SMOOTHIES: Nutrition in a glass!

I had been wanting a Vita mix blender for eons and finally got one last Christmas.  I was so excited and once I started using it I literally haven’t stopped.  It’s an easy way to pack nutrition, fibre and all into a drink.  It all depends on what I have in the fridge and freezer as to what I add in my morning drink.  The options are endless!! 🙂

I start with coconut water but read your labels.  I bought a LOT of cans only to find out they are coconut juice (added sugar) and not just coconut water 😦  Oh well I didn’t want to truck back all the cans so I have been slowly going through them all. Sigh  If I find its too sweet I will just add our filtered water to take some of the sweetness down.  🙂

So all measurements are approximate as it depends on what I have and how much I’m making.

 

For one serving:

250 ml of coconut water

1/2 banana

1 Tblsp each of hemp seeds, chia seeds and flax seeds

2″ chunk of cucumber

1/2 cup of frozen fruit (mango, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)

1/2 scoop of protein powder (omit if making for small children, as its too hard on the kidneys)

1/2 carrot, peeled and chopped

one small serving of yogourt

1 large handful of spinach

Blend and enjoy!  Keeps well in the fridge overnight.

Your options are endless!   I also use Avocado and kale if I have it in the fridge or frozen in the freezer.

It’s made breakfast quick and nutritious in the morning or a mid morning snack if I’ve actually made breakfast.

Give it a try and I’m sure you will become a smoothie convert as I have!!

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤  – Charlene

 

COCKTAIL NAPKINS

Last weekend I finally took a day to have some alone time.  I had some gift cards to the local book stores and I ended up spending an extra $5.63 and got an overnight bag and 8 books!  I LOVE reading books and magazines!  I think I’ve mentioned this before in a previous blog post 🙂  After the book store, I went to another favourite…the FABRIC store and found some more deals…yay!!  I’ll have to update you  on what else I make, but for now, I got this cute fabric with little cocktails all over it and decided to make, what else?  Cocktail napkins!!  They turned out so cute  🙂

I cut the fabric into 10 inch squares and then proceeded to hem all  four sides.  I iron as I go along and then I only have to pin the corners.  I did a 1/2″ hem,  2 folds of 1/4″ each and a mitred corner.  It’s very easy to do and you end up with napkins that are original and washable.

These are going to be so cute when we have cocktails or appetizers ❤  I can’t wait to use them!!

I encourage you to give it a try as its rewarding and easy! 🙂

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤

Charlene

YOGURT, HOWEVER YOU SPELL IT, IT’S YUM!

I recently purchased a Euro Cuisine yogurt maker and have been using it on a weekly basis since then.  I have been making plain yogurt and eating it with granola or adding it to smoothies and it’s so much better than store bought!  Also this machine is very user friendly 🙂

I tried several different fat contents of milk and have settled on 1% milk as that is what we drink in the house.  If you wanted a higher fat content yogurt you could use 2% or 3.25% milk.

Start off by making sure your equipment is very clean.  I clean the yogurt jars in the dishwasher and the lids in soap and water.

I use an empty yogurt jar and add 7 filled jars of milk to a deep sauce pan and set it over medium heat.  I whisk it gently to make sure it heats evenly and doesn’t scorch or get a skin on it.  This is where the quick read thermometer comes in handy!  The milk heats, but shouldn’t be boiling.

Once the milk reaches 180 degrees F take it off the element and let it cool a bit until it comes down to 112 degrees F. This can take approximately 30 minutes depending on how cool your home is.

At this point you add the culture and an optional addition is 1/4 cup of skim milk powder to make it a bit thicker.  This is a personal preference 🙂  Whisk until dissolved.  Try not to froth it up too much or you won’t have enough room for your milk in the jars.

 

I transfer the milk from the saucepan to a glass measuring cup which makes it easier to pour into the jars.  I usually make 7 jars, which is one layer because it’s only me eating the yogurt, but you have the capability to make 14 jars (2 layers) at once.  Very handy for a growing family!

Place the jars, lids off,  in the base of the yogurt maker and cover with the plastic cover.  On top of that place the lids and then the top cover covers the lids.  Set the timer and you are on your way to creamy, tasty, homemade yogurt ❤  Make sure no one unplugs the machine while its cooking 😦

You have the ability to add chopped fruit or jam to the yogurt for flavour prior to cooking, but, I like plain and then I can customize it at breakfast.  Depending on what fruit is in season the options are endless.  I also make some homemade granola that I add on.

Once the time is up, you put the lids on and place the jars in the fridge.  The lids have little date markers on them so you can either set the date for 10 days from the day you are making them (best before date) or the date you made the yogurt.

I hope you are able to try this as it really takes the mystery out of making your own yogurt!

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤  Charlene

SQUASH SOUP…AUTUMN FAVE

I recently received a couple of squash from a co-worker’s garden and quickly went to work preparing the best squash soup ever!!

I actually had a butternut and a spaghetti squash but it worked out fine.

