On my mind: Fruit vs. megafruit

   Behind the fruit is the sewing machine that Mom recently gave me.
I still haven't sewn anything!

Only when I started buying organic produce did this concept occur to me: there's fruit and then there's MEGA-FRUIT!
   For years, I'd been buying mega-fruits for the hubby, all the while thinking I don't much like fruit. Before I ever finished eating an apple as big as two of my fists, I was sick of it!
   When I switched to buying organics, the apples and oranges seemed to be for lilliputians, as compared to the mega-fruits we'd grown accustomed to... Here's the kicker: now that I'm eating normal sized fruit, I'm still enjoying the taste when I run out of fruit!
   Snacking on huge fruits means we're actually eating 1 1/2 or even 2 servings each time we eat the whole. So when it comes to whole fruits for snacks: smaller fruits mean less $ spent per serving whenever buying by the pound. Gotta love that!

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. Anything on your mind? Share your link here or on down-to-earth.

Rethinking bedroom decor with an eye to allergens

Recently went through allergy testing...yup, lots of pricks containing foreign bodies on my back followed by a few little injections in my arms of the bad boys that the pricks indicated. Turns out I'm highly allergic to a thing or two.
   The literature on how to keep allergens out of our home placed particular emphasis on the bedroom. Not keen on taking meds, I am highly motivated to make a few changes around here. (Having a very hard time with the "shoes off at the door" suggestion though. Can't seem to make myself do it!!)
   But I am doing most everything else on the suggestion list. My great aunt's hanky that I used under my little watermelon boy sculpture (wedding gift from Hubby) will go into storage. I couldn't possibly dust it, and I'm darned well NOT going to wash this delicate little thing in HOT water every week.
   I already changed the sheets every week, but now every two weeks the blankets/bedspreads/coverlets have to be washed in hot. No more handmade quilts for the master bedroom--they'd never hold up to that much washing! *SIGH*
   That's my dust mop by the wall...even Fly Girl doesn't recommend as much dusting as I'll be doing around here! My pesky *cough*cough*cough* is gone though, so I guess the meds are working. Presumably the bedroom haven business is helping too.
   On another note, just came by a good article about stockpiling that I thought I'd share: "Pile It On: Why Stockpiling Makes Sense" by Jill Cataldo.
   What I'm stockpiling lately: scent-free HE laundry detergent from the big box store. It's a "seasonal" offering, so I'll be stocking enough for the year! Any stockpiling going on over at your place? Finding any good seasonal sales??

I'm in love with Warren Buffett!

This mega-money man fascinates me. Love it that he took the time to sit down and chat with these girl scouts, even if he probably does have stock in Dairy Queen.
Warren's number ONE advice for young people: AVOID CREDIT CARDS!!

(Thanks for this video go to http://www.flierguy.com/, a blog I stumbled upon.)
   Now, Warren Buffett is actually endearingly frugal...still!! Want to know more about him? Check out his autobiography: The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life. Loved that book!
Grandgirl Visit -- Repurposing Time!
   Grandgirl2 will be here soon...get to hang out with her every day this week, and Grandgirl1 will join us on Thursday and Friday. Yesterday #2 repurposed a cardboard box that once held a manicure set into her personal treasure box by coloring it and gluing pictures she'd colored onto it. Young ones are great fun and so easy to please with little creative repurposing projects.
     Did you have a treasure box when you were little? Care to share any repurposing you're involved in lately?

Oh, yes, I used every last lip-full!

Back before I ever worried over packaging waste, I started using a lip brush to get every last smidgen of lipstick from its tube. Why start this oh-so-frugal practice? Because they discontinued my favorite color lipstick! Wish I had every not-entirely-used up tube I'd ever bought...that last little bit seemed to last forever!
   The metal tube pictured here has finally been used in it's entirety, so Hubby removed the plastic insides and tossed the metal part in his scrap metal bin.

   In case you're wondering what's worth getting all dolled up over...Why, Chewy Peanut Butter Bars!

   Easy-to-make peanut butter cookies are always worth smiling over!


Chewy Peanut Butter Bars 
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream together the sugars and the butters. Add remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Pat into a 13"x9" baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

It's cloudy and raining here in Kentucky. Hope you're finding something worth smiling about in your neck of the woods?!

