posole, blue chair, and monkey business

I recently discovered a slow cooker vegetarian dish that I have to share with you all.

It is so simple to throw together, it almost sounds like it's too good to be true. We

had this a couple of weeks ago and even the husband loved it so much, that he 

asked me to make it again. Zesty Bean Posole is a hearty Mexican stew.

ZESTY BEAN POSOLE

2 (15-16 oz) cans golden hominy, rinsed & drained (I used white hominy

the first time and it turned out fine)

2 (15-16 oz) cans red beans, rinsed and drained (I used one can red

beans and one can pinto beans)

3-1/2 c. reduced-sodium vegetable broth (or you could sub chicken broth)

1 (16 oz.) jar thick & chunky salsa

2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 c. whipping cream or half-and-half

2 T. all-purpose flour

Slivered green onions & shredded cheese for garnish

In a 4 qt. slow cooker combine hominy, beans, broth, salsa, and oregano.

Cover; cook on low setting 7-8 hours or on high setting for 3-1/2 - 4 hours.

With 30 min. of cook time remaining, increase to high heat setting if

necessary. In a small bowl stir together cream and flour until smooth; stir

into mixture in cooker. Cover; cook for 30 min. more or until mixture is 

slightly thickened. To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Top with green onions

and shredded cheese, if desired. Makes 6 serv.

Well, I ended up moving that blue chair back by the fireplace. I think it

looks better there...that area needs some color!

And then I moved the little black chair to the other side of the table.

Who knows how long it will stay there? ;-)

 

I also bought a rug pad and moved Grandma's oriental runner into the hallway.

Nosy Monkey had to check it out, of course.

And now that he's discovered he can get to the top of the china cabinet,

he's taken a liking to just hanging around up there.

A few days ago I was in the basement and Monkey was down there prowling

around. All of a sudden, he came whizzing by me with something dangling from

his mouth as he headed upstairs. Of course, I thought it was a mouse and

went chasing after him, expecting to find something gray and fuzzy running

around the kitchen and living room. Instead, I found this. A bunched-up

ribbon decoration for a baby present. Some mouse!

 How can I not love and laugh at this freaky face? I was watering plants and 

he just had to sniff the end of the watering can. What a weirdo. (And I mean

that in the nicest sense.)

Happy Thursday, everyone. We're warming up into the 30's for the weekend,

but the warmer temps are bringing freezing rain and snow showers.

living room january style

 Ah, the starkness and wonder of a clean palette once all the Christmas

decorations are taken down. I think I finally have my living room back to the

way I want it. You might recall that I had a long, rectangular wooden coffee

table in front of the sofa before. I love it - it's a gorgeous table that belonged

to my grandma - but it's too bulky for this small living room. I replaced it

with two round leather ottomans. The oriental rug you see under the ottomans

is actually a long hallway runner. It belonged to my grandma, too. I am

going to use it in my hallway, but I need to buy a couple of those sticky

rug pads to put underneath the rug. In the meantime, I folded the rug in half

and placed it where you see it now.

I like aqua chair where I have it now because it brings more seating 

by the couch. This is such a small, awkward space that it's hard to

set up a conversation area. I would love to flank the outside corners of the

rug with two chairs, but the chairs would stick out into the main walkway

of the living room.

The little black chair by the fireplace took the place of the aqua chair, but this

 black chair is much too small for the space. That black table calls for a bulkier

 chair. Oh well, it's called making do with what you have, right? I think I've also

mentioned before that I do not like those pictures above my fireplace.

I wasn't the one who picked them out in the first place - it was my cousin.

Bless his heart, he is a fantastic designer and perhaps these pictures

would sit well with someone else, but they're just not my style. The fireplace

is stark enough as it is and I think these pictures only make the area

more so. I need more warmth and color. In the meantime, I am keeping

my eyes open for a good deal on a large, gold mirror. I think that will look

a lot better on the fireplace wall.

I used touches of blue, gold, and a little bit of green for the ladder

bookcase and side table. I'm really liking the gold flower bookends that

I got at Goodwill (originally from Target) last week.

I kept the top of the buffet area simple and neutral except for the 

splash of blue in the little picture and the blue-gray of the wooden

houses (marked The Countryside Collection, Bucks County, PA

 -found at Goodwill last year).

