Several months ago, I stumbled upon this cartoon. It was during my yarn buying adventures and I could relate.
To be fair, with the majority of the yarn I purchased I had an idea of what I wanted to make with each one of them.
I’m happy to say that I’m slowly working through those lovely skeins of yarn. The past few days, I’ve been knitting a matching scarf to accompany the stockinette stitch hat I made with the seed stitch brim. I used some of the lovely single ply Malabrigo yarn that I’d purchased for cancer patients. When I’d made that hat, I’d taken a break from knitting hats for cancer patients and actually made that hat for myself.
Nope, I definitely don’t have as much yarn as this lady has, but I can’t help being a tad envious. š
The poor girl knew something was up and shivered the entire time we were in the SUV. Once we arrived at the facility, we waited for a few moments while they got her paperwork ready. Because of the slight delay, I opened up her kennel and started petting her to calm her down. It worked, and she flopped down in her endearing, “I really like this, please don’t stop position.” She became so relaxed, that by the time the technician came to get her, she was fine and let the vet tech pick her up without struggling.
Recycled picture of Oreo
I Peter 5:7
Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
New American Standard Bible
My daughter is worried about her little playmate, hoping that she’ll be fine. I told her that spaying is a standard procedure, barring unforeseen complications, she’d have her fur bunny back in no time.
Luke 12:6
Are not five sparrows sold for two [a]cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.
New American Standard Bible
I also told her we could pray that the surgery would go smoothly. If God doesn’t forget sparrows, he’s surely watching over bunnies too.
Mahalia Jackson: His Eye Is On The Sparrow
His Eye Is On The Sparrow
Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
(alternative first verse) Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows fall
Why should my heart be troubled, When all but hope is gone?
when Jesus is my fortress. My constant friend is He.
His eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me.
His eye is on the Sparrow, and I know He watches me!
Refrain
I sing because Iām happy,
I sing because Iām free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
āLet not your heart be troubled,ā His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Refrain
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
The awesome thing about this award, is there really aren’t too many “rules.” I tend to deviate from them anyway…
The rules are simple:
The person receiving the award is someone who has āmadeā you spend money. It could be that you bought a pattern, a book, a magazine, a item, a yarn, a fiber, etc.; or joined a KAL, or signed up for a class on Craftsy, etc. Remember, this is in good natured fun. A positive expenditure. Explain to the person what they āmadeā, āenabledā, or ātemptedā you to purchase.
You may give the award to as many or as few people as you like. We hate it went weāve been given a set number to dole out an award to.
Copy and past the blog award on your blog. Display it with pride. Remember that āImitationĀ isĀ theĀ bestĀ form ofĀ flatteryā. Iām out here totally imitating you!
Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment at their blog.
Thank the award presenter
Again, I cannot stress enough that this is all in fun. I have been so enamored with everything Iāve spent my $$$ on due to blogger recommendations, it has enriched my life. I hope you feel that way too.
Here’s what Q wrote about me…
Opal from Celebrate Life! Everytime I use my Hiya Hiya needles I think of Opal. I LOVE the needles and needed them as I need another hole in my head. They are just so darn sweet to knit with. Because of her bee adventures I keep buying honey. Now, Iām the only one that uses honey at this home, so what the heck? Who really needs six jars of honey?
I’m a bit slow on posting about it here, but it’s not because I’m slacking. I have a post in draft mode, but my issue is I have so many awesome things to write about those who’ve inspired me to purchase or try a technique that one post devoted to those people would be much too long. Take for example my recent post aboutstir fried ramen noodles with garlic curried chicken, my inspiration came fromĀ suituapui.
So instead, I’ll be dedicating a post to each individual that has been an inspiration. Stay tuned…
I decided to use one of my daughter’s instant noodle packs and prepare her a quick heat & serve meal that she could eat when she wanted something savory.
I don’t use the enclosed seasoning packet. It was immediately tossed into the trash.
Cooking yellow onion and seasoned eggs
In a stainless steel skillet I chopped up yellow onion and added the seasoned egg mixture to the skillet. I cooked everything until the onions were almost clear. Right beside the skillet, was a small pot filled with boiling water, and of course the ramen noodles!
Rinsing the ramen noodles
Once the noodles were finished cooking…
I rinsed them off thoroughly with water. I do this too all my purchased noodles.
Stir fry ramen noodles with garlic curried chicken
And now is where the fun began; combining everything!
The noodles were tossed into a serving dish with the ingredients from the skillet. And here’s where I added something extra…
I remembered that ( a few days before) I’d prepared some honey roasted garlic chicken thighs for my daughter. I took one of the thighs and shredded the meat, tossed into the skillet with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, curry and some other seasonings. I then tossed that into the ramen noodle dish. I set aside a portion to keep it vegan (for me.) I served a portion to my daughter, while setting aside the rest to be eaten, by her, at a later date.
