I couldn't resist the title. Blame my DH. He's the one who makes puns all the time.
Today I tried Kool Aid dyeing for the first time. I washed the yarn in Soak and let the excess water drip away. Then I started with Orange and Cherry Kool Aid. One in each of my large Pyrex measuring cups. Having never done this before, I didn't get enough Kool Aid. While the lighter colors were pretty, I was looking for something with a little more oomph. So I took out my cake kit and pulled the orange and red icing gels.
As I was mixing and using the Kool Aid, I had no problem keeping clean. It is another story now. My finger tips and nails are currently an unnatural, Oompah Loompah shade of orange. I had mixed up some orange and I didn't notice a lump of color gel in the solution when it was in my mixing cup. I did notice it when I dumped it in the dye bath and wanted to get it out before my yarn became blotchy. Without thinking, I grabbed part of the yarn with one hand, and dunked my other hand into the dye bath. When I realized what I had done, I washed my hands a few times in a row to get as much off as I could. Unfortunately, I'm still Oompah-Loompah-fied.
I hope the yarn turns out to be self-striping like I planned.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Healthy Living, and recipes, too!
Now that I have more free time, I think it is time to start slimming down. In the past two years, as I was teaching, I let myself go. The extra pudge has really been bothering me over the past few months, but I've been so busy (or making excuses about being so busy) that I haven't done anything. So, now is the time to get back to healthy eating and exercise habits. New job, new home, new healthy habits.
I've been trying to keep track of what I eat on myfooddiary.com and today I just joined Spark People with the Knit Girls over at Ravelry. I think that figuring out if I am eating well, and where I can cut calories is a good idea. So is exercising.
I can't exercise tonight because I have a ridiculous crick in my neck and can't turn my head to the left. And because moving hurts. But here are two of my very own veggie-tastic recipes with nutritional information. I had the bean salad for lunch with some fruit and tonight I'm making the mushroom stroganoff.
White Bean Salad
2 cans canelli beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup red onion, diced (about 1/2 a med. onion)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup fresh tomato, diced
2 tbl fresh dill, snipped into small pieces
2 tbl balsamic vinaigrette (I like Newman's Own Light)
Mix all ingredients together. Makes 4 servings of about one cup each.
Nutritional Information*
Calories = 249
Fat = 6.4 g
Sat. Fat = 2.2 g
Cholesterol = 12 mg
Sodium = 388 mg
Carb = 35.4 g
Fiber = 9.8 g
Sugar = 2 g
Protein = 14.5 g
Vit A = 9%
Vit C = 23%
Calcium = 13%
Iron = 21%
Mushroom Stroganoff
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med onion, sliced
3 cups mushrooms (I like cremini or portobello), cut into chunks
1 tbl + 1 tsp butter
1 tbl flour
5 oz. red wine
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1. Saute the onion in 1 tsp butter until it is translucent. Add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms give up most of their liquid and the onions begin to caramelize. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Melt the tablespoon of butter and add the flour to create a quick roux. Stir constantly until the roux is a deep brown color, be careful that it doesn't burn. Add the vegetable broth slowly, stirring constantly to keep the flour from forming lumps. Add the red wine and the vegetables. Simmer until the sauce is the consistency of gravy. Remove from heat. Stir in the sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve over egg noodles. Garnish with parsley if you wish.
Nutritional Information (for Mushroom Sauce only, not noodles)*
Calories = 181
Fat = 10.8
Sat. Fat = 6
Cholesterol = 24 mg
Sodium = 183 mg
Carb = 13 g
Fiber = 2.7 g
Sugar = 4.7 g
Protein = 3.5 g
Vit A = 6%
Vit C = 10%
Calcium = 6%
Iron = 10 %
*The nutritional information is from when I entered it on an online program. Since I don't know exactly how it calculates the data, I don't know how trustworthy the nutritional information is, but I guess you could always use it as a general guide.
