Wow, I'm slack!

Oh my, it's been SO long since I have blogged, or even caught up on reading blogs. It's been a rough November! But there has also been a lot of good times too...I have so many entries in my head, too bad it's not possible to think them into existence.

Let's see...maybe I will post a few highlights, and then expand on them later (it's still really busy for me lately, working weekends too).

I took my laptop in to be repaired, and they had it for 3 weeks (I got it back 6 days ago), and the problem came back again! Grrrr. This was the number one reason for not blogging. Hubby and I had to do shift work with his computer. I worked days, he worked nights. So much fun :(

Friends of ours had a Halloween party, and I wanted to show you all our costumes. Not my finest work, but it was really fun. I also made some cute cupcakes for the party. Er, maybe not cute, more like morbid. I made a really quick and easy display thingy too. The party was also a housewarming, so I wanted to show you the gift I made for them. Everyone thought it was a cool idea, and so it seems I've passed the flame onto a few friends, and they are going to be doing them for Christmas gifts. I got the idea from a friend years ago, and I also came across a great blog tutorial for them too...I'll share soon...

I had my 30th birthday, and it's the birthday that keeps on giving. I got my first gift at the end of October, and keep getting them! There is still more in the mail, I am told. I will do a fun birthday present post once they all arrive. I got some really nice things this year :) Adam and I also managed to go away for my birthday weekend, and it was so lovely! You should see the place we stayed! (you will, one day)

News on the ankle front is so incredibly frustrating. I am still at physio, still taking the meds, and have now added tendon problems ontop of everything else. I've had to stop all unneccessary exercise. It's very frustrating. I have good days, but lately, most are bad (relative to a normal functioning ankle, but good compared to 8 months ago). I am hobbling again, and icing, and elevating, and everything I thought I was done with. I figured by now I would at least be able to go swimming, but no. Looks like this summer will be a write-off for me too. I hope to be better by March though, when my sister and bro-in-law come to visit. I'm doing my best...

I have lost 10 pounds in about 8 weeks. I also spent a week eating my left over birthday cake, so I can't say I've been overly strict with myself. But, I have lost the 10 pounds I gained while lying in bed for the first part of the year. And considering I can't exercise, I'm pretty proud of myself.

Work has been CRAZY! It's good though, since I have 6 months of wages to make up for, but gee, I am not used to working all day every day (weekends too). Should slow down again before Christmas. I am just glad that my sudden jump in work is allowing Adam and me to go to Hawaii in May! I was worried we'd be too poor still. Hopefully we can also get a car really soon...that's a whole other story.

So, that is my last month in a nut shell...I can't wait to start sharing again! Thanks for reading :)

Read more...

Akkk!

Well, it just keeps getting busier around here. My computer is in the shop, and has been for a week now. So, it might be a few more days yet, but I hope to get back to some regular posting soon! I still have a few in queue...

Read more...

Bamboo Trellis

Every time I do some sort of crafty-ish thing, I think, I should do a tutorial for my blog!, but then I start taking photos, and planning steps and wonder who else on earth would even want to make the odd random things I do? Plus, nothing I've done is all that complicated. As if someone couldn't figure it out for themselves...but, I have come across pillow cover tutorials too, and it can't get much simpler than covering a pillow...so, this may be completely ridiculous and silly and pointless and random, but here ya go...

This tutorial is for those who plant plants in small containers that need some structure in order to grow up, and not out.

Supplies:
Bamboo rods (about $6 for 6, I think, here in Oz)
Twine (about $10.00 for a million times more than you need)
Hand saw/power saw, whatever you feel more comfortable with
PVA glue or similar, optional
nails or screws, optional.


Method:
1. Mark & cut the bamboo horizontals to size. I have a 9" planter, and I allowed 2" overhang on either side of the verticals.

2. Optional step: Mark the profile of bamboo verticals onto the horizontals. I just did a rough half circle, the diameter of the verticals, which was about 1". No need to learn how to scribe anything properly. In fact, you don't even need to do this. I then used a belt sander to roughly round out those marks. You could use a hack saw, and roughly cut chunks out, maybe using sandpaper to smooth everything, but really, I only made these to fit tight because I had access to a huge mother belt sander, and it was easier than trying to clamp down a round rod of bamboo and use a jig saw (but you could also do that...but don't blame me when you cut your hand off)

3. Optional step: To secure the bamboo horizontals, you could easily nail or screw them to the verticals. I didn't do this, as my plant will surely not get that heavy. But, the twine will cover up a nail or screw nicely, so you might want to do this to make the twine wrapping that much easier. If you round out the horizontals, you could also place a nail or screw into the verticals to hang the horizontals on. That could be the easiest and quickest way to secure it.

