Author: Aynaria

A whole lot of Wii, cooking and knitting…

Aynaria 8 Comments

Could the weekend have flown by any faster?

We did make it to the Boumi Carnival on Saturday and my daughter and I had a lot of fun. I even introduced her to funnel cake. She had it when she was very young, but does not remember it at all. She really liked the “cake.” Admittedly, it’s not the healthiest snack out there since it’s cake dough deep fried and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. 🙂

The fun did not stop there, shortly afterwards we headed up to the BFs house. He lives in a four bedroom home. My daughter and I have our own rooms for the times we do something late and I don’t feel like driving home. Since I was already wiped out from doing chores around the home, that’s exactly what we did. The room that I’ve claimed is right next to my daughters. At times, she’ll pop by in the wee hours of the morning to chat.

The evening was spent hanging together being silly and playing games on the BFs Wii. I am happy to say that I kicked both of their behinds in bowling, although when we swapped to 100 pins I did not do as well. I thought I came in last place, but my daughter said I came in second.

Of course, there was plenty of food available all prepared by me. I can’t complain since I do I love cooking. Yesterday, before we returned home, I made a lot of food so the only thing he has to do is heat and prepare throughout the week. What did I make?

Let’s see…

  • Plain garbanzo beans to be added to different dishes
  • Chick pea stir fry
  • Eggrolls (vegan and chicken)
  • Turkey burgers

With all the rush, I completely forgot to take photos of what I prepared… and since we were visiting the BF, it’s not like today I can snap a picture of what I prepared. Whoops! However, when talking to him last evening, he did tell me that he would take a few pictures for me. I only hope he does before he starts eating the food. Heh! 😉

Of course… the forgetfulness didn’t stop with the food pictures! Sighs

The past week or so, I’ve been knitting washcloths. Last weekend, I gave him one and since he raved about it so much, I decided to make him some more. And what’s not too love about a knitted washcloth or dishtowel? They’re awesome, super absorbent cloths.

 

Homero-Doh-

 

By Saturday, I had already knitted five washcloths for him and I was prepared to give them to him during our visit; however, I left the washcloths home in my knitting bag. D’Oh!  Oh well… I might see him during the week and I’ll gift him with the knitted washcloths at that time.

This weekend, we’ll be visiting his parents in Delaware. I’m already trying to decide what fresh produce (from the garden) that I’ll gift them with. I’ll have to ask the BF what they like.

Leftovers (Vegan)

Aynaria 6 Comments

Wow… the past few months have simply flown by! Yesterday, the BF asked if I could meet him for a few hours and so shortly after work I was headed to his place.

Black eyed peas stir fry
Recycle photo – Black eyed peas stir fry

 

I made sure I brought along the remaining Black eyed peas stir fry with veggies. You can read about my Black Eyed peas stir fry, with veggies, here.  He said, ” I really love this! I could eat an entire plate of this food.” This dish was vegan all the way. I must say I’m thrilled that he’s very open to trying vegan cuisine.

Since we’ll see him this weekend, I’m already thinking of a few dishes I could prepare. Top on the list is some type of homemade bean burger… vegan of course. I’m also thinking of making egg rolls or wontons? Perhaps we can add freshly made pasta too? We’ll see!

I love peaches...
I love peaches…

 

Also, I think I’ll bake a peach pie. Opal, baking? Shocking… right? I can bake, and I’ve been told that I do make some “great” dishes; however, since I’m not much of a sweet eater there’s really not much point. My daughter loves sweets, but eats mainly homemade cookies, which I really don’t consider baking.

Why am I baking? The BF told me his father loves peach pie and so I’ll be playing around with a few recipes and having my daughter and him sample them. Next weekend, we’ll be visiting his parents. They live in Delaware.  So you could say my daughter and the BF will be the willing guinea pigs. We’ll see what they say. .

Upcoming announcement – What could it possibly be?

So much going on, and so little time to write!  I most likely will have an announcement to make in a few months… 😉

A bit nutty

Aynaria 7 Comments

Yesterday, I was craving a dish with black eyed peas. I mentioned it to the BF when I was talking to him and he told me how much he loved them, although none of his other coworkers did. I believe I said, “they don’t know what they’re missing!”

