Thursday, April 21, 2011

For Your Brain

Hola peeps!  I know everyone is in full Easter mode right now (I am too, will have some pics of my Easter centre piece soon), but I just got to thinking and wanted to pose a question....what do you do to fuel your brain-besides deciding if maroon and hot pink go together and would be an appropriate colour combo for a scrapbook page layout? (PS the answer is yes!) 

If you're super cool (like me) you're afraid of degenerative diseases (cancer, Alzheimers, Parkinsons, dementia); and you do what you can to keep the ole noodle thinkin'. To this end I try to do a crossword puzzle at least twice a week.  I've gotten pretty good at them....the Tuesday edition in my local free paper is easier than the Thursday....let's see how long this takes me....ok it's 10:09am right now...GO!

And done....it's 10:19am! Whoop whoop-10 minutes for the Thursday crossword!  I think that's become a standard average for me :)  I also enjoy Sudoku (now that I've finally figured it out) but I couldn't conquer one in 10 minutes!

What do you do to keep your mind sharp and alert?

Friday, April 15, 2011

Belated Birthday Card

I love making homemade cards (duh).  I love clever quotes, cute designs, and funky patterns.  Unfortunately I often forget the actual day of some people's birthdays......but in my defense I remember the month.  Anywho, here is the first of three cards I've created for 3 great friends.

You know that friend that always tells you the truth, even if you really don't want to hear it.  The friend who knows WAY TOO much about you-in fact because she knows so much you can never not be friends...yeah she's my bestie and she  lives in Toronto (Ontario).  We went through college together, lived together (briefly), she's over all wonderful and I forgot her birthday.  So here's my belated birthday card for Rachel.

First I started by stamping the entire background
in a light yellow to create a tone on tone pattern.


Then I inked the edges and glued on
this cute retro housewife image!


Then I cut out 2 word bubbles and inked them to match.

It took me a while to figure out exactly what
I wanted to say...I mean I knew what I wanted to
say just not how to say it.
"I don't want to gossip but....I think you
should think about getting some new friends......"

"...because this one forgot your birthday!"

Clever right?  It's a little sassy, and I know that I can only use this kind of language on a card to this type of friend...y'know what I mean?  Anywho, I think it's cute and I hope she does too!  More cards to come-stay tuned :)


Linkin' Up To

Spunky Junky





Thursday, April 14, 2011

Chicken and Pineapple Stirfry

After a busy week/weekend at dance competition I wanted to eat some real food....even though Dance Power did provide us with food for lunch and dinner (so great!)...but as I was running around with nervous dancers I didn't always get a chance to eat.  So on Sunday night I tried out a new recipe which I quite liked and hope you will too!

What You'll Need:
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 Tbls red wine vinegar
6 Tbls orange juice
6 Tbls sugar
3 Tbls ketchup
1 tsp cornstarch
2 Tbls vegetable oil
1 large red onion, halved and sliced
2 C pineapple chunks drained
3 garlic cloves minced
1 Tbls grated ginger
sliced green onion-garnish

Whisk the vinegar, orange juice, sugar, ketchup and cornstarch together and set aside.


Slice chicken into strips, stir fry style.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in skillet until just smoking.  Add the chicken and cook through.  Transfer to bowl.

Add the remaing tablespoon of oil and heat.  Add the onion slices and cook until just soft.  Add the pineapple and cook until heated through.  I covered my skillet and this worked really well.

Stir in garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. 


Add the chicken back to skillet.  Whisk the vinegar mixture to recombine and add to the skillet. 


Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened.   If you wanted more sauce, you could add in the pineapple juice (I didn't-first time making it).  If you add the juice in, you'll definitely want to simmer it to thicken.


Serve hot on rice. 


I always like to add extra veggies to my meals, but until I tasted this recipe I didn't know what to add.  If you're looking to increase your vegetable servings I would recomend adding chopped green pepper or snow peas in with the pineapple!  The snow peas would add a great crunch. 

Beware this is not your average sweet and sour stir fry.  The combo of ginger, garlic, red onion and pineapple is a refreshing and exciting combination!


LINKING UP TO:

HookingupwithHoH

It's a Keeper.

Photobucket


 

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Sloppy Joes

When was the last time you had Sloppy Joes?!!? I know right?  Me too, so when Ty suggested we have sloppy joes one night for dinner I kinda thought it wasn't that bad an idea.  I found a great recipe that actually wasn't that sloppy.

What you Need:
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp yellow mustard
3/4 cup ketchup
3 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef, onions and green pepper.  Drain off liquid and return to skillet.


Stir in garlic powder, mustard, ketchup (I added a bit of BBQ sauce for fun), brown sugar and mix thoroughly.

Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  The recipe originally said to simmer for 20-30 minutes, but there would have been NO liquid left.  I would say use your best judgements and simmer until thickened!  Season with salt and pepper.

While that's simmering I made toasted garlic buns.  Super easy.  Turn on your oven to broil and let it heat up.  Butter your buns and sprinkle with garlic salt.  (You can also do this with Parmesan cheese!)  Toss the buns in for a bit depending on the heat of your oven.  Keep an eye on them and take them out when golden!

Serve hot and sloppy! (That sounds wrong!)
You could also add shredded cheese on top of the ground beef filling and broil in the over for a crispy cheesy sloppy joe!


 

Monday, April 4, 2011

Dance Power Results!

Whew! That was a long weekend!  Life feels a little more simpler-thankfully, and I can get ready for our next competition....which starts on Wednesday!   No rest for the wicked I suppose?

Anywho I wanted to share some of my awesome little dancers and how GREAT they did this weekend.  I wish I would have got more pictures in costumes, but by the time I got down to the dressing rooms I was too late. 




I made their hats! Aren't they cute!


This next dancer is VERY special to me!  This is her first solo-EVER!  She gave me a list of songs that she liked and I chose one that I really liked; Coldplay's Fix You.  We talked about what the song meant to her and how she was going to portray her emotions to match the song.  Then she told me that her Nan had been diagnosed with cancer last year, and even though she's in remission now, this song reminded her of that battle. 
I was SO touched! 


As you'll see in the pictures this little lady can really tap into her emotions.  Infact, she's so beautiful when she dances she made me cry watching her-and I rarely cry watching dance pieces (I'm so tough!)  I hope you enjoy these moments from her Lyrical Solo-Fix you.



Friday, April 1, 2011

Dance Power-Feel the Power of Dance!

Hola lovely ladies! I must apologize because I've been uber busy the past week. I'm planning a conference for graduating dance students and right in the thick of dance competition! Some days I don't know how I will manage if I ever have kids! I read other blogs by busy mums and they manage to post more than I do!

So besides planning this conference and cleaning my dances I did get the chance to plant gladiola bulbs-only to have the squirrels in my back yard dig them up for dinner! They are replanted and I am in the process of getting some chicken wire to protect them!

And before I go I have to brag a little! I had 6 dances at the Dance Power competition yesterday and they walked away with 3 silvers and 3 golds!!!! I've got more dances today, three duets. I will make sure to take some pics and show them off soon!