Sock Crazy!

Sunday in pictures! A preview of some posts to come this week:


















Not only that, but I think I slept through the Knitty Spring/Summer 2012 and want to try the following socks soon out of it: Tootsie, Phloem, Carousel, and the heel on this Crystal sock.

Not to leave anyone out, everyone loves a Wookie snuggled up on Mommy's bag:


But does everyone love a Wookie who is now cranky that Mommy woke him up, trying to take a cute picture of him?  :)

Shrimp and Guacamole Salad

So yes, I am fully aware that this dish may sound a little odd, but it is delicious and simple!

I started experimenting when I saw a recipe for a cucumber and avocado salad and here is what I came up with:







It's super simple, cooked shrimp chopped up, tiny tomatoes quartered, half of a cucumber peeled and chopped, lastly guacamole mixed with a little bit of mayo to make it smooth and creamy.

Mmm, delicious!

Mongolian Beef

I mentioned this Mongolian Beef in a Sunday Inspirations a few weeks ago. I made it and let me tell you, it is delicious!









I recommend this highly, I served it over broccoli.  I did make a few modifications:

~No Soy Sauce, used Coconut Aminos instead

~Used ground powder Ginger, instead of fresh

~I did not use cornstarch

~ I used only .25 cup of brown sugar, instead of .75

Dungeness Hat

I am going to admit there were stages of happiness with this hat. It is a test-knit, so regardless it was going to be finished, but that ended up being a good thing. When I saw the test-knit, I love the look of it and offered to be a tester. . . however, as I knitted, I just thought it looked funny and I would never wear it . . . I finished it and plopped it on my head to see if it even fit and I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. Now its blocked and I am still in love with it and am so glad that I had to finish it, otherwise, I might not have and would not have this spiffy hat. I loved it so much, I making stripey gloves to match it for this fall/winter.

















Yarn: Ornaghi Filati Merino Mix Fine
Color: Green and Purple
Content: 50 % Merino / 50% Acrylic
Care: Machine Wash, lay flat to dry
Needles:  US 1 for body, US 3 for the band.
Pattern: Dungeness Hat (not up yet)



P.S. - I know you probably cannot tell, but since I started trying to loose weight last year, I have lost 33lbs and 15 of that has been since I have been eating Paleo! :) I am quite happy with that.

Love

It is always nice to be appreciated and the things you hand-make for others to be loved.

Before we went out to Ohio a few weeks ago, my mother-in-law tentatively let me know that the frog I had made for Garren had lost its head a few weeks ago and Garren was so upset, was it possible fore me to fix it when I came out.

First off, her concern in letting me know that he really did love the toy and had not been trying to harm it was funny. I mean, he's a little boy, of course he's hard with his toys. Toys are meant to be played with.

So I brought out some of the same yarn I had knit it with originally to mend whatever may have happened.

Here is a link to the frog that I made, before being sent off to Garren. And here is the photo after surgery a few weeks ago:

I only had to attach his head back on, but doesn't he look well loved and played with! :) Makes you all warm and squishy inside.

Canned treats

My sister, Rhoni, sent me some lovely canned goods as she ventures her way through canning. Poor me, right?


Ah, behold the goodies:

Pickles:  Loved the pickles, they taste different from grocery store pickles, in a good way.


Plum Jam : I liked this, a little sweet, but I love plums.


Blackberry Jam : This is/was delicious . . . I may have eaten most of it already.  Wow, these blackberries are delicious in this.


Plum Preserves : I liked this, also a little sweet, but as I said, love plums.


Sweet Relish : Also, different from grocery store kind, but in a good way.  I really liked that the flavor of these had more depth than just sweet.



I added some of the screw on lids so I could seal them up again.  I didn't have one the size of the pickle jar so they are in a tupperware container in the fridge.

I guess, if I am lucky, I will receive more canned yummies for Christmas! Check out a little more info on her canning adventures from my sister, Rhoni's blog.

Knitty Deep Fall 2012

Ah, not going to review everything in the new Knitty, but I am going to show you what I love and why!


~Calertne - - I love the entrelac at the top of these! I think if I were to make these I might try it with two colors though, just because I would really want the entrelac to POP!


~Phalangees - - I am neither here nor there about the mosaic pattern, but I love how she casts off for finger separation! Will definitely be trying this.