With that conversation fresh on my mind,  last evening, I pulled out my 8 qt. Presto cooker, added my dry black eyed peas with water. I stepped away for about twenty minutes and let the pressurized cooker work it’s magic.

I came back to fully cooked black eyed peas that gave off a slightly nutty aroma. Mmm… I made enough to use in several meal preparations. The cooked beans that I did not use immediately, were put into smaller glass storage containers and frozen.

And while I like the dish I created below, I sure would have loved if I could have added a bit more color. However,  a quick check in my refrigerator, showed me that I was missing a lot of produce.

Black eyed peas stir fry
Black eyed peas stir fry

I have not been to the store (I’ll be going there today) and I did not feel like going to our garden to pick some greens to add to this dish; however, I will take care of that today. There is plenty of this left over and so tossing in a few extra ingredients won’t be an issue.

Today, I’ll be making black eyed pea burgers, with some of  the plain peas.

Another school year is ending…

Aynaria 4 Comments

School is outThis coming Friday, will be my daughter’s last day in school and then it’s summer break!  My daughter is excited about getting a break from school, but she told me, she’s going to miss school also. She really enjoys her courses, teachers and her friends.

This week most of her time in school will be spent taking class finals.  I know my daughter will do well. My daughter has made honor roll every single quarter and I’m sure she’ll continue to do well as long as she remembers to stay focused and ask for help if needed. I believe she will. Naturally, I’m very proud of my daughter and to kick her summer vacation off, we’ll be headed out to a carnival over the weekend. We both are looking forward to the occasion.

This past weekend, we had a great time on our mommy/daughter hangout. I’ll be sure to post pictures once I have a chance. The time is flying by! It seems like just the other day when my little girl was born. As I always tell her, regardless of her age, she’ll always be my baby.

Just the two of us…

Aynaria 5 Comments

Just Mom and Me having teaMy daughter and I are really looking forward to the next few days since we’ve planned a lot of fun 1:1 activities together.

Of course, we do it throughout the week. Actually we hang with each other most of the later afternoon/evening, however it’s that time is usually spent at home. This will be extra special since we have unlimited time to hang together over the weekend! Yeah!!!!

We’ll get it started today after work/school. Well… actually, it’ll most likely get started this evening. The BF is dropping by after he gets off of work, but that’ll be brief. Once he’s gone, she wants to veg out and watch movies. I’ll be sure to have a portable project on hand (knitting) and afterwards she wants to play World of Warcraft.Sorry babe,  as much as I love you this is a “girl party,” and you are not invited. He understands.

Tomorrow, she wanted to go to the mall in the morning and she also wanted to attend a local carnival; however, that does not start until 5:00 p.m! You would think, on a Saturday, they would be open during the day, right? We can’t attend in the later afternoon since we’re supposed to attend a benefit for breast cancer around the same time. Sighs… oh well, carnival season is right around the corner and so it looks like we’ll be attending a different carnival later in the month.

Tiana and Naveen
The Frog Princess

More 1:1 time…

The BF and I have plans to actually go out on a date on Sunday.  So you see, I have just the two of us plans with him also! We’re both looking forward to that. My daughter usually accompanies us and as much as we both love her and enjoy having her with us, it will be nice having some 1:1 time together.

Another knitted dishcloth

Aynaria 10 Comments

This past weekend, I made another knitted dishcloth. I would have made the dishcloth longer, if I hadn’t ran out of yarn.

No… I have not made them in a while, and to be perfectly honest, there’s been no need to do so, since my loom gives me a much tighter woven dish cloth. I only use cotton, and I find the fabric to be super absorbent and a much better option than any other material.

And that’s what you want when your making an item to wipe up spills right? Something super absorbent that will eagerly sop up the mess.

Knitted Washcloth - Moss Stitch
Knitted Washcloth – Moss Stitch

Although I love my loom woven cloth, this past weekend that wasn’t an option since my daughter and me were over at the BFs and during some of our downtime, while he was watching COPS, I pulled out my Hiya Hiya knitting needles and started knitting. The stitch I used was a simple moss stitch. The moss stitch is quite simple… If you have an even number of stitches, the two row pattern is k1, p1 on row 1, then p1, k1 on row 2. If you have an odd number of stitches, it’s just k1, p1 for each row. See? Simple!