This moment: Bird on the wing and another thing

Love how the bird feeder seems to be looking at the bird!

 Gotta love the long exposure that allows us to capture things like birds in flight!
   Hubby recently tiled our bathroom floor; yesterday he replaced the shoe mold trim, and he repainted the room today.
   Guess what? I didn't even know he was going to repaint it... Just found him in there repainting it the same color. He said if I'd wanted a different color, I should have let him know. *chuckle*
   Good thing I still like the color: Chinese Red by Sherwin Williams.
   This bathroom is my one bold stroke in this house! I did sprinkle little dashes of red throughout to unify the whole, but most of the other walls are fairly neutral.
   Well, except for our master bath with its blue walls & lighter blue ceiling.
   Dunno why tiny rooms give me permission to ply the more daring colors. Maybe it's my fear that I'll grow bored with the bolder colors, so I limit them to the tiny rooms that can quickly be repainted.
   What about you...are you WILD or MILD with your paint choices? Hope your weekend is wild or mild--as you wish!!

Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Feel free to leave a link to your moment! 

On my mind: March goes out

 Traveled to Louisville again yesterday...through some rain that turned into SNOW. Didn't see that coming!
   Anyway, no worries, the weather didn't get in the way of anything. We had a great visit with distant family, and before heading home, I talked Hubby into stopping by one of those big ole healthy food stores.
   In our little region, organic foods are so very pricey and sometimes hard to come by. So, I was able to buy a thing or two that we like.
   Pictured at right is a can of tomatoes bought here at home recently for $3.15, along with the cans bought in L'ville for $2.69. (Bought to pump up the flavor of cheap salsa.) The savings might not've paid for our gas (!), but every little bit counts, eh?

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. Anything on your mind? Share your link here or on down-to-earth. 

Not buying it: Enchilada sauce

Stumbled on a good looking enchilada recipe the other day on Cooking In Mexico that called for three cans of Enchilada Sauce. Well, at least I thought the recipe was on there, but when I'd bought the ingredients and tried again to find the recipe, I couldn't. Anyway, the recipe called for a can of black beans, can of pinto beans, a couple of zucchini and onions as the enchiladas' filling, with 3 cans of enchilada sauce to pour on top.
   As I'm always looking for a reason NOT to buy something, this was a perfect opportunity to try out an enchilada sauce recipe I had on hand. Though I'd never made it before, I modified the recipe to suit our tastes.
Enchilada Sauce
5 to 6 Tablespoons chili powder
3 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
scant 1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
30 ounces of water
1 - 6 ounce can tomato paste
Combine first five ingredients. Slowly add enough of the water to make a thin paste, then add rest of water. Cook 'til the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon; remove from heat, then add tomato paste, stirring 'til smooth.

Tablespoon worked fine but using the scoop was quicker!

   Since I'd initially thought I'd just be tripling the recipe, I opened two extra cans of tomato sauce that I didn't need when I decided the enchilada sauce was tomato-y enough with just one. Perfect opportunity to freeze tomato paste in one tablespoon portions, to toss into future soups, gravies!
   I used my cookie scoop, which is a tad over a tablespoon if filled to the rim, so I didn't bother to fill it precisely. And I'm glad I found the time to post this morn, 'cause it reminds me: I forgot to get this pan out of the freezer! I know the paste is frozen enough now to toss together in some container.
   Care to share any other ideas for freezing small portions of __________ (fill in blank) for future use??

Why buy croutons?

Don't know why commercially produced croûtons come wrapped in so much packaging! I'll show them! Croûtons can't be that hard to make, so I'll just make my own...and do.
   The ones here are made with cubed homemade No-Knead Multi-grain Bread, but cutting up store-bought bread works fine too. Whole grain commercial breads might work best but stale white bread works well too.
   Take a couple of slices of bread, cube into little squares, then fry in a hot skillet with 1 to 2 Tablespoons of olive oil (add butter too, if looking for deeper flavored croûtons to use on top of soups).
   I just grab whatever seasoning strikes my fancy that day...love the smell of cooking oregano, so I often use that along with some other salt/spice mixture. I sometimes use Mrs. Dash, if not wanting added salt. Some Greek seasoning if I've got some feta cheese to go in the salad. Stir and toss the bread cubes in the oil until the edges get a little crispy. Then serve!
   Even though making croûtons is very easy, it's one of those things that I'd probably forget to do if I weren't consciously trying to reduce the packaging waste in this household. Yet another area where being green saves me some green!
   Hope something green is goin' on in your world today?!

