Wordless Wednesday

Monday Menu - Olive Pesto Pasta

I found this recipe in my old pile from my early vegetarian days. I am not sure what book it came from though. I think the title had something to do with beginner vegetarians. Anyway, I never tried it before since I am not a big fan of olives. But I decided to give it a go, after all, I always tell my kids that you can't know if you like something until you try it. And guess what? I liked it :)

It does not have a strong flavor. And if you are a smoker or heavy salt user, your taste buds may find it bland. It does have a neat "arrangement" of flavors as you eat it. It's like one flavor after another show themselves instead of all at once. Anyway...it makes a great side dish or a small meal.

This recipe gave us 5 servings...our bowls are cereal bowl sized...so just over 1 cup or so per bowl.

Whole Grain Pasta (I used penne) - 4 servings worth...2 1/2 cups dry was what mine measured
1 can pitted black olives (whole is fine)...my can was 6 oz (you will be using some of the brine, so do not drain)
4 stalks Scallions (aka green onions)
1/2 cup Onion (I use sweet or yellow)
1 whole Jalapeno Pepper (2 if you like things spicy)
2 clove Garlic (I prefer organic minced in a jar...it's just easier)
2 Tbsp Italian Parsley (fresh)...or 2 tsp dried
1 tsp Thyme (dried)...or 1Tbsp fresh
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
3 Tbsp Lemon Peel - grated

Directions:
Boil water for pasta & cook according to package directions

Using a whizzer (aka chopper/Cuisinart) - mince garlic, onion & jalapeno
Add olives plus 3T of the brine, parsley, thyme, oil, vinegar & chop to mix
Slice scallions & zest the lemon

Drain pasta once done & add pesto from chopper
Top with the scallions & zest

Nutrition (per serving): according to my recipe program:
246 Calories, 9.7g Fat, 0.4g Saturated Fat, 0mg Cholesterol, 116mg Sodium, 36g Total Carbohydrates, 4g Fiber, 1.5g Sugar, 7.5g Protein

Zombie Penguins

How great is that?!?! I saw this artist's work a while back at a craft show I was in and had bought my oldest boy a green one. He was into penguins at the time, zombies too, never thought I'd find the two in one!

Last weekend was the Funky Ferndale Art Fest and DIY Craft Show. This time my youngest got one, in charcoal so they don't get mixed up. He is loving all things zombie right now...the cute non-scary versions of course. Doesn't this guy fit the bill.....


And then he decided to do a portrait of the yet-to-be-named penguin. I think he captured it well for a 5 year old. Not sure what is coming off the one flipper though...maybe string brains? Personally I prefer string beans, but hey, to each his own.

And hubby took off the tag before I had a chance to jot down the name of the artist...I'll get back with it once I track it down.

Etsyblogger Carnival: Weddings

This carnival post is going to be on Patch's wedding blog, so I get to show off some of my wedding pics :) I had a fun wedding. It was laid back and without any added bells and whistles. No cake (the dessert at the place was divine...and if you were to ask someone, they would not even remember...I have, so I know). No dancing...it was midday, and not missed one bit. Only two people standing up with us...plus my son of course. Having only one bridesmaid made the dress easy too...I just told her what color - she got to chose the dress she wanted. Flowers, only what I had to - bridesmaid bouquet plus boutonniere thingies for the dads.

I had this bouquet of metal, crystals & pearls instead of flowers. I love that I get to keep them fresh forever :)

And I have to show off my son, again, all cozy up on his throne during the reception.

And the "after party"....the Tiger's game. The reception was held at The Gem which is just one street behind the stadium...where an afternoon game was playing that day. And yes, I wore my dress :)

Spiders are Invading

Good thing they are just pom pom and chenille! I took a trip to the craft store with the little guy last weekend for him to pick out a costume for me to make. We did not find a costume, but we did find a mask. He just is not sure what it will be a part of. I hope he figures it out soon. When I told him this, his reply - "can't you just make it the night before?". Um, not preferably :P

What we did find were decorations to make. He got to choose....spiders.
He let me put the beads in separate bowls but not until after many had rolled to the ground.

The legs are attached with craft glue overnight. He said they look dead laying there like that. I think he may be right.


But they sure are cute once they are done.

There are 12 in the pack. I told him we can make one each day after school. And when they are done, we can start decorating outside. This was the only think that kept his desire to decorate outside now at bay.

Wordless Wednesday

I was supposed to write this last week....

