June 2011 – Pure Sugar

csa 2011: third share

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Tuesday was CSA day, so after I picked up the boys from camp we headed over to the farm to pick up our bi-weekly share.

I might have squealed a little when I saw that PYO flowers had started! Granted, this week it was just five stems, but it was enough to fill my little pitcher that sets on our kitchen island.

The vegetables were beautiful: two heads of lettuce (I picked one head of romaine and one head of red leaf), 1/3 lb. of spinach (the last until fall), a small head of broccoli, a head of cabbage, a bunch of scallions, a handful of basil, two garlic scapes, one zucchini (or you could have chosen one yellow squash), and a bunch of beets.

Being that neither Drew nor myself are huge beet fans, I am going to pickle this bunch and see how it goes. Otherwise, the veggies are pretty straightforward and easy to use up!

afghan update

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Carol — 2 Comments ↓

This is one sad looking little afghan, isn’t it? Sigh… so much for my goal of one square a month! I really need to get back on track. Honestly, now I’m not even sure I like the blue so much. But I’m just going to keep on going. I can always redo a square if I need too later on. My mom is crocheting the same pattern, but in just one color and she is so far along and it looks so pretty! She didn’t like a few of the squares in the sampler, so she substituted other squares that fit. I might end up doing the same. A couple sets of instructions are very confusing. I’ll either save those for last, or not do them at all. Well, I’d better get hooking!

bandana dress

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

I have so many sewing and craft projects in my “to do” pile, that I get dizzy thinking about them. But since I had the luxury of kid-free time today, I thought I’d tackle one that promised to be quick: the bandana dress.

I’ve read tutorials for bandana dresses and pillowcase dresses and honestly, I think the end product looks pretty much the same, but since the bandana version did not require any cutting, I went with this tutorial from Trey and Lucy. And yes, it was every bit as easy as she makes it sound! I spend more time fussing with the ribbon and getting the bows just right. Truth be told, I would prefer to have lime green ribbon, but white was the only thing in my stash that matched. I can easily switch it out later. Also, I think the 1.5-inch ribbon is a little overwhelming. I’ll have to see it on Laura. The next one (because there will be a next one, oh yes!) will use narrower ribbon.

The cool thing about this dress is that you don’t really have to use bandanas. Just cut fabric you like to the size of a bandana (well, I suppose you’ll want to sew back the raw edges, but you know what I mean. I can’t wait to make these using holiday or seasonal fabric. I think this type of dress will look really cute over a turtleneck in the winter!

And, of course, I’ll have to make a hair bow to match 🙂

summer!!!

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Well, summer is here. The kids are out of school, the temperatures are warm, and the humidity is on the rise. I’m having a little summer break myself. The boys have day camp all week, and Drew’s mom and aunt wanted to take Laura for a couple days. Today I cleaned the house from top to bottom, did a ton of laundry (and put it all away), had the piano tuned, and even had time for a little relaxation. Some women might want to indulge in dead sea mud masques, but my perfect afternoon was sitting on the deck with a glass of ice water working on my afghan. I’m terribly behind in this crochet project, but hopefully I can work up a few squares this week and catch up. I’d also like to do a little sewing tomorrow since I have one more day “off.” Hopefully I’ll have a couple projects to show you this week!

father’s day weekend

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Playing catch-up here, so bear with me! I hope you all spoiled your dads on Father’s Day weekend. I hung out with Big Z on Friday and Saturday and had a great visit with my family. Drew had been camping with Jake and came home on Sunday morning. I’d been joking that he was going to get zumba dancing lessons as his gift, so he was relieved when the kids gave him his real gift. I’d ordered this copper guitar pick for him and he loved it! I also arranged to have our piano tuned. It is long, long, long overdue. He will finally enjoy playing the piano again 🙂

His mom and aunt came up for lunch and I whipped everything together pretty quick (since I myself got home at 9 a.m. from Massachusetts). I made a beef tenderloin, black bean salad (with the addition of spinach), scalloped potatoes, and creamy fruit salad (a recipe Lisanne gave me years ago — it is one of our favorites!)

For dessert, Drew’s mom brought a cheesecake. It was super yummy! (In fact, there is still a little left in the fridge and I intend to have a piece tonight!)

I tried to give my guy a nice, relaxing day, even though he still had to put away all that camping gear! Did you do anything special?

free subscription to martha stewart living

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Act quick and you can get a one-year subscription to Martha Stewart Living free from Rewards Gold! I’ve earned several magazine subscriptions from them by taking surveys and there are no catches.

