Month: December 2014

Nothing but burgers….

Aynaria 5 Comments
Red bean burgers_1
Recycled photo – Homemade Red Bean Burgers; vegan

This past weekend, I made black bean burgers for my daughter. Similar to the ones shown to the left. I’d prepared those a while ago,  but instead of red beans… I used black beans.

Many of my non-vegan friends are surprised at how delicious a bean burger can taste. I don’t add all those crappy meat substitutes that you’ll find in many of the veggie burgers that are sold. I use beans and produce. I’ve found those make the tastiest burgers.

Since my daughter is still on a burger kick, yesterday, I made more. But this time I used animal products and so I used ground beef and pork. Since, the thought of just eating meat has no appeal to my daughter whatsoever, I added finely chopped carrots, onion and mushrooms. In my mortar and pestle I ground Himalayan sea salt, black cumin seeds, cumin and other spices. Both varieties (vegan and non-vegan) received an enthusiastic thumbs up from my daughter. Some of my daughter’s friends think she’s a bit off, since she really does not care for fast food and who could blame her. Since she consumes meals freshly prepared meals daily,  she can tell the difference and she thinks that fast food and processed food tastes a bit “off”. She’s right, it does to me also, but then again, we don’t eat that way. Our diet is whole foods, which simply means as close to the natural food source as possible. If anything is going to be “processed,” I (or she’ll) be the one doing that.

When I get around to uploading pictures, I’ll be sure to post them on Celebrate Life. Today, most likely, will be a simple meal. Tonight is my daughter’s Christmas play and I have some finishing touches left to do on her dress that I’ve sewn for her. The good news is she really loves how the dress looks.

At peace…

Aynaria 6 Comments

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3
King James Version (KJV)

I normally refer to the New American Standard Bible, but I must admit, that I love how this reads out much better than NASB’s version, which I’ve included below.

3 “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.
Isaiah 26:3
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Despite the turmoil that is surrounding me at the moment, I must admit that I Two dovesam at peace. Of course, that brings to mind the above passage… and I have to admit that it is so true.

So yes… through everything that is happening, my stress is low, and I am actually happy. Being a Christian, and an active follower of Christ, I know that has everything to do with the close relationship that I have with my heavenly father. If you don’t have that connection, what I might have just written, might come off as a bit off the rails, but trust me it isn’t. But you to can have that connection, all you have to do is believe and accept Christ into your own heart.

9 [a]that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Romans 10:9
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

I wasn’t expecting to write this type of post, but I felt led to do so and I’m simply following that command.

Sugar Scrub: A bit of pampering

Aynaria 2 Comments

Sugar Scrub Wow, has this weekend has been challenging!

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Whew… if I was a weepy person I’d have been in tears most of this weekend, but I’m not. Praying (and reading the Bible) are things I do daily, not just when I need something, so that has been helpful. Also, about thirty minutes ago I had some brief me time. What did I do? I made a sugar scrub for my skin!

I’ve posted sugar scrub recipes on some of my other sites years ago (2003). I first posted about them (on this site) way back in 2010; July 13, 2010 would be the exact date. So… click on the above link if you want to know some of the benefits of scrubs.  Here’s the recipe for the sugar scrub I made a few moments ago…

Sugar & honey scrub

  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 drop of lavender essential oil

Directions

  1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl
  2. Massage gently onto skin
  3. Let the sugar scrub remain on skin for 3-5 minutes
  4. Rinse off
  5. Enjoy your softly scented skin

And now, I’ll copy/paste what I wrote on that first sugar scrub post in 2010…

Be kind to your skin! If you exfoliate too hard or too often you can leave your skin raw or cause skin irritation.

Skin Patch Test

If you’re trying a new product on your skin I always do a patch test. I choose an area on my skin that isn’t noticeable. I apply the product and then wait 48 hours. If I don’t have a reaction I’ll use the product. I cannot think of the last time I’ve had a reaction to my natural skin care products, however just because a product is natural doesn’t mean you can’t have a negative reaction.

If you haven’t tried sugar scrubs, give them a try. They can be amazing and a perfect pick me up!

Cooking adventures: Black beans & veggies with tomato soup

Aynaria 7 Comments

A few hours ago, I prepared my washed dry black beans in my eight (8) qt. Presto pressure cooker. I can’t stop talking about how much I love this kitchen appliance. It shortens the cooking time significantly. Twenty minutes later, my dried black beans were cooked to perfection!

Since, I foresee some very busy days in my future, I prepared an entire bag of the beans. The bulk of the black beans will be frozen and set aside for future meals; however, today I made this dish.

Bean w veggies_1 12.11.14
Black Beans with stir fried vegetables

It’s a simple dish of black beans and vegetables. See how colorful it is? It’s so good for you too. The vegetables added were broccoli and carrots. I also added ginger, onions, freshly ground Himalayan sea salt, cumin and coriander.

 

Bean w veggies and soup 12.11.14
Bean w veggies and soup

 

To accompany that, I added tomato soup. I’d made this soup on Monday, and it still tasted like the tomatoes had been recently picked from the garden. While my daughter feasted on the black bean and veggies, I curled up with a the mug of tomato soup that you see above. Savory, rich and simply delightful. While my daughter does eat meat, she much prefers veggie dishes and the meat dishes she does eat is served as a condiment. While some might think this is because I am the one preparing the meals, even when we go out to various events if she does select a meat dish, it will have vegetables.

Prince Royce: Stuck on A Feeling

Aynaria 3 Comments

Yesterday, on my way home from work, I heard this song for the first time. I must say that I’m loving the beat. I never heard of Prince Royce, but of course, I’ve heard of Snoop Dogg. I used to have all his CD’s back in the day.

I do believe this song will be going in my iPod. I’ll be working out shortly after work today.

I finally started sewing my capsule wardrobe

Aynaria 5 Comments

If you have friended me on Facebook you know that yesterday I finally got around to creating and sewing my own capsule wardrobe. I posted a picture of my almost completed maxi skirt. I say “almost,” because I still need to add the hem, the elastic, and I think I’m going to add a small split to the back of the skirt. However, the bulk of the dress is finished.

It’s about time I started on that, right? I posted about doing that a few months ago.

 

 

The above video reminded me of Morris Day and the Time… colorful, wild and funky. I believe this is Bruno Mar’s latest video release and I must say, I’m loving the song and the style that is portrayed throughout the video. The color blocked suit jacket, shirt, purple socks, red and black boots. I’m definitely loving the color of Bruno’s suit jacket, after all it’s one of my favorite colors to wear.

And of course I’m loving Bruno, I paid attention to him as soon as he hit the music scene. 😉 I love the way he sings, his look and style.

Sewing adventures: My daughter’s dress is almost finished

Aynaria 3 Comments

After work, I’ve been busy sewing my daughter’s new dress and I’m happy to say that it is almost completed.

On my hand crafted website (and Facebook) I’ve been documenting the entire process through pictures. Which a brief commentary about what I’ve done.

Dress fitting_2 12.3.14
My daughter loves this dress! There’s still some work to be completed. I’m adding a hand picked zipper and of course I need to cut the threads.

There are three pieces to the ensemble.

  1. Lace bolero top
  2. Petticoat with 50 yards of tulle ruffle
  3. Dress

There’s a lot of hand stitching in this dress. If I had just machine sewn the dress I most likely would have completed it the same day, but hand sewing takes the dress to another level and some might be surprised that it adds to the durability of the finished garment.