Cleaning Out the Art Studio and Ringing in the New Year 2012!

Cleaning out the Art Studio today. That sounds so funny what makes it a studio?  It's a spare room that I turned into a work space to be creative, so that's what makes it a studio, he he.  I sent my husband to Home Depot today, to make me a table for my studio.

When he came home he was leaning in the back door in pain.  I said, what is wrong?  He said, "I am in so much pain, groan!"  I said, what happened?  He said, "I dropped a very thick and heavy piece of wood on my big toe while I was in Home Depot."  I said, "do you want to go to the hospital?" "No" he said, "not on New Year's Eve."  So what did he do? He took to Advil and had a Beer. I still think he needs to go to the hospital.  I think that is where I will be tomorrow.

My sister came over today and made the most wonderful Collard Greens, to ring in the New Year!  We also, had Black Eyed Peas, Jasmin Rice with lots of veggies cooked inside the rice, Corn Bread with bits of corn cooked inside, Grilled Barbeque Chicken and Pork.  The best part of this meal was the Collards. Being from the South this is what true Southerns have on New Years Eve and Day.  Happy New Year everyone, I hope it's a great one for all!

Breakfast is Gouda Cheese Omelet

Breakfast this morning is a Gouda Cheese Omelet covered in fresh Salsa..  Oh how this speaks to my soul.  I love flat thin omelets, don't even try to give me a big fluffy omelet! The way I made this is I used a stainless steel frying pan.  I know, it took me many years to master this small feat of cooking eggs in a stainless steel pan without them sticking to the pan.  I have had many deformed omelets in my life time.  It's all in the heat and amount of butter or oil you use.  I put no cream or milk in my eggs, I know some of you are saying what the heck?  But trust me you don't need it, that is if you like your omelet thin and skinny like your body., well not like my body.  Something has got to be skinny in my life, it might as well be my omelet.  Scramble two eggs until bubbles appear, then stop!  Turn your burner on medium to high heat, place pan on top of heat, make sure your pan gets good and hot but not smoking hot.  This is where the fine line comes in to getting your pan to the right temperature.  Now make sure your pan is a good size, so you give your omelet room to spread,.  You know how it is when people crowd you, well that is how your omelet feels, give us room people!  Once the the pan is heated add the butter swirl it all around in the pan to coat the whole inside of the pan, poor in your scrambled eggs.

Keep an eye on the temperature of  your pan, making sure that you are not over heating your pan and that omelet is not browning, turn it down if you think it is cooking to fast.  Don't touch the omelet until the bottom of the eggs are set.  Now this is where I use the flat edge to my spatula and scrap the raw egg in the middle to the edge of the omelet so that will cook too.  Once the edges are pretty much set I take a slice of Gouda Cheese and tear it into three pieces and place it on on side of the omelet. This Gouda Cheese comes in slices in the cheese section of the grocery store.  I then fold one half of the egg over the other half.  You can add more cheese if you are a cheesy kind of person.  You can also, fold your egg like the French do and fold  1/3 over one 1/3 and then again, I don't bother with this.  The omelet should just slide out of the pan, if you have mastered these steps.  Practice, practice, practice, don't give up!  I then put fresh salsa on top and dive right in, well right after I take a picture.  One of my favorite fresh pre-made salsa's if La Mexicana Medium Salsa, you can find it at Publix's or Ingles Grocery store in the produce section.  I have tried others and I did not like them as much as this brand, or you can make it from scratch.  Make sure you get the medium heat, it's mild enough yet you get a little kick to your day!  I hope I helped you make your next omelet, good luck!

Hot Coco to warm your soul

Nothing better than some of my Hot Coco to warm your soul.  I also, made some chocolate and vanilla cake pops to go along with some chocolate dipped spoons to stir in your coffee or chocolate.