Little effort, big reward: Four Bean Salad

Found this recipe in Better Homes and Garden's Best-Loved Community Recipes cookbook and it's been in our regular rotation ever since. Modified slightly from the original, which is served over Romaine lettuce, we eat this on its own.
   This is the perfect recipe for those don't-much-feel-like-cookin' days.
   But the best thing about the recipe is that it can be modified to what's on hand...we've thrown just about any salad veggie into it with great results.
   Pictured here you'll see the last of sweet peppers we cut up and froze from Garden 2010. Hope we have as much luck with our peppers this year.
   Since I'm not a big meat eater, this Four Bean Salad makes a quick meal!  
   As we had our main meal at lunch today, this is what I'll be eating for supper tonight. What's going on your plate tonight?
Four Bean Salad 
1 15- or 16-ounce can cut green beans, rinsed and drained
1 15- or 16-ounce can cut wax beans, rinsed and drained
1 15- or 16-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 15- or 16-ounce can red kidney beans (or red beans), rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped sweet pepper
Small to medium red onion or sweet onion, thinly sliced into rings
Dressing
1/2 cup white wine vinegar or white vinegar
1/3 cup salad oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1. In a large bowl, combine drained, rinsed green beans, wax beans, garbanzo beans, red kidney beans, sweet pepper, and onion.
2. Combine and lightly whisk all dressing ingredients. Pour over vegetables; stir lightly. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours (Best served next day!), stirring occasionally. Serve with a slotted spoon.

Earth Hour on Saturday, March 26, 8:30pm

Almost forgot about EARTH HOUR! Let's send a message around the world that we care about this big beautiful orb we are all blessed to live upon! Lights off at 8:30 p.m.
   Turn it all out if you can (or take it all off as Crunchy Chicken suggests!); if not, just watch TV in the dark for a change. For more info, visit EARTH HOUR.

Win some, lose some: Fabric adventures

Ooh, I hate it when I do something like this! When I was trying to light my candle the other day to refresh the wax on top, I broke a match on striking it. The flaming half dropped onto this tea towel. UGH, of all the goof-ball stunts!
   My fabric-refreshing went a little easier. A little de-pilling salvaged this tank top that I wear under a couple of tops that are a little too low cut.
   Durned undershirt started pilling after only a couple of washes. Trust me, I will be ever wary of buying any 92%Modal/8%Spandex fabrics in the future.
   I was reluctant to even try the fabric shaver on this relatively thin fabric, but the top was reaching the unwearable stage (I HATE pilled fabric), so I really didn't have anything to lose. I stretched the fabric completely taut before de-pilling, to reduce the chances of any folds getting caught and little holes being formed.
   The fabric shaver pictured here is slow and steady...I bought one another time that whirred like a motor boat & chopped plenty of small holes into the fabric as it mowed away the pills. Yikes! Used that one only once!
   Hope you're having more wins than losses these days!!

On my mind: Repurposing a doodad

Some law that says pharmacies cannot re-use prescription bottles continues to frustrate me. Until things change, I will recycle the recyclable parts & hope to find uses for the little colored rubber rings that come around each bottle.
   Love this shamrock a friend gave me, but I didn't want the terra cotta pot scratching the plant stand, so that's where these doodads come in handy.
   A couple of rings came off when I washed the pot's tray, but no worries, just a little Elmer's all-purpose glue turns the trick.
   Always keeping my eye out for new purposes for the doodads and doohickeys that seem to breed around here. If you have any other ideas for new uses for these little rubber rings, I'd love to hear them!

   Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. Anything on your mind? Share your link here or on down-to-earth. 

