Some Foodie Friday Thoughts

It's Friday!!! And it has been a long time since I last posted. Summer was busy of course, and it was really nice to get back into the school routine.

This past week has been a bit of an emotional one for me and all my friends at The Scrapping Turtle Pond. We lost one of our most beloved Turtles, the beautiful Laurie aka Elmo, passed away Monday night after a hard fought battle with liver cancer. I started my day Tuesday with a text from another dear friend about Laurie's passing. I knew it was coming, but still it was a shock, we all felt it was too soon, but it wasn't our choice. Laurie was ready and as she said, "I am good with it." The whole time she was sick she never complained, she never focused on the negative of her illness. She always had a smile or a hug for you. Tomorrow, Saturday, is her funeral, and I will be going along with a number of other Turtles. It is going to be a tough day for all of us, especially her family. I will post more later this weekend.

Now onto Foodie Friday. As most of my friends know I love food, I love to cook and try out new recipes and I am so lucky that Dave is the least picky eater that I know. He will eat pretty much anything. But he loves chili so I made a big batch Monday.

We usually get about 5 meals out of this and it freezes well, excellent for those days when you have a crazy day. This recipe I got years ago off the internet, I believe it was copykat.com. It makes a lot, I use a massive pot to make it in, but you can always cut the recipe in half. We like things with a kick here in our house, so you can adjust the seasoning to suit your taste, even cut out the cayenne completely if you can't handle any kind of spice. Also, mix it up a bit. Add more beans and less beef, or use ground turkey, chicken of veggie ground round. Make it your own.

WENDY'S CHILI

4 lbs ground beef

8 cups tomato juice (I use V8, gives a little extra flavour)

58 ounces Tomato puree

30 ounces canned Kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups chopped onions

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced green pepper

1/2 cup chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp garlic powder (I use a whole head of real minced garlic)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Brown the ground beef in a frying pan, drain. Put the drained beef and the remaining ingredients into a large pot. Cover the pot, let it simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.

And then enjoy!!!

It Has Been Awhile And A Recipe

Happy Monday morning everyone!!! I know I know, it has been too too long. Life has been busy, good, but busy for me.

I had my surgery April 27, and all went well. And I am feeling much much better. My hemoglobin levels have stabilized and I have been slowly getting back into my exercise program, it has been about a year since I have been able to exercise at a good exertion level. Boy does my body feel it, I have also tacked on a few pounds in the last year but starting to lose those now since I can get my body moving more again. I never realized how much those fibroids actually affected me over the last little while, until they were removed.

After my recovery it has been crazy crazy busy. Among other things we have had lots of dental appointments, all three kids had their regular dental check ups, but Laura and Amanda had to go back for sealants on some molars and both have had orthodontic appointments, especially Amanda. She had x-rays and moulds taken of her teeth, then there was the meeting with the Doctor to discuss the plan of action and of course the cost, oh the cost, that was painful. And then back again to get her top braces on, they put wire on the front four teeth only this time. She goes back to her regular dentist at the end of July to have a couple of teeth removed, and then two weeks after that she goes back to the orthodontist to have the wire put on the rest of her upper teeth. And with the orthodontic x-rays we found out that her wisdom teeth are impacted and she will need to have those removed when she is a little older after they have finished forming. Poor girl, her mouth has had and will have a lot of work.

Now onto the recipe. I found this recipe in my copy of Canadian Living Special Issue Market Fresh from last year. It was really really delicious. I would post pictures but we ate it all. Yummy!!! This a nice refreshing summer recipe. It is vegetarian, add a pita with hummus and some salad greens and you have a complete, healthy, and incredibly flavourful meal. I love the surprising kick from the cayenne. Enjoy!!!

CHICKPEA SALAD WITH LEMON CUMIN VINAIGRETTE

1 Can (19 oz/540 ml) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 Plum tomatoes, chopped

1 Cup Chopped English Cucumber

1 Cup Chopped sweet pepper of your choice

3 Green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 Cup Chopped walnuts

1/4 Cup Chopped fresh mint

1/3 Cup Crumbled feta cheese

VINAIGRETTE:

3 tbsp Lemon juice

2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp ground cumin

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

VINAIGRETTE: In large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, cumin, salt and cayenne.

Add chickpeas, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, green onions, walnuts and mint; toss to coat. Sprinkle with feta cheese and serve.

Epic Blog Post On My March Break Madness

Long time no post. Hard to believe that March Break has come and gone almost two weeks ago. Yikes!!!! Parts of my March Break were very busy but very fun.

