Recipes on a ring

I use the same 4 recipes over and over again.  Hummus, scones, whole wheat waffles, and Malt-o-Meal Magic muffins.  I kept them tacked up in my spice cabinet and they were getting tattered and torn.  I figured laminating and putting them on a ring would make my life simpler.  But....I really, really wanted to create my own digital masterpieces using Picnik. Why? When they are closing down in a few weeks?  I don't know.  After an hour (or so) one Saturday morning trying to teach myself and downloading images that just didn't work, I gave up and headed on back to Skip to my Lou.  She had done it all for me.  I just typed in my recipes and sent them to print.                                       Back to simplicity.

Blogging has done this crazy thing to me.  I have put off so many projects and not bought so many things I like because I think I can make it on my own.   And I'm done with that for a while.  There are so many talented people out there that I should be encouraging and contributing to instead of not enjoying those things.    For example:

{via}

I have tried to get all the supplies to make my own necklace like this.  But I love Lisa Leonard and her blog so why not save up for the real deal?  And let's face it, mine wouldn't be sterling silver either.  

And another:

{via}

I've been toying around with creating my own grocery list template.  (Again with the digital masterpieces.)  Let's just say I'm giving in and letting the professionals take over.  Emily has awesome printables every month that I'm signing up for. 

There are many other things I have my eye on but I think you get the picture.  I feel a bit more free now to stay in the areas that I am good in and enjoy the beautiful works of others.  Now if I could just figure out what that area is!  But I won't stop learning and trying new things.  I'll just be doing it with a happier attitude.

So all this from a little recipes on a ring project!  Who knew?  I certainly didn't when I started out writing this post but I like how it's making me think.  

I'm off to get my hair done darker. 

 I think I may be a bit too influenced by the Hunger Games lately.

I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.

Linking up to:

How we grill fish for fish tacos

....or maybe the title should say how hubby grills fish.  It's no secret here that he is the cook so I asked him to help me post this.  Also, I don't really love fish but when I eat it in a taco,  I really like it.  I have never been a seafood fan but we know it's good for us so hubby tried and tried many kinds until I gave him the thumbs up to fresh steal head trout.  Turns out that cooking this kind of fish on a gas grill isn't rocket science and since he's taught me, I've even grilled it a few times on my own while he's been away.

Here are the not so high tech details:

(This recipe is for a one pound filet of steal head trout)  It feeds our family of four just fine when we make them into fish tacos.)

1.  Pre-heat grill on high

2.  Prepare fish by placing it skin down on a vegetable grill pan and spray it with a little olive oil.  

3.  Sprinkle it with the following seasonings lightly.

{The third one is Cavenders all purpose Greek Seasoning}

 ****This is where there are no pictures of the grill.  How do you take pictures when dinner time is crazy enough and everybody needs something?****

 4.  Before popping it in the grill turn it down to medium and scrape off any charred food from a previous cookout if needed.  Place the fish in the center of the grill without the baking sheet under it.  (We use it only for seasoning the fish and transporting to the grill).  Hang out and watch the temp turn to about 400 and then let it cook for 10 minutes.

5.  After 10 minutes check it.  The fish should look like this:

and a little pinky flaky in the middle.  If not, cook for only a few minutes more.  

The meat should fall right off of the skin.  See, easy.

To make them into fish tacos, we add our homemade salsa on top with a dollop of no fat greek yogurt in place of sour cream.  Enjoy! 

Thanks to Bagster our shed is gone!

Our project for Spring Break was to remove the unused shed in our backyard.  It was falling apart and rotting and we couldn't even get the doors all of the way open.  I've always hated the way it peeked over the fence.  

The only pic I could find of the view from the street was one I took right after Hurrican Ike.  The palms, bushes and tall evergreen are all gone now too.  I don't miss any of them!

Woo Hoo!

The big green bag is the Bagster.  It would have taken us two days to tear down and haul away that shed if we hadn't used it.  Because we did, we got it done in a day!  You just set up (we moved ours to the street), fill it up, make an appointment online for them to pick it up and you're done.  No borrowing a trailer, no unloading trip after trip to the dump.  It was so easy!

After we got it all out of the way and onto the street, we  hubby created our new veggie garden.

It was so exciting when our Waste Management came two mornings later to pick it up.  Can you see J-man taking pics too?  A future blogger?  (-:

Roo got to work the crane after our stuff was all loaded into the truck.  Only with Daddy's help, of course.

