Another Yummy Smoothie Drink: Chocolate Banana!

The second recipe try in a row was a winner!  At least I loved it.  Dear One gave me the wavy fingers, but he drank it all and made no negative comments. I consider that a success.  Not a BIG success but still, successful.

This is what I did:

Using our blender, I put in--

1 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze almond milk
1 frozen banana chopped into about 1-inch chunks (I chopped the chunks before freezing, placed them on a tray in freezer.  When frozen, I put them into a plastic bag.)
1 Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds (flax seed meal)

Let the blender roar until the smoothie is, well, smooth.  Probably about a minute in our blender jar.

Pour into a tall glass and enjoy.

You will need a spoon because it is nice and thick and frozen.  Just what I like in a smoothie.  You may, too.

Knitting: Slip Stitch Designs

While slipping around here and there on the internet the other day I found Purl Soho.  There were several dishcloths using slip-stitch patterns.  This technique appeals to me because you can make some rather stunning designs in multiple colors but only using one color per row.  What is not to love?


We were going to northern Vermont for a family get-together.  Since this trip is not something we make frequently, I looked around to see if there were any yarn shops handy by that just had to visit.  There were!  The one I chose for our visit (because it had the Euroflax yarn called for in this pattern...) was Northeast Fiber Arts Center.   It is a FABULOUS fiber arts center.  ANYTHING you want to do, you can find the tools and materials there. Also the proprietor was so very helpful and took the time I needed to explain something else to me which I will discuss at another time.   I was so tempted to lay down some of my dwindling play money supply, but at the last moment sanity prevailed.  I cannot buy one more thing until I have finished more of my already-started projects!  I cannot, cannot, cannot.  If I say it enough times maybe I will hear it.  And obey!

Anyway, I did not turn out to buy the Euroflax yarn.  It was very very costly and is knit at a pretty fine gauge.  It sounds like it would be wonderful but I have a LOT of nice cotton worsted weight yarn that I need to use up so...I just needed to re-engineer this pattern to work at a larger gauge.  

This is what I have done.  (Well, at least, this is how I have started...)

Cotton worsted weight yarn in two different colors:  name one Color A and the other Color B.  You might even want to write down in your knitting notebook for this project which is Color A and which is Color B.

US Size 7 knitting needles, or even US size  6 or 5.  It just depends on what you like.  I am going to use this for a washcloth so I am using size 7.  (Plus there were two size 7 straight needles in the bottom of the basket where I found the yarn--two part balls of blue and one part ball of red, so I felt that was expedient, picked up the needles, and began knitting.)

There was a certain amount of mental energy spent to translate the finer gauge yarn at 75 stitches cast on to a larger gauge to knit a cloth that is a good size for a face cloth.  I decided to try 39 stitches, and miracle of miracles, that number was right the first time.  (The cast on number had to accommodate the pattern design.  It did.  Such a relief.)

Cloth about half done.

 Many knitters will know that "slip 1 wyib" means to slip the next stitch purlwise with the working yarn in back of the work.  Thus "slip 1 wyif" means that you will slip the next stitch after bringing the working yarn to the front as if you were going to purl (unless you purl Norwegian style--in which case, bring the yarn to the front between the needles before slipping the stitch.) then slipping the stitch and returning the working yard between needles to the back of the work again and continue knitting.  The first time or two it might seem awkward, but it will become second nature really soon.

THREE-AND-ONE TWEED PATTERN 

With Color A, cast on 39 stitches.

Row 1 (wrong side): Purl.

Row 2 (right side): With Color C, k3, *slip 1 with yarn in back (wyib), k3, repeat from * to end of row.

Row 3: With Color C, slip 1 wyib, k2, *slip 1 with yarn in front (wyif), k3, repeat from * to end of row.

Row 4: With Color A, k1, *slip 1 wyib, k3, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, slip 1 wyib, k1.

Row 5: With Color A, slip 1 wyib, *slip 1 wyif, k3, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, slip 1 wyif, k1.

Repeat Rows 2 – 5 until piece measures the length you want your cloth, ending with a Row 3. 

Since I am not there yet, this is what I will do:  when I get to almost the place where I think the cloth will be square, I will fold the knitting diagonally and see if it is square, or almost square, then work to Row 3. 

At that point I will knit one row of Color A, then turn work and cast off on the wrong side, purlwise.  No, it will not look exactly like the cast on row but--it will work and be reasonable.  If someone knows a better way to do this,  please let me know and I will share it with others on this page.

Munchie Monday: Easy Delicious Fruit Smoothie

We had some fruit and juices in the house.  I was feeling like not making anything big for supper.  Dear One agreed that a smoothie would fill the bill. 

This is what I did:

Got out the Bosch mixer with blender jar attachment.

Into the blender jar I poured:

1 cup orange juice
1 cup cranberry juice
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup frozen (sweetened, this time) strawberries
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed meal

Turned on the blender and blended until thoroughly mixed and ground up.

