Dumbledore's Army T-shirt Reduction

While doing spring cleaning back in March, I came across two of the exact same shirts in Mrblocko's t-shirt drawer.  There is a long story about why he has two of these shirts.  The Reader's Digest version is that there was a mix up by the post office, and the shirt got lost so a second one was ordered.  Of course after the second one arrived, the first one mysteriously showed up.

I think this shirt is the coolest ever, because c'mon it's Dumbledore's Army.  So Mrblocko let me have his spare shirt.

Except, ahem...

The shirt was like a tent on me.    Yikes!  Look at that armhole!

I found this tutorial on how to transform a large t-shirt into a fitted one over at a.steed's.life.

Ah. That's so much better.  Now I'm not, as we say in Minnesota "drownDing" in my own clothes.

Dusty Rose Colored Shawl

I hope you aren't sick of shawls. They are like potato chips to me lately.  I can't seem to stop!

This shawl is the Iris Shawl pattern that I found on Ravelry.  I used Caron Simply soft for this shawl too.  It is so smooth and easy to crochet with.  I used about 1 and a half skeins of Rose yarn and about 3/4 skein of off white. 

The shawl was designed to be made with a fingering weight yarn, but I wanted it to be larger and have a bit more substance to it.  Although, personally, I think I'd like this shawl better if it was light and airy. However, this shawl is not for me, so it's a moot point!  I'm confident that it will find the perfect person.

Because I used a thicker yarn, I bumped up the hook size from an F to an I.

As you can see, this is a huge shawl.  The point goes past Blockette's knees!  Sometimes when I make these shawls I worry that I am making them too big, then I remember that not everyone is short like me and they might want that extra length!

Sloppy Lentils

Sloppy Lentils?  What kind of dish is that?  It's like Sloppy Joes, but instead of ground meat, it's got lentils.

Did you know there are umpteen kajillion meatless versions of sloppy joes out there?  I chose this particular recipe because it contains Kitchen Bouquet.  I only ever use Kitchen Bouquet once or twice a year when I make mashed potatoes and gravy.

Kitchen Bouquet gives gravy that something extra that makes you say, "MMMM! What is that?!"  It also gives things a nice brown caramelized color.  In this recipe, it makes the end product look more like the color of Manwich.  That's a good thing when you are trying to get your 7 year old to eat something different.

I'd say this was the dish I made over Lent that Mrblocko liked the least.  And there was so much of it!

After dinner, Mrblocko and I decided this lentil concoction would taste better over a baked potato instead of on a hamburger bun.  It did.  Loads better.  I topped mine with some shredded cheddar and dill pickle relish.  YUM!

Sloppy Lentils from Feral Kitchen
1 c lentils (rinsed and picked over)
3 c water
3/4 c chopped onion
3/4 c chopped red bell pepper (I used half a chopped roasted red pepper)
1 t olive oil
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes (I used roasted diced tomatoes)
8oz tomato paste
3/4 c ketchup
2 T brown sugar
2 t garlic, minced
1 t dried mustard
1/4 t black pepper (to taste)
2 t kitchen bouquet (browning sauce for color)

Cook lentils and water in covered pan on med low for 30 min until lentils cook. Drain. Mash lightly with potato masher. Meanwhile, in skillet  saute onions and pepper in oil. Cook til onions are translucent. Add remaining ingredients except for lentils. Cook med low, covered, for about same  time as lentils, stirring occasionally. When lentils done, add to tomato mixt, taste, and season. Add water if necessary. Ladle on warmed whole wheat burger buns or baked potatoes, garnish with pickles and cheese. Makes lots!

Coconut Rice and Fish

Woah, I just realized I never posted about some of the meatless dishes we ate over Lent. 

I'd been wanting to try this Coconut Tilapia with Apricot Dipping Sauce from  All Recipes for at least a year.  Since fish is not my favorite thing I usually find excuses to make something else for dinner.  I was determined to make it this year.

This was the recipe I mentioned in this post a few weeks ago that called for creole seasoning.

I thought this dish would go well with rice, but I wanted to jazz things up a bit so I made Tropical Rice from Steamy Kitchen.

I really liked the apricot dipping sauce went well with the toasted coconut in the "breading" on the fish.  It also almost nearly masked the fish taste.  It was just fishy enough that I knew I was eating fish, but not enough so to be bothersome.

The heat from the creole seasoning helped balance the sweet from the sauce.  The spice neutralized the sauce from making the dish overly sweet.

As for the rice.  I really liked it.  Blockette and Mrblocko didn't.

The rice gets cooked in coconut milk and stock.  It also has crushed pineapple in it.

Sounds like a great match for the coconut fish doesn't it?

For some reason that rice did not want to cook.  I cooked it 10 min longer than the package suggests and it was still "al dente."

