Pinterest 365 – Day 20 – Frozen Kale and Spinach Cubes

If you’re still reading, then I haven’t lost you with the idea of frozen kale and spinach.  They certainly are an acquired taste, but much less than you would think.  I use them in my smoothies, partly as a way to ensure that I try to get all the nutrient value that kale has to offer.  Kale is very high in beta carotene,vitamin K, vitamin C and rich in calcium, but as my husband like’s to point out, it’s a garnish.  It’s a super-veg and wonderful in smoothies.

As is spinach.  All you have to do is watch an episode of Popeye and you know how incredible spinach is.  And I do love a spinach salad, but not every day.  So I add spinach to my smoothies as well.  I have very green smoothies :-).

I love this blog post from the Rowdy Stroudy’s about freezing pureed vegetables because for quite a while I bought spinach and kale with the best intentions of putting them in my shakes and I would for a while, but then I would miss a day or two and the spinach and kale would go bad and end up in the waste bin.  This is such a simple solution that keeps me in green smoothies every day.

It’s really straight forward:  I put a cup of water in the blender, add a bunch of kale or a bag of spinach, puree away and freeze.  I use plastic bottles with squeeze lids to pour the kale/spinach into the ice cube trays to keep it neat.  It’s important to add the water so the mixture doesn’t end up too chunky.  When it’s chunky it won’t squeeze through the spout of the bottle.  Once the cubes are frozen, I transfer them to Ziploc bags, date them and store them in the freezer.

To make my smoothies, to 1 scoop of protein powder and once cup of water, I add 4 cubes of kale and spinach each, a handful or two of frozen fruit, a Tbsp of flax seed oil and a Tbsp of chia seeds.  It’s simple, but chock full of vitamins and good omega fats and keeps me full for hours.  And miraculously it doesn’t taste like spinach or kale ;-).

Enjoy! 

“I really can’t approve of your smoothies.  Carrots and zucchini aside, I don’t like stuff that smells like earth.”

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Pinterest 365 – Day 19 – Acorn Garland

We have an oak tree in our backyard and this year it’s blessed us with a bumper crop of acorns.  When I’m not prying them out of the mouths of curious doggies, I’m gathering the acorns up so they don’t take root and grace us with several hundred little oak trees.

This year, however, I was pleased to have so many beautiful acorns to choose from.  Some friends of mine and I are going to be decorating a Christmas tree at the local zoo and we decided to have all of our decorations based on Pinterest inspiration.  We’re called the Pinterest Pals.  While the acorn garland I found on Pinterest is an advertisement for a garland for sale on Etsy, it gave me the idea of using my acorns for a garland for our tree.

Today, I put the finishing touches on our garland.  I originally collected the acorns and washed them.  I then spray-painted them gold and silver.  I took a gold acorn and a silver acorn and hot-glued them together.  I then wrapped hemp twine around the two glued acorns and added a colorful button on either side.  I did this every 12″ on the length of twine and have completed about 30 feet so far.  I’ll spend the rest of tonight finishing the rest of the acorns and will probably end up with about 60 feet of garland.  I think that will be enough for our tree.

After our tree is decorated I will share pictures with you.  Until then, are you getting ready for Christmas decorating yet? 

 

 

“Yeah, when you pry them out of our mouths….  We’re not so crazy about that.”

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Pinterest 365 – Day 18 – Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

I love smoothies.  They’re wonderful for jam packing in a ton of nutrients without having to consume a whole garden of vegetables and fruit.  They quick and easy to make and very portable.  I love experimenting with different vegetables and even enjoy adding ones that I wouldn’t normally eat in large amounts, like kale.  I’ve fine tuned my smoothie making process and I can be up and running with a smoothie in a matter of minutes.

I used to buy bulk bags of frozen fruit at Costco, but now with having more time, I try to buy fruit that is in season, cut it up into bite-sized chunks and freeze it in Ziploc bags.  In August I bought 50 pounds of pears for $12, cut them up and am working through those now.  I add spinach and kale to the mix, along with protein powder and flax-seed oil.  If I happen to have chia seeds, I add those also.

