Spring Cleaning Design Almost Destroyed :-)

Got a head start to spring cleaning this weekend. 1/3 of the house is finished, but still have 2/3 to finish, but at least a big chunk is done. I almost had a "casualty" in cleaning today. I somehow got the safari canopy sucked up in my vaccuum. I had to practically take the vacuum apart to get it out. Fortunatly, it only snagged, but it ripped in one spot, so my next "sewing project" will be mending my safari canopy. Can't believe I was so absent minded with the vaccuum, but it feels good to have a part of the house all cleaned from top to bottom.

Sugar and Gluten Free Sweet Potoato Pie

Latest update on my cookbook that I'm working on, for fun, is that I still have a long ways to go before finishing it, but I'm about 1/4 finished with it. ..coming up with healthy recipes...trying them....recording ingredients and amounts used...taking photos...a lot that goes into it, but thanks to my blog, it helps me to record it while sharing with friends and acquaintances. Can't wait until I can compile all recipes together in the cookbook though. This weekend I was recuping from being sick, so I was quarantined inside my house all weekend and didn't want to over work lest I relapse, so I decided to make a weekend of cooking. Didn't over do it, rested, yet was productive. Great way to use a recuping weekend. I tried a sugar and gluten free sweet potato pie made from scratch and it came out fabulous.

Sugar and Gluten Free Sweet Potato Pie
Ingredients:
1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp pure stevia powder extract
1/2 cup rice or almond milk
2 brown cage free eggs
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp all natural vanilla extract

For Pie Crust:
½ cup olive oil
1 ½ cups brown rice flour
4 tbsp cold water

Directions:
Boil sweet potato(es) whole in skin for 40 to 50 minutes, or until done. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin. Break apart sweet potato in a bowl. Add oil, and mix well with mixer. Stir in stevia, rice milk, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 to 60 minutes.

To Make Pie Crust: Cut oil into rice flour until a crumb like texture forms. Add water. Work dough with hands until soft and form into ball. Place dough in 8 inch pie pan and press it into the bottom and sides, use the back of a spoon or fingers.

Yummy Spicy Chili

...and still stuck at home recovering from being sick...so today was the Sunday of cooking. Last week I was telling a friend growing up that my parents were always involved in chili cookoffs and such, and that I think it would be cool to host one, so I've had chili on the mind, but since I was ill last week, food wasn't something that I consumed much of, so now that I can taste again, chili was my kickoff to a what do you do when you're stuck inside your house all day weekend recovering from being sick....don't want to over do anything while recuping, so of of course cooking is what I did. The chili came out fantastic. At least I thought so...it's way, way spicy, not too spicy, but not for those who don't like spicy things....I loaded it w/jalepeno peppers, cayenne pepper, etc. I think this is helping me to get well. Zesty all natural healthy ingredients and I'm sooooo happy it came out! I basically mixed a bunch of peoples chilis together into one w/the ingredients that I liked.

Zesty and Spicy Chili
Ingredients:
2 lbs lean all natural grass fed ground beef
1 large yellow onion; diced
16 oz pinto beans
16 oz black beans
3.5 cups freshly diced tomatoes
10 oz all natural tomato sauce
2 jalapeño peppers, minced

½ cup chili powder (recipe to make all natural chili powder below)
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
Soak and then cook pinto and black beans in together in a big pot. Set aside. Cook and stir the beef, onion in a large pot over medium heat until the beef is brown and onion are tender. Drain grease from beef. For a few minutes fry the chopped jalepeno peppers in a skillet for about 2 minutes, and remove from heat. Stir in cooked beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, jalapenos, chili powder, red pepper flakes, black pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Bring mixture to a slow boil; cover and reduce heat. The longer you let your chili simmer, the more flavorful it will be.

Healthy Homemade Chili Powder

8 tsp garlic powder

8 tsp ground cumin

6 tsp paprika

6 tsp oregano

6 tsp red cayenne pepper

Healthy Slow Cooker Meal

Still the weekend of being stuck at home sick......so all that I could do was cook away being stuck indoors. Last week I was thinking about blessings and I remembered that I have a crock pot/slow cooker since it's not actually the crock pot brand name that I had gotten brand new for free a few years ago. I had never used it, and honestly didn't have the slightest idea how to cook in it, but I've been taught that slow cooking food is the healthiest way to cook food b/c all of the nutrients stay in, so I decided as of last week that I will slow cook a lot more from now on. I made a beef stew which came out tasty...I basically just dumped things in the slow cooker that I had available at the house that I HOPED would go good together which was actually really fun, and it came out quite nice; kind of southwestern flavor mixed with another flavor I can't peg.

