28 February Flowers 2022

 And here we are at the end of February! 

This month I started a new challenge over at Instagram called 28 February Flowers #28februaryflowers2022 #28februaryflowers hosted by @amanda_evanston. She gave out daily prompts this year, so it was a flower a day for the month of February.

It is a very popular challenge and it was so much fun, even overwhelming in its popularity.

Here are the ones I did:

And this was my favourite piece, the splash painting (12" x 12"):

Walnut Raisin Loaf

 My friend S  brought over this walnut raisin loaf to share with me.  Her sister had made it.  It is rich and sweet but son K likes it.  I do too, but am trying to watch the calories.  A few days earlier,  I had given her some of my oatmeal muffins made from a supermarket brand mix that I enjoy using.

My Greek Yogurt Potato Salad

 I was looking for a lighter potato salad recipe and found one using Greek yogurt.

Here is my recipe:

3 medium potatoes peeled and boiled

2 hardboiled eggs (sliced)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

pinch of red cayenne pepper

1 tbs butter (I may try olive oil next time)

1 tbs dijon mustard (or regular mustard)

1/2 c plain Greek yogurt

1 cup of frozen peas (microwaved for about a minute)

I boiled the potatoes in salted water with the eggs.  When the potatoes have been boiled, cut them into chunks.  Mix in all the other ingredients while the potatoes are still warm.

Paint Party Friday - Mountains of Antarctica

 Welcome to Eva and Kristin's Paint Party Friday!  I have an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") of the mountains in Antarctica.  My brother was on a cruise there and shared a photo.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Despair

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Despair' theme. Here is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") reflecting this emotion.

 I am hosting the art date for Rain this week and she will be back in March!

Upcoming Art Dates For Rain's Thursday Art Date: click on the links below for a description of the theme and inspiring images!

Mythical March
March 3rd: 🐉 Dragons🐉
March 10th: ✨ Fairies✨
March 17th: 😇 Angels😇
March 24th: ✨ Unicorns✨
March 31st: 🐙 Mermaids and Water Creatures 🐙

This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

Wednesday Memes

 

Splatter Painting

This month I started a new challenge over at Instagram called February Flowers #28februaryflowers2022 #28februaryflowers hosted by @amanda_evanston. She gave out daily prompts this year and one of them was 'splatter'. So it is a flower a day for the month of February.

 Thanks to Lorraine for introducing me to this fun art coop.

I wanted to show you my splatter paint piece and a few progress photos.  I had never tried splatter painting before, hate making a mess you know.  But the results were quite a pleasant surprise.  The final photo was taken in the evening so if affected the colour of my cardstock background.

 

Chili from Scratch

 In a bid to cook healthier food I made my own chili using this recipe.  I didn't want to use a commercial chili seasoning mix like those from Clubhouse.  It tastes better than the one using a commercial seasoning mix!

I still used a lot of canned ingredients such as canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, canned chickpeas and canned kidney beans.  I did drain the cans before use.  It is not the first time I have made chili from scratch, but it has been a long time.  It came together very quickly and it is a good thing!

Pasta Sauce

 I made my own pasta sauce instead of buying my regular store brand in an effort to cut excess sodium from our diet.  I used this recipe, albeit using a can of crushed tomatoes.  It is quite flavourful and hopefully I can continue to do this.  It was good with pasta and a bit of parmesan cheese as shown above.

I added some ground beef and pork to the sauce as pictured below, it was good sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese.

The next step may be to use actual fresh tomatoes in the summer!

As a postscript to this post I found a supermarket sauce with less sodium and it is quite delicious so after all that I have to go with what the everyone else seems to eat!  

Colourful Breakfast

 Showing a colourful breakfast I had one morning.  I decided to microwave an egg for 35 seconds in a lightly oiled cup.  It came out over easy and I put it between a slice of multi-grain toast.  I ate it with cherry tomatoes, blueberries and blackberries.  A bonus was having just a cup to wash instead of a frying pan.

Paint Party Friday - My Niece's horse and the Moon

 Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday!  This painting, an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") is inspired by my niece's photo of her horse and the moon.  

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Excitement

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Excitement' theme.  Here is my interpretation!

I am guest hosting the art date for the rest of the month.

Upcoming Art Dates For Rain's Thursday Art Date: click on the links below for a description of the theme and inspiring images!

February Feelings 💕
February 24th: Despair

Mythical March
March 3rd: 🐉 Dragons🐉
March 10th: ✨ Fairies✨
March 17th: 😇 Angels😇
March 24th: ✨ Unicorns✨
March 31st: 🐙 Mermaids and Water Creatures 🐙

This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

Wednesday Memes

 

Tierra Del Fuego

My brother and his wife were on a recent cruise to Antarctica. Unfortunately my brother and a bunch of other passengers got Covid after just one day in Antarctica. He was asymptomatic and confined to a room on the ship after that. He ended up at Sur 54 hotel in a town called Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina for several days after the cruise to complete his quarantine.

 Fortunately, his wife was ok and flew straight home via Buenos Aires in Argentina. Sur 54 hotel seemed small and charming as you can see from the following photos. My brother even ordered a custom chicken and vegetable meal one night.  He was happy to find 2 English speaking channels on the small TV.

He was able to fly home after his quarantine was completed.
 

Sheep outside hotel room

Hotel Tip Jar

Hotel Room

 

View from hotel room

Sur 54 Lodge

Tierra Del Fuego

Chicken and Vegetables made to order

Top Sirloin Streak on Valentine's Day

 Sharing my top sirloin steak with you on Valentine's Day!  We got a bunch of these from Costco and after marinating them, I pan seared them with some oil 5-7 mins per side in a heavy skillet.

Scallop and Bacon Fried Rice

 I bought a pack of small frozen sea scallops and decided to make a fried rice with them.  I added some leftover bacon that I had as well.  Start with cooked rice.  Cook the scallops separately, set them aside.  Cook the eggs set aside, warm the bacon, set aside.  Then warm the rice with soy sauce and oyster sauce.  Finally mix in the cooked scallops, bacon, chopped green onions, and eggs.

My floral centrepiece

 I made this floral centrepiece with artificial flowers and am pleased with the results!  I had not made one in years and refreshed my memory with some youtube videos, specifically  'Ramon at Home' on youtube. 

I added a Valentine's touch to it in the photo below!

Paint Party Friday - Floral Arrangement

Welcome to Paint Party Friday kindly hosted by Kristin and Eva.  I did a floral arrangement for you today.  Happy Valentine's Day when it comes!
 

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Romance

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Romance' theme, right in time for the upcoming Valentine's Day.  Here is my romantic swan ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

I was scrolling through Pinterest looking for romantic art ideas when this book cover for 'All the Feels' by Olivia Dade caught my attention.  It is a romance between a handsome young man and a fat young woman.  It sounds like an excellent book.

I am hosting Rain's Art Thursday Art Date for a little while as my friend Rain is taking a much needed break having lost some dear pets.  

Here are the upcoming art dates, our next theme is 'Excitement', it is February Feelings month. Are you in?

This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like!

Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

Meme Wednesday