2012 Goals

I don't do resolutions. Every year since as far back as I can remember I've had New Years resolutions and I've failed miserably at keeping them. or working towards them. Or for that matter even remembering what they were. They were always along the lines of lose 50 pounds. Stop smoking. Never eat chocolate again. So I decided not to do resolutions.

I don't do bucket lists. This implies I will be dying soon and I'd rather not. And I'd rather not think about it. (evenafter2weeksofwinterbreakwithtattletalechildren HA!) Plus I kinda get the feeling that bucket list only came about or got popular after the movie bucket list and that right there is a no go.

I will set a list of goals for myself. Lists, oh how I love thee. I can make lists and accomplish things AND CROSS THEM OFF and feel so good about myself. It's how I make it through the day happily accomplishing things. So I made my self a list of goals for 2012.

Here is said list:

 Some are specific goals like learn to knit socks, I can start this right now. Seeking sponsorship is a goal I will work on long term over the next few months as well as getting the house in order. I can plan on putting up foods from our land, I can buy seeds, onion set and locate a weaner pig and cull calf to raise for meat. Once I can get a shovel in the ground we're ready to go and another goal is met.

I have a LIST!! It's all about word choice, resolution? meh. Bucket list? bleck. List of Goals? YES YES YES. What works for you?
Goals? Bucket List? Resolution?


 Peace and Love--

Stuffed Cabbage

This recipe is like cabbage roll's cousin, same ingredients, less work, more or less the same results. A few weeks ago I received a napa cabbage in my CSA box from Full Circle, I pondered it for a week or so trying to decide what to make, the produce is so good I just don't want to waste it. I finally settled on cabbage rolls but as the day drew nearer to dinner time I realized cabbage rolls were too much work for how little time I had left. This is what I came up with, it was good, really good and I might never make cabbage rolls again, except I like those little packets of savory deliciousness too much to write them off entirely.

Stuffed Cabbage

1 head Napa Cabbage
1 pound lean ground beef
2 stalks of celery, chopped
half a medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 whole tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped or 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, worth the effort to find it!
1 teaspoon garlics granule or a minced clove of garlic--add as much as you prefer
salt to taste

boil water in a large pot big enough to hold half a head of cabbage easily
cut the cabbage in half and remove outer leaves
when the water comes to a boil reduce heat and add a half of the cabbage, cook for 3-4 minutes then remove and drain on a dish towel, be careful the water coming out will be hot
repeat with the second half of the cabbage
meanwhile in a large skillet cook the ground beef, celery, onions and carrots until the beef is cooked through
add the tomatoes and crush if using whole
add the seasonings and taste for salt
when the two halves of the cabbage are done being precooked and are drained arrange in a baking dish large enough to hold them both side by side
start scooping the beef filling into the cabbage halves and stuffing it between each leaf as far as it will go
when the cabbage halves are stuffed simply mound any remaining filling on top of the cabbage and it will cook into them
cover with a lid or foil and bake for 35-40 minutes until the cabbage is fork tender
slice each half in half and serve a quarter of the cabbage to each person with any extra meat filling on top

These were so good I'm pretty sure my family would have eaten two whole cabbages for dinner. Note to self, make two next time, any leftovers would be great covered in cheese and reheated. I love stuffed cabbage, you will too, unless of course you don't like cabbage and then, well I guess you're out of luck.



 Peace and Love--

Post Christmas Post

From this

to this in 36 short hours.

 Hahaha not really, they were playing with the puppy and thought she would never find them in her kennel. Which was true, she didn't look there at first but eventually their giggling gave them away. The best part was her confused look when they tried to lure her in with them, she doesn't like to be in her kennel so having her two favorite people calling her in was hard to ignore. This game continued for at least an hour and I'm sure we'll see more of it until school starts again. You'd think they'd have new and better things to play with than each other, their puppy and a dog kennel but even the new and shiny isn't as good as the old and much loved. Hunh wonder where they get that from?

Hope your holiday was as enjoyable as ours was and no one had to get kenneled.