Slow Cooker Throw it in the Cooker Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb super lean beef stew meat, chopped
1 lb all natural grass fed ground beef

6 fresh large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of an onion, chopped
5 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup brown rice pasta
1 lb of green onions; chopped

1 handful fresh chopped cilantro

Directions:
In a large skillet, brown ground beef with garlic and onion; drain and transfer to the slow cooker/Crock Pot. Add tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper, brown rice pasta, cilantro, and uncooked stew meat into slow cooker. Cook on low 6.5 hours or on high for 3.5 hours.

My Food Flop of The Week

Still the weekend of being sick and being stuck inside all day....here's my flop of this week....verde salsa dip. Since I'm recovering from being sick, of course I was thinking I would make something just crazy over the top healthy and spicy and that is what I did, only it was sooooo HOT and SPICY it left my mouth burning and I thought my socks were knoced off, but I looked down, and they were still on. :) Green colored veggies are suppose to be VERY healthy, and am I sure this was....if you have a cold, take a spoonful of this and it will knock it right out. Just joking, though it might actually help. I won't post the "recipe" to this since it was a BIG flop in my book but I put cilantro, jalepeno peppers, green onions, fresh garlic, and other things in this...just the peppers and the green onion alone probably were enough to flop this. I suppose some people might like it...that is if you like things so hot you feel like your mouth and throat are literally on fire. I like food very spicy, so the fact that this is a flop can kind of gauge how hot and spicy it was. The good news is that I got to use my cool blender though.

Hot Drink Cabinet Organization

Since I was stuck at home sick all weekend I made the best of it and organized my tea and coffee cabinet. Yes, I have a top coffee shelf even though I don't drink the stuff b/c it's loaded with caffeine, but sometimes guests want some, so that's why I have the coffee, but the bottom tea shelf, that's a different story. I probably have tea flowing though my veins; esp after this weekend. :) This will be a help having this all organized, though I will reclean this cabinet, it gives me the needed push to start thinking about my deep spring cleaning that I intend to start VERY soon staying ahead of schedule.

Sick, Absolutely No Cooking or Sewing Done This Week!

This weekend will be used to recuperate as I've been not feeling well all week. Last weekend in Texas I overextended myself by eating things that threw my body into "shock" ha, ha such as sugar, wheat flour, and some processed foods. Since I've been Miss Healthy lately, my body immediately went into sick mode this week. Wow, was I sick. Anyway, recouping and feeling better now, and back to my all healthy diet that plan never to stray from again....wow being sick makes you think twice before eating unhealthy foods......maybe this weekend I can get a few things done. My appetite is finally returning today, so that's a good sign I'm on the mend!

Photos From Texas Trip

Here's a photo of me and Ansley (daughter of a friend from where I live now) posing at the Pine car Derby in Fort Worth, Texas. This pic makes me feel old....b/c Ansley is 13 years old now and I remember when she was two! The derby went great. Last I heard everyone raised over $3000.00 for the B. F which is fantastic!

For those that have access, I have posted all photos and videos on my royaltruecolours site. Enjoy!

Katherine and Gladys strike a pose at the derby.

"My gal" Ashlynn won the prize for most creative pine car at the derby in Texas, so I made her pose for me. Ashlynn, I think she's 11 or 12 now, makes me feel old too as I remember her "before she was born even." :-) So happy that she won the prize!

Photo of a group of us eating at the Cracker Barrel headed back home right before we left Texas. Douglas Culpepper took the photo so.....

we had to include him in a photo since he was there too.

Dece Todd, a friend of mine who recently just relocated to Texas....she's privileged now. :-) and Misty from Texas, and Ramona from OK!

A long time friend, Paul Salinas (known him since we were like 14 back from my Texas days) and Liz Blondeau from OK enjoy Dinner Saturday Night.

I forgot, EVERYTHING is bigger in Texas including the food portions! I ordered what I thought was a small breakfast and look what I got....I large container of yogurt filled with berries and granola and as you see even extra granola on the side.

I also got a plate of eggs, turkey sausage, and a HUGE MUFFIN. This photo does NOT do the size of the muffin justice...on the photo it looks average size, but no...it was HUGE! I have witnesses. :-)....about the size of two average size muffins put together.

Then, at a DIFFERENT MEAL, I ordered an alcoholic drink since I was "on vacation."....I ordered what I thought would be a small drink since I usually don't drink much at all. Well, I forgot I was in Texas again b/c see the tall glass that looks like lemonade....well that's vodka mixed with lemon....and the drink you see in front was suppose to be my main drink, but they gave me an extra tall glass of "liquor" if I wanted to refill myself. ha, ha! Ummm...I split my drink three ways with friends b/c there was NO WAY I was drinking that. Again, everything is bigger in Texas.

At another meal, I ordered a SMALL Cranberry juice...ha, ha....this is Texas' idea of small....looks like a large to me! I do miss Texas since it's where I grew up, but guess I've forgotten a lot about it! Was a very fun quick trip!

FUNNY MOMENTS....So I told Liz Blondeau that I would post this and she said fine. :-) She's never been to Texas before...so when we first got to our destination, the Dallas, Fort Worth(DFW) area....I told her how Texas is the second largest state in the US, how everything is big in Texas, and how the heart of Texas is really San Antonio which was 8 hours away from where we both live now. It was about then that I pointed to the DFW skyline, and Liz said something like, "oh wow, is that San Antonio, you can see it all the way from here in Dallas, and it's 8 hours away...wow everything really is big in Texas." I cracked up and informed her she was looking at the DFW skyline. (Thanks for letting me post this funny Liz! :-) )

A Little Taste of Winter

We FINALLY got our first real taste of winter last night that we woke up to this morning. This picture was shot from my desk at the Hall of Administration this morning at work looking out the doors. The snow was beginning to melt and as I type this up is pretty much gone

This is what I was greeted with when I opened my back door to head out to work. Wasn't a friendly greeting to my liking. :-) The tree by my door had so much snow on it that it was hanging down by my steps.

A view out my back door into my neighbors yard and house....aka my brother is my neighbor.

Viewing into my back yard.

My footprints!

The hanging down droopy tree filled with snow that got into my hair as I walked under it!

Royal Crushed Panne Shawl

Here is a new shawl design of mine using Royal Red Crushed Panne fabric. Crushed Panne fabric is soft and stretchy, a type of "velvet" fabric used by royalty. Crushed Panne and Satin are my two fabric "royal fabrics." The shawl can be worn with the tie in the front, or the tie in the back.

How the back looks with the tie in the front

Front view with tie in front

front view with tie IN BACK

Close up with tie in back

Back view with tie in back

Projects--My Latest

There are NOT enough hours in a day, especially this time of year. Planning the big NTB dinner in 2 months, gearing up to begin spring cleaning at this months end among other things. When I clean my house from top to bottom I always wonder how I have accumlated so much stuff in one year being that I'm NOT a shopper....guess that shows and reminds me how many blessings God has poured on me every year. Anyway, beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed to be honest, but it will all get done as always...just have to slow down and pace myself, and my poor piano and flute have already been being neglected for months now. I plan to "hit my piano and flute" no pun intended, hard beginning May.

WITH THAT SAID....last weekend on Saturday night and Sunday in between the normal house chores like dishes, laundry etc, I sewed my fingers off. :-) Not literally, but they were numb by the end of Sunday though I cheated a bit and used my sewing maching a little too...whoever invented sewing machines was a genious....but I always try to sew my designs mostly by hand to custom make it, but when I run out of time the machine is my buddy! I finished EIGHT design projects this weekend. Wow, I barely ate but it was so fun as these were all gifts for people. Now, I just have to get them all distributed. I was blessed with A LOT of nice fabric for almost nothing, so instead of hogging it all, decided to share and make a few people things. Totally more fun making things for others than myself. I won't post photos of my designs yet since they are gifts and I don't want the intendees that they are going to to see them on photo before they see them in person. Just hoping they like! So that is my latest!

The Upcoming Week

Yesterday evening I made my upcoming trip down to my home state of TEXAS! official for the annual Pine Car Derby to raise money for the B.F.! I'm putting together a little gift basket, and I booked a hotel room at the Howard Johnson for next weekend going down w/a few friends. Judging by this sign that I pulled off the internet of the Welcome to Texas sign, no wonder I'm cheesy. Texans know how to have fun and I like Texas! :-)

Besides heading to Texas in a week, starting this weekend I plan to work on a few gift projects. The question mark photo represents being creative :-) trying to figure out what to make for people. I was blessed with a lot of fabric that was on sale majorly, and I love sharing whatever I can share w/what I have, so I'm making a few people gifts from it, and I plan to hit that hard this week.