Today’s recipe caught my eye because (you guessed it) of the pumpkin.  I had pumpkin puree left over from the Pumpkin No Bake Energy Bites and thought it sounded super tasty.  Along with a dose of Vitamin A, potassium and fiber, this smoothie really hit the spot today.

 

The recipe called for coconut milk, but I didn’t have any so I just used almond milk.  Also I had a frozen banana, so I used that and just omitted the ice cubes.  It didn’t call for protein powder, but I could have very easily added that to turn this into a ‘balanced’ meal.  I highly recommend this combination of flavors.

 

What vegetables and fruit do you like in your smoothies? 

 

 

 

 

Ellie:  “Hey Woody, first mom makes a pumpkin pie scrub.  Then she knits and stitches a pumpkin and now it’s a pumpkin pie smoothie.  Do you think she’ll ever get around to making an actual pumpkin pie?”

Woody:  “One only knows.”

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Pinterest 365 – Day 17 – Heavy Duty Floor Cleaner

It’s started to rain here in California and at my place when you combine dogs, our backyard and rain, you get muddy floors.  I clean our kitchen floor once a week, but during the rainy season, I have to clean it about 3 times a week.  On day 3 of my 31 days of committing to change, I shared about household chores (and how I really don’t like to do them).  Part of what has helped me stick to a cleaning plan has been a schedule as well as having all my cleaning equipment at the ready.

I am also on a quest to make all our household cleaners as chemical free as possible.  I already make laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, a general household cleaner/degreaser and soap for us.  It’s more cost-effective and I just feel better knowing I can actually pronounce the names of the ingredients that are cleaning our home and our bodies.

All pins that have something to do with DIY cleaners catch my eye and this one was no different.  It was really simple and I was intrigued to see that it was featured on the food.com website.  So here goes…

There were 4 ingredients:  vinegar, washing soda, liquid dish detergent and warm water.  I combined the first three ingredients and then added the water to the bucket.  The recipe produced a lot of cleaner so next time I’ll probably cut it in half.  I don’t have a very big kitchen floor, so half would do just fine.  The cleaner was very soft, not harsh at all on my hands, and before you know it, my floor was clean.  This isn’t a recipe you can make up in bulk, but if you have the ingredients at the ready, it’s really quick and simple to put it altogether.  Now I wonder which dog christen the floor with a muddy paw first???? 

 

 

“Momma, Roxy and I worked really hard to make that pattern of paw prints for you.  It’s how we express ourselves artistically.  Now we’ll just have to start over.”

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Pinterest 365 – Day 16 – Pet Name Tag

Shrinky Dinks are on my list of the best inventions EVER.  Along with Mod Podge, glitter and Post-it Notes, I think Shrinky Dinks are a marvel.  So you shouldn’t be surprised why today’s pin caught my eye.  The tutorial linked over to Martha Stewart Crafts with instructions for a Pet ID Tag.  Originally I was going to use it for just that (Woody and Ellie’s tags are looking a little bit worse for wear), but on one of our walks, I came up with another idea.  Once again, another case of inspiration, not duplication!

I mentioned in a blog a couple of days ago that Woody and Ellie often have friends come over to visit and stay the night.  When there are that many leashes on the leash rack, I can lose track.  So I thought of modifying this craft to make name tag holders for the leash rack.  They still look like dog id tags, but are a little bigger and can hang on the hook along with the leash.  They are sturdy, can handle a bit of wear and tear and look super cute.  I experimented with two different sizes and will definitely be making the rest in the larger size.

Here’s how I made them.  Following the general instructions of the tutorial, I traced out a bone shape for each tag I wanted.  The Shrinky Dinks they used were the kind where you can print directly onto them, but I only had the original kind so I used my permanent markers.  I used a dog-bone shaped cookie cutter for my general bone shape and then hand wrote the names on each one.

I followed the instructions on the Shrinky Dink package and before you know it I had dog-name tags.  I tied the tags on with a bit of raffia and hung them on the hooks.  I couldn’t find my colored permanent markers, but will and next time my tags will have a pop of color.