4. Tie up your horizontals to the verticals with twine. I used a generous arm span length (like both arms outstretched from finger tips to finger tips +). I tried a few different ways to tie the horizontals, and I liked this way best: I started with a simple knot, and left a few inches excess. I held the knot to the back of the trellis, and began wrapping.

I wrapped 5 rounds on each sides of the intersections, and both diagonals.


On the last round, I tied a few more simple knots with the twine ends at the back of the trellis.

5. Once all intersections are wrapped in twine, cut off excess twine at the knots, and dab on a generous amount of glue to keep the knots secure, and to help keep the twine wrappings stay neatly in place. I used PVA wood glue and let it dry overnight.


6. Voila. Ram it into your planter, and then tie up your sorry little sprawling bougainvillea with some twine, and hope it starts to grow up, and not out :)

Tips:
*Bamboo rods can be found at probably any home depot / canadian tire / bunnings type place, in the garden section.
*Twine is probably overkill in this instance (it came in a HUGE length, for 10 bucks, and when will I ever use twine again?). You might just be able to use any type of string, like the stuff to tie up old school parcels for the mail, depending on how strong you need it, and how much you want to spend. But twine found in the garden store will most likely last outside for a good length of time, and it looks good - nice and chunky.

** Edit: This thing is still going strong, and supporting a now large bougainvillea. It's now July 2011.

Read more...

Chicken & vegie sausage rolls

This is another recipe from that magazine I picked up from our local grocery store, Coles. You can download or view the PDF here. So many good recipes in that pdf, we've made a few so far. This was another great one. I made this weeks ago, before I began my calorie counting, but it might be ok for a more restricted diet if you buy the lower fat puff pastry sheets...I'll have to check.

Chicken & vegie sausage rolls

Ingredients:
300g chicken mince
½ onion, grated
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp sesame seeds

Method:
1 Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan (about 400°F). Line two baking
trays with non-stick baking paper. Place the mince, onion,
garlic, carrot, zucchini and hoisin sauce into a large bowl.
Season with salt and pepper, and use clean hands to
thoroughly combine.


2 On a clean board, cut one pastry sheet in half. Lay ¼ of
the mixture along the centre of each piece, and roll pastry
over to enclose. Repeat with second pastry sheet. Brush
rolls with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Cut each roll in half and place, seam side down, onto the
prepared trays. Bake for 25 mins, until golden brown.

Read more...

Chili

This is one of my favorite meals ever. I make it every so often, but since adding up all the nutrition info, I am going to be making it a lot more. For my calorie counting diet (and the limited knowledge I have), this is a good ratio of taste, fibre, feeling full, and calories.

Chili
1 pkg Chili seasoning (I use pre-packaged Old El Paso brand, or make my own, see below)
1 can baked beans, I love Heinz BBQ flavour (400g can)
1 can diced tomatoes (400g can)
1 can kidney beans, drained (420g can)
1 can chick peas, drained (400g can)
ground beef, cooked. (200-300g)
onion, diced
garlic, crushed



1. Fry up the ground beef, onion and garlic until done.
2. Meanwhile, start to heat up diced tomatoes, kidney beans, chick peas, baked beans and spices.
3. Add meat, and continue to heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Heat up as long as you want to, really, just don't burn it!
4. Serve and enjoy!

Sometimes we'll have tortilla chips to dip in the chili (but I can't for a while - the whole diet thing).


There are lots of chili seasoning mixture recipes online, but I like this one:

Chili Seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder (you may want to vary this, depending on how hot your chili powder is)
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tbsp seasoning salt
2 tsp ground cumin

Use about 1/2 of this mixture for the recipe above.

Read more...

Apple Crisp...

...with strawberries!

This is one of my favorites ever. And the leftovers are so good too! I had mine with some vanilla flavoured yogurt. I added about 150g (1/2 cup?) of strawberries to this recipe too.

Here is the original recipe, and probably a lot of other good ones. I'm a fan of my Betty Crocker cookbooks, and it's nice to see at lot of those recipes online.


Ingredients:
4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Cream or Ice cream, if desired

Method:
1. Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.
2. Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.
3. Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

Read more...

Once a week

I try for an entry at least once a week. Normally, that's no problem. I've had a busy week, and it's turning into another busy week, so it seems it has been a problem. I have like 4 entries in the pipeline, but either I haven't finished uploading photos, or I haven't finished typing everything out. Stay tuned, I will be back soon!

Read more...