Fiji bottles were a hit

I loved sand art as a kid, so I created my own sand art (mainly for the little ones in my life) out of Fiji water (which is to die for), Kosher salt, and food coloring. I also used bottles that had a longer curvier shape than the Fiji water-those were for displaying the sand art.

I didn't know if the kids would like it or not, but at a recent party at our house, they had a blast! So did I!

yummy salads

My cousin Dianne made this fruit salad at a recent party we had. It was so delish, I asked her to make it for a party I am having for my brother who is turning the big *0 on Sunday. Her sister made the green salad, which was also yummy.

The silly photo there is Dianne's daughter who we zipped up just for the fun of it!

pretty as a picture soap

This is one of the inexpensive arrangements I made last week for the party we are throwing for Scotter. Thought I would display it in the bathroom. It's just rose soap petals, in the middle, surrounded by "Celebrate" mini napkins. Each was about one buck. It's cute and practical, the soap, pretty as it is, does work!

coffee ground scrub

I like the relatively inexpensive scrubs at Trader Joe's. But I'm trying to cut back on my beauty routine. I like the idea of being green, too. So I have been reusing my coffee grounds and turning them into scrubs. I just add a little oil and that's it....The grounds feel really great on my skin.

I haven't perfected the scrub to the point where it's comparable to something store bought, but I think it's just as effective as a store bought one when it comes to exfoliating. I have also heard that coffee grounds are good for cellulite.

pretty in pink flowers and dish towels

I have a thing for dish towels. Not sure why because I really don't LOVE doing dishes. I just think they can be very beautiful. I found these at a supermarket of all places. I had been looking all over, even fancy places, but wasn't able to find anything as pretty as these. I wanted to replenish our stack before the April 26 party we are throwing at my house.
I also love pink, which I'm sure isn't a surprise to many of you who have been reading and so I made an arrangement with these roses (paper ones) that I bought at Rite Aide for only $2 dollars. They were originally $4. I wasn't sure what to do with them, but they really spoke to me. The vibrant pink was too pretty to turn down. So I bought them and when I got home I put them in a jar (with black rocks) that I had purchased at a tag sale that Kathy and I went to a few weeks ago!

Simple and healthy bean dish

I am trying to eat a lot of beans lately because they are really good for you. My holistic md's office is really into them, too. They told me beans should be the primary protein source.

This dish is very simple.

I started off with a few tablespoons of grapeseed oil and one chopped onion in a pan. (I have been told that if you are going to heat your oil, you should use grapeseed oil, not olive).

After stirring for a few minutes, I added my great northern bag of beans (which had already been washed) and about a quarter gallon of water, and one can of tomatoe paste. A few hours (and a little more water later) of stirring, the bean dish was ready!

I did the math and it appears there are about 1000 calories in this whole pan. It lasted me more than three meals even after I shared it with someone.

Make your own greeting cards

I have always been obsessed with greeting cards and have always had way more than I can send. These days, when I send many more emails than snail mail, I try to buy less. But the lure is still there. I like to have cards on hand for when I go to a party, hate the idea of always having to run out at the last minute to buy a card. I have many blank white cards, too, so I can create my own at the last minute. I created a few of these for friend's birthday parties and made a few extras just to have on hand for when I need a birthday card.

clam lights

Had a delicious clam dinner at my friend Bill's house. It was his birthday and our friend Ed, the clammer, brought these yum yums. I took these emptied clams home and intend to fill them up with tealights for the big party.

Goldfish bowl

I'm always trying different ways to display these two goldfish I bought in the Cape years ago....This is a pretty crystal bowl of my mom's. The lid broke a long time ago, but it was an expensive bowl so I never wanted to throw it out. I sometimes use it as a vase, but Sunday night, when I should have been sleeping, I decided to combine the two and pair it in the bathroom with my tulip/daisy/rose arrangement.

(I'm trying to pretty up the house for the upcoming party for Mr. Scott!)

This quote, from Tut, is so true. Just thought I would share:

Too often, Karen, the only difference between HAVE and HAVE NOT depends on whether or not the initial request was followed by a thank you, yee-haa, and action, rather than a question mark, timidity, and TV.
Don't ask. Give thanks. Bust a move.
Yo - The Universe

pretty Easter things

Here are some pretty Easter-y items I have seen over the last few weeks. The eggs, I made myself. The flowers and chocolates were all seen on my travels. The fanciful mums are the cutest, aren't they?!

