Cottage Cheese breakfast/snack

 I made this cottage cheese breakfast/snack with cottage cheese, granola, honey and fruit, blueberries in this case.  It is something different for me to try.  It is good.  Do you use cottage cheese much?

Friday Art - Sunset

Welcome to Friday Art!  I did a face in my sunset today, an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

Linking to Nicole's Art for Fun Friday and to Gillena's Friday Face Off.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - 'Packages' theme and Red Onion Pickle

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date's 'Packages' theme! This is my ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

For the Dinner Date, I made a red onion pickle using a recipe from @alexrioscooks on Instagram.  I am not a fan of eating raw onions but when they are pickled they are so delicious.

2 red onions sliced from root to end

2 c water

2 c vinegar

1/3 c sugar

2 tbs salt

4 garlic cloves

2 tsp peppercorns

2 bay leaves

 Slice 2 red onions root to end. Separate into 2 16 oz mason jars along with peppercorns, bay leaves and garlic cloves. Boil water, vinegar, sugar and salt. Whisk until everything is dissolved. Pour this liquid into the jars and submerge the onions. Place in fridge for an hour or more. Enjoy!

The pickled red onions were sooo good with avocado in my salad.

Wednesday Memes

 

Tortilla Quiche

 I made a small tortilla quiche just to try it out.  It is a nice change for breakfast.

2 eggs

1/2 c cottage cheese

1 tortilla (I use whole wheat)

1/2 red pepper cut into bits

a few spinach leaves

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c shredded cheese

Lay the tortilla into a pan so that the tortilla edges curl up the side a bit

Mix in the eggs and cottage cheese

Add salt, pepper, vegetables and top with shredded cheese

Bake at 350F for 25 mins until eggs are set

Cottage Cheese Scrambled Eggs

 I made some cottage cheese scrambled eggs.  We should use more cottage cheese I am thinking.  It was good in a sandwich.

2 eggs

1/2 c cottage cheese

1 green onion chopped

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Whisk together and scramble!

Sunday Smiles

 Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Nicole's new pizza recipe

 Nicole posted her new pizza recipe and I couldn't wait to try it.  It is now my new pizza recipe.  Thanks a million Nicole!  I used half whole wheat and half white flour in mine.  I used pepperoni, tomatoes and pickled onions for my toppings.  Daughter L had been over and added the toppings.

Friday Art - Malaysian Leaf Insect

 Welcome to Friday Art!  This is a Malaysian Leaf Insect, they really look like leaves!  It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

I accidentally deleted 9 comments from yesterday's post, I was deleting a batch of spam comments.  Sorry if it was one of yours.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date Pizza theme and Pumpkin Soup

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  Here is my pizza (2 1/2" x 3"), not quite ACEO size.

For the Dinner Date, I made some pumpkin soup using 3 pumpkin pies last month. It was delicious! 

 3 pie pumpkins

 2 tbs olive oil 

1 onion chopped

 1 tbs salt 

3 cloves garlic minced 

1 tsp ground ginger 

1 tsp cumin 

1/2 tsp coriander 

1/2 tsp tumeric 

1/2 tsp ground cardamom (I left this out as I didn't have any) 

1 can coconut milk 

2 1/2 c chicken broth

 1 tbs apple cider vinegar

 1/2 tsp black pepper

 1 1/2 c water

 Preheat oven to 400F Cut pumpkins in half, scoop the seeds out, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Bake them cut side down for 40-60 min until softened. When it cools, scoop out the flesh and mash with masher. Heat oil in a soup pot, soften onions, garlic. Add salt, pepper and spices. Add sqush, coconut milk, broth, water. Stir in vinegar. Blend with an immersion blender.

 

Wednesday Memes

 

Message in a bottle - 21st century

The 55+ Sign

 I was at this pharmacy more than a week ago to get a walk in Covid shot.  We were able to park right upfront thanks to this 55+ sign.  It seemed to me that 55 is still young so it made me aware of my mortality.

Any thoughts? 

In other news I have been getting a lot of spam comments lately, like 30 per day.  I have comment moderation turned on but it's a job to delete them.  I noticed they take a break on weekends.  Back to their jobs on Mondays?  

László Bíró and the ball point pen

 I came across the history of the ball point pen and found it so interesting.  Here is a good link.

