Cabbage Grilled Cheese | wellplated.com. Saw this last year and still thinking about it! Great St. Patrick’s Day leftovers idea.

Great tutorial: How to Ice a Cake | stylesweetca.com.

2-Minute Green Spaghetti Sauce

Shellfish Risotto | ciaoflorentina.com.

Have a fabulous day!

30 Creative Ways to Reuse Old Things

Creative Ways to Reuse Old Things | theCHIVE.

 

30 fab & clever ways to repurpose all sorts of common items such as: a bike, cd holder, books, credit cards, and suitcases. This is a really fun blog post, so I hope you check it out!

My Favorite Places: Pop-Cycle, Tucson, AZ

Pics from Pop-Cycle, 4th Avenue, Tucson, Arizona. You all know that I love to re&up-cycle just about anything and everything. This place gives me so much joy. They have so many neat up-cycled treasures, but I particularly love these cigar-box purses:

and these picture coat/jacket/scarf, etc. hangers (some styles have several knobs):

This Friday is the big Black Friday Sale on 4th Avenue in Tucson (with Big Local $avings), of which Pop-Cycle will be a part of:

“This Black Friday forget the Malls, the Strips and the Corporate Giants. Come on down to 4th Avenue for Fantastic Black Friday Deals. Over 100 Locally Owned Shops, Restaurants and Bars will be offering great discounts on food, drink, clothing, books and just about anything you can think of. Black Friday on 4th Avenue is all about Free Live Music along a Historical tree lined Avenue with colorful eclectic shopping, creative dining, open air patios, friends and OH YEA!” (4th Avenue.org)

When I was younger, I used to live at the mall. These days, even though I reside closer to one than I ever have…mall life no longer fascinates me. I do have a few stores I really enjoy, though. I just don’t like to spend hours and hours there as I used to. I would rather be at smaller shops, and it’s great to support local businesses. Pop-Cycle is at the top of my list, for sure.

Recycled Containers & DIY Adhesive Remover

OK, I admit I probably recycle too many containers. I periodically have to go through them (usually when there is no more space) to decide which ones I should keep…and let me tell you — it’s an inner battle! If I start thinking about all of the things I can do with them, it will never happen. I have to just hold my breath and do it cold turkey. I also admit I sometimes just buy products for the container they are in and not the actual product itself. So, I usually keep those.

I have way more, but about a few of the ones I’ve pictured: My current fave containers are my Noosa Yoghurts (The BEST Yoghurt! SO good!). The 8 oz. is a perfect one portion meal size (and the 16 oz. for two) — great to go in the fridge or freezer. They are also great for organizing smaller objects like ‘shop’ type items (nails, screws, nuts and bolts), office supplies, craft supplies, etc. I also love the large containers that many spices come in with a 2-sided flip top (see pic, with the green top). They are designed to be easy to hold, so you can grab them quickly out of the cupboard. I usually store bulk grains or rice in mine, but they could be used for a number of things. I have other purchased storage containers I can (and do) use, but I like that the ‘pour’ side of the top makes for easy measuring. Also, even if it’s not your brand of choice, check out the pic of the cute soy sauce bottle. It has a stopper inside, so you can take it with you to the office or wherever for lunch. If you don’t do soy sauce, it’s great for vinaigrettes, etc.

You can also always use your containers for your own homemade versions of what you purchased. I do that with hot sauce, mustard, nut butters, mayo, and more. You can use a soup can in place of a cookie cutter, but I also collect them around the holidays to bake quick breads in to give as gifts. I’m not the only one recycling, though. My fave coffee shop recycles their jelly jars into customer to-go juice jars. So, of course I keep those. 🙂

Lastly, if you are a container recycler like I am, here’s a link for a homemade chemical-free adhesive remover. It’s just a mixture of coconut oil and baking soda. I found links that also called for a few drops of essential oil or just essential oil and baking soda. I have used nut butter and baking soda and found that to be successful (and possibly cheaper). I tried just nut butter first because I remembered it is advised to put it in kids’ (or perhaps adults’) hair to remove chewing gum. It was OK, but the addition of baking soda really helped it along. I always soak the label in hot water first to see if that will do the trick. If the adhesive is fairly old and sticky, try using a scrubby or stainless steel sponge after applying the oil and baking soda.

DIY Yoga Mat Bag

In my post about that totally adorable DIY Scarf Kaftan, I mentioned I would try to post pics of my up-cycled yoga mat bag. I don’t have step by step instructions because I made this a few years ago, but I think you can get the gist from the pics. As I also said in that post, I am not a machine sewer. So, this project is easy for beginners and only takes a needle and thread. I’m sure you could also find a way to use the iron-on fabric tape or glue if you get crafty enough.

So, without explicit instructions, here’s how I made it:

1) The Body: This was a pair of camouflage pants I found at a thrift store for $5. I cut one leg and used it for the main body of the bag. I measured the pant leg against the length of the rolled up yoga mat and then cut it, adding a few extra inches of material for the top of the bag. When rolled up, my mat is 24 inches lengthwise, so I may have measured 27 or so inches of material. There are probably a number of ways you can create a bag closure, but I chose to use a drawstring. I recycled one from a storage bag I had. You could use just string or ribbon, though (and a matching color might be cute). I sewed the drawstring around the top of the pant leg using the extra inches of material I left.

2) The strap: This pair of pants was a double blessing because it came with a matching braided belt. If you don’t have a belt, you can always use the material from the 2nd pant leg, ribbon, or any other material you fancy. I sewed one end of the belt to the inside of the top of the bag, and the other to the inside of the bottom. I held it up to myself to make sure it had a proper cross-body fit.

3) The bottom: The great thing about a lot of camo pants is that they have big poofy pockets (great for this project, anyway). As you can see in the pic, there’s one on the body of the bag. You can use just the flat pants material for the bottom, but I chose a pocket from the other pants leg. I liked the idea of pockets for this bag because you can store your keys, wallet, etc., without having to lug a purse to class with you.

So, that’s it. Easy as 1-2-3! I cannot remember how I even thought to make this bag, but I really enjoy it so much. Maybe one day I will learn a bit of machine sewing and make one slightly more professional, but this works for now! You can get creative with any thrift store pair of pants, or you can save even more by up-cycling ones you already have.

My Favorite Places: Buffalo Exchange

Buffalo Exchange is without a doubt one of my favorite places to shop. Hence, I added them to my blogroll. They now have many locations across the U.S., but they originated here in Tucson, Arizona. They feature recycled fashions and quirky, eclectic items (great for gift-giving). Out of all of the places I shop for clothing, Buffalo is the store that most “feels like me.” This woman-owned business is also charitably stylish, giving customers “Tokens for Bags” — a program allowing clientele to forego a shopping bag and give what would be the store’s bag cost to a partnering non-profit organization (see pic). Check out their website to see if they may have a location near you!