 I hope everyone is staying warm ~ the temperature here today in northern

Illinois has been unbelievably frigid. It got down to -47F with the wind chill factor.

Even with the heat in my house at its regular setting, I am sitting here in two

layers of clothes, there's a fire going in the fireplace, and I have a space

heater here in the living room, too! Tomorrow's high will be zero, so I guess 

you could call that a warm-up. ;-) I am off now to fix dinner. I'm warming up

some leftover split pea soup and a vegan carrot-fennel soup and am going

to put some garlic naan bread sprinkled with mozzarella cheese in the oven.

 

new stuff and extreme winter weather

I've found some great stuff at Goodwill lately ~ and the bonus is that I had a 30%

off coupon for most of the items!

A pretty scarf in the $1.49 bin ~

A brass candleholder, a vintage honey bottle, silver tealight holders ~

 

 An aqua Pyrex bowl ~

These cool decorations from Target (are they bookends? That's what I'm going

to use them for) that still had the original price tags on them ~

 

 Cute tin rooster - another brand-new item with the original Pier 1 Imports

price tag on it ~

A tall, wooden Santa that was 50% off ~

 

I also ran into Barnes and Noble today as all their 2014 calendars, planners,

and Christmas cards are now 50% off. I didn't need any cards since I only sent

out a few this year and still have plenty left, but I always buy a new planner

for the year and a calendar (this year it was the Chicago Cubs) for Brian.

But then I saw these little note cards and was smitten. I have this this thing 

for pretty note cards and you all know how much I love owls. I was thinking

that they wouldn't necessarily have to be used for writing little notes. I could

also use them on a homemade card, in scrapbooking, or even put in a little

frame for a decoration.

We had a ton more snow come down the past couple of days. I swear, it

didn't stop for 48 hours straight. Good thing it was a light, powdery snow. My

back can't handle shoveling the wet, heavy stuff. 

 

 Now the bitter cold is setting in. It was -13F when I got up this morning. The

high temp on Monday is forecasted to be -16F. How's the weather in your area?

Go ahead, those of you in wonderful, warm climates - rub it in!

looking back on 2013

 Well, here we are. The last day of 2013. Do you stay in for New Year's Eve,

or do you go out? We usually stay in - and tonight's no exception. Brian worked

all day and has to get up at 4:15 a.m. for work again tomorrow. Plus, it's 

snowing again. Worrying about intoxicated drivers is bad enough on New

Year's Eve, but add snow to that and it's even worse. We had take-out Chinese

food for dinner, played a few rounds of Backgammon, and now we're going

to watch a little TV. Not much different than any other night at home. Though

I may have a glass of wine later, big party animal that I am.

I went through my 2013 daily planner and was looking at all the little things

~ and big things ~ that made up my year. Have you ever done this? It's

kind of cool to see your year in review, though sometimes painful too, if

there was a serious illness, accident, or death. I found that my life was made

up of a lot of "little" moments with friends and family - lots of talk over meals

out or just meeting for coffee or thrifting. There were day trips with Brian,

walks in the State Park, a concert, two art classes, a baby shower, an 80th

birthday party, my first blog conference, trying out for The Family Feud,

 and meeting Jane from Blondie's Journal.

(Me and Jane)

There wasn't a big vacation, but I did have four weekends away ~ one with

a couple of church friends for a women's conference downstate; another

with one of my best friends to her son's college in Iowa; and then two weekends

away with Brian - to Cedarburg, Wisconsin and St. Joseph, Michigan.

(St. Joseph, MI)

 

Tim moved out and started university in August.

Our house was a little worse for the wear this year with having to replace

the water softener, water heater, stove, and dishwasher; and having 

furnace problems, missing shingles off the roof, a broken toilet, and 

lots of plumbing problems (which are still ongoing!).

 And then there were those loved ones that left this earth: my sister-in-law, Colleen

in March; my best friend's father in May; my grandpa in October; and my

great-aunt in November. May they all rest in peace. 

(Grandpa Herbie)

I shared my life with you all in 140 blog posts this year. I want to thank you

all for reading my little blog and being so kind and supportive. May 2014

bring us all abundant blessings of wellness, love, and peace in our hearts.

(Zippo and Monkey resting on my bed this afternoon)

the aftermath

Christmas has come and gone once again. I'm more grateful for the gone part.

I never was a big fan of Christmas. It's not only the excessive commercialism;

it's also the unrealistic expectations...finding the perfect gifts, decorating your

house just so, sending out Christmas cards on time (I only sent out a few this

year - one thing I did cut back on), baking all kinds of cookies for neighbors 

and relatives, hoping once again for a Norman Rockwell-like Christmas ~ and

 knowing full well that it's not going to happen. And then there's thinking of those

who have left us ~ my son, my father, my grandfather, my sister-in-law, my

great-aunt and uncle, a dear friend. Not that I don't always think of those people,

but the holidays somehow make your heart ache for them just a little bit more.

Don't get me wrong - I did enjoy the time spent with family. We went out to

dinner on Christmas Eve with Brian's side of the family. And on Christmas

day, the three of us - or, should I say, the six of us because there's the three

kitties that were in the thick of gift opening, too - enjoyed exchanging

gifts and relaxing and talking in the living room.

The best part of Christmas day was later in the afternoon when we had

a small bunch of family at our house. Lots of talking, laughing, eating (look

at all those desserts! My mom is the homemade pie maker), and Wii playing.

Now that it's all over, I've taken down all the decorations (which I still have to pack

up - they're all sitting downstairs on the bar), have deep cleaned, and am trying

to put the house back together. I can never remember how I had things arranged

BC (before Christmas). You'd think that after all these years I would learn my 

lesson. That I'd take pictures of the living room and kitchen BC to remind myself

where all the tchotchkes went. And since the weather isn't frigid right now, I've

been taking daily walks. Even though I don't like winter, I do see the beauty in

the bare branches, the gorgeous sunsets, and the snow blanketing the ground.

• We're having a heat wave today with temps around 40 and lots of sunshine. It'll be the last day for awhile that I can enjoy the walks outdoors, as the frigid air kicks back in on Sunday night with temps below zero.

• Tim is going back home today. I loved having my boy back home again, even if just for a short while. 

• Brian's had some days off, so he's been painting Tim's bedroom and I'm working on  decluttering in the basement. I made a lot of headway yesterday and have six bags of things packed up for donation.

• I've eaten way too many rich foods and sugary desserts, so it's back to clean eating. I made a pot of turkey noodle soup using the leftover turkey carcass from Christmas for a rich stock as the base, but I don't like turkey! So, I will save some of this soup in the fridge for Brian and send the rest home with Tim today. And then I will make a pot of fennel and carrot soup, which is a vegan recipe that I got from a friend. If it turns out delicious, I will post photos and the recipe later in the week.

celebrations, winter, ready or not

 My lovely Aunt Mary turned 80 last week and we were delighted to help

her celebrate this milestone. I have such wonderful childhood memories

with Aunt Mary. Remember back in the day when cars were huge and

seat belts weren't required? Actually, cars didn't even have seat belts

back then. I used to ride in Aunt Mary's car and sit on the fold-down arm

rest in the front seat so I could be right next to her. I called it the "Easter

seat." I have no idea why. I'll have to remember to ask her about this. Aunt

Mary introduced me to Mad Libs - and actually played them with me. She also

let me color with permanent markers. There was no such thing as washable

 markers back in the late 60's. And when I took Aunt Mary's black and white teddy

 bear off her bed because I wanted to keep him as my own, Aunt Mary let me.

 We celebrated another birthday last night - Tim's! He turned 23 a few days ago

but was still at school. So now that he's back at home again, we took him out

to dinner. He chose a nearby Irish pub - Middleton's. I had a turkey panini but

it was rather rich with some blue cheese and a cranberry mayo on it. I also had

some sweet potato tater tots. I should've known better than to eat that much

rich food - I felt sick all evening and even up until I went to bed.

 

 I didn't sleep well last night - was up most of the night because Tim was out

with some friends and it was sleeting and snowing. I was worried about Tim

getting home safely. So between the overly-rich food and no sleep, I got up this

morning with a massive migraine. I was so sick all day and spent some time

reading while snuggled under a quilt. Love when my kitties join me.