Mrblocko is not a fan of rice to begin with, and hates chewy rice.  I thought adding some chopped slivered almonds might help with the texture.  I thought they tasted great, but not to mrblocko.  I'm wondering if he doesn't care for coconut milk.  There are a few things I've made with coconut milk that he didn't care for either.  I'm just realizing that as I write this, so I should probably keep that in mind for future reference.

Anyhow, we had lots of leftover rice that I happily ate all myself.


Coconut Tilapia with Apricot Sauce from All Recipes
1 c flaked coconut, finely chopped
2 T flour
1 T Creole seasoning
4 (4 ounce) fillets tilapia
1/2 c cornstarch
1 (4 ounce) carton egg substitute (I used 1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk)
1/2 c veg oil

Apricot Dipping Sauce
1/2 c apricot jam
2 t spicy mustard
1 t prepared horseradish

Place conrstarch on rimmed plate. Beat egg with milk on separate rimmed plate.  On another rimmed plate combine coconut, flour and Creole seasoning. Coat fish with cornstarch, then egg. Press fillets in the coconut mixture coating all sides.

Heat canola oil in a frying pan to a temperature of about 350 F (175 degrees C). Fry fillets one or two at a time on both sides until golden brown. Remove to drain on a paper towel. Prepare the apricot dipping sauce by stirring together the jam, mustard, and horseradish in a small bowl. Serve the tilapia accompanied by the dipping sauce.

Tropical Rice from Steamy Kitchen
2 c jasmine rice (I had medium grain rice)
1 1/4 c chicken or veg broth
1 c good, thick coconut milk
1 c crushed pineapple
2 Tsoy sauce (or Tamari on a gluten-free diet)
1 T sesame oil
1 T brown sugar
1/4 c finely chopped green onion (Mine were all wilty when I went to use them so I left it out.)
Optional toppings: macadamia nuts, almonds, toasted coconut flakes

Rinse rice several times until water runs clear. Drain rice. In med pot, add rice, broth and coconut milk. Boil on high. Once boiling, turn heat to low, and cover.  Cook 20 min. Turn off heat and do not open lid. Let sit off the heat 10 min to finish steaming. Fluff rice with fork and add pineapple, soy sauce, sugar and oil. Top with chopped green onion and optional toppings.

We're So Picky!

I hate my bathroom.  It's sooo UGLY.  Although, it is an improvement from when we moved in 7 years ago.  It had fake plastic tile sheeting on all the walls.  Like the stuff you might line a shower with.  Over all the walls. 

And when we took that down...Pepto Bismal pink walls.

Did I mention the cabinet and floor were green?

Yeah.

We repainted the walls but the cabinets and floors were a project that got moved to the bottom of the list.  They are still at the bottom of the list.  And I still hate them.

Blockette didn't quite understand how I could not like the bathroom when my favorite color is green.  I like green, just not that shade of green, and not in my bathroom.

Now when I say the cabinets are green, I mean they are mostly green.  Whoever painted them, just took the cabinets that were there for God knows how long and painted them.  They did not sand them first.  How do I know this?  The paint is peeling off the cabinets.

I got sick of looking at the peeling paint and in 15 min Blockette and I did this:

Here's a close up:

And of the other side:

We did this with our fingers.  The paint came off in great big sheets.  There is something so satisfying about peeling off great big sheets of ugly paint.  Sort of like peeling a sunburn, without the pain of getting burned in the sun!

Blockette is hooked on paint peeling.  Every time we are in there at the same time she asks when we can do it again.  I think a few more steamy showers and we'll have another go at a peel-o-rama.  I figure by the end of the summer we'll have the entire cabinet stripped of all it's paint!

Garden Spring 2013

This year I tripled the size of my garden.  Originally the plan was to plant the two 4'x4' gardens in the back yard.  I mean we cut down our huge diseased tree in the backyard so we should have a ton of sun there.  Right? 

Now that the neighbor's trees all have leaves, I discovered that the ONLY place we have full sun is the area directly over Blockette's swing set.  The rest of the yard gets only morning sun and afternoon shade.  Not the best for growing sun loving veggies.  So we are weirdos and have our veggie garden in the front yard where we get early morning shade.

Here's what we planted this year:

 I just want to say that it was my family that picked out all these veggies.  Well, I picked out the sweet pepper and strawberries.  Blockette was the one who said we had to get peas, beans, cucumber and summer squash.  Mrblocko wanted the spaghetti squash and the jalapeno.

 Luckily the food pantry near us excepts surplus garden harvests, so when we have more squash than we can eat it will go to good use.

Kiln Fired Bird

Lookie what Blockette made for me for Mother's Day!

She made it in art class in school. 

I love how the wing is textured, and the multicolored tail, and it's black hair.  What?  You've never seen a bird with hair before?  You must live a very sheltered life cause I have one hanging in my kitchen now!

Blockette was soooo proud when she gave it to me.  Her face was practically glowing!  She was so happy I thought she was going to cry!  Somehow that makes the gift all the more special, knowing she felt she worked hard and did her best on it.