~Uhlan Cap - - I know it's not the most attractive thing, but this would work perfectly under my bike helmet on those chilly mornings.


~Stitch Surfer - - Love this! A little more complicated than your average vanilla sock, but it seems worth it, will have to try this out.


~You Can Call Me Al - - Love the crazy patterns in this sock!


~Donuts - - Love the simplicity of this hoodie and want to make myself one.


Did you love anything out of the new Knitty??

Sunday Inspirations

Well, if we are going to be perfectly honest with each other, which I do prefer to do, the blog will run this sporadically for an undetermined amount of time. My work is fluxing between small amounts of overtime, to also working Saturdays. Basically, normal life has gotten busier. :) So I may be very present some weeks and not there other weeks, I hope you still stay with me.


Any who, onto the inspirations.



Craft Inspirations:

All I have to say is, Lier's children have the best birthday parties! Take a look over at the Bows she mad for her daughter's archery inspired party!



Recipe Inspirations:

Okay, so this isn't Paleo, heck it isn't even gluten-free, but this Jalapeno Popper Dip looks yummy! But I am a fan of Jalapeno Poppers!


I will be trying this Eggplant Mushroom Curry this week as I think it sounds delicious and am still on the hunt for tasty homemade Indian food.


Now, you can tell me if I am crazy, but I think substituting in chicken for the roast in this Cranberry Dijon Roast recipe sounds good! I'll let you know how it turns out.


In Asian food, I am a huge fan of Sweet Chili Sauce and think that it can go pretty much with anything! I will be trying my own, without the cornstarch though.


Now these Fruit Newton Style Cookies are not paleo, but they are gluten-free. As a kid, I loved Fig Newtons . . . I continued to eat them, even after finding out there was a good chance I was eating bugs in them which you know is dedication. I would love to make these sometime. See this article if you do not know how figs are pollinated and such.


I am so making Banana Blueberry Bread today, in fact, right now my blueberries are defrosting.


I will leave you with a very un-paleo, full of gluten recipe just because it looks and sounds beyond delicious. Can you look at these Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish Muffins and not want one?

Grain Free Banana Bread

Paleo eating is interesting as I try to find a good number of recipes that will be "go to" recipes.

This one is close:

I also added a bit of chocolate, I used these chocolate chunks.  I chopped a small handful up and added it to the batter.  I don't think they taste much different from regular chocolate chips.





My two perfect loaves, one went for snacks this week at work and the other went into the freezer.


My black sheep loaf . . . still tasted good though.  :)



I will use this recipe again, although I might do an almond flour/coconut flour blend, because just the coconut flour was a bit chewy for me and I think the almond will help with that.  Deviations, I used regular coconut oil, not virgin, and used coconut milk, instead of almond.

Tastier than expected

Do you remember this recipe for Bacon Onion Balsamic Jam that was mentioned in a previous Sunday Inspirations?

Well, here it is:




I put it over Pork Roast and Roasted Mushrooms.


Here is a view of the hubby's lunch, with roasted potatoes and roasted zucchini.





This recipe was delicious, even the husband really liked it and he is pickier about really liking food. I definitely recommend it.

Sunday Inspirations

Recipe Inspirations:

~ 11 Food to make yourself . . . I want to try to and continue to make my own ketchup, salad dressings, mayo, broth, and I'd like to try making my own broth/stock.

~ This Cilantro Pork sounds like a light, nice twist of Mexican/Italian food.

~ Indian food is so iffy if you purchase bottled stuff, a lot of it isn't as flavorful as they food you can buy at an Indian restaurant. So I am interested in trying to make Indian food that is more homemade, like this Caribbean Curry.

~ Finding a canned spaghetti sauce in the store is difficult to find without corn syrup, soybean oil, and some other things I do not eat on the paleo eating, so I need to make my own, this is the Pasta Sauce I am going to try to start with.

~ This does not fall into my paleo eating, but this Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Bread sounds like it is worth the cheat.

Angelic Food

When I was out in Washington State, we made gluten free Angel Food Cake. I know, sounds like an immediate let down right? How in the world is that even going to work?

We used this recipe for Gluten Free Angel Food Cake and here is how it turned out:







Isn't that just fantastic looking?!?!?!? Oh, it was so super delicious and we at it with berries! My sister even admitted that it didn't taste too different from Angel Food cake that is full of gluten.

I so recommend this recipe.