László Bíró patented the first commercially successful modern ball point pen. He noticed 'children playing with marbles in a puddle, noticing that the marbles left a trail of water in their wake. This gave him an idea: Why not use a ball-shaped metal nib for writing, which became the initial design idea for the ball pen.' 

We take the ball point pen for granted but it is interesting to know how it came to us. Of course many others continued to perfect and market it including 'Marcel Bich. He licensed the ballpoint pen designs from Bíró and created the BIC Company in 1953.' Here is another link.

Sunday Smiles - Parrot

'This is not a bird, look closer, this parrot is in fact a woman whose body has been painted. '

Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

Kale Stir Fry

My friend S brought over some fresh kale in late October and I made a kale stir fry with it.

bunch of kale leaves chopped into thin strips (chiffonade)

2 cloves garlic minced

1 green onion diced

2-3 tbs canola oil

sauce

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp hot sauce

2 tsp sesame oil (optional)

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbs water

saute garlic in oil, add green onions, kale and stir for 8 minutes.  Mix in sauce and corn starch slurry.

 

Friday Art - Mosquito

 Welcome to Friday Art! This is a mosquito ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in gold and silver acrylic markers.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Charcuterie and Chicken Meatballs with Alfredo sauce and Linguine

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date!  Here is my charcuterie board ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

For the Dinner Date, I am showing my chicken meatballs with linguine. In mid October I used fresh oregano from the garden and realized I should chop the leaves (like Jamie Oliver) for maximum flavour. 

1 lb lean ground chicken

 1 egg

 1/2 c milk 

1/2 c breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

 sprigs of oregano chopped

2 cloves garlic minced 

1/2 onion chopped 

2-3 c water

 Alfredo Sauce

 I mixed up a packet of Clubhouse alfredo sauce.   

 Your favourite pasta and some parmesan cheese

 Mix all ingredients together and drop loosely formed meatballs into a pan with olive oil. Ground chicken does not hold together as well as ground beef. When the meatballs are browned, add alfredo sauce with extra water (2-3 c) as needed to the mix. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Serve with pasta and some parmesan cheese.

 

Wednesday Memes

 

Zero sugar Cranberry Ginger Ale

 I found this  zero sugar cranberry ginger ale being offered for a limited time.  It is quite good, it tastes like a cocktail!

Remembrance Day 2024

 Lest we forget.  This is a piece I did a few years ago.

Sunday Smiles and 8th Covid shot

 Linking to Gillena's Sunday Smiles.

In other news I got my 8th Covid pfizer shot yesterday. I waited almost an hour for my turn. It didn't look that busy.

The lady in front of me was filling her whole family's prescription and I had to wait for my 2 second injection.  Then the pharmacist asked me how was my day. I was polite.

New ceramic non stick frying pans

 I got some new ceramic non stick frying pans as they are supposed to be safer.  These have silicone handles.  They are to be used at medium to low heat.  The prices seemed reasonable and they are attractive.

My plan is to find silicone kitchen utensils next and maybe a new saute pan.  Apparently wooden cutting boards are now considered the safest but I still use plastic cutting boards.  

Friday Art - Lion Cub

 Welcome to Friday Art!  I did a lion cub for you today, an ACEO (2 1/2" in watercolour pencil.

Linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off and to Gillena's Art For Fun Friday.

Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date - Lanterns and Vinegret Russian Beet Salad

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art and Dinner Date. Here are my lanterns for this week's theme. It is an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") outlined with an acrylic marker and coloured in with watercolour pencil.

 

 For the Dinner Date I made a Vinegret Russian Beet Salad.  My friend S had given me some fresh beets and suggested this recipe she got from a friend.  It calls for onions and I found another similar recipe that sautes them in oil before adding them to the salad.  I decided to try that as well.

4 medium beets

2 medium potatoes

2 carrots

3-4 dill pickles

1 onion

2 c frozen peas

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp dried dill

a sprig of fresh coriander

1 c sauerkraut

1 green onion

Dressing

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Boil potatoes and carrots for 30 mins.  In a separate pot, boil beets for 50 mins as it will tint the water.  Cool veg, peel and slice into cubes.  Dice onions and pickles.  I sauteed my onions in a bit of olive oil.  You can oil the cubed beets so they don't leak.  

Mix all veg, peas, pickles, chopped sauerkraut, dressing, herbs, green onion.

Enjoy!

Wednesday Memes