My Homemade Christmas Cards for 2011

I made 42 of these homemade Christmas Cards.  I prayed that God would inspire me to create a card that I could bless others and him with. This was the design that unfolded and I started working on these in September and did not finish until the first week of December. Lot's of detail went into these cards, hand stamped, colored, glittered and lots of layers. I used clear rubber stamps, my Cricut Machine, Big Shot Machine, dollies, glitter, Martha Stewart Snow Flake Punch, Stamping Up paper and stamps, Martha Stewart Snow Flake Stamps, embellishments, scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby, ribbon from Micheal's Craft Store, Copic Markers and lots of love.  I'm not sure next years card will be so intricate.  I also decided to pick 4 of my high school friends from Facebook to give these cards to, that I normally don't interact with except on Facebook and I loved doing that and I will do this again. If you click on any one of my pictures you can see it up close. If I did not give you one I am sorry, I would not want to hurt you.  This also cost me a $1.71 to mail each card because of the weight of the card.  The furthest I mailed a card to was the Netherlands, to my crafty friend Corey.  Corey's cost more to mail of course.  I hope you like it as much as I do as you can see this cards  4 sections to it; first it lays flat, then you open the first page that say's Christ is Born and right across from that I wrote my notes to my friends; then you flip it again to that white plain paper and across from that is the little stamp that reads May the true spirit of Christmas fill your heart with peace and your home with love and finally that plain white part and the front of the card is tucked behind that last stamp I just mentioned and it stands up all on it's own.  Neat huh!

December 29, 2011 Breakfast On A Chilly Morning

I see some snowmen are checking out my breakfast, look they are talking about it, I've got to hurry with this breakfast before it gets out of hand.  Have I told you how much I love eggs?  Not just any eggs, but organic cage free eggs.  I am trying to convince my husband to build me a Chicken Coop and to purchase some hens, hopefully this spring this will happen.  Anyways, I am rambling again, I made these over easy eggs, just cooked enough where the whites are firm and defiantly not runny and the yokes are runny very runny so they seep onto my home fries.  I used my leftover baked potatoes from last nights dinner and cut them up and seasoned them with a steak seasoning, onion powder and Sea Salt and pan fried them until they turned this crispy brown on the outside.  I also toasted an English muffin to dip into that bright yellow yoke, oh so yummy!  My husband made me the most perfect cup of coffee this morning, now I am ready to face the day, bring it on!  Okay, I am going in, in my art studio that is and yes, a catch all room.  I might even be brave enough to show you a before and after picture, it's very scary!  This happens every year and every year I pull up my girly pants and get brave and dive right in.  I have to pull everything out, lay it out in another room and go through everything, it's not for the faint of heart, it's a big deal, a big job, well you know what I mean, it’s huge!  If you click on any of my pics you can see the pictures up close.

Chocolate Chip Cookies makes everything better.

All the relatives are gone so it is safe to bake these Chocolate Chip Cookies they are so warm and the milk is icy cold.  I made the cookie dough last week and kept it in the fridge for this most perfect moment.  All is well in the world, peace and goodwill to all and to all a goodnight.

December 28, 2011 and a very hot mug of homemade Coco

My house stays very cold inside, so I started a fire in the fireplace and enjoyed a cup of my homemade Hot Coco. I received some gift cards for Christmas so I went shopping at Kohl's and Micheal's today. I got most of my things for the treat bags that I make for my kids, for next Christmas. I also got some new earring's and a few other things at Kohl's. I am making Seasoned Cube Steak for dinner with bake potatoes and salad. I hope to have a picture for you a little bit later.

Look what I made for my school bus......

It's back to school next week so look what I made. I think school buses are pretty boring looking inside. Every year I make decorations to put up on my bus. I like to give the kids something to look at. I made and put together these decorations to use on my school bus. I am still working on other things too. I used mirrored flowers and butterflies with magnets. I used glittered rubber foam and lots of rhinestones to write my name and I use really pretty ribbon to tie it all together.

I make these pencil cans from recycled veggie cans. I paint the cans and add pretty paper and embellishments. I also put Velcro on the bottom so I can put it on my bus without it falling all over the place. I made these cute pen's that have the grades on the top of them. I sell the can's for $5 dollars, if anyone is interested.

Lunch today.....

Lunch today is a BLT......