Easiest fish batter on earth

A friend who is an avid fisherman sometimes gifts us with a little mess of fish (already cleaned even!). This way of getting fish is even easier than Sesame Street's puppet Ernie in the fishing boat yelling "Here, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy!" and having 'em jump in the boat!
   My all-time favorite batter for fried fish is soo easy:

1. Dip boneless fish fillets in Frank's Red Hot Pepper Sauce or Louisiana Hot Sauce, then 
2. Dredge in stone ground cornmeal (pic at right)

   That's it! Well, except for the frying! The super crispy fried fish will be slightly tangy, somewhat spicy...simply delicious.

   By the way, Hubby fried these up for us and used paper towels to soak up the grease. I'd have used newspaper instead...just like the English do when serving their famous Fish 'n' Chips.

   On another note, America has lost our golden girl, the iconic beauty, beloved two-time Oscar winner Elizabeth Taylor. Her efforts as an AIDS activist prove this Hollywood legend's beauty ran more than skin deep. My favorite quote of hers was given in response to a question about her having been married EIGHT times:

"I've only slept with men I've been married to. How many women can make that claim?"

                                                  Elizabeth Taylor

They don't make 'em like that anymore!

Buh, buh, buh, Blueberry Crisp

"Shopped" my freezer and found some frozen blueberries that needed to be used. A quick look through my computer files turned up a saved recipe from Saveur Magazine, Issue #51, which I modified slightly by adding the mace. We think this is yummy...and a crisp is soo easy to make, since no homemade pie crust is needed.
   And no, I didn't really eat my dessert by candlelight. Brought this candlestick into the kitchen to clean & burned the wax off the top, so it'd look fresh again.
   Made leftover Garbanzo Pasta Salad into Curried Chicken Soup for dinner...great way to stretch one chicken breast into at least two night's meals.
   Blueberries are just loaded with anti-oxidants and curry is said to prevent Alzheimer's, so I figure we did okay nutrition-wise with this meal. Will add some cooked kale to the soup next time I serve it, so it'll seem different once again.
   Turning leftover pasta salad into soup may be my favorite Leftover-Make-Over! What's yours?

Blueberry Crisp

6 cups (3 pints) blueberries, washed and stemmed

1⁄2 cup granulated sugar

1 1⁄4 cups flour

2⁄3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. mace (optional) 

Pinch of salt

10 tbsp. cold butter

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Toss together washed, stemmed blueberries and granulated sugar in a bowl, then transfer to a medium baking dish.

2. Combine flour, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt in another bowl. Using two knives, work cold butter, cut into pieces, into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle mixture evenly over blueberries.

3. Bake until berries are bubbling and topping is golden, about 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with heavy cream spooned over top.

Time to get a little SAUCY

First learned of BBQ tofu over at Cooking.In.College & planned to make it but before I could, I saw another BBQ tofu post on Short Girl, Long Name. Thought I'd combine both Meg's & Jessica's recipes, but the morning the kitchen became tofu central, Hubby was on the computer. Since I log FAR more computer time than he does, I didn't disturb him & instead headed for a cookbook I'd gotten from the library: Get Saucy: Make Dinner a New Way Every Day with Simple Sauces, Marinades, Glazes, Dressings, Pestos, Pasta Sauces, Salsas, and More by Grace Parisi (looong title--great book!).
   I had nerve enough to make a slight departure from the Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce recipe found in this James Beard Award nominated book and the resulting Hickory Smoked Asian BBQ Sauce tasted GREAT!
   Since I forgot to take a pic of the finished products the day I served 'em up, above you see some of the leftovers heating up for my lunch: Potstickers with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce and BBQ Tofu. I liked the BBQ Tofu well enough, but Hubby doesn't care for tofu & would only take ONE bite! *chuckle*
   Potstickers are super easy, so I make them often. This batch contained sliced onions, thinly sliced cabbage and diced yellow carrots that I cooked down & added a little BBQ sauce to before spooning onto the round wrappers, wetting the circular edges and then crimping. Added diced ham to the ones intended for Hubby. I steamed the potstickers & then finished them off in a skillet to brown in a tad of butter. (In the picture of the unfinished product, I forgot what I was doing & crimped the first too much. Second one I crimped as intended for a potsticker.)
Hickory Smoked Asian BBQ Sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 small onion, minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbs. cider vinegar
2 Tbs. prepared yellow mustard
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. liquid hickory smoke flavoring
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Melt butter in medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Sauté onion and garlic until translucent, add remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes. Refrigerate, covered tightly, for up to 1 month. NOTE: Omit the hoisin sauce and sesame oil if you just want Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce.
   Homemade barbecue sauce is so easy, I never buy the commercial stuff anymore...reduces packaging waste. 
   Well, that's what I had for lunch today, what about you? Anything interesting on your plate?

