Chocolate Emergency

Last night we had a chocolate emergency at our house. No, the dogs did not get into any, thank goodness, although one time years ago one of our large dogs ate a whole box of Frango mints that was wrapped up under the Christmas tree while we were out. How stupid of me - he was okay but I never did that again. 

You may remember that I have been trying so hard to eat healthy and for the most part that's working. I don't keep ice cream, candy, cookies or cake around unless it's for a special occasion. I just do not have that much will power. I rely on diet chocolate pudding made with skim milk, a tiny handful of chocolate chips or flavored yogurt if I need something sweet. WELL, until yesterday, that is. I discovered a box of Fudge Brownie mix in the pantry as I was rummaging for even just a few chocolate chips left over from the last time my daughter baked cookies for her brother. I was desperate and my chocolate craving would not go away. (FYI - A nutritionist who once worked with me told me that the chocolate craving is related to a magnesium deficiency.)

Aha, I remembered from my old Weight Watcher days that you can make some not-bad brownies from a mix without using the eggs or oil  - replacing them with a container of lowfat vanilla yogurt instead. What luck! I had the lowfat vanilla yogurt in the frig!

I haven't made this recipe for quite awhile. They're not the same consistency as real homemade brownies but they'll do in a pinch. The fun part? You can scrape the bowl and lick the spoon since there are no EGGS in it!

Everyone knows I love plates and bowls and this set of  cute little dessert plates was a gift for my birthday last year.

I treated myself with a pretty plate and some delicioous brownies I did not feel too guilty about. Couldn't stop at one. Low-fat brownies just hit the spot sometimes whether you're having a chocolate emergency or not. You might want to try these someday if the craving calls.

More Quilts in the Garden

It's incredibly hot here in the Chicago area. We lost our internet, phone and cable TV service for a few hours yesterday. I was so worried that the power would go out too and that the heat would be unbearable. I  told my husband if that happens I swear I will go to a hotel - I just cannot take the heat. And I'd bring my dogs with me.

Despite the steamy weather, I went outside this morning for a few minutes to hang some more quilts and take pictures. I always say that the photos in the books do not do my quilts justice. They are so much prettier than they appear in the flat shots. Take a look.

I love this quilt. It's called Crosses Mourning Quilt and is from my second book, Prairie Children and Their Quilts. There's a great story in the book relating to an entry from a young woman's diary that inspired me to make it. Etty Scott wrote about the death of her mother from Cholera on the trail West. They had to leave her and move on but they buried her amidst the hills and "heaped her grave with roses."

Time to get out those books again and make a few of these quilts, huh?

Doll Quilts Around the Garden



Getting Healthy

It's so hard, isn't it? I feel like I've been at a particular disadvantage recently. I've always been interested in nutrition and I usually eat well and make healthy meals but  - here's the thing: I eat too much and I haven't been able to exercise as much as I'd like to. I lost a lot of muscle being in the hospital and after surgery and resting. My knee has been acting up to the point where it became too painful to walk  far and so I went to the Dr and had that taken care of yesterday. Now I need to do some strengthening exercises and take the getting-back-into-shape ordeal a little more slowly. Otherwise, if I overdo it, I am just going back to square one. Big sigh. I just can't seem to get it all together but I'm trying.

I've also been trying to eat a little lighter. It helps that it's warm outside. My husband and I both try to limit our red meat consumption but he likes fish as a replacement and I don't. I prefer chicken or vegetarian meals but that often means pasta or rice which I  should probably avoid more. Which is worse - red meat or too much pasta?? You know what I mean.  I am always cooking vegetarian meals for my daughter anyway so it isn't too hard to make more for me. But two nights ago I made Turkey burgers and created a great recipe you will