If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

If you do stuff, stuff gets done.......

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Last week's baking

It is another crazy-hot summer in Oklahoma but I am still doing a little baking.
I do it all the same time so the oven only gets heated up once.

Last week,  I made 3 loaves of banana bread
a pan of brownies - and shhh, don't tell my family but I used a jar of baby food prunes  that I found while cleaning out,  the recipe called for 1/2 cup of butter - I instead used just 1/4 cup of butter and that tiny jar of prunes.  They were delicious too.  

I also made a batch of whole wheat bread dough in the machine and added some of the vital wheat gluten I got from Amazon last week.  They turned out much lighter than 100% whole wheat normally is.  
I am sold on it and will be using it in all my recipes.  



This camera angle  gives a distorted view- 
it makes the hot dog and sandwich buns look bigger than the bread loaves  :)


Friday, July 27, 2012

yet another switch-a-roo that led to another big project


just like that book, 
  if you give a mouse a cookie, 
one thing leads to another 


The computer - craft room before the switching started
but it is a mess because this set up is just not working.
My supplies are mostly in big storage containers and in the closet where it is hard to find and see things.  
guest room as it looked before I started switching things ..


So,  I decided to move all those tall white shelves to the computer room to store fabric and  craft supplies.  



the shelves have been moved but that was the easy part - now I have to organize everything


Nina's old furniture got moved to the guest room
and I am wondering how all those books on will fit on those 2 sets of shelves.

hmmmm
I  have more work to do and it may get worse before it gets better!



I started this project in June- now it almost the end of July and it is getting close to be finished.  
I've also been ruthlessly decluttering closets and drawers and cabinets.  My friend Terri said she is also cleaning out and pretending to be moving,  asking herself "would I move this?" about everything.
I am not going quite that deep but I am culling out lots.  

and while I was cleaning out,  I found another big project that needs to be done- 

this is just part of 30+ years of family photos,
what a jumbled mess, right?
There is no good way at all to store all those assorted size albums and boxes.
Our wedding photos came in some very nice brown leather albums but that leather has deteriorated and   flaking off onto  whatever it touches.

So for now,  I have been taking all the photos out.
Then I plan to sort them by events, child, family- etc.
I hope to store them in safe storage boxes with dividers but have not gone shopping for these boxes I have dreamed up.

How do you store your photos?  Any suggestions?  

Thursday, July 19, 2012

When you can't find what you need locally.....

I've been baking almost all our bread this year.  
I want to start doing more whole wheat and whole grain breads but all the recipes I want to try call for vital wheat gluten.
So,  I shopped at the 2 biggest grocery stores in my town this weekend but neither one had vital wheat gluten.  

Then I turned to Amazon.com.  
I found several sellers with gluten at good prices.  



I ordered this giant can Sunday evening and the friendly UPS delivery man brought it  to my front door Tuesday afternoon.  That is really fast I think.  

Here's my ticket- just $12.59 - no delivery charge as it was covered with our Amazon Prime- for this giant can  about the  same size as a large can of  coffee or  canned fruit.  

I know gluten has a bad reputation and some people are allergic to it with really awful problems if they eat it.  


But if you are not,  then gluten added to your yeast baked goods makes them much lighter.  
Vital wheat gluten also has 35 grams of protein in just a quarter cup.  

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Tasty Lentil Tacos


The name, Tasty Lentil Tacos, may sound at first like an oxymoron.  
But it is not.  
I've been making this thrifty and healthy taco filling for years and we always enjoy it.


This is my plate from tonight.  
The lentils are in the middle with fresh salsa made from our backyard tomatoes.
The chips are Mission extra thin corn tortillas- cut in eighths, lightly brushed with olive oil and baked until crisp.  

Jeff ate his lentils rolled in tortillas with the chips and salsa on the side.




Its a simple recipe,  just lentils cooked in chicken broth seasoned with onions, chili powder, cumin, oregano and a little garlic.  



my copy of the recipe-from AllRecipes.com 
but when I looked for a link to it earlier in the week,  the recipe there was a little different.  
See, this one I printed off was rated 5 out of 5 stars by 63 members.  
We are not the only people who Lentil Tacos are tasty!  

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Pacifier clips

When we saw grand daughter Andie last week,  she was wearing a patriotic pacifier clip to match her patriotic outfit.  The clip was gift from one of her mom's customers.
The clip is so handy in keeping Andie's pacifier off the floor.
Her parents said they would like to have one "in every color"  

So,  I looked online for instructions to make some.  There are many tutorials out there. 
They are just a short piece of fabric or ribbon with a velcro loop on one end to the pacifier and a clip on the other end to fasten to the baby's clothing.   

I found this pack of ironing board clips at JoAnns for $3.99- with enough clips to make 8
it was the best way  I found to get the most clips for the smallest price  
I made 4
black & white,  green & yellow,  pink and lavender.

They were very quick to make -