To start things off one of my best friends ever, Marissa, celebrated her 40th birthday over the break. She has almost caught up with Denise, my other best friend ever, and myself in age. Of the three of us she is the last one to turn 40 and we had to make the celebration worth it.

On the Sunday at the beginning of the break Denise and I along with Marissa's husband, Scott, managed to arrange a surprise crop for Marissa at her house. We had a tropical theme because this time of year in Canada, we are ready for sunshine and warmth.

Here is Marissa, the Birthday Girl herself. We dressed her up for the Tropical theme. Love the glasses on the head. Silly girl.

One of our fabulous crop guests was Hannah, and she brought little Jack. We just had to dress him up to suit the theme of the day. Not sure if he will appreciate this in about 15 years though. But he is just to cute and photogenic.

Throughout the day, we had a core group of ladies who stuck around to crop the day away, and we had a few others that came and went as their schedules permitted. We managed to get a group shot of those of us who were able to stay for the day. Thank you to everyone who came and cropped and laughed the day away with us. Love you all.

Denise made the cake of course. And once again her talent shined for all to see. She made this gorgeous Hula Girl Cake. It tasted as wonderful as it looked.

I couldn't resist posting this pic. After the birthday song was sung and the candles were blown out, it was time for Marissa to cut the cake, except with the doll being on it she couldn't resist showing her sick sense of humor (that is why I love her). She had to take out hula girl in the process. The look on her face is priceless and Tracey, well her face says it all. Meanwhile Tracey's daughter Maya just quietly ate her cake. I think Maya thoroughly enjoyed the cake because afterwards we caught her sneaking a finger full of icing. Too funny.

After the cake Maya decided to have some downtime with her Mom Tracey. Isn't she just the cutest. I do believe the Turtles make very photogenic babies.

After Sunday, my fibroids kicked in big time. I was on a Tylenol #3 road trip Monday-Thursday. What a way to spend part of my March Break. But my surgery is coming up on April 27, hopefully sooner. Keeping my fingers crossed that this surgery will help the severe pain.

During the break I participated in Pass the Turtle Shell over at the Scrapping Turtle. One of the fabulous Design Team Members, my dear friend Heather, picks a layout from the gallery, and with 2-3 teams of scrappers, we do layouts based on the previous person's interpretation of the original layout. The first person on each team is the only one, besides Heather, who knows what the original layout looks like. I hope I explained how it works properly. If you have any questions just ask. Pam was the Turtle before me, and here is my version of the layout based on Pam's layout.

The pictures are from Andrew and Caroline's wedding in Bermuda, almost five years ago. I miss Bermuda. I would love to go back to Bermuda. (sigh)

Then on the Saturday at the end of March Break, Denise and I had another surprise for Marissa in celebration of her 40th. We kidnapped her for day, gave her a $50 Visa card, and took her on a scrapbook tour in Toronto. Of course we started our day at the Scrapping Turtle's garage sale.

Here is Marissa harassing one of the girls at one of our stops.

Of course one of our stops had to be to Stamping Bella. In the store they have this lovely piece of artwork. Kind of reminds me of Denise, Marissa and myself. The DReaM Divas.

One of the lovely ladies at Stamping Bella took our picture with their sign outside the door.

After our visit there we went for lunch at this restaurant we passed on our way to Bella's. It was a mom and pop burger joint, that looked like it hasn't changed in almost 40 years in terms of the decor. But the food was phenomenal. The burgers were homemade and HUGE!!!! The french fries and onion rings were also homemade and delicious. I can't remember the name of the restaurant but I do see myself going back. After we filled filled our tummies we continued with our shopping.

Our last stop was at Scrapalicious. Another fabulous store. By this time were getting tired and hungry, again, lol. Shopping is hard work you know. We called up Tracey and we met up with her and Maya at a nearby Kelsey's for dinner where we were rambunctious and our laughter and voices carried very well. Enough said. Our waiter surprised Marissa with a Molten Chocolate Lava cake in celebration of her birthday, something we all had a few spoonfuls of.

After a long and busy Saturday getting myself all shopped out, I was up really early the next day, or as I like to say, at the crack of stupid. To drive a couple of hours to attend the christening of our newest niece, Brianna. It was wonderful to be able to see family that we don't get to be with too often because of time and distance.

Here is the little sweetheart with her mom and dad (Kathy (Dave's sis) and John) along with the godparents. My brother in law John (I know two John's, are you confused yet?) and the first John's sister Diane. Brianna is Diane's mini me.

Close up of the little girl of the hour in her fancy dress. Gorgeous!!!!

Dave's dad was once again able to baptize another one of his grandchildren, of the 12 grandchildren, Brianna is the fourth one he had the special privilege of baptising. And of course Brianna is completely memorized by her grandfather.