Served into two 12 ounce glasses.

Sucked it down as fast as the frozen beverage would allow!

Sorry there are no pictures.  We drank it before I thought of the camera.

A while afterwards Dear One heated some frozen french fries in the oven then ate them.

Not to be outdone so I took two slices of Red Hen 100% whole wheat bread, put on a little mayonnaise and two small slices of homemade baked seasoned tofu.  This makes a great sandwich.  You feel as good as if you were eating an actual Reuben sandwich. At least the tooth feel makes you imagine a nice meat-based sandwich but it is made of plants.  Next time I will get out the sauerkraut!

Happy Thanksgiving to All!

May your heart be filled with gratitude this day, and every day, for the multitude of blessings from our Heavenly Father.  May you show and speak thanks to all those around you who bless your life and teach you new things.  It will make you happy to show gratitude.

My heart is filled with gratitude and love for the kind readers of this blog who make me happy every time I see that you have read a post.  I also love your comments both here and on Facebook.  Thank you ever so much.  My life is richer for your association.

Newsy Bits: Long Visit in the Emergency Room BUT ALL IS WELL

Don't spend even one second worrying. I am fine.  Just had to follow up on a troubling bit of pain in the wrong place.

After blood work twice, EKG, chest X-ray, and finally an exercise stress test, I was sent home in good shape.  Another heart scare.  Another time it turned out to be nothing.  Well, not nothing, just not something to worry about.  So I won't.  I probably won't go back again with the same pain in another year or two, if I remember this time....

Another instance of poor photographic techniques, and to show my emergency room bracelet to verify what I just told you....!

Did a little shopping for groceries on the way home, including getting a salad and some chicken...falling off the plant wagon. I had not eaten nor had anything to drink in 24 hours and was shaking and headaching so I went for quick and easy.  The orange juice was good, too!

Arrived home and remembered I had planned to turn the dehydrator on this morning to finish the apples I had put dehydrating yesterday but turned off at bed time. I checked them and turned them on again.  They need a few more hours. I am going to chance waking up in the night and shutting the dehydrator off then.

It probably was a good thing to have spent this day as I did.  I am sorry for those who knew about it and were worrying. The one good thing that came out of it was that I learned (in the stress test) that I can walk a lot harder than I normally do.  That is a good thing.  I hope I remember that tomorrow and go for it.

Well, happy trails to all! I am going to hit the hay now...

GENEalogy and Family HiSTORY: Note from grandchildren

Some time ago I was staying with the local grandchildren while their parents were out for a little much-needed time away.  There were many activities we engaged in while I was there:  watercolor painting, knitting, reading books, telling stories, watching a little "show", etc.

At one point I was getting started on making supper. I like to make plant-based things sometimes, and do that if I have come prepared.  On this occasion I believe I was making a plant meal.  The youngest two children disappeared upstairs for a while.  After quite a while they returned and handed me the note in the picture.

The four-year old had dictated it to the six-year old.  I found it sweeter than sweet.  And their faces as they handed me the note!  I wish I had had a camera at the ready.  Well, the picture is in my heart.

Today as I am cleaning out and organizing, I took pictures of a number of paper items, and then put the actual items through the shredder. I have not been able to shred this piece of paper...

Munchie Monday: Red Refrigerator Soup

When I was growing up our mother often would go to the refrigerator, pull out a few containers of leftovers, and make the most delicious refrigerator soup.  Absolutely scrumptious soups.  The only problem was, they were impossible to replicate.

In our house, I have made a few refrigerator soups.  They are rarely popular, except with me.  This time I made one which I am not even going to offer to Dear One. He does not need to feel like a bad guy.  I AM rather likely to share it, however, because there were two quarts of it!

To start any good soup you need to get out a large saucepan and a good-sized onion.  Add 2 cups water to the pan and start it heating over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and put on the cover.

Now go to the refrigerator and see what is in those three or four containers that have been there a couple days or more.  Because we did not have a lot of containers this time, I cut up several small red potatoes, skins and all, and popped them in to cook with the onions.  I also smashed a couple cloves of garlic and dropped them on top.

Now for the good stuff:  some celery was just about ready to go, as in: rather wilted, so I chopped it and tossed it in. There was a tiny bit of kale.  Next two very small containers of thyme-roasted beets, then some very wilted lettuce which I chopped fine.  Half a green bell pepper was chopped well and added to the pot.  The next to the last delight was about a cup of sauerkraut and juice.  I know what you are thinking, BUT it really gave the soup some pizzazz!  Finally I checked the refrigerator one more time to see if there was something else hiding in there that the soup needed.  There was!  A pint of homemade tomato-vegetable sauce.  In it went and the soup was just about ready.

There was not much broth, which I think is the best part of any soup so I added some more water and a teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon Vegetable seasoning. 

This soup was pretty good.  Of course,  the picture is not a food photographer's dream, but you get the idea.  I am looking forward to another bowlful pretty soon.  Well, the next time I need to eat, which won't be for a while.