I had occasion to go shopping without Left Brain the other day and that always tends to lead to more impulse buys.
Several of the recipes in our new paleo lifestyle would be much easier with a food processor. Yeah, I know...I bought that little one earlier, but it only holds two cups. I realize now I could have used a larger one, and yet I don't want anything huge.
So voila! I spotted the Oster food processor and blender combo at Walmart and it seemed to just jump into my cart.
I had a chance to use it right away to grate the carrots needed to try the carrot cake cupcakes. At first I had the hand grater and a bowl out and could already sense the pain and frustration of trying to grate my baby carrots.
But I remembered (okay, it was within 24 hours) that I had this new powerful tool. I have to admit that it made me jump when it roared into action and make short work of those carrots. Oh the power!
Now I'm researching smoothies since I have a blender as well. I've never been interested in these before, but on a hot summer day it would be nice to have a flavored drink to sip and enjoy. I'll have to get advice from our daughter on those, as she is the Smoothie Queen.
Long Live the Queen of Kitchen Appliances
When the weather is cold and rainy I really miss the flannel sheets we used to snuggle in on winter nights.
But with the shortage of storage space, an extra set of big bulky sheets for such short term usage just isn't feasible.
So when I saw these sheets at Kohl's one day I was intrigued, but had my doubts as to how it would work.
Well, we've used them when it's cold and when it's hot...which in Minnesota can happen within 24 hours easily...and they work beautifully.
I don't know how they do it, but on cold nights I no longer cringe as I slide between the sheets. And on hot nights they don't feel like they stick to me. It's a miracle!
They were quite pricey, but Kohl's had them on half price the day I was visiting, so that made it worth it. We only have two sets of sheets and the other was getting pretty ratty and needed replacing.
You can bet that when the remaining set gets old I will be switching over to a second set like this.
Long Live the Queen of Comfort
The best part of this new Paleo Diet is buying fun tools to get the job done.
My newest purchase is the Paderno Four Blade Spiralizer.
It fits together very compactly for storage, always a plus in a tiny home.
This was ordered so I could try making the Chicken Noodle Soup in my Paleo Perfected cookbook. The noodles are made from...you guessed it...zucchini noodles.
It actually turned out pretty good and this is one application where the "fake" noodles work quite well. Either that or I'm just getting used to these new tastes now.
Today for lunch I heated up some of this soup and added a spoonful of yellow curry sauce and WOW...very tasty.
Now if I could only conquer the bread issue and make a bread that looks and tastes like...well...bread.
Long Live the Zucchini Queen
Just to assure people that we have not careened off into a ravine or anything...we've just been too busy to write.
Our daughter and her family are getting their house ready to sell and Left Brain has become the painter of bedrooms. I took my turn at the landscaping, pulling weeds, moving plants and spreading bark...lots of bark.
I had the pleasure of assisting the cleaning of the fridge and washing off an egg explosion. Yuck.
For a couple with no sticks and bricks house or yard we do seem to be spending a lot of time maintaining one.
Today I spent time in the kitchen boxing up glasses and mugs, cleaning out drawers and decluttering under the sink.
Emily kicked into gear by helping with the painting and then joining me and scrubbing out the kitchen sink.
We hobbled home about 2:30 for a very late lunch of tuna salad and some much needed rest.
So as you can see, we are fine and well...just busy and tired.
More to come as time permits.
Long Live the Queen
On Sunday, June 5th, we had the honor of witnessing Emily's confirmation and re-baptism into the church. There were four girls receiving this honor that day and all had family that came to share in the joy.
But I have to say...when our little "village" showed up it felt like a remake in a scene from 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'.
Emily was the only one who opted for the full blown blessing of being fully submerged to renew her faith. It seems the other girls didn't want to get their hair wet. I was so proud of her for partaking of this event fully that I could hardly speak, and you know that doesn't happen often.
It reminded me of when I did my conversion to Judaism and you truly do feel cleansed by the water and that you emerge as a different person.
After the church event we all regathered at the house for the party. Nobody puts on a party like Steph and Ted! They are always gracious hosts and you can guarantee the food will be healthy and plentiful.
Yes, there was a chocolate cake involved and it seemed rude not to partake of it for Emily's sake, so I pushed my Paleo diet aside and opted for a nice corner piece with lots of frosting. I blame it all on Lyle, Ted's father. He sat next to me with a piece of this luscious looking cake and lead me into temptation.
What ever the excuse...I ate cake. Left Brain remained a good boy, he has much more willpower than I do.
Lyle presented Emily with the watch that belonged to Betty, Emily's grandmother as this occasion also coincided with the eleventh anniversary of Betty's death. He then sang the Irish blessing to her in his rich deep tenor voice.
She received many incredible gifts and blessings that day including a buddy pass for travel anywhere she wants to go from Chris and Tracy. There was also a video game given to her, but I do believe Ted was more enthralled with that than she was.
It was a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine and we all enjoyed the day of fellowship and family.
Long Live the Queen