1 large butternut squash or two small (or variety of your choice)

2 Tblsp olive oil

1/2 sweet onion chopped

1 clove garlic

1/2 carton of vegetable or chicken stock

1-1 1/2 tsp of Garam masala (you can use curry, turmeric etc)

Salt and pepper to taste

1 can coconut milk

Day old crusty bread

Peel the butternut squash, cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Then cut into small chunks.

Put the squash into a deep pot with 1 Tblsp olive oil and the onion and garlic and cook until soft and tender and very slightly carmelized.

For the spaghetti squash, cut in half, scoop out seeds and place cut side down in a pan with a bit of water and cook in 350 degree oven for 35 min until skin is soft and fork pierces skin easily. Scoop out stringy flesh and add to pot with butternut squash.

Mash or put into blender and purée until smooth. Add broth, and spice and stir until heated through. Add 1/2 to 1 tin of coconut milk according to taste and to make sure it’s not too runny.

Cut the day old bread into cubes and fry til golden brown in remaining olive oil.

Serve in soup bowl and garnish with croutons.

Enjoy!!

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤️

FABRIC AND DESIGN FUN :)

My daughter had purchased some material from our local fabric store and wanted me to make her a blouse/shirt with it.  It happened to be a Cotton and Steel fabric and because the white of the bunnies is not a true white I couldn’t match it, so we went with a solid black fabric.  It turned out so cute and she has gotten a lot of wear out of it and a lot of compliments.  Its definitely an original and no one will have the same one out there!

She can dress it up with black or white pants or use it as a jacket with a simple tee underneath.

I had to definitely think about the direction that the bunnies were heading when I made the cuffs and Nehru collar.  Almost ran out of material 😦   I used plain black buttons down the front and then vintage buttons on the sleeves and neck.  With fall coming its a fun addition to her wardrobe.

This was a fun project and although not perfect we had fun designing and executing our plan.  Next project??? Stay tuned!  🙂

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤

BABY BANDANAS

I’ve made quite a few of these easy to whip up baby bandanas.  I’m one of those people who won’t spend money on a pattern unless absolutely necessary 🙂  When my grandson was born my daughter in law had purchased a couple and then asked me to make some. My technique improved as I went along.

Just lately my daughter in law’s girlfriend asked me to make some for her little fellow, and so I did.  I tend to have more little boy fabrics lately, go figure haha.

The first 3 are a little brighter and the second 3 are a little more retro looking.

I cut out a triangle in fabric and one in minky fabric (or you could use flannel), put them right sides together and sew around the edges leaving a 1 1/2″ gap to turn right side out. Trim the edges so that you don’t have bulky corners.  Then I iron them and sew a border tucking the opened edge in and catch it with the border stitch.

They are all backed with minky fabric. Soft and cuddly for little necks. I also used the little plastic snaps which are so handy 🙂 I added 2 so that she could adjust as her little one grows.

So fun and so quick!

Here is a little throwback to when I made a Halloween bib and little “boo” bag for all of little man’s treats 🙂

Little bags are another quick gift I make and have been making for years. Put a couple of books in and you have a quick and well loved gift!

Enjoy!

Remember to LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤

 

I SPY A HALLOWE’EN QUILT

Last year I started a quilt for my wee grandson and I finished it this year.  I knew he was too young last year, so I didn’t rush. This year he is 2 years old and is noticing more around him.  He comes over to our home and reads the Hallowe’en books we have and we can sit under the Hallowe’en quilt 🙂

I bought the fabric and it was already cut in squares. I ended up cutting them into large 9 x 9 squares. I didn’t cut them into any smaller squares because some of the fabrics were more of a scene and I didn’t want to lose that.  It still can be used as an “I SPY” quilt because there are enough little characters on the quilt to find.  I think this will be more of a hit next year or so once he’s a bit older.

I put plain black borders in between each of the squares so that the colours really popped. Once the top was done I put a layer of batting and then a plain black cotton back and sandwiched them all together.  Stitch in the ditch around all the squares, put the border on and voila!  My mom came to visit and I needed to keep her busy 🙂 , so I had her finish appliqueing each of the squares individually. Some are random and some follow a few of the Hallowe’en characters.  Turned out so cute!!

This quilt will be around for many a year and be the source of many happy memories.

The dog thought this was for him to roll around on – NOT!! haha 🙂

Now to get cracking on the Christmas quilts I’ve got sitting in the wings…

LIVE LIFE FULLY! ❤

MEMORY QUILT FROM T-SHIRTS :)

Can’t believe we are into May already!  We are looking forward to our 31st wedding anniversary on the 19th and my middle son is getting married to his lovely fiancée on the 23rd.  Kind of seems surreal to be saying I have a child that is getting married when it seems like yesterday that they were born. So many memories and good times to reflect upon.   If you are younger you will find this hard to believe but time really does fly 🙂

So speaking of memories…my daughter has had a pile of t-shirts that were taking up closet space. She wore some of them and some she had outgrown but she still didn’t want to part with them.  I had seen some quilts made out of t-shirts before, so thought this would be a good option.