I used one of my very, very, juicy homegrown tomatoes for this sandwich. Do you see how juicy that tomato is, folks? There is nothing like growing your own tomatoes. This was not picked green to ripen, this was picked vine ripe, huge, huge difference. I took a big basket full of these tomatoes to my ladies group last night and they were glad to have them. I also used crispy Romain Lettuce and crispy Apple Smoked Pepper Bacon with light mayo. This was so delicious. Oh yeah, I used just plain old regular white bread, "gasp," I know, who buy's white bread anymore? I do, why you ask, well because I like it, so there! That's right and I'm not sorry either! I also, use white bread for my homemade meatballs, I put bread slices in the food processor and well-la, I've got bread crumbs and let me tell you, fresh bread crumbs make a world of difference in the meatball world and I've tried Whole Wheat Bread and it just doesn't work, it gives them a funky taste. Listen you healthy eating people out there, don't get your panties in a twist. I don't use white bread that often. I actually use a lot of Whole Wheat Bread, Rye Bread, Pumpernickel Bread, Ezekiel 4:9 Bread, Ciabatta Bread, Rosemary Bread and Italian Bread, okay, the last three are not that healthy you can't expect me to be good all the time people! What am I talking about, I just made a BLT, we are not talking healthy here, when you make a sandwich like this, unless you use turkey bacon, so leave me alone.

Dinner tonight

Dinner tonight is a seared and roasted pork chop marinated in fresh rosemary, thyme, parsley, garlic, sea salt , cracked black pepper, fresh squeezed lemon juice and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Served with a side of pasta served with roasted Cherry Tomatoes, roasted garlic tossed in wine, chick peas and fresh Basil hit with a little Parmesan Cheese and fresh lemon juice. Very Tasty!

The herbs and tomatoes are from my garden.

I made a bunch of Homemade Birthday Cards....

I made a whole bunch of Birthday Cards! I used really good paper with a good weight and texture. I also, used satin ribbon. The birthday saying, is hand stamped and hand glittered. I have a good amount of detail in these cards All my cards come with envelopes. Inside my cards I put additional love by using dimensional with a birthday hat on one side and a bunny being kissed by a butterfly on the other side. I have signed the back of every card. I put love into these cards and they are only $3 each or 4 cards for $10. If you want to send someone you love a card that they will love than this is the card for you. If you click on the picture you can see them closer. These cards can be used for adults or children. I also, can mail them to you with additional cost of postage to you.

Dinner Tonight is Salmon

Tonight I made Blackened Salmon, with fresh spinach with garlic chips and Jasmin Rice.

A Big Country Breakfast......

My husband and I decided to make a big breakfast this morning! We used the leftover bake potatoes, Morning Sausage and Organic Cage Free Eggs and made a Country Scrambled Breakfast. I just think the egg yokes are brighter and more tasteful when I use these eggs. We also used the leftover London Broil Steak from last night's dinner. I toasted Sour Dough Bread and had a cup of coffee with Creme Brulee Creamer and I used one of my favorite mugs.

I bought these really juicy strawberries yesterday at the market, so I decided to make a Yogurt Parfait. I used plain Greek Yogurt and added honey and fresh squeezed lemon juice and stirred away! I cut up fresh bananas and strawberries and did a layering effect and to make it taste even better I used my Great Grandma's pretty glass. I also, used my homemade granola, just because I love granola!

Now for you true Southerner's, I know I am missing a few things to this breakfast to make it a true Country Breakfast, so I will just lay it out for those folk's who don't know any better. A true country breakfast would have Grits for sure; Country Ham with Red Eye Gravy; the most flaky of biscuits and sausage and gravy to pour over those flaky biscuits. And there would be no Strawberry Parfait caught dead in a true Country Breakfast! I know the difference folks!

Rybeye Steak for dinner.....

My hubby made me the most wonderful steak dinner tonight. He grilled me a Rib-Eye just perfect! I had a big fresh salad and a bake potato. Yummy!

