Same Old Same Old

I think I’ll stay left if you don’t mind…

I will change my socks and rotate the dogs, however.

Hee-hee.

Saturday-Ness

This is what I’m doing today.

I dragged out my Rainbow Granny Ripple to work on.

It’s a cold weekend in Texas!

This is some Roasted Red Pepper Hummus I buy at the deli at Wal-Mart.  I really love this stuff!  I’ve decided I can’t make hummus that tastes as good as this.  It’s so good.  You should try it, even if you’ve never really been a fan of hummus.  This has great flavor!

The fire pit was going in front of Whole Foods when we were there the other day.

Love that RED Tractor.

I’m desperate for blog material, people.

I’m in a slump.

I take my camera everywhere hoping to find something worth sharing.

This is the best I could do.

B-O-R-I-N-G ! !

At least I’m trying for you!

Hey, I noticed in that picture of my fireplace that my bricks are turning black.  How should I clean that??  Please leave me some love and your suggestions if you know a good trick for getting that black off.  Maybe it’s easy…I don’t even know.

BYE!

All is Well

Everything is well and good.  I’m just really busy with work this week and haven’t had time to post or anything to post about.  I’ll be back when I do!

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Basic Recipe is HERE.  It says it’s 5-minute salsa, but realistically it’s more like 15 with the draining and washing and chopping and measuring.  I made some changes to this recipe.

I added a jar of pimentos and substituted dried oregano for the cumin.  Cumin is not one of our favorite spices.  The Captain says it smells like dirty feet.  Ha.

And we have another favorite Black Bean & Corn Salsa recipe that uses oregano so I decided to ditch the cumin and add a Tablespoon of dried oregano instead.

Serve with baked tortilla chips for dipping or on top of fish or chicken, or even use it as a salad topper instead of dressing.  It’s so colorful and fresh-tasting.

YUMMY!

Gloves & Vegetarian Lasagna

 

I made these two pairs of gloves early this week and mailed them off to a friend.  The purple is the free Lacy Fingerless Gloves pattern, and the blue pair are from a pattern called Simply Elegant Fingerless Gloves that I bought on Ravelry which you can find HERE.  I tried embellishing the blue ones with a little heart and a flower, but I didn’t like the way either of them turned out so I left them plain.  But flowers or buttons on them would be cute.  Both are made with Stylecraft Special DK and a size E hook.  I started another pair last night using yet another pattern, but I only got one finished.  Will make the other one during the football game this evening.

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I’ve been in the kitchen this morning putting together some Bean & Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups.  I haven’t made these in a very long time, but we used to eat them all the time when we were following a mostly vegetarian diet.  I’ll show you the process and give the recipe at the end.

 

Boil lasagna noodles according to package instructions.  Drain the boiling water and rinse with cold water, leaving them in the cold water until you’re ready to use them.

Thaw out one box of frozen chopped spinach.  I usually put mine in a colander submerged in a bowl of hot water.  When it is thawed, squeeze out all the water and set aside in a small bowl.

Rinse and drain your 2 cans of pinto beans.  Pour them into a bowl or big plate and mash with a potato masher, or you can use your food processor.  It doesn’t need to be a perfectly smooth texture so I usually just use a fork or a potato masher.  Set aside.

Lay out your noodles (I usually make 3-4 at a time) on a flat surface, spread with a layer of the mashed beans, and then add a layer of the spinach…

This is what they will look like.

Sprinkle with garlic powder and roll up the noodles…

Spray a large baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and spoon some spaghetti sauce into the bottom.

I made four of them in these individual dishes for our lunch, and then made the last 9 roll-ups in a bigger baking pan.

Pour the remainder of your spaghetti sauce on top of the roll-ups, sprinkle with dried oregano and parmesan cheese.  Yes, I know the parmesan is not vegetarian, but we’re not being crazy with it.  You could use a little soy cheese if you’re a strict vegetarian.  But a little parmesan won’t make us fat so we’re using it.  That’s the only cheese in this dish, but I promise you won’t miss it one bit.  These are really good!  (Especially if you’re on a diet and feel like you’re starving for some “real food”. 

Bake at 350 degrees F about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

 

Bean & Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups

 

1-lb box of Lasagna Noodles

1 box Frozen Spinach (10-oz)

2 cans Pinto Beans (15.5-oz each)

Garlic Powder

1 jar Spaghetti Sauce (28-oz) (I use Classico Tomato & Basil)

Dried Oregano

Grated Parmesan Cheese (the canned is fine)

Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions.  Rinse noodles with cold water to stop the cooking process.  Place noodles back in your pot and cover with cold water until ready to use.  Thaw and squeeze the water from spinach; set aside.  Drain & rinse the beans and mash with a potato masher or fork; set aside.  Spray a 13 x 9 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray and place a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan.

Lay your lasagna noodles on a flat working surface, spread with some of the beans and some of the spinach.  Sprinkle with garlic powder, roll-up, and place in your baking pan on top of the sauce.  Repeat until all noodles are used or your pan is full.  Top the roll-ups with the remainder of your spaghetti sauce, and sprinkle with oregano and parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Note:  I got 13 roll-ups using the above ingredient amounts.  You can adjust your amounts according to how many you want to make.  You may also want to use more spaghetti sauce than called for if you like your Italian dishes with lots of sauce. 

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My yarn and hook for the gloves I’m making.  I’m using Caron Simply Soft Gray Heather that I had in my stash.