Just fill out your mailing information, refer one friend, and take a short survey on breakfast foods complete with four short answers about your favorites. This was available for a period last night, and it is just available again, so I’d jump on it if you’re interested!

Free 1-year subscription to Martha Stewart magazine

Enjoy!

csa 2011: second share

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Well this post is obviously a week late! Last Tuesday’s farm share was filled with beautiful veggies, as usual. There was lettuce, spinach, arugula, Chinese cabbage, scallions, garlic scapes, and a choice of radishes, salad turnips, or beets. I chose radishes not only because I love them, but because there were some purple ones! (If radishes were an illegal substance, I’d be looking for the top drug rehab treatment centers, LOL!)

I can’t wait for the summer squash to start rolling in. Hopefully next week! And flowers… oh, I’m really looking forward to fresh zinnias and cosmos!

bits & pieces

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Well, I haven’t done a bullet-point entry in quite a while, but being that my thoughts are disjointed, I suppose it makes sense 🙂

It’s Cub & Partner weekend, which means D. & J. will will be camping out at Camp Nooteeming (“Men of the Woods!”) until Sunday morning. It’s going to be soggy for them, that’s for sure. D. ran out to get another tarp for under the tent. Hopefully the rain is over for a while. Luckily, the camp is nearby. Just a bit south on the Taconic Parkway. Of course, they’ll just have to be careful on the way home, seeing as how it’s Father’s Day. I’m sure there will be a lot of people on the road.
The boys have one more week left of school. I feel like summer will never start! I’m looking forward to not having to listen to all the dumb things other kids say, LOL. I’d love to know how other people parent — some of the things I hear make my jaw drop!
D.’s mom and aunt are coming up on Father’s Day and I think I’ll probably do a beef tenderloin. It’s easy and delicious! The kids have a gift for their dad that I happen to think is pretty cool. Hopefully he’ll agree once he opens it!
I finished all three books in the Hunger Games series, by Suzanne Collins. It’s been a long time since I read three books cover to cover in a year, let alone a month! They lived up to the hype, that’s for sure.
Now I need to get back to crochet. I haven’t picked up my afghan squares since March? April? It’s been a while. My fingers are ready to pick up the hook again!

menu plan monday

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Maybe this week I’ll actually post something besides my meal plan, but at least it’s a start! I’ve been reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re interested in nutrition, government, and politics. It is certainly having an effect on the choices I make for our meals. I’ve heard that Taubes’ recent book Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It is excellent too, and not as hard to get through as GCBC.

Anyway… I’m pretty lax about the end of the week, since it’s just me, Noah, and Laura. Drew and Jake will be on a Cub Scout camp-out, so I intend to treat N. a little bit 🙂 Our CSA pick up is on Tuesday, so I’m curious what will be in our second share. I’m ready to start pickling some vegetables, and I’m going to start with turnips if they’re available.

Today I’m not feeling great, so I’m indulging in some comfort food. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow!

Sunday: Tacos
Monday: Grilled chicken paninis with fresh mozzarella and roasted red peppers, broccoli-cheese soup (crock pot)
Tuesday: Gyros in the crock pot (without the pita), avgolemono
Wednesday: Copycat PF Chang’s lettuce wraps
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: playing it by ear
Saturday: playing it by ear

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday, busy week edition

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

I don’t know about you, but around here the days are just packed with activities lately. We have doctor’s appointments, dentist’s appointments, school activities up the wazoo, and I also can’t forget to make my ultrasound appointment to check on my thyroid nodule (hard to believe it’s been a year already). So as school winds down and summer begins, my plan is to just go with easy meals that don’t take much time or brain power.

Speaking of my thyroid, my results came back from the Celiac panel, and they were within the normal range. Nevertheless, I am still going to try cutting back on carbs and gluten. The more I read, the less I want to consume them. Plus, I just feel generally better when I am not bloated after eating bread or pasta. And, of course, there’s my family history of diabetes. The less sugar in my system, the better. With all of the wonderful produce available during the summer, I think it’s good time to work on this. I’m not cutting them out entirely, but I’m going to be a lot more mindful of the carbs I eat. I currently have “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes sitting on the end table, and as soon as I finish “Catching Fire,” I am diving into it!

Anyway… on to my meal plan.

Sunday: Take-out
Monday: Beef & vegetable stiry-fry
Tuesday: Turkey & bean chili (slow cooker), green salad
Wednesday: Chicken curry, basamati rice, cucumber & onion salad
Thursday: Spinach & swiss quiche, green salad
Friday: Cub Scout picnic – no cooking
Saturday: Winging it — leftovers or something on the grill

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.