Thursday, January 13, 2011

The way to a Man's heart is through his stomach... even if that Man is 3.

I'm a firm believer in fixing everything with food (this is an apparent fact when I look at my "approaching 30" ass every morning in the mirror, believe you me). Got a cold?! Have some soup! Depressed?! Have some chocolate cake!

Got a kid who woke up on the wrong side of the bed?!

Make him Blueberry Pancakes! That'll fix his wagon!

























I cannot remember where I got this recipe, but it is the BEST. You can add anything to the base recipe, and they still come out fantastic. I use overripe bananas, strawberries, blueberries... whatever is on hand that needs to get used before it spoils.

Basic Pancake Recipe

1 1/2 cups of flour
3 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of salt
1 tbs. of sugar
1 1/4 cups of milk
1 egg

Cook them in butter... it is the ONLY way. Then put more butter on them before you eat them. And ALWAYS use REAL maple syrup.


























See, now? Isn't that better? It's amazing what some good grub can do for someone in a funk. Now, go make someone happy! :)

Terrarium Centerpiece

Moving from the Burbs was a big adjustment for me for MANY reasons. The biggest adjustment was, of course, going from having a yard and garden to... well... nothing. We moved into an apartment without a balcony and no hope for any outdoor cultivation.

Luckily our building is ancient (110 years old!) and so the windows are MASSIVE! We get a ton of natural light, making indoor gardens a possibility.

In my never ending quest for all things green, I stumbled upon several articles about terrariums. They are apparently all the rage right now, and I must admit that I am smitten with their cuteness. So many possibilities and so low maintenance. How could I NOT give in to the trend?!

Plus, I figured it would be a great opportunity for the boy and I to play with some dirt and make a mess. And that is always a welcome diversion during these cold winter days.





















I followed the directions in this article to build our terrariums. I bought all of my supplies, including the jars, on Amazon. Isn't that tray ADORABLE?! I found the it at Target in the clearance bin for $4! It was scuffed all to hell, but there is nothing a Magic Eraser can't fix.




























You can gather your moss outdoors, purchase from a local greenhouse or order it online. I ordered mine online from Teresa's Plants and More Store on Etsy ( http://www.etsy.com/shop/teresab123 ). The moss is beautiful and she is a super nice lady to boot.





 















Now we have a cool little centerpiece that is movable and versatile. I love it!

The moss is doing great after 5 days... so far so good!






Sunday, January 9, 2011

Starting over from scratch...

Moving cross country is rough on everyone... and every THING too. It doesn't matter how well you pack and tether things down. SOMETHING is gonna get messed up. Furniture gets gouged and scratched. Stuff will break. These are the facts of life. It doesn't make it make it easier to deal with though.

When we arrived, about 80% of my house plants and their accompanying ceramic pots were obliterated. We're talking about a decade of nurturing gone to shit in a matter of days. I was crushed.

Even though I had lost most of my favorite plants, I still had some of them left...

























I managed to save the Rubber Tree (above) that my husband and I planted almost 10 years ago when we first moved in together. It's been re-potted at least 5 times and stands about 6 feet tall. The plants in the base are starting to come back as well. 





















I re-purposed  our old entertainment stand to accommodate the remainder of my plants (above).  Our Buddha collection lives happily amongst the greenery. All of my gardening supplies are tucked neatly away in those cute little cloth boxes. Oh, organization... How I love thee!



























 Hey, now! It's starting to look pretty lush in here!



























I had to prune back this planter due to some of the damage caused by the move. I was hoping the plants would recover, but they couldn't do it without a little bit of assistance. Hopefully the sunny spot will help them bounce back.  (above: Jade Plant and Variegated Elephant Bush)



























Remember to save succulent leaves that fall off and and any cuttings that you take when pruning. Succulents are the easiest things in the world to get to take root. I let the cutting or leaves dry for a day or two then stick them into some potting soil. Just make sure to add some gravel at the base of the pot for good drainage and don't over water. The soil needs to dry out between waterings.






















Here's a shot (above) of all the clippings I took growing in a sunny spot. I'll have more plants in no time!



























Plants make me happy...



