I've been trying to keep track of what I eat on myfooddiary.com and today I just joined Spark People with the Knit Girls over at Ravelry. I think that figuring out if I am eating well, and where I can cut calories is a good idea. So is exercising.
I can't exercise tonight because I have a ridiculous crick in my neck and can't turn my head to the left. And because moving hurts. But here are two of my very own veggie-tastic recipes with nutritional information. I had the bean salad for lunch with some fruit and tonight I'm making the mushroom stroganoff.
White Bean Salad
2 cans canelli beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup red onion, diced (about 1/2 a med. onion)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup fresh tomato, diced
2 tbl fresh dill, snipped into small pieces
2 tbl balsamic vinaigrette (I like Newman's Own Light)
Mix all ingredients together. Makes 4 servings of about one cup each.
Nutritional Information*
Calories = 249
Fat = 6.4 g
Sat. Fat = 2.2 g
Cholesterol = 12 mg
Sodium = 388 mg
Carb = 35.4 g
Fiber = 9.8 g
Sugar = 2 g
Protein = 14.5 g
Vit A = 9%
Vit C = 23%
Calcium = 13%
Iron = 21%
Mushroom Stroganoff
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med onion, sliced
3 cups mushrooms (I like cremini or portobello), cut into chunks
1 tbl + 1 tsp butter
1 tbl flour
5 oz. red wine
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1. Saute the onion in 1 tsp butter until it is translucent. Add the garlic and mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms give up most of their liquid and the onions begin to caramelize. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Melt the tablespoon of butter and add the flour to create a quick roux. Stir constantly until the roux is a deep brown color, be careful that it doesn't burn. Add the vegetable broth slowly, stirring constantly to keep the flour from forming lumps. Add the red wine and the vegetables. Simmer until the sauce is the consistency of gravy. Remove from heat. Stir in the sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serve over egg noodles. Garnish with parsley if you wish.
Nutritional Information (for Mushroom Sauce only, not noodles)*
Calories = 181
Fat = 10.8
Sat. Fat = 6
Cholesterol = 24 mg
Sodium = 183 mg
Carb = 13 g
Fiber = 2.7 g
Sugar = 4.7 g
Protein = 3.5 g
Vit A = 6%
Vit C = 10%
Calcium = 6%
Iron = 10 %
*The nutritional information is from when I entered it on an online program. Since I don't know exactly how it calculates the data, I don't know how trustworthy the nutritional information is, but I guess you could always use it as a general guide.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Blog, Take II
Right. So, as I discovered so easily, being a teacher eats up all of your free time. So the old blog died a slow, horrible death. Now, I have a new job (start date, August 11) and more free time, so it is time to let the Wordpress blog rest in peace and try again over here at Blogger. Except, no pictures at the moment, because I can't find my camera. We moved a week and a half ago, and I haven't gotten to the office yet.
On to crafty things...
I've been working on and off on the Green Gables pattern. It promises to be pretty when it is finished. I like the Breeze yarn I've been working with, it is knitting up nicely.
I've been diligently scouting out items to put in my swap buddy's package. So far I've found some great Malabrigo yarn in a color combination she likes, some 100% wool from an unknown source to be Kool-Aid dyed (it came from my LYS, but the owner wasn't sure which mill it was from), a goofy pen, and a box to put it all in. I'm also going to send some spiced brandied peaches that I canned last September and some hand made stitch markers. I might thrown in some candy and silly putty, because really, who doesn't like silly putty?
On to crafty things...
I've been working on and off on the Green Gables pattern. It promises to be pretty when it is finished. I like the Breeze yarn I've been working with, it is knitting up nicely.
I've been diligently scouting out items to put in my swap buddy's package. So far I've found some great Malabrigo yarn in a color combination she likes, some 100% wool from an unknown source to be Kool-Aid dyed (it came from my LYS, but the owner wasn't sure which mill it was from), a goofy pen, and a box to put it all in. I'm also going to send some spiced brandied peaches that I canned last September and some hand made stitch markers. I might thrown in some candy and silly putty, because really, who doesn't like silly putty?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
