paper & clouds

Friday5: Favorite Foods

jenn — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:49:18 +0000

Getting back to the basics….

List five foods that make you happy. Really happy.

1. Spicy Tuna Rolls
2. Chunky Monkey Ice Cream
3. Baked Truffled Mac & Cheese
4. Lobster tails with Spiced Butter
5. Chocolate Pecan Pie

And not necessarily in that order…

What about you?

(I’m bringing Daughter sledding today, what are you doing?)

Happy Half Birthday To Me, I Think?

jenn — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:24:31 +0000

(the cake photo is borrowed from Cafe Latte, yum)

Today is my half-birthday, which I wouldn’t notice normally, but I’m still working my way through my 39 at 39 list and I think I have a ways to go. Let’s see:

~~1. Do a Triathlon – DONE, on August 17~~
~~2. Run a 10K – DONE, October 1~~
3. Make homemade bread
4. Take a nap
5. Enjoy a glass of wine with a close friend on a beautiful day
6. Read Anna Karenina
7. Do a charity walk for a cause close to my heart
8. Make sushi
~~9. Make homemade Veggie Burgers – GP’s Veggie Black Bean Burgers – DONE~~
~~10. Take the dog for a long walk – DONE~~
11. Go for a hike- Carpenter Nature Center – DONE

~~12. Laugh – DONE~~

~~13. Go snowshoeing – sort of?~~

~~14. Finish an unfinished project – finished mom’s 3rd pillow – DONE~~

15. Open my eyes

16. Conquer my fear of piecrust

17. Cook an indian meal

18. Take a nap

19. Make homemade jam

~~20. Spend an afternoon playing with Daughter – can it be a morning? October 18, art projects – DONE~~

21. Make a recipe out of the French Laundry Cookbook

22. Take another nap

23. Climb a tree

24. Design my own fabric

25. Love

~~26. Plan a day trip just to eat – sept 22 -DONE~~

~~27. Spend more time reading – DONE, xmas break into the new year~~

28. Go kayaking

29. Relax

~~30. Run a 5K with Daughter (jogging stroller, obviously) – MN Zoo 5k – DONE~~

31. Paint a picture with no restraints

~~32. Make fried green tomatoes – did it, august 2011 – DONE~~

33. Do another triathlon

34. Volunteer

~~35. Take a road trip – September 22, does this count? – DONE~~

36. Bake cookies from scratch – DONE (xmas)

~~37. Buy handmade – DONE, a scarf, for me.~~

38. Smile more

39. Have fun

16 Done, 23 to go. I have a lot to do! I’ll get back to the William Morris project next week. Another list!

Giraffes

jenn — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:03:24 +0000

I love Giraffes. And Baby Giraffes. But I especially love Mama & Baby Giraffes. On a t-shirt. You can find it here with so many other cool T’s. Just don’t visit until I’ve had a chance to order.

A New Read

jenn — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:26:39 +0000

I love Blogs. I’m addicted. I admit it. So obviously I love finding new blogs, especially those with amazing photos or beautiful words or, even better, both. I keep track of them in Google Reader and about once a month I weed through them and figure out what I can do without and what I can’t. Here’s one I can’t.

dash and bella is written by an amazing woman, phyllis, who is an amazing chef and mother. And don’t forget writer. Her recipes are scrumptious, her photos beautiful and her words open something in my heart that few writers have before.

Like Chez Larsson, I’ll be visiting this site daily, sometimes twice.

A Quick Dinner Idea

jenn — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:40:55 +0000

I feel like I’m constantly catching up. We’ve been sick… ear infections, pink eye, asthma issues and more pink eye. Now that I think we’re all on the mend, with antibiotics, eye drops, predisone, and more eye drops, I am catching up. Last week I tried twice in one day to get to the grocery store. Both attempts were abruptly ended when Daughter couldn’t hold on to her meal. So…. that lead to piecing together meals and ordering pizza.

But by the weekend, when I felt better, I put this meal together in my head while I was at work. I had pulled a package of green chili chicken sausage out of the freezer on a whim. I knew I had a couple green pepper and an onion. And of course there was rice. So that was dinner! Sauteed sausage with onions and peppers, sprinkled with a dash of “Magic Salt” and dinner was served.

Easy Peasy. More on that amazing Magic Salt soon…

Friday Five: Magazines

jenn — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:58:53 +0000

Five magazines I read every month:

1. Cooking Light

2. Yoga Journal

3. Real Simple

4. Print

5. Poets & Writers

What about you? Which magazines do you read every month? Tell me!

And have you noticed that all the magazines come on the same day of the month? I think they should spread them out….

We have a full weekend. Swim lessons, hockey, girls night to watch “The Help”, a massage and pizza with the cousins for Grandma’s Birthday. Between all that I’ll be a reading magazines.

What are you doing?

William Morris: Food Storage

jenn — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:44:07 +0000

“I will have nothing in my home that I do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
- William Morris

My first William Morris Thursday.… I took advantage of 20 minutes of Toddler distraction and cleaned out our two main food storage cupboards. Really, there’s not much space. Most of my baking goods are in the pantry, but the every day ingredients are in one of these two cupboards.

Above the stove, Before and After. This is where we keep the tea and all sorts of snacks for the Toddler. On the far left there is the homemade granola from Jen. Yum!

The main cupboard, Before and After. What a mess, it’s a little bit better. On the bottom shelf I have crackers, more snacks, granola bars, and can storage, mostly filled with black beans and coconut milk. Middle shelf is home to pasta, sauces and unopened bottles on the lazy susan. Top shelf includes nuts, cocoa, oatmeal and random grains that aren’t used very often.

It’s a little neater. I purged quite a bit, including consolidating oatmeal, tossing expired goods and eating a box of Cracker Jacks. It was worth it.

Eat Your Broccoli !

jenn — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:13:00 +0000

Here’s a sure fire way to make sure you’ll eat your vegetables. Spicy Chili and Garlic Broccoli from Cooking Light. Yum.

More Pinterest

jenn — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:44:17 +0000

I spent a couple hours in the car this weekend. With a crabby toddler in the backseat, a sleeping puppy on my lap and an iPhone in my hand. Needless to say, I spent those two hours on my Pinterest app. (And no, I wasn’t driving). The ideas I find there are amazing and endless. Like these letters I found posted by JBS Mercantile. How much fun are these? And I love that they’re NOT pink. Or blue. But some rich deep colors. I have plenty of patterned paper and fabric, just need the letters. So cool.

Friday Five: Do

jenn — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:17:08 +0000

Five things I want to accomplish this year:

1. Go on more dates with Husband

2. Do another triathlon

3. Do another 10k

4. Write a book

5. Move

(are those too mighty?)

What about you? What five things are you hoping to accomplish this year? Tell me!