UPDATE:  I promised you back on Day 6 of Pinterest 365 that I would share a photo of my family of pumpkins.  Here they are sitting very nicely on my mantel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We saw you spending a lot of time around the leashes and wondered if Walk #2 of the day was in the works.  Dogs can dream too.”

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Pinterest 365 – Day 15 – Recipe Holder

I spotted this pin a while ago on the Good Weekly blog and actually made ‘my version’ for a dog-themed Pinterest party.  I decided to make it again today as a Christmas gift for a dog-lovin’ friend.  You’ll notice that the end the result of the blog tutorial looks nothing like what I produced, but this is a case where the tutorial served as inspiration not duplication.  I followed the general directions, but stylistically I went in a completely different direction.

I purchased scrapbook paper, paint, a piece of 7″X9″ wood frame block, wood letters, clothes pins, and a wire frame holder.  I painted all the wood using Martha Stewart Crafts Pearl paint and cut my paper to fit the frame.  To conserve paint (not that you need to) I only painted the back and around the edges up to an inch onto the frame.  I “painted” the top of the frame with Mod Podge and glued the paper making sure to remove any bubbles.  After I was sure there were no bubbles, I covered the whole piece with a nice layer of Mod Podge just to seal everything.  I let that all dry and grabbed my glue gun to attach the letters, the clothes pin and the frame holder.

 

 

 

 

As you can see the clothes pin is strong enough to hold a light recipe book, certainly strong enough to hold a recipe card.  There were several sizes of frame blocks so you could make it larger or smaller depending on your needs.  And for those friends who are really not into the cookin’ thing, it makes a nice note holder! 

 

 

 

 

 

“Treats? How about rustlin’ up a batch of treats for us, pardner?”

Posted in Dogs, Homemade, Meal planning, Organization, Pinterest, Recipes | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pinterest 365 – Day 14 – DIY Mini Paper Sacks

Every now and then Ellie and Woody have friends stay over and this Christmas I wanted to them to know we were thinking of them by giving them a little gift.  And what do all dogs want for Christmas???  Treats!!!!

I found this tutorial over at the Lavender’s Blue blog and thought it would be perfect for my idea.  I made some alterations to fit my needs, but the instructions for the basic bag were excellent.  The possibilities are endless for the ways you could use these cute little bags.

This is also an incredibly inexpensive project.  I bought 40 brown lunch sacks for $1 – so that’s about 3 cents each.  Then I was able to get two mini sacks out of each lunch sack so that drops the cost to .15 cents each.

I cut the bag into an 8 1/2″ X 6″ piece (you actually get two pieces out of one bag).  The instructions tell you to cut the edging at the end, but I chose to do it next because I was using an edging punch and it wouldn’t work when the bag was completely assembled.  (Yes, that is a dog paw punch)  I then followed the folding and taping instructions.  I didn’t have any scotch tape so I just used my tape runner and it worked fine.  The end product was about 5″ tall and 1″ wide.  Perfect for my dog treats.  I filled it with treats and taped it down with some striped washi tape.

I am already imagining how to use this for a whole bunch of projects.  Very fast, extremely economical and super cute. 

 

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.  Is that bag for me?”

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Pinterest 365 – Day 13 – Stitched Pumpkin Card

Today’s project was not only fun, it was a stroll down ‘stitching’ memory lane.

My mom-in-law taught me to cross stitch when I was 15 (no she wasn’t my mom-in-law then, but Mike and I were going steady 🙂 ).  She cross-stitched beautifully and was a wonderful teacher.  I was hooked right away.  My first project was actually a gift for my mom for Mother’s Day – a flowered heart, if I remember correctly.  Not sure if my mom still has it, but that was my entry into the stitching world.  I continued to work on pieces, collect patterns and DMC floss well into my late 20’s.  After a while, I became busy with work and interested in other hobbies and cross-stitching kind of went by the wayside.  I still have many patterns, fabric and floss.