Good day to stay indoors anyway when the weather looks like this. It'll definitely

be a white Christmas here in northern Illinois.

 Turns out that my sister, brother-in-law, and two nieces will be coming over on

Christmas day, as well as my mom and cousin. I only have a small table in my

kitchen and no dining room, so I think we'll move the 6 foot long table in the

basement into the kitchen. We'll make do somehow.

I have to pick up a few last minute items at the grocery store tomorrow before

I go to physical therapy (my shoulder is doing so much better!), then I might make

one more batch of cookies. I don't know what's going on with my cookie karma

this year, but I've ruined three batches of cookies. Those mexican hot chocolate

cookies that I featured a few weeks ago turned out terrible. They were really

dry. I made them last year and they were fine, so I'm wondering if it was the

butter. Some say there are differences in generic butter versus the more

expensive butters, such as Kerrygold or Cabot's. They have a higher butterfat

percentage. Generic butter has a higher water content. (Moreso than say,

Land O Lakes? I'm not sure. Need to do more research.) I also made a

chocolate cookie with peppermint crunch pieces in it - sounds good, but they

weren't. Hope the birds and squirrels liked them. And...today I went to bake

a batch of M&M cookies and I burned them.

Are you all done with everything...shopping, wrapping, baking?

 

this and that - just some chat

I have met some wonderful people through blogging, and one of those

persons is Penny from At Home in English Valley. We met last Friday morning

 for breakfast and sat and  talked for 3-1/2 hours! We never did make it across

 the street to Goodwill for thrifting like we had planned. Penny gifted me with

 some lovely Christmas goodies (including a crocheted washcloth that is the

 softest washcloth I have ever used) and in true Penny-fashion, wrapped them 

so beautifully  that I didn't even want to open the package at first. The Noel ornament

 on the package? She made  that. Non-crafty me sticks presents in a typical

 store-bought gift bag and calls it a day.

Another friend of mine had some girlfriends over to her house on Saturday

night. We ate too much, laughed a lot, drank some wine, and played

cards for several hours. I was hesitant to go at first - felt I just wanted to

stay home in my pajamas and do the usual: watch a little TV with Brian,

read some blogs, write an email or two, and catch up on some novel reading.

Turns out I was glad I went. Sometimes I just need a little kick in the hiney.

Naughty Monkey figured out how to jump to the top of the china cabinet!

He was bound and determined to try and get Freddy - the African Dwarf

frog that lives in the glass bowl. My aunt gave Freddy to Tim as a birthday

gift many years ago. We have lost track of time and don't remember exactly

how old Freddy is, but he's (we don't really know if it's a "he") at least 12

years old. For the past few years, every time one of Tim's friends would come

 over and see the fish bowl on Tim's dresser, they'd say, "You still have that frog?" 

Freddy simply lives in a bowl of water with seashells at the bottom.

We feed him a pinch of Goldfish food every two days. I had no idea where

to put Freddy after Monkey's little escapade. I tried a shelf on the ladder

bookcase in the living room...Monkey scaled the shelves. Now Freddy is

on top of the almost-8 feet tall bookcase in the downstairs family room. There

is no other piece of furniture close to this bookcase that Monkey can use as

a launching pad, so I think Freddy will be safe once again. Besides, the top

of this bookcase is so close to the ceiling, that Monkey couldn't even fit at the

top of the bookcase even if he could jump up there.

Tim was just home for 24 hours. He wanted to come for a quick visit to

see us and some friends. He was sitting on the counter last night and I

asked if I could take his picture and he made this goofy face. I love my

boy. I can't believe he'll be 23 years old on Thursday. We watched some

Christmas cartoons last night and talked while he chowed on some good

home cooking. Then he was off to visit with some friends. He slept in

late today, got up and made himself some eggs and bacon, and then was

off again. I always feel a little heartbroken all over again when he leaves,

but a gentle and relaxing yoga class tonight was just what I needed. Tim

will be back again on Sunday and will be staying through Christmas and

hopefully, a little beyond. His classes don't start again until January 13, but

he's hoping to pick up some more work hours in the meantime.

Happy Tuesday-almost-Wednesday. Sleep well and sweet dreams.