After the service we all went to Kathy and John's house for a luncheon and we were able to relax and enjoy visiting everyone. Of course Brianna's big brother, Kristopher had to get in on the action and ham it up for the camera. Silly boy.

Amanda was lucky enough to hold Brianna, lucky was right, because that little sweetheart definitely made the rounds that day.

Afterwards we went back to Dave's parents house where Amanda's attention was demanded by their cat Basil. It seems like he doesn't get any attention.

Amanda and I decided to go down to the lake and take a look at what was left of the ice caves. After a busy crazy day around lots of people, it was good for both her and myself to just have some quiet time and recharge our batteries down at the lake. Even Dave eventually joined us when he saw us sitting on the rocks by the lakes as he drove by.

And to make the day even better, I was able to hold Brianna as well. Living far away from family, I don't get to see my nieces and nephews as much as I would like. Which makes the time I do get to spend with them even more precious.

Should I Be Concerned

The other day I was putting towels away in the kids bathroom and came across this scene. It made me stop and do a double take. Barbie appears to be suffering the after effects of a "few too many" during an evening of socialization with her friends.

My first thought was "Which one of my demented children put Barbie in this position and why?" My second thought was "Should I be concerned that one or more of my children know the after effects of a few too many?"

You have to admit though that Barbie has a cute outfit and her purse and shoes are to die for.

After some questioning Laura admitted to being the one who did the posing. I told her next time to put the purse farther away, you don't want it to get ruined.

Reveal Day

Today is reveal day at the Scrapping Turtle. I can show the world what else I created in my room with the kit I was given.

First off we have "First Day Jitters". I used Bazzill cardstock (what else would I use?), American Crafts ribbon, and the Miss Muffet Font from Quickutz. And yes, that is a pic of Dave all ready for his first day of school, he barely fit on their chairs and was asked to not come back since he was too much of a disturbance for the class.

Next we have "Mad Science" Once again Bazzill cardstock was used, some American Crafts glitter cardstock (I love that stuff) used for the goo in the flasks and "sparkles" by the title, the Flasks, 12 inch border, and Zelda font all from Quickutz. The rest including rub ons was part of the Piggy Tales Simple Simon Collection.

Last was my altered item. I really scrapped outside of my shell on this one. This is the first altered item I ever did 100% on my own, outside of a supervised class setting. I picked up the plaque at a dollar store for $1, painted it with kaiser craft red paint left over from another project I am working on, rik rack ribbon kicking around my stash, American Crafts ribbon, some misc buttons and embroidery thread also kicking around my stash, and some circle grunge board that I did up for the "shhh, study area" . I think for my first time, I did OK completing my first altered item by myself and I came out of the experience pretty much uninjured. I am working on another altered item, but I injured myself in step 2 of the project, more on that when I actually finish the project and post it.

A Sketch Challenge

Heather, one of the Design Team members at the Scrapping Turtle, issued a sketch challenge. She made a sketch, along with a layout she did of based on the sketch and we were each to make our own layout. Here is her sketch:

And here is my take on the sketch. I used Reminisce Frosted paper, Karen Foster sparkle brads, QK Jolly font, snowflake, label and border die.

Exciting News!!!!!!!!

I have some exciting news!!!!! I have been sitting on this news for a little while now, ready to burst with excitement. I am the Guest Designer for the month of February at the Scrapping Turtle!!! Lori and Hannah called me a couple of weeks ago to ask if I would be their Guest Designer. Without thinking I said yes, then I dropped the pepperoni that I had in my hand when I realized what I just agreed to. Dalwhinnie used the pepperoni on the floor situation and my distraction to her full advantage and seized the opportunity with her mouth in .03 seconds. Lucky dog.

I love crafts and scrapbooking is one I spend most of my free time on. Being Guest Designer is exciting and an incredible honor on one hand, yet thoroughly frightening on the other. My work is being put out there for everyone to see and like a lot of people I worry whether or not my work will be "good enough". Silly I know. I am also not one who has not posted a lot of her work for others to see. For me, being Guest Designer is an excellent opportunity, as we like to to say at the Turtle, to help me "Scrap Outside My Shell".

I will be posting different layouts and other scrapbooking projects throughout the month. I even have to do a card challenge which I have been working on in my head for about a week. I have a couple of ideas, not sure which one I will run with. I will let you all know when the time to reveal comes.

Today is the sneak peak at the Turtle Board and on their blog. The day we reveal a little taste of what we created with the kits we received. I was given the Simple Simon Collection by Piggy Tales. I chose to do Amanda's school picture from this year in black and white, which really popped on the red card stock.