Simply Living

Been away from the blogshpere for a few days doing some reading, embroidery, thinking of the next knitting project (I'll talk more about that one later this week.) and mostly just trying to capture some special moments with my family. Time can escape us soo quickly that I just wanted to be in the moment be part of it and record it in my journal before it was gone. What have I been doing in between spending time with the kids....

Almost finished embroidering a canvas bag to carry around small projects or needlwork hooks. I used a fabric pen to write on the bag.

Been doing some reading. I usually don't go for the daily devotional 365 day books because I just can't keep up and sometimes they can be overly religious. But this one I did not mind Simple Abundance. I look forward to it and reflect how it does actually fit our life today to live simply and real. Whatever happened to how people used to live and why does all this new technology and stuff that's supposed to make our life easier only add more of something else that complicates our lives and actually doesn't simplify. Something to reflect on in 2010.

And lastly I discovered a new recipe. Earlier in the day I had made some meatballs and rice and put it in the fridge. Around 10:30 last night found this recipe from Redhead Recipes for barbeque meatballs. The sauce are you ready for this ? Mix good chili sauce and grape jelly. I told Jimmy and he saw the picture and it looked good. Well curiosity got the best of us. Into the kitchen we go warm up the rice, meatballs and a piece of brocoli. In bowl mixed grape jelly and very spicy chili sauce warmed it up in the microwave and then drizzle over the meatballs and rice. It was spicy sweet! Maybe a little less chili sauce or better chili sauce but very tasty. As I write this for a vegetarian variation instead of meatballs how about tofu? Something to ponder.
Now let's see what the rest of this week's adventures will be?

Birthday fun

Earlier this week Stefania turned 7. So it was time to make a cake. Since I don't make cakes for my birthday and we don't buy cakes (because of food allergies and it's more fun to make them)everyone looks forward to Stefania's birthday.

I made a rectangle cake and cut part of it. After I frosted it I decorated it with twizzlers, skittles and starburst candy flowers. I know loaded with sugar. The flowers are a neat thing I learned to make from a magazine. Take 4 or more starburst candies put them on a plate and microwate 5-8 seconds. It should be soft enough to roll out on a cutting board, then use a flower cookie cutter for the shape and a skittle or m&m for the center. The flowers are fun for a purse or spring cake. I should tell this was my second cake of the day. The first one fell apart.

Part of her gift was a day late. It took a whole month to knit my first scarf. (Not as organized as I wanted to be for her birthday celebration.)

Even though it was my first knitting project it was made with thought and love.

Cleaning Break

I decided a little break from the cleaning & reorganizing would be a good thing. I have a list of major things to do but....kids need attention and fresh air. Right now my project basket has been on hold so there has been no knitting, crocheting a baby blanket, redwork embroidary or canvas bag embroidery. Can't seem to do it all at once and that's ok. It's ok for moms to cut themselves some slack.

I have also missed my baking and have been on a good cooking streak lately. So here's another version of an Asian dinner night.

White rice

Steamed broccoli

Chicken and vegetable dumplings

Salmon in sauce

The salmon I put in a pan with 3/4 cup of water, cover with a lid and cook on medium to high heat for 20-25 minutes. More water may be needed if it evaporates too quickly. The salmon should be flaky when it's done. In a separate pan put 1 tablespoon of oil 2-4 cloves of garlic and cook till tender. In a bowl measure less than 1/4 cup of light soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger and mix in cooked garlic and oil. Pour over the salmon.

Needlwork Therapy

This is a canvas pencil case that I embroidered for my son. The pencil case comes in a package of 15 and can be bought at Lakeshore Learning. Last month I started putting together my embroidery supplies but I didn't know what to make. Then I looked at one of my t-shirts for inspiration.

I photo copied the shirt onto paper. Then minimized and darkened it so the picture would fit on to the bag. I taped the picture to the inside of the bag, used a light box and fabric marker and traced the picture on to the fabric.

And here is my first completed embroidery work. I'm looking forward to making more of these for my family. Each one has a diffrent idea what they will use it for.