Pete J. says:
May 26, 2015 at May 26, 2015 4:23 pm (Edit)

Jennifer, Thank you for the very kind words! I can’t express enough just how much that I absolutely adore Opal! Ask her. When most ladies knit or crochet, most guys tune out, pick up the remote, and off to LA LA land they go. I am absolutely mezmerized! I can’t take my eyes from her “flying fingers”! I find it amazing. Especially when it seems she’s doing it so effortlessly, or not even looking at what she’s doing. She made me a washcloth over the weekend. The most sentimental thing about it is that I was right there next to my love when she knitted it! Love you, Opal! Thanks for just being YOU!!

On the baked ziti post, my BF made the above comment. He really seems fascinated with the whole knitting process and spent some of the time watching my fingers fly with the yarn. Although this dishcloth isn’t the right size to dry dishes, it is the perfect size for wiping up the occasional spill and of course, I’ll eventually make him more. Most likely, I’ll use my loom.

Birthday dinner: Baked ziti for us…

Aynaria 18 Comments

Garfield-happy-birthday-whenever-it-wasOf course, I did not forget my daughter’s birthday; however, I did not write about it here on her actual birth date.

This past Thursday, my daughter turned twelve. For lunch, I brought donuts for her sixth grade class. Her classmates were thrilled and even sang Happy Birthday to her, much to her embarrassment, although she was secretly pleased.

My birthday celebration for her (was held at home) was a small affair and my daughter was happy with that. The BF had plans of coming out on that day; however, he was stuck in a ton of traffic, that would have delayed him by at least an hour. We are an hour apart. He called (on his way to see us) and told me that he was going to surprise us (I figured he would) but had to turn around and head home because of the heavy traffic. It would have put him out our way about a few short hours before my daughter’s bedtime. He felt terrible.

But he made up for it the very next day…

He came to see us and brought gifts for the birthday princess. Art supplies for my daughter conveniently housed in a plastic storage container. My daughter was thrilled. He drove us to his place and he proceeded to make baked ziti for my daughter and me. I tried to assist, but he told me politely, but firmly to sit down and “let me make dinner for you for a change, ok.” I listened. It was my daughter’s second birthday dinner. She felt super special.

Pete baked ziti 5.23.15
The BF preparing the baked ziti for my daughter’s birthday

He did a wonderful job. I do think the sauce had meat in it, although there was plenty of pasta and veggies to make me happy.

Pete baked ziti_2 5.23.15
Placing the Ziti into the oven

Overall, I was thrilled with what he had done and it certainly was a healthy meal. My daughter must have liked it also, since she had more. She’s not vegetarian/vegan although she will happily consume whatever I put in front of her and be extremely happy. I’ve taught her well.

Dessert for the Birthday girl

A few hours later, we walked to Milo’s for ice cream. They have a stand at the back of the restaurant. My daughter loves ice cream and so she was thrilled! Milo’s is about a mile or so away from his home. The trek took us through the older part of New Market, which is lovely with it’s old buildings. My daughter was thrilled with everything that Mr. Pete did for her on her birthday. Did I say how much I love this man? Of course, I expect him to treat me well. I would not be with him if he didn’t; however, it’s the way he treats my daughter that has me impressed. Again, I would not be with him if he didn’t treat her well or include her in our outings. The fact that he loves her, makes it even better. Again, that’s not an option. We are a package deal after all. Bonus points is that she loves him too, although most times, she’s still to shy to tell him that. 😉

Daughter and me 5.23.15

The BF loves taking pictures of my daughter and me. Sighs… I really dislike having my picture taken.

I will admit, that it felt odd not cooking. I did not know what to do with myself, heh! But… I think I COULD get used to it now and again…

Hiya Hiya knitting needles

In other news…

I DID not finish my daughter’s knitted amigurumi in time for her birthday. In fact, I didn’t even start knitting it yet. The past few years, I’ve knitted an amigurumi toy for her birthday.  I decided to let her choose the type of amigirumi that she wants me to knit. She has and the design she chose means I needed to purchase additional yarn and a special type of “eye” for the knitted toy. Oh well, she’s not disappointed and is super excited that she’ll have another knitted stuffed animal.

Also, I made my first item for the BF. A knitted dishtowel. It’s made of super absorbent cotton. I forgot to take the picture, and so he promised me he would do that so I could post it here.