Saving some green almost cost us the greens

Our first kale of the season...picked by Hubby, eagerly de-stemmed and washed by me, then sautéed by Hubby. And if I hadn't taken a pic of their green, vitamin-packed loveliness, we might have had no kale for dinner!
   Hubby was cooking the greens in a dim light but the camera flash told the tale: the kale was starting to burn! Yikes! Fortunately, all was not lost and very little needed to be picked out. The remainder was not tainted...much...but boy, was that close.
   Yes, in this instance, not turning on the light to save some green almost cost us the greens. Any close calls in your kitchen lately?

Check out that MOON!!

If ever you wanted to HOWL at the moon, tonight's the night for it. Yep, that big ole hunk o' cheese is closer to the earth than it's been in 18 years! Evidently, several factors come into play tonight to make it appear larger, look more luminous than ever. (If interested in more info, check out these articles on Yahoo News or The Guardian.
   Better yet, go outside and check out that bad boy for yourself! If you're on the computer this Saturday night, that is.
   I attempted a shot with my little Nikon Coolpix...not so great (at left). Hubby took a no-flash, long exposure (above) with his fairly new toy, a Canon Rebel T1i, and came up with something more impressive, but he'd really need a tripod for a good, clear shot. (Incidentally, its our neighbor's outbuilding in these shots.)
   Hope you had the chance to lasso the moon for yourself!

This moment: Tethered angel

Captured this at French Camp in Mississippi. A little ironic to see an angel chained down! 
   Thanks to Soulemama for this Friday photo sharing concept. Feel free to leave a link to your moment!

On my mind: Cute as a button, literally

Made a day trip to Louisville, Kentucky, t'day so the mumsy could buy a couple of sewing machines from her 97-year-old aunt who now resides in amazingly fine health in a nursing home. I unexpectedly ended up being gifted with a hodge podge of buttons that were collected through the years by my great aunt, who once made her living as a seamstress. Soo tickled to get these, as I'd been wanting to make over a boring cardigan with some nicer buttons...will let you know how that turns out!
   This funky wagon happened to be in Great Aunt H's neighbor's yard. Love it when a day throws nice little surprises my way! Any sweet surprises brighten your day?

Thanks, Rhonda at down-to-earth, for sharing this On My Mind concept. Anything on your mind? Share your link here or on down-to-earth.

Boil water advisory would catch me unprepared!

International news last night featured a story on how Japan is dealing with water shortages in the aftermath of the quake and tsunami...then I caught the local news about a neighboring town that is currently under a boil water order.
   The newscaster related that a Boil Water Advisory meant that all drinking water must be boiled 5 minutes before use. If washing dishes in unboiled water, 1/8th teaspoon of regular, unscented bleach should be added per gallon of water; the bleach water should then be allowed to stand 30 minutes prior to using. Found some good additional info at this San Diego.gov site.
   Of course, these news stories caused me to think about our own situation and just how unprepared we are. According to Fema, people should keep on hand enough water to last for THREE days, with one GALLON per person per day.
   We have only 2 1/2 gallons of water in the form of ice in the freezer. (Right in there with 20 lbs. sugar, a container of rice flour and several pkgs. of wild turkey breast.)
   We do wash the containers prior to freezing, so this ice could be thawed and BOILED and used for drinking, if need be. According to Fema, containers that once housed juice or milk are not suitable for storing drinking water, as they cannot be cleaned well enough to ensure against bacterial growth.
   I rarely use bleach and found that my container has only about a tablespoon left it it! So, my grocery list now has 2 new entries: 6 gallons of "commercially bottled water" and 1 gallon bleach. (And if the DD will let me, I'll be buying more of the same for her household.)
   Thing is, years ago I had this house stocked with such things...but I'd grown complacent & didn't replace the bottled water when it expired. Hope you are better prepared for a water crisis than we are??!