Easter basket with a twist

I love Easter decorations. Everything about them, the pastels, the flowers, the cute little bunnies, they are all some of my favorite things.

This Easter Basket is one of the coolest decorations I have seen this Easter. This photo doesn't do it justice because the really cool element to this, doesn't some across well in a photo.

The special part about it is it's made of real grass. A woman I work with brought this to work last week - she said she grows the grass weeks before and uses it instead of that store bought stuff. It really makes a difference. When I saw it I was like "Wow." Can you make me one?

She just puts the grass in a basket, buys decorations, like little chickies and eggs, and then sticks real flowers in little water containers in the grass. Very clever.

Here's the simple Sunday lunch that sparked me to toss out most of the spices in my cupboard. I'm looking forward to getting a cool rack, however.

First, I started with an iceberg wedge, I love iceberg, even though it's not very nutritious, at least not as much as kale or romaine or other greens. But I LOVE iceberg texture, so I love ordering "wedge salads" when I go out to dinner. I drizzled a simple Paul Newman's Italian dressing on top and that was it. It really was delish.

I also made sloppy joe's with turkey. YUM. That's when I realized I could really use cayenee and paprika and oregano. The oregano looked really old. I added a little but then started googling and came across that really great McCormick Web site that told you everything you ever wanted to know about spices.

This turkey reciple turned out good. I didn't use buns, although I think it would have tasted even better with buns, but I'm trying to avoid carbs as much as possible. I started with olive oil, about two tablespoons and three or four cloves of garlic. With that delicious smell in the air, I was in heaven as I started getting ready for the rest of the dish. After a few minutes, I added about one pound of ground turkey and I used about a half teaspon each of oregano, paprika and cayenee. I kept stirring for a few minutes and then added a 28 ounce can of organic tomatoes, a tiny can of tomatoe paste, and about two cups of water. I kept stirring, maybe 30 minutes longer. That was it. It turned out great, eaten as sort of a stew/soup. I even took some to work for leftovers. I actually tasted even better today.

spice up your life, throw out outdated spices!

I knew some of the spices in my cupboard were old. The Dean and DeLuca ones in the adorable silver tins were at least 20 years old. I remember the boyfriend I was dating when I cooked him up nice meals with those. I hung on to them because the tins were so adorable and they were so expensive. Those were the days when I blew money like water. I knew I had to toss those. But there were dozens of others in my cupboard I didn't know what to do with.
This issue came up today because the sloppy joe recipe I was making today would have tasted really good with bay leaves and oregano but I left those out because I realized I didn't know how old those spices were.
After looking online, I found a great site, http://www.mccormick.com/Spices101/HowOldSpices/KeepingItFresh.aspx, that explains when spices are too old. Some start going after one year. McCormick says to watch the color, once the color fades, it's time to get a new bottle. Most of my spices looked pretty good. It was hard for me to tell by sight if they were no longer good.
But McCormick also allows you to punch in the codes at the bottom of the spices so you know just when they made a particular spice. When I punched in the Hot Madras Curry Powder, they told me that this particular bottle was made in August 24 of 1980! Holy smokes. The codes on some of my spices had faded, so I couldn't punch the number in, but McCormick also says that if it's made in Baltimore, it's 15 years old and should go too. "Blue spiked hair was fun for a while but don't hang onto spices from the punked ear," McCormick says.

cupcakes take the cake

Michael's is such a fun place. It's hard to leave there without spending something, even if it's only a few dollars. I got these adorable cupcakes in the $1 dollar section. They make a cute decoration placed on a pretty plate.

the tulips are out!

Here are some pretty tulips I saw while shopping at Michael's. Then, I saw this idyllic looking flower shop decoration at another store. So simple and beautiful.

Here's a way to find more knitting time!

This is a quote I got from my quote a day knitting calender. She's got some funny thoughts.
"Need more knitting time? Neglect housework. The miracle of housework is that you can do much of it at least half as often and get the same results. Take dusting. You grab a cloth once a weeka nd wipe your stuff. Now imagine you do it only once a month! Same arm movement, same effortt, same results...But by doing it less often, you get way more knitting time! (Hint: This works with vacuuming too, but not with laundry.)

yummy salad to bring to work

I made this to bring to work. It was just romaine, brocolli, carrots, sesame seeds and almonds. And strawberries to sweeten and pretty it up. Then, when I got to work I put on the olive oil and the pomegranate vinegar.