For a number of years, though, I really enjoyed it and for one of my birthdays, Mike, in a wonderfully romantic gesture, drove down to the local craft store (Your Creations), grabbed a basket and proceeded to buy every skein of DMC floss they carried.  There were more than a few ladies in the store that day that thought he was the sweetest guy ever.  I spent the next week wrapping each skein around those cardboard floss organizers and tucking them into plastic storage bins.

I thought about all of these things while I stitched away at my pumpkin today.  As you know, I like pumpkins, and when I saw this tutorial over at makeandtakes.com I had to dig out my floss and start stitching.

I love when hobbies overlap and as you’ll discover soon enough, I also really enjoy card making, so this project combined my card making love with my embroidery/stitching love.  As you see I didn’t complete the card today, but I did finish stitching the pumpkin and will share the card in a few days.

Because I was stitching onto cardstock, I had to print out the pattern and then punch holes into the cardstock.  I then stitched through the holes and voila, a stitched pumpkin!  This technique works well with lined art and I’m considering a dog paw next.  Stay tuned… 

 

 

 

 

“Hey mom, Woody says you should stitch a dog bone on his Christmas stocking… ah, no I misunderstood.  He tends to mumble.  He said you should stick a dog bone in his Christmas stocking.  Isn’t he just full of good ideas?”

Posted in Homemade, Pinterest, Pumpkins, Soap, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Pinterest 365 – Day 12 – Draw String Bag

I’m doing double-duty today by making a draw string bag for a friend of mine and using it as my Pinterest pin for the day.  I hope you don’t mind :-).  Sometimes there are just only so many hours in the day…

So onto the tutorial.  The instructions from Craftideas.info were excellent.  I made a few adjustments to the pattern, but for the most part I followed along pretty close.  The size of my bag is 15″ X 19″ (seam allowance included) and I wanted an edging above the gathering.  I fed the cord through the gathering tube and then secured it with a toggle clasp and a nice big knot.

 

The project was really straightforward, the instructions were excellent and I was done before I knew it.  I like projects like that. 

 

“Hey momma… you could make me a bag like that and store treats and toys in it.  That would be nice.  And maybe one for Woody too, but do mine first.”

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Pinterest 365 – Day 11 – Pumpkin No Bake Energy Bites

Three things drew me to this pin:  Pumpkin, No-bake, Energy.  I love recipes that require no baking, give you energy and, of course, I love pumpkins.  Having been wheat-free for 42 days, our snacking choices are limited (by that I mean no chips and crackers) so I have been on the hunt for nutritious substitutes for our former choices.  I always have chopped veges around, but sometimes you just want something with a little bit more oommph, but won’t ruin my appetite for dinner.

So when I found these glorious little gems of nutrition and yum, I jumped at the chance to make them.  The recipe was super easy (as are most of the recipes I attempt), but I made some adjustments.  Let’s take a look.

I found the recipe at the ‘gimme some oven’ blog  (don’t you just love the name?) and followed the instructions almost to the letter.  She recommended flax or chia seeds, but I chose flax meal (flax seeds pulverized) because my hubby has had bouts of diverticulitis and eating seeds is a no-no.  And I chose not to toast my coconut or pumpkin seeds (mostly because I was in a time crunch).  The end product was yummy anyway, but next time I will try toasting.

A little aside:  Don’t you just love the label on this can of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin?  It’s like a work of art!

I food-processed the dates, honey, flax, pumpkin and spices and then added the mixture to the oats, coconut and pumpkin seeds.  I have a friend that does not like coconut so she’ll be going ‘eewwww’ right now.  I’m pretty sure this would be just as good without the coconut, but I would increase both the oats and the seeds or else your bites are going to be too gooey.  After combining all the ingredients, I put the concoction in the fridge for 30 minutes.  After that I rolled the mix into bite-sized balls and stored them in the refrigerator.

This is definitely a recipe I will do again, probably tomorrow because I’m not sure these bad boys are going to last the night 😉  Happy Sunday everyone 

 

 

 

“Hey mom, this is how you roll into a tiny ball.  See, easy peasy!”

Posted in Homemade, Pinterest, Pumpkins, Recipes, Uncategorized, Wheat-free | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments