Well, HELLO.... long lost craft blog. Not lost, really, nor forgotten. Just pushed waaaaay to the side for waaaay too long.
After a surprise pass into Winter CHA this past week, I really started to feel bad about my half-ass blog intentions. So here we go again.
Confession: The MCR (Master Craft room) is a fuckin' mess. Yes, strong language, because THAT's how messed up it is. And the really bad thing is, because of its condition, I am reluctant to craft anything. And because I am reluctant to craft anything, I'm feeling all blah. This is a bad, bad cycle.
So, tonight, I am trying to be motivated enough to stay up late to tidy things up.
Of course, in my usual stupidity, I've decided to take everything OUT before putting anything away, reorganizing and moving stuff around etc. Sigh. It looks even more horrendous than when I started, but the cupboards are more organized- I promise!
So, confession #1- I am apparently a patterned paper hoarder. As in, Jeezus Christ- did I really need to buy like every single paper pack DCWV ever made? Surely my Mastercard doesn't seem to think so. And neither do my Craigslist-found cupboards that seem to be bowing because of the weight of it all.
I need to be on paper probation. Seriously. No more buying paper- ever! OK, so that's not realistic. So how about, unless I've checked/used some of the stash I already have. I know we all say it- but this is serious. I look at all of the paper stacks and feel bad. Such a waste for it to all be sitting in the cupboard when it should be made into pretty things to make people happy. So that's it. Need to make stuff with all that paper I already own.
The only way how? Calendar in some scrapbook/craft time. And no wavering, feeling sleepy, or any other excuses. Just do it.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, October 15, 2011
C'mon Staples. OPEN.
All ready to print off some super cute B-Day tags for little Austin's Bday party favors, and of course, the color printer runs out of Cyan. Grrr. Since my creative juices are the most free-flowing in the early morning hours, I've been working on this project for a few hours already. I'm anxious to get the text to print so I can start cutting and assembling the tags!
Anywho, it's now day 6 of the cleanse and the home scale says I have been the exact same weight for the past 3 days. Uh.. ok. Down a couple of lbs from day 1- but even while I was doing WW the point would be to see the lbs drop by one or 2 each week. Well, Wednesdays are my official weigh-in- so I have a few more days to go. We will just have to wait and see. Of course, I am not doing the cleanse to lose weight, afterall. Nope. I'm going it to give my insides a break, and to learn healthier eating habits in general. Yes, I am still craving a cheeseburger- but the craving is not as bad as it was days 3 and 4. But then again, it's only 7:30 am. (Not like I've never eaten a cheeseburger for breakfast- I've done it many times!)
So, the morning's agenda:
Make my breakfast shake. Shower. Go to Staples and Wal-Mart. I need ink, cardstock, and workout clothes. (Tomorrow is the 10K AIDS Walk LA!!) Take cat to get a bath and her nails did. I did mine yesterday :) Then, craft craft craft!
Anywho, it's now day 6 of the cleanse and the home scale says I have been the exact same weight for the past 3 days. Uh.. ok. Down a couple of lbs from day 1- but even while I was doing WW the point would be to see the lbs drop by one or 2 each week. Well, Wednesdays are my official weigh-in- so I have a few more days to go. We will just have to wait and see. Of course, I am not doing the cleanse to lose weight, afterall. Nope. I'm going it to give my insides a break, and to learn healthier eating habits in general. Yes, I am still craving a cheeseburger- but the craving is not as bad as it was days 3 and 4. But then again, it's only 7:30 am. (Not like I've never eaten a cheeseburger for breakfast- I've done it many times!)
So, the morning's agenda:
Make my breakfast shake. Shower. Go to Staples and Wal-Mart. I need ink, cardstock, and workout clothes. (Tomorrow is the 10K AIDS Walk LA!!) Take cat to get a bath and her nails did. I did mine yesterday :) Then, craft craft craft!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Alkaline Broth
So, as part of the 28 Days to Health Program, I am to have 1 serving of this "alkaline broth" daily. There are also supplements you can purchase, but I opted to make my own, with their provided recipe as a guide.
For my first batch- this is what I did:
Purchase all organic everything! The point of all of this is to detox, and to do that, you should try to eat as clean as possible. Therefore, the less pesticides, hormones, additives, etc., the better.
I went to my local Sprouts (which I have always loved!) and shopped in different areas than I ever had before. Here's what I got:
Organic russet potatoes
Organic yellow onion
Organic celery
Organic baby spinach
Whole flax (I had never bought anything out of those bins before!)
To make the broth, use a 1:3 ratio of the potato, onion+celery, and spinach.
Just scrub everything really good and rough-cut it- do not peel. Then dump it all into a saucepan with filtered water that just covers the veggies. Bring to a boil. Transfer to a crock pot unless you like a high gas bill, and simmer on low for 4-6 hours. I did mine for 6. Then, strain the broth- and make sure you are straining INTO a pot of some sort. I almost threw mine down the sink!
Drink warm for brothy goodness, and try not to nuke. You can refrigerate/ freeze any extra. I figured that I will just use this broth as a substitute for anything that calls for chicken stock- like for cooking the quinoa.
Tonight I reheated a mug-full on the stove and am currently eating it with a chinese soup spoon. Not a bad way into tricking myself that I am actually eating soup!
For my first batch- this is what I did:
Purchase all organic everything! The point of all of this is to detox, and to do that, you should try to eat as clean as possible. Therefore, the less pesticides, hormones, additives, etc., the better.
I went to my local Sprouts (which I have always loved!) and shopped in different areas than I ever had before. Here's what I got:
Organic russet potatoes
Organic yellow onion
Organic celery
Organic baby spinach
Whole flax (I had never bought anything out of those bins before!)
To make the broth, use a 1:3 ratio of the potato, onion+celery, and spinach.
Just scrub everything really good and rough-cut it- do not peel. Then dump it all into a saucepan with filtered water that just covers the veggies. Bring to a boil. Transfer to a crock pot unless you like a high gas bill, and simmer on low for 4-6 hours. I did mine for 6. Then, strain the broth- and make sure you are straining INTO a pot of some sort. I almost threw mine down the sink!
Drink warm for brothy goodness, and try not to nuke. You can refrigerate/ freeze any extra. I figured that I will just use this broth as a substitute for anything that calls for chicken stock- like for cooking the quinoa.
Tonight I reheated a mug-full on the stove and am currently eating it with a chinese soup spoon. Not a bad way into tricking myself that I am actually eating soup!
28 Days to Health- Days 1 and 2
Yesterday I embarked on a program called "28 Days to Health". It is offered by my chiropractor, and I learned about it just as I happened to be looking to do a serious detox and cleanse. It is a colon, kidney, and liver cleanse, supplemented by lessons on eating "clean" and development of a new way to think about food and your consumption of it.
On the program, you eat one clean meal a day, minus any traces of gluten, caffeine, sugar, soy and dairy. For the other two meals, you eat their special protein/fiber shakes packed with what your body "needs" to survive.
I thought I'd post some updates on my progress- as a way to get back into blogging. I am doing it here because my idea is to include some "clean" recipes- which are surprisingly hard to come by on the internets.
Last night's dinner:
Chicken with Quinoa
Ingredients:
1 cup rinsed quinoa
2 cups alkaline broth (recipe to follow)
2-4 tbs EVOO
2 organic garlic cloves, minced
1 small organic yellow onion, diced or cut into strips
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (free-range, grain fed, etc. etc.) cut into chunks
1 organic zucchini, diced
1 small organic tomato, diced
1 tbs lime juice
Pink Himalayan salt, fresh ground pepper
1. Bring the quinoa and broth to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Simmer until the broth is absorbed, the quinoa is fluffy, and you can see the white line in the grain (about 10 mins).
2. Heat 2 tbs of EVOO in a skillet, and add the garlic and onion. Cook until they are translucent. Once that is ready, throw in the chicken. Cook the chicken until it is still slightly pink in the middle, then remove the chicken and set aside for now. Add some salt and pepper to it while it is cooking, if you'd like. Add a bit more oil and add the zucchini and tomatoes. Cook until the zucchini is tender (5-8 mins). I covered mine while doing this- and stirred occasionally- it seemed to work all right. Return the chicken to the skillet and sprinkle with the lime juice. Continue cooking until the chicken fully cooked and hot, about 10 more minutes. Again, I covered it while doing this.
Serve the chicken and veggies over hot quinoa! Mine came out really moist. You can add raisins to the quinoa if you'd like to make it a bit fancier.
I saved half for lunch today- so I guess it was about 2 servings.
*Disclaimer: I am by far, no chef- lol! I do all right with recipes, but my palate tends to enjoy greasy, sugary, well... YUMMY comfort food most times. Which is why eating clean is a challenge for me. So I figured, hey- might as well try something out of my comfort zone and try to get a bit healthier too.
On the program, you eat one clean meal a day, minus any traces of gluten, caffeine, sugar, soy and dairy. For the other two meals, you eat their special protein/fiber shakes packed with what your body "needs" to survive.
I thought I'd post some updates on my progress- as a way to get back into blogging. I am doing it here because my idea is to include some "clean" recipes- which are surprisingly hard to come by on the internets.
Last night's dinner:
Chicken with Quinoa
Ingredients:
1 cup rinsed quinoa
2 cups alkaline broth (recipe to follow)
2-4 tbs EVOO
2 organic garlic cloves, minced
1 small organic yellow onion, diced or cut into strips
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (free-range, grain fed, etc. etc.) cut into chunks
1 organic zucchini, diced
1 small organic tomato, diced
1 tbs lime juice
Pink Himalayan salt, fresh ground pepper
1. Bring the quinoa and broth to a boil in a saucepan. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover the pan. Simmer until the broth is absorbed, the quinoa is fluffy, and you can see the white line in the grain (about 10 mins).
2. Heat 2 tbs of EVOO in a skillet, and add the garlic and onion. Cook until they are translucent. Once that is ready, throw in the chicken. Cook the chicken until it is still slightly pink in the middle, then remove the chicken and set aside for now. Add some salt and pepper to it while it is cooking, if you'd like. Add a bit more oil and add the zucchini and tomatoes. Cook until the zucchini is tender (5-8 mins). I covered mine while doing this- and stirred occasionally- it seemed to work all right. Return the chicken to the skillet and sprinkle with the lime juice. Continue cooking until the chicken fully cooked and hot, about 10 more minutes. Again, I covered it while doing this.
Serve the chicken and veggies over hot quinoa! Mine came out really moist. You can add raisins to the quinoa if you'd like to make it a bit fancier.
I saved half for lunch today- so I guess it was about 2 servings.
*Disclaimer: I am by far, no chef- lol! I do all right with recipes, but my palate tends to enjoy greasy, sugary, well... YUMMY comfort food most times. Which is why eating clean is a challenge for me. So I figured, hey- might as well try something out of my comfort zone and try to get a bit healthier too.
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