Buddha looks pretty happy too.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Starburst Mirror = Happiness

We have this beast of a hallway in our new digs that I had no idea what to do with when we moved in. I knew that I wanted a hall table with something above it, but the "something" eluded me.

And then I saw the Starburst Mirror tutorial over at Apartment Therapy. I was in LURVE...
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/how-tomake-your-own-starburst-mirror-allisons-february-jumpstart-project-2009-076260

I did things a bit differently. I varied the lengths of the dowel rods and did a regular flat mirror instead of the convex one. I also kind of just went with it and improvised with my mirror placement.


I love how it turned out. It's just what the space needed... a whole lotta bling. And I did it all for under $20!

Hello, is it me you're looking for?

Has it been a year already?! Wow... sorry about that! I swear I've been busy! Don't believe me?

Well, check this:

1. Pregnant with 2nd baby. It's tough, okay!

2. Taking care of house and first kiddo while attempting to potty train him. Ugh... why didn't anyone warn me how tough THAT would be?!

3. Working my 9 to 5 at the local Cable Company.

4. Supporting my husband as he worked on finishing his Masters.

5. I had said 2nd baby on June 15th...
6. Moved our family of four and all of our crap across the country to Philadelphia. (With the help of my Mom and Stepdad, thank goodness.)

Now I'm lucky enough to be able to stay home with my babes every day instead of working a crappy 9 to 5. It's a LOT more work, but worth it.

Well, here's to New Years resolutions. If you didn't already guess by now, mine is to keep up with this blog thing. Wish me luck!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Improvisational Curry

When I'm extra hungry, I always come up with the best recipes. I had a hankering for some curry in a bad way, so I cooked up a little piece of heaven this afternoon.

This is what you will need:

1.5 lbs or so of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
4 medium sweet potatoes (CUT INTO 1 INCH CUBES)
1 medium red onion (DICED)
2 14 oz cans of chickpeas
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
5 cups of chicken broth
Curry powder
Turmeric powder
Garlic powder
Cilantro

First, heat up some vegetable oil in a HUGE skillet on Medium/High heat. Take some boneless skinless chicken thighs and season them with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook until browned on all sides.










Start working on the broth while the chicken is doing it's thing. I make my broth with Knorr Chicken Bullion powder, but you can also use the boxed kind. Whatever you decide to do, just get 5 cups of it into a pot and heat it up.



Once the broth is nice and hot, add 4 tbsp of curry powder and 1 tbsp of turmeric. Stir to mix well and set aside. 

By now, the chicken is looking nice and crispy on the outside. Remove from the heat and cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces. Set aside for now.

Next, cook up your diced red onion in the drippings and oil until they are almost clear.



















Then, you'll want to add the sweet potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes, broth and chicken into the pan and bring to a boil.



















Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to med-low. Just cook until the potatoes are fork tender.

I top it with a TON of Cilantro once it's done cooking. Serve with rice. DELISH!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Cigarettes are bad, MMMKAY?!

Cigarettes have long been one of the greatest loves of my life. I've smoked consistently since I was about 15 years old and only been able to quit for VERY short stints. The longest time that I went without was while pregnant with Jack and a year after he was born. 2 years without tobacco seemed easy. Then one day, the stress got to me. I broke down. Again...

















I hate the control that smoking has had over me for all of my adult life.

So, I quit 3 days ago. I found out that I'm going to have another baby, so obviously I have to. I also made a promise to myself that this would be the last time that I did this little dance with my beloved Camel Lights. No more games. I have to just cut the cord and send them on their way... for good!

Now, I'm chewing gum like a maniac.

Crying randomly... which could possibly be hormone induced and not caused by lack of smoke inhalation. We'll go with Nicotine Withdrawal for the purpose of this rant.


 (God, I'm pathetic.)

And what is the thing doing the best job keeping me sane, you ask? Why, SEWING of course!

Gotta keep the hands and the mind busy to really kick a habit. Thank you hexagons! How, I love thee...



 (Obviously making these guys for a Christmas project.)

I think I'm gonna make it this time. It's always soooo hard to quit. It seems even harder this time around than ever before. I don't want to go through this again.

HAIKU TIME:

I really loved you.
But, you didn't love me back.
You made my breath stink.

Goodbye, my love. Goodbye.