Today's breakfast Greek Yogurt and fresh picked blueberries

Today's breakfast is a healthy Greek Yogurt that I added lemon and honey. I added my homemade granola and blueberries that I picked.

Today's agenda is running a few errands in town and back home to work in my Art Studio. I have a few birthday cards to make and some organizing to do.

Dinner tonight is Baked Chicken, Smashed Red Potatoes and Roasted Green Beans

I roasted Chicken Breast with skin and bone attached. I drizzled olive oil over skin and I put seasonings, like onion powder, garlic powder, cracked black pepper and All Season all over and baked for 1 hour at 375 degrees. I took fresh green beans and tossed them in a little olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and 3 cloves of minced garlic. I roasted the green beans for 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven. I boiled the potatoes until fork tender about 20 minutes but not falling apart. I then put them on a oven safe mat and cookie sheet, if you don't have a mat make sure you drizzle olive oil on pan so the potatoes won't stick! I then smashed them and brushed the potatoes with olive oil and then sprinkled sea salt, black pepper, and fresh rosemary and minced garlic. I backed them at 425 for about 20-25 minutes. That's it! So yummy in my tummy!

Look what I made! Baked Chicken, Rice and Spinach in Fillo Dough

I was experimenting today, and I made chicken wrapped in Fillo Dough, it is not fried. This is how I made it. Take the Fjillo Dough out of freezer to thaw, keep it wrapped, so it is not exposed to the air. I first cut a chicken breast in half length wise. I then made a marinade for the chicken, I used White Wine Vinegar, olive oil, black pepper, Dijon Mustard, Curry Powder, honey, orange Marmalade and sea salt, wisk this all together place chicken in a medium size bowl and pour this over chicken and pierce chicken with a fork and place in fridge for a couple of hours.

I made Jasmin Rice, I saute a half minced onion in olive oil and smidget of butter until onion looked clear. I put onion in pot and added Chicken Broth 1 tablespoon of rosemary and 1 tablespoon of flat leaf parsley. I brought the broth to a boil and added the rice and cooked it for 20 minutes. After it was cooked I took the lid off and fluffed the dry rice and set it aside to cool down. I then saute 1/2 onion in olive oil until translucent. I then added 1 clove of minced garlic for less than a minute before adding 1 bag of fresh spinach. I kept tossing the spinach and onion garlic mixture and saute it until the spinach became wilted. I added about 2 tablespoons of Dry Sherry. I would say I cooked it on medium heat for about 3 to 4 minutes, making sure all moisture was all out of the spinach. I set this aside to cool down. I took the chicken out of the fridge and patted it dry. I took out a baking sheet and laid a Silpat mat down, on a cookie sheet. This mat is a rubber silicone mat for the oven. I then took one sheet of the Fillo dough and laid it down on the mat, I brushed it with melted butter and I did this with 4 times with 4 sheets of dough. I then put about 1 cup of the cooked rice and flatten it out, lay the spinach on top of the rice, lay the chicken on top of the spinach. Now Start with the Fillo Dough, laying it over the chicken, brushing it with the butter. I think I used about four sheets of dough. I cut off excessive dough and left about a half inch lip and tucked it under. I brushed the Fillo Dough with an egg wash and hit it with cracked pepper and about 2 tablespoons of Parmesan Cheese on top. I baked it at 425 for 7 minutes and then turned the heat down to 375 and baked for 40 minutes. I covered loosely foil over top for the last 20 minutes of the cooking process. This was so yummy full of flavor.

Lemoncello Chicken for Dinner July 12, 2011

Dinner tonight is; Lemoncello Chicken! I added thyme, lemon rind, lemon juice and garlic infused chicken. I also had, Jasmin Rice infused with garlic, rosemary, onion and parsley and Cuban style black beans with garlic, oregano, bell pepper, onions and a secret ingredient. I wrapped it up and took it to my Health Class. I was running late.

I made granola today to have with my yogurt for tomorrow. While I was making the granola I got distracted and it didn't come out as good as it usually does. Some dishes fell off the shelf and broke in my pantry and I ended up forgetting a couple of ingredients, I hate when that happens.

When your marriage goes to a whole new level.

My mind was on the task at hand and it was a very hot day. It was right in the middle of the afternoon when I ventured out to go pick blueberries, at my friend’s house. I pulled up to the open field in my pick-up truck, as I glanced at the blueberry bushes there were bee's flying all around my truck. I just sat there inside the truck, waiting for them to fly away! I thought I wished I would have remembered to bring Skin-So-Soft, to repel any bugs off of me.

Anyways, the bees finally flew away after a few moments and I hoped out of the truck, grabbed my baskets, put on my wide brim straw hat and got busy picking blueberries. The sun was really beating down on me as I wedge myself in between the bushes, to reach those big fat berries at the very top of the bushes. Now these blueberry bushes are probably over 6 feet tall and I am only 5 feet 2 inches, so it was a struggle to reaching them. I also had to fight off the red ants that were on the ground. I notice the ants at only one of the bushes, I was picking from.

I think I was there for about an hour picking, maybe a little longer. I really got a lot of blueberries, maybe too many! Can you have too many blueberries? I don't think so! I came home placed the blueberries on the kitchen table and didn't think anymore about them, except when I ate a few, while I made dinner that night.

I jumped in the shower before bed, put on my Pj's and went to bed. I woke up in the early hours of the morning to itching and scratching! I said to my husband, "I think a spider bit me while I was sleeping". I ripped back the blanket and the sheet; I was on a mission to find the little bugger who bit me, but I could not find anything, not a bug to be found. I was so itchy, how could there be no bug, I thought.

I jumped in the shower again, to ease the pain from the bite, with the cool water. When I got out, I had all these welts on my upper thighs, butt, crack of butt and belly. I said to Jeff what the heck could have done this; does a spider bite this many times? I said, "I think it was ants" but there was no evidence of ants or spiders. He said, "it must have been a spider!"

What does a person do next? You got it, they Google bug bites! You know, I am a doctor in my spare time, thanks to Google! Jeff say's "maybe it's bed bugs." I said "oh no"! I left my computer and ran to my bed with a magnifier glass and tore my bed apart! I took the blanket, the sheets, the pillow cases and the bed cover off my bed and I inspected everything with a magnifier glass. I even checked all the seams of the mattress, to find no evidence of anything. Thank you Jesus! I saw a show called Infested, where these people had bed bugs and they could not get rid of bed bugs and I didn't even want to go there.

Back to the computer, I looked up bed bugs, spiders, ants and looked at pictures of bug that have bitten people! You want to get creped out, take a look at pictures of spider bites or bug bites, it will scare the bejesus out of you! That is some scary stuff! People with open leaking wounds, legs and arms amputated because of bug bites. Then there it was for all to see, "chiggers" and chigger bites, with pictures and they looked just like my bites and in the comment section it read, you can get chiggers from picking fruit. In other words pickers can get chiggers! I told you I was a doctor!

Did your mom ever tell you not to pick? Well she was right, don't pick your buggers, scabs, fruit or on your siblings! So don't be a picker! Chiggers and Blueberries, who would have ever thought they would go together, but oh do they ever! I bought 2 kinds of ointments sprays and lotions to treat this horrible thing! Later that night, Jeff and I went to the pharmacists and asked what else could I take orally, to stop the itch. He said, "There really is nothing else you can take." He said, "You could take, clear nail polish and paint each bite, to help!"

So there we are, my husband painting my body with clear nail polish! Our marriage has gone to a whole new level in the past two weeks, between the nail polish and the mustard we have really bonded in a whole new way! Remind me to tell you about the mustard later; it has nothing to do with the chiggers! The nail polish is supposed to pull the chiggers out or suffocate them.

Now here is where men think different than women! Women would see red bumps all over her man and think oh gosh, that is gross, stay away from him and say I am scared! Men on the other hand, see you in your birthday suit, while they paint your bites with polish and think, oh this would be a perfect opportunity to make the best out of this situation and they get frisky! You gotta love um.....don't you?

Making greeting cards!

Well here are my two cards that I made in a flash for the card exchange. They are both birthday cards. I waited to the last minute to make them, so I didn't smother them with my love to make them, oh well next time. A handful of us girl's get together and have crafting moments together. We make cards and teach each other to make the cards we design. We bring all the things that we used to make the cards, so everyone else can make that same card. It's fun!

This is what greeted me this morning as the sun was coming up! I love my flowers! I love how the sun just touches the flowers petals. I was watering and ran inside to grab my camera. Notice the bee flying in between the flowers, I caught in flight.

I got attack by either a spider or ants, I'm not really sure, but I have these welts on the back side of my legs. Oh yeah, this happened while I was sleeping last night, funny thing my husband never gets bit by anything. I wonder if that has to do with him not killing any bugs ever. I mean it he will not kill bugs, if they ever get in my house he will pick them up with a piece of paper and carry them outside. Me on the other hand, I do a stamp dance on them and then I cover them until there is foam covering their back from the bug spray, so basically I kill them a second time.

I have a busy day today, errand to run and a girlfriends day! I still have not made my cards to exchange with my peeps, I better get busy!

Dinner Tonight is Stir Fry

I made Chicken Stir Fry for dinner. It has fresh veggies; red bell peppers; yellow peppers; onions; mushrooms; broccoli; garlic; ginger and scallions. I roasted chicken in a Teriyaki sauce at 400 degrees to give it a crisp skin. I shredded the chicken and added to the stir fry. I made Jasmin Rice yesterday for this meal today. It's always better to cook your rice the day before. I used Lite Soy Sauce. I then scrambled 3 eggs and made a well in the middle of the rice and cooked the eggs, scrambling them slowly to the rice mixture, then it was all tossed together. It was pretty good!

I am meeting the girls tomorrow from my stamp class and I have to make two greeting cards to exchange. I really need to get going on this, nothing like waiting to the last minute. Sometimes this is when I create the best!

June 6, 2011 Blueberry Picking

Hi Everyone!
Sorry, its been so long since I have posted on my blog. I almost gave it up, but had a few friends request that I continue posting. They said they missed my blog, especially my food post, so here I am.

Today's agenda was to go Blueberry picking, at one of my very dear friends house. They have these huge blueberry bushes. This years crop was different from last years. It seems they have different varieties of blueberries and one of the variety hardly produced any blue berries. They said this has happened before. Anyway, there were plenty of blueberries to pick, the only problem was I left my house very late. I think I got there at 1pm right at hottest part of the day, not to smart! I left late, because the Casey Anthony case was on TV and the judge was getting ready to sentence her so I hung around for that news. So I picked blueberries and almost got heat stroke from doing so, I should have had some water while I was doing this, by the time I got in my truck my face was oh so red. I did wear a big had and light cloths, that helped.

Now what to make with all these blueberries, how about blueberry pancakes, a blueberry pie for my hubby because he just loves that and how about blueberry pound cake. I love putting them on my salad and on my yogurt. Maybe, some jam would be good to make, I will let you know.

Dinner tonight, Roast Chicken on a fresh salad....

I made a salad with Romaine Lettuce and Ice burg Lettuce and I topped it with cucumbers, carrots, chickpeas, pecans, dried cherries, Parmesan Cheese and Blue Cheese. I marinated the chicken all day in olive oil, lemon rind and juice, black pepper, Dijon Mustard, sea salt, peso, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh Rosemary. I baked the chicken for 50 minutes at 375 degrees. This chicken was chicken breast with skin on the bone.

Spring has sprung! April 10, 2011

I decorated my school bus today! Some of these things I made and some I just bought. I made the pen holder and all the crazy pens. I hung all these decorations from the ceiling of my school bus, when the kids open the windows all these things will be swirling around. It gives them something fun to look at while they are on the bus. Buses are pretty ugly and boring inside, so I know this will be fun for the kids. Tomorrow will be our first day back from Spring Break and I can't wait to pick up my kids. They are going to be so happy when they see all that I have done for them. I will take a picture tomorrow of my bus so you can all see and I will add it to this post.