I have been such a bad blogger, a bad Etsyblogger to be more precise. I have not done a carnival in quite some time. The subjects were interesting, I guess I just never felt like writing. I almost did last week's about goals and dreams throughout the quarters of our lives, but I realized I am way lacking in those areas.

I was never one to have big dreams of "I want to be/do this when I get older". I was raised with more of a grow up happy & enjoy what you do attitude. Everything else is just gravy. Were there things I thought I would like to do? Yes. Was I good at them? Not so much. I tend to enjoy things I do not excel at and only kind of like things I am good at. If I had a talent, like my oldest does with music, maybe I would have seen things differently.

Am I where I thought I would be at this quarter of my life? Well, that is the advantage of no majorly defined goals...yes, I am. I am happy. I have two wonderfully fantastic kids - which I thought I would want someday. So hey - a goal! A great hubby - which was never on my list, but darn it, the guy made me fall in love with him...men :P Job - well, not so much of anything there. I do love creating and hope to do more with that now that the little guy is in school. I would love to get back to painting. Maybe once I finish clearing out the basement.

I guess I do have one goal for now, two actually. The first is getting the biz going steady. I give myself this school year before I bow out & get a "real" job. The second - plan "Chunk Be Gone". I am off to a good start there. Getting back to veggie, walking kiddo to school & taking the long way home...next up - getting my big 'ol a$% to the gym. More on this fun ride later :)

School - Day One

*cartwheel handspring backflip jazz-hands*

Okay, it's a touch sad'ish too. I can't believe the little guy is off to Kindergarten. All Day. Monday through Friday. Okay, so a few cartwheels may be in order. I think he will most definitely thrive with the daily structure. He was so cute when I woke him up. He kept scootching up under the covers. He finally look at me & asked why I was waking him up. I asked, "don't you remember what today is?" His eyes got wide, he sat up straight & with a huge smile exclaimed, "it's the first day of Kindergarten!!!". Then jumped out of bed, looked back & said, "well, c'mon Mom, hurry up...it's school today!".

Now the other one...well...much less jumping up & out of bed. But he is excited about going to CASA for 6th & 7th hour (CASA=Center for Advanced Studies and the Arts). He gets to take Russian language and advanced world history. This is him in the morning...you'll notice the difference between the 2 right off...okay the jail type numbers don't really help :P ....


Then there is the little guy....


The backpack is almost as big as he is! Too cute....

"bye Mom"

...and there he goes. And yes, we went with him. He is a tad too teeny to walk the 1.35 miles himself. Someday...someday...

My First Collection

Rainbow of BlogFire

Curated By: tiltcreations

ArtFire.com

This is the first Collection I have made on ArtFire...it is as addicting as treasuries on Etsy, so be on the look out for more in the future. This one features fellow BlogFire members :)

How Do I Start the Day?

First off...do I hafta? *whine whine whine* Okay, maybe that is just because I tend to wake up just a touch too early. Although it tends to be because there is an adorable 5 year old hopping into bed & kissing my forehead. Much better than a brash alarm, that's for sure!

Then on to the coffee. This has become more habit than need. I tend to just drink however much hubby left behind. I found this cool mug browsing ArtFire today, it'd go great in my new kitchen...

by Bluesky Pottery

Little guy tends to play on the floor & watch a cartoon while I sip & surf. Checking emails and my shops is always the first thing that gets done. But, well, I tend to get distracted as I check the email. Maybe it is all the great blogs I subscribe to...maybe it is just my nature. Either way, I spend the a.m. browsing beauties on sites like Design Sponge or peek at neat tutorials on Craft Gossip, and can't forget Handmade Spark.

How awesome would it be to use this keyboard while I surfed...it's made of bamboo...

by Takemoto Handmade

My own blogs come next. I try to get my own posts written before checking out those on my blogroll. I try real hard. Really. This summer however, trying didn't go over so well. I will happily blame it all on the house redo...which is done now, so I guess I need to get back into the swing of things.

This BlogFire carnival post is actually a great segue into something I will soon be writing about - schedules. Fun & exciting I know, please try & restrain yourself. Did I lose you already? That's okay, planning is not my fave either. But within it sprouts another blog series I said I was going to start...my get healthy & lose that fat a$5 posts. Gee, the fun just never ends.

So - a.m. is computer time, usually interrupted every few minutes by the little guy before I give up & we go on a walk. Which is good for that whole big butt issue. Next week school starts & schedules shall change. How is your morning looking?