Peace and Love--

The Holiday that Thrift Decorated

Almost each and every Christmas decoration I own and use is thrifted.

 I keep my tree decorations in thrifted vintage train cases. Ohh how I love these and I'm really glad I found a use for them. Plus if the kids drop one while carrying it upstairs 99% of the time things are unbroken.

  This one they don't get to carry, too many vintage ornaments, I don't even hang them on the tree with kids, a puppy and a kitten in the house.

on the tree

Thrifted wreath

Bathroom full of vintage goodness

Peace and Love--

How to Make a Paper Window Star

These are the very basic directions to make a paper window star. You'll need to have some kite paper, about 7.50 for one hundred sheets, but you could use tissue paper until you get some. My eight year old boy was able to make the folds quite easily but my six year old was struggling with them a bit.
Truly easy to make and lovely to look at. 

Start with 8 sheets of square paper in your choice of colors.

Take one sheet and fold it in half

and then in half again.

Open and lay flat

now fold each corner to the center, crease carefully.

the fold two sides like so and set it aside.

Repeat 7 more times.

The glue them overlapping like this, glue sticks work really well here,

tuck the last one in under the first one so the pattern repeats.

 The window stars can be hung on the window with a dot of glue from a glue stick. The glue will hold the star perfectly and will easily wash off later.

This one is hanging on my window and the one in this tutorial is going to my mom's house.



 Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday

 My first veggie box from Full Circle had a gorgeous winter squash tucked in it, it was so beautiful I didn't want to eat only look at it.

But then on the other hand, the practical hand, I knew we needed to get on with it and eat it before it got knocked to the floor or ruined in some other horrid way. So today was the big day and my oh my was it delicious! I made this for lunch and we all enjoyed it.

My photos are going to be kinda sad for the next few weeks because of the severe lack of natural light, even at noon our skies are dim.

 Vegetarian Stuffed Winter Squash
1 medium 4 pound winter squash-I think the one I had was a buttercup from Full Circle
1 teaspoon oil
salt and pepper
3 cups water
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chopped kale-from Full Circle
1 Tablespoon pesto
1 chopped tomato-optional

preheat oven to 350˚
wash the squash outside and then cut the top off, scoop the seeds out and save for toasting later
clean the squash out getting all the strings and such out
spread the inside of the squash with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and set on a lined baking sheet, pop the squash in the oven to pre-bake until the quinoa is done
put the quinoa in a medium size pan and rinse under running water, rubbing between your hands to remove the bitter coating on the quinoa
rinse well and add the 3 cups of water
bring to a boil and reduce heat and cook until the water is mostly cooked off
then add the kale and the pesto
stir in the tomatoes if using
pull the squash out of the oven and fill with the quinoa mixture
continue baking for another 45 minutes or until a knife slips easily through the thickest part of the squash
to serve scoop the quinoa and the squash out together

Now if you happen to have a squash with a big cavity you can double the quiona OR add more veggies or both. Feta would have been and excellent addition, alas I'm out!






Peace and Love--

The Penny Worthy Project

I found some really cool things this week in the thrift stores, plus I've got pictures of the things I made for the kid's teachers.


I hope you like this as much as I do,

a wooden scotch tape dispenser. I think it's homemade AND I think we will be making these as present for our kid's teachers sometime soon.

My kids, who love office supplies as much as their mother, were thrilled to see this show up in our house. Plus now I can buy the big refill packs of tape and not worry about disposable parts, buying bulk is TOTALLY thrifty!

When I was little my mom had the full set of these angels, I found a few more for the choir. What is it about the random things we had when I was a child that makes me want to bring them into my life again?

And I thought the carousel horses were really nice too.

I made this winter arrangement for my bathroom this week. I really like the way it turned out, kind of cool and calming. Since it isn't REALLY a Christmas decoration, I'll probably keep it up for January too.

I made a couple gnome hats for teacher's kids.

Also a hand dyed silk

and the Winter King.

I worked on getting a butter churn for the kindergarten teacher.

Isn't it OLD and lovely?

Peace and Love--