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!

Simple Style: Reclaimed Wood Tables

Rectangular Reclaimed Wood Dining Table | azlifewave.com.

At first, I thought this was a tile-top table, but then realized it was wood. Glorious! I think this would be a somewhat easy DIY. If you couldn’t find wood with the exact ‘random’ color shading, inexpensive dyes like tea, coffee, fruits or veggie juices might do the trick. Lovely.

Exceptional Rustic Coffee Table with Black Metal Legs | dacozy.com.

Think you could manage a project like this? I think you could. I really love this piece. It has a bit of writing on it, but you could always mimic that with stencils and paint. And, with longer legs, it could easily transition to the dining room. Ah! One more project to add to my list…

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!

Simple Style: Using Wallpaper Remnants

Что сделать из остатков обоев? | designhomes.ru.

While looking for a DIY folding side table project, I came across this blog post with interesting ways to use wallpaper remnants. Though I do not have wallpaper on my actual walls, I do love to use it for lots of other projects. I have been thinking about using a picture (w/ a frame) for my table top, then adding a folding base to it. I haven’t decided if I want to up-cycle the base, or construct one from the get go.

This post is in Russian, but I am sure you will get the gist from just the pics (if you do not read Russian). Really some beautiful ideas!

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!

Modern Dining Etiquette & Tips for a Drama-Free Thanksgiving

Modern Etiquette: Tips for a Drama-Free Thanksgiving | Design*Sponge.

Whether you are dining in or going out, a drama-free Thanksgiving is what we all hope for. This link gives a few resourceful tips to help you accomplish that goal. One of my favorites is, “Ask for help if you need it.” What a concept! Sometimes, some of us (–>Me<–) seem to think we have to tackle life’s challenges on our own. I recently had to humble myself (AGAIN!) and ask for help for a big life hurdle. It can be so much easier when you have someone else to share the load.

Additionally, if you need to brush up on your social and dining etiquette rules (how to serve and pass food, silverware and napkin usage, specific types of food manners, restaurant tipping, etc.), here is a comprehensive guide ensuring you to be at your most prim and proper come Turkey Day: Dining Etiquette Guide (U.S. Edition).