The results, my daughter seemed to really like this dish. I know I liked my portion. She was thrilled that there were leftovers for when I don’t feel like preparing a meal.
And there you go… a quick meal, that was made more delicious (and healthier) by adding my own additions.
I didn’t actually make the burgers that day, I made them the day before (Saturday.) I’d baked them in the oven.Ā I don’t do canned beans, I will only use dry beans. Why? I find them to be much more flavorful than canned beans.
I added all sorts of seasonings and fixings to make my bean burgers and made an amazing veggie burger. I don’t use “veggie burger mixes”.. blech! And you most certainly won’t see me reheating store boughtĀ veggie burgers.Ā In my humble opinion they simply don’t taste good at all. Besides, if you know what you’re doing you can easily prepare a better burger than some premade stuff.
But back to the burgers…
There weren’t too many similarities to these burgers and the curried lentil burgers I made over a week ago, but I must say the baked red bean burgers still were very nice.They turned out firm, moist and bursting with flavor. When I make baked veggie burgers, I prepare about twenty of them at a time, what’s not eaten is frozen.
Red bean burgers
Since I do enjoy stove top veggie burgers. I decided to reheat these veggie burgers in my stainless steel skillet. The baked burgers shape/consistency reminds me of pork sausage. Interesting…
Homemade Red Bean Burgers; vegan
I addedĀ aĀ splashĀ of extra virgin olive oil and chopped up some onions and heated the burgers for a few moments. I wanted to add some Sweet peppers but none were ready to be picked off the vine.
No worries, the simple addition of the olive oil and cooked onions added additional flavor to my red bean burgers and made an already tasty burger even better. š
When I cook, I rarely follow a recipe. I mean… why should I? I find I have way too much fun being creative and doing my own thing!
This past Sunday, I decided to make a dish specifically with my daughter in mind.
She’s not vegan, although for the first six years of her life, she was. And yes, I prepare non-vegan food in our house. As she became older she was interested in trying other things. I let her. She still mainly eats vegetarian/vegan but she likes to mix it up with other things too…
Preparing non-veggie meals shows her that even if she isn’t veggie she can make healthy choices.Ā You just need to make smart food choices. That rule applies to vegetarians/vegan too! Don’t get me started about the number of unhealthy veggies I’ve met.
Marinated boneless chicken breast
I started with boneless chicken breasts, and cut it into small pieces.Ā This was set aside in the refrigerator to marinate with a variety of herbs/spices. Hours later I brought it out so I could prepare the meal.
But what to prepare? Hmm…
Initially, I was only going add vegetables directly to the chicken dish, but I realized that I hadn’t made noodlesĀ in a while (my daughter loves noodles) and so I decided to prepare penne.
Penne with fresh garden tomatoes
I was going to simple add lightly buttered garlic penne w/herbs to the chicken dish, but I thought it would be much tastier (and richer) if I made a white sauce to compliment the chicken. So… I grabbed some flour, milk, herbal tea, tomatoes, herbs and spices. I combined everything together and let it cook until it had thickened into a rich and thick sauce. My did it smell good!
Penne with White Sauce
I served the meal; the chicken was set atop the penne pasta (sorry I forgot to take a picture of that.) The results? My daughter loved it so much that she got a second helping immediately after consuming the first.
Food for dad
Since my mother was working, I made enough to share with my father. Although a man of few words (when it comes to giving compliments about food) he said it was really good!
Just because I don’t eat meat, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to prepare it. I do… š Although I didn’t eat the chicken, I did have some of the noodles and I must say it was delicious. The next time I prepare penne this way, I believe I’ll add mushrooms, grated carrots, and thinly sliced broccoli.
I was planning on posting pictures of the red bean burgers I’d made. But, I believe I’ll save those for another post. š
I used the yarn that I had chosen to make the knitted kitty love hat for my daughter. Not much was used in that hat, just a tiny band near the crown.
My daughter and I were watching some movie that I can’t remember. This small project was the perfect way to keep my hands occupied. I must say, I think this knitted hat looks great on Ken and as I told my daughter I think he wears the color well, don’t you? Some men, look amazing in pink. I’d wish more of them wore this color.
Regarding dolls…
I believe part of my daughter’s fascination with them, is creating back stories and stop motion movies for her Monster High Dolls. Often, she involves me into her doll play, and why shouldn’t she? She learned all about creative story telling from me. Before she went first grade, I had had her create stories. I’d tell her, I’m going to pick two words and you’ll have to create a story about those words. Initially, she found that a bit challenging, but over time and listening to me do it quite easily, she adjusted. I mainly did that to help her in school and it paid off well, since for the most part she’s always received A’s in Creative Writing.
For once, in a long while, I’m not working on any knitting. Well… it’s only been a few days since I finished the knitted hat. I’m sure I’ll have another project soon.
When I cook, I rarely follow a recipe. I mean… why should I? I find I have way too much fun being creative and doing my own thing!