Obtain pile of shirts. My daughter was very trusting at letting me cut up her favourite tees.  Once you start cutting there is no going back. You either make a quilt or you’ve ruined her collection.

Cut out as much of front and back including logos and removing arms, waistbands, necklines and side seams. So you end up with 2 large squarish pieces of fabric, after I squared them all off.  This is where it gets tricky as they are all different sized t-shirts, and the logos are all different sizes.

I used denim from old jeans and cut those into 2 inch strips.  Doesn’t matter if all the denim is mismatched or not, as this is a patch work quilt.

I lay out the fronts trying to get a pleasing look to it.  For instance I didn’t lay some colours together because I didn’t like them.  That’s just me haha. I then sewed strips of denim around each t-shirt block but so that there was only one strip between 2 t-shirts (mostly). So 2 t-shirts will share some denim strips.  I spent a lot of time sitting and looking at this quilt and figuring out what to do next.  Some spots I had to add a jean pocket to cover a spot that I just couldn’t match up pieces. It adds interest!

Once the whole front was laid out I added a strip of denim around the whole outside of the quilt.  This also gives the quilt a little stability.

For the back I used all the backs of the t-shirts which are plain. Because like the fronts the t-shirts were all different sizes I opted to cut them all into strips that were 4 inches wide. After sewing all the pieces together to make blocks I trimmed them all into squares and sewed black t-shirt strips between the blocks.

Layer the back, batting and front together and pin together through all the layers. I trimmed all three layers and then started the sew the piping around the whole quilt.

My daughter loves the quilt and it will bring back memories of all those t-shirts that she loved enough to purchase over the years.

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤

A FANTASY QUILT – BEACH WALK

I’ve been working on a quilt for quite some time (read at least a year). It is a lot larger than I thought it was going to be and its difficult to maneuver through the machine. It started out as 9 panels all with a beach theme. It’s called “Beach Walk” by McKenna Ryan.  I love her designs and I was really drawn to the colours of this particular quilt, very west coast :).

I purchased the whole kit including the fabric, pattern and embellishments. My favourite part was cutting out all the little pieces and ironing them in place.  It’s very much like painting with fabric , as the different shades of fabrics give the depth to the picture. Tiny little pieces are added, wings, feet, beaks, plants etc. I really enjoyed this.

After several weeks of cutting, placing and ironing all the little pieces in place the panels were ready to be sewn in place.

All nine panels sewn together and then a batting and a back layer were added.  I safety pinned the three layers together and then have started the slow process of appliqueing all the little individual pieces around the edges.

I’m not even sure where I will be able to display this because of its size.  In retrospect I should have just done half of the quilt or the individual panels and then I could have switched them up, but c’est la vie! I love the colours and its so pretty to look at.  Also posting this I will be encouraged to finish the project so that I can move on to other projects.

Here are the two pics of the whole quilt (not finished)  Wish me luck!! This is my resolution for 2015…finishing projects before buying more projects. 🙂

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤

GREAT GRANDMAS’ HOMEMADE NOODLES

My husband’s grandma made everything from scratch. Everyone raved about her cooking.  When she passed on we only had her recipes left, that and her memories. There are only a couple of the grandchildren who continue to make a couple of her recipes. We especially loved the perogies, burdocks and homemade noodles.

Today I’ll show you the steps for making the homemade noodles.

I neglected to take a picture of the beginning part.  You never add water to noodles.  It is simply 3 ingredients, sifted flour, eggs and salt.

4 large eggs at room temperature

3 cups of sifted flour

1 teaspoon salt

Sift flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour and break the eggs into it. Mix the flour and eggs with fingers until the dough is no longer sticky and crumbly and can be pressed into a ball. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is elastic and smooth. (this takes work!)

 

I used the noodle machine. You have to pass the dough through the widest point while turning the handle. I folded the dough in half each time and passed it through 3 times. Then I make the opening a bit smaller and repeat the process. Each time the dough becomes more elastic and thinner. When the dough is passed through the thinnest point it is long, thin and ready to cut into noodle strips.

I use a broom stick handle and prop it between 2 chairs (old school) and lay the noodles over top to dry. I let them dry for a couple of days.  Unfortunately I haven’t been able to keep them long with out cracking. Maybe if I cut them in a thicker fettucine style noodles? I’ll try that next time.

I picked them up from the clean tea towel I had placed under the broomstick and packaged them in cello bags to give as gifts.

These were a nice addition to homemade turkey soup after Christmas.  You just have to add them to the soup and cook for approximately 7 min. Just until el dente. Everyone gave rave reviews after trying this little walk down memory lane.

I’ve ordered a gluten free pasta cookbook and I’m hoping to try out gluten free noodles with this machine 🙂

Hope you give this a try. It’s a wonderful start to 2015 and going back to making food from scratch instead of fast food.

LIVE LIFE FULLY ❤