52 weeks of making - week two - felt cat toy

looking to entertain your cat for about five minutes? give her some catnip! or better yet, sew her a toy stuffed with catnip! it doesn't have to be cute. your cat won't care. just don't forget the catnip!:)

xoxoxo  

winter greens

the best cure for the winter blues is a pleasant day like today. kati got me to go out for a walk, and i also spent time in the sunny kitchen making roasted veggies and a spicy bean chili. i did laundry and john dusted and vacuumed out of his own volition.

here's to more pleasant winter days all around!:)

xoxoxo

p.s. the brussels sprouts stalk came from whole foods. i wish i could say we grew it!

52 weeks of making - week one - winter wreath

inspired by the talented dani ives from be good natured blog, i've taken on a personal challenge to make something every week this year and share it with you here. i was going to call this "52 weeks of crafting" but i wanted to leave room for food and other things, you know, for those weeks i'm not feeling so crafty. 

our winter wreath was made with an old branch hoop that i had been temporarily decorating for years. one year it had little fabric ties... another time it was covered in fake gold poinsettias. this time i wanted something permanent and real on there, so i used the goldenrod flowers that were dried from the garden last summer and hot-glued on some tiny pine cones i had collected from outside. john recommended the fake berries (he remembered those from a previous wreath) and though i didn't want to add them at first, i like the way it all looks together now. what do you guys think?

xoxoxo 

 

recent eats

since it's usually dark by dinnertime, it's been hard to get a nice shot of our meals. the other day i was able to capture a semi-sunny picture of our steam-roasted vegetables pre-roasting. we're crazy about brussels sprouts, and i know we aren't the only ones! we really hope to grow some of our own this year, to eat and share.
 



there's the roasted brussels and carrots with rosemary and thyme plus a delicious quinoa salad i made with mango, avocado and coconut aminos. below is another variation with local potatoes. brussels sprouts are so yummy with dried cranberries!



we grew rutabagas for the first time last fall and have been enjoying them in all sorts of vegetable soups with beets and garden herbs.

this soup with red lentils, rutabaga, beets, and carrots was so good. we'll probably have it again this week.
 

i can eat vegetable soup everyday in the winter, especially when it contains lentils. a few weeks ago i sprouted green lentils to make a more easily digestible soup.
 

john has been helping with dinner, and one night he used leftover rice and frozen csa veggies to make us some scrumptious tacos topped with tapitio. mmm!
 

here's a healthier dessert he created for us a few nights ago - sliced bananas with peanut butter and chocolate chips. white chocolate is my favorite.

we are mindful to consume raw fruits and vegetables everyday, and i've been enjoying what i call supplement boats: superfood avocado halves filled with vitamin and mineral-rich sprinkles like pumpkin or hemp seeds, turmeric, kelp powder and nutritional yeast. i'm craving one now!

here's a shot of what i got last week from the whole foods salad bar. i love salad bars!

today i've got dried chick peas cooking in the crock pot, and i'm thinking about making another batch of kombucha tea. i'd also like to get my butt to the community garden to make mashed rutabaga for dinner, but if that doesn't happen i got potato flakes for back-up. oh, and i want to bake chocolate chip cookies for my johnny bear (like i won't be eating half of 'em:). are you making any messes in the kitchen this weekend?

xoxoxo