If you decide to use a Bagster, watch the short video on their website about how to load it.  That way you know they won't deny your pick up.  Our sweet WM guy showed us some pictures of crazy loading that they denied.    

Here is an in progress pic of our garden.  We are planting today and I hope to be giving updates on our veggies soon!  

I've been given the go ahead to make it "prettier" but I'm not too sure how I'm gonna do that.  Any ideas?

p.s.  I was not paid by Bagster to do this post but I wish I was (-:  It really wasn't that bad though.  $35 for the bag and $100 to pick up.  Totally worth it for the time saving.

Out of the burbs

Recently, I've had the chance to get out of the 'burbs' and it has done me a world of good.  Most days I'm irritated at my hubby's shift work schedule, but with it comes date days that I wouldn't trade for the world.  No babysitter, no crowds, and I'm not tired like I would be at the end of the day.  Date days are the best.  We celebrated our 13th anniversary at a nice restaurant in a beautifully eclectic old neighborhood near downtown.  After lunch we were stuffed so we took a quick walk around and looked at houses.  

 {Every house is different!}

A few weeks before this outing we ventured out to a very affluent area.  The houses were amazing but I didn't take pictures because there were people everywhere and I was sure they would turn us in to the cops for snooping.  The restaurant wasn't much to write about but the art shops were!  I'm still figuring out this whole take pictures for your blog or just for me thing.  I don't normally carry around a camera and I was afraid to take pictures with my phone in these art places for fear of them thinking that I was stealing their ideas.

It has occured to me that, thanks to Pinterest and Blogland,  I've only been seeing beautiful things in one dimension on a screen.  Or mass produced in the same stores that have the same things all over the country.  It was really eye opening yesterday when I took a trip to another  Hobby Lobby in the big city and the store looked different but had the same stuff stuffed inside.  I'm looking forward to more days where we venture out and learn more about the city {and each other} to get my creative juices flowing.

I'm finally experiencing one of the joys of living in/near a big city.  There is inspiration everywhere. It just takes a little time and bravery to find it.  And maybe a GPS.

Word Dumping

I've lost sight of this little blog of mine.  As soon as a blog post idea makes its way into this maze of a brain of mine, I quickly convince myself that no one would want to read about it.  We can be mean to ourselves, huh?  It's funny how quickly revelations can delete those thoughts and give me a jumpstart.

"Hey, it's your blog.  Your life.  Go and write about it and hope that it blesses someone!"

So here is where my word dumping begins and I'm praying that it makes some sort of sense and I can get back to normal.  Whatever that is.

* * * * * 

I finished my second round of Insanity last week.  It was the hardest workout program I have ever done.  I definitely feel different and proud.  Not of my body but of my heart.  Roo rode her bike for the first time to school the other morning.  I ran behind her and didn't even get winded.  I hate running and I usually feel like I'm gonna die but I didn't and that is more valuable to me than any award or medal.  I bought hubby (and me!) Les Mills Pump for his birthday so we will start that soon.  

* * * * * 

We ventured out to a local farm to pick strawberries the other weekend. 

After the picking, we bought a ton of other veggies at their produce store.  Most of the items were brought in from close by farms.  We bought this massive amount of kale for a buck.  

We made kale chips out of it.  

They were good but beware because they don't keep and get chewy by the next day. 

Will I make them again?  Maybe.  

I've been meaning to share our healthier recipes on the blog.  I can't believe my first one is about kale!  Just google kale chips and stand by and watch so they don't burn.  I'll give better recipes instructions on other dishes in the future but these were just so darn easy.  

* * * * *

Don't laugh but I've been watching videos on how to put on makeup.  Eyeshadow to be specific.  It's like art in a way and I haven't gotten the hang of it yet.  I'll let you know how it's going and which ones I've watched.  I've learned alot about brushes and types of cosmetics from these pro ladies and it's fun to learn something new that makes me feel more confident during the day.  

* * * * * 

I can't wait to show you my painted armoire.  I'll take pictures soon.  That darn thing was almost the death of me but I'm done!  I just need hardware for the bottom of the drawers and something cool done to the inside.  

* * * * * 

And finally, I finished The Hunger Games!  It was a good read and I'm very satisfied.  I'm itching to find something new to read.  This reading thing is exciting.  (-:  Any suggestions?

So, if you're still here.  Thanks for letting me word dump!