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I’m not rooting for either the Giants or the Patriots today in the Superbowl.  I’m not a fan of either.  I’m sure the game will be on though.  I told The Captain last night that we had to be sure and record it just in case I miss the David Beckham commercial during the second quarter (or I want to watch it again).  Mmm…love me some David Beckham in his underwear!  He called me a whore.  Ha-ha-ha!  (He was only kidding)

Round Ripple Ta-Dah!

All finished…

The pictures did not turn out very well at all.

They’re all slightly blurry.

My camera is bad about that and it’s pissing me off.

Pattern:  December 2011 issue of Crochet World

Yarn:  I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby

Hook:  H

Size:  52 inches from tip to tip

Border:  I did one round of hdc in rust and one round in peacock, then the last round is the sedge stitch in turquoise.  Basically the sedge stitch is 1 sc & 2 dc in same stitch, skip two stitches, repeat.  You can Google it and find exact instructions.  I did the tips a little bit different to make them more even-looking.  In the first space of the tips I did 1 sc and 2 dc in the space, ch1, fptc, ch 1, then in the second space of the tip I did 2 dc and 1 sc.

Yea!  I’m so glad I finished this!  I enjoyed making it, but those last few rounds are killers.  They seem to go on forever.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this one yet.  I’m just going to stare at it a while and think about it.  I really don’t have a place for these colors in my house.

 

Ollie went to the vet yesterday for a check of his splint.  He got a new clean wrap of tape.  The vet said it was too early to do an x-ray just yet.  We will take him back in two weeks for that.  But he seems to be feeling great and there is no sign of an infection or anything like that, so all is well.  Again, I want to thank all of you for asking and caring and thinking about him since this happened.  I love my bloggie friends!

Have a great weekend!

A Winner, Bead Crochet, Birthday Wishes

Can you see who it is??

  Let me give you a closer look.

Apparently cussing in your entry comment is lucky!

Bev, I have to admit I smiled when I pulled your name out.

You’re right…It IS “about damn time” you won!

Hee-hee!

You win!  You win!

Wish it was the lottery, but it’s just a pair of gloves.

They are yours, and they will be on their way to Utah today.

Congratulations!

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FYI…I am going to be making at least one more pair, maybe more, of fingerless gloves.  They may be from a different pattern, and they probably won’t be this color, but they will still be pretty…guaranteed!  I don’t think I will be wearing any of these so I’m going to give them all away just because it’s fun.  I’m going to save my pile of entries and draw a name for each pair I make.  AND I can fit them into a small envelope so it doesn’t cost that much to mail them off.  So stay tuned…you could still be a winner! 

Thank you all for playing!

I wish I could make each one of you a pair.

 

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Now…on to the bead crochet I did last night.

It’s a candle holder cover!

It looks cute, don’t you think?

I was pleased with how it turned out.

Although, I did nearly hurt myself doing the math on how many beads to use, how many stitches to place between each so it would come out evenly, etc.  You have to do some figuring before you begin.  I don’t see myself doing this kind of crochet very often, but I will keep it in mind when I make little things like this that need some decoration, and I’m glad I now know a little bit more about how to do it.  I’ve seen some really cute purses that incorporate beads into the pattern.

Finally…

Happy 79th Birthday, Daddy!

I love you GOBS!

Not a Clue

I thought I’d try my hand at crocheting with beads this evening.  I got this package of beads at Walmart earlier today.  It was the only package they had that had holes big enough to fit yarn and a needle through.

Here’s a closer look.  I think they’ll do for now until I decide whether I really even like it or not.  I’m sure Hobby Lobby will have a much larger selection of these bigger beads.

I don’t have a clue what I’m doing either.  I have an idea of how to do it so I’m going to give it a try.  I saw Lucy of Attic 24 doing some about a week ago.  I thought she was going to give a little tutorial on how to do the bead crochet, but I was wrong.  So I’ll just figure it out on my own.  Can’t be THAT hard, now can it?  (Famous last words)

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I was reading a book by Jackie Warner a while back, This is Why You're Fat.  I picked up this idea from her.  (That’s right.  I don’t have an original idea in my head.)  Since green tea is supposed to be ALL THAT and it doesn’t really taste all that great, make your tea with one teabag of the green tea and one teabag of herbal fruit tea of your choice.  I got the sampler of fruit teas so I could have whatever suits my fancy.  I’ve been drinking one of these tea cocktails a day for a couple of weeks now.  Love it.  It’s the perfect thing to have in the evenings (note it’s decaffeinated green tea) when you’re apt to be hankering for a sweet snack.  Drink some of this tea and think about how much better it is for you than a half dozen baby Snickers bars…I believe they call them “Fun Size.”  Oh yes, they make it sound like such fun to get a GIANT ASS.

But my favorite tea is still Earl Grey.  I love the stuff.  This one I’ll have in the afternoons since it’s definitely caffeinated.  I’m sure they make a decaffeinated one, but I’ve never looked.  I like it with a big splash of milk and about 1/4 of those tiny packets of Truvia.  That stuff is sweet!  A little goes a long way.

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I’ve completed a couple of small crochet projects over the last two days, but I can’t show them here just yet.  The recipient must receive them first so I don’t spoil the surprise.

I’m off to string some beads and see what I can whip up with them and my hook…

MIDNIGHT TONIGHT

IS THE GIVE-AWAY DEADLINE.

WINNER ANNOUNCED MANANA!

(If you don’t have a clue, see my sidebar)

 

Ollie Video #2

This is a short one, but he’s so cute!

Ollie Video #1

As you can see, he’s doing just fine!  This is exactly what he’s NOT supposed to be doing, but I let him out just for this video.  This is why he must be kept in a pen for about three more weeks.

I now realize that I should have turned my iPhone sideways to take these videos and they would have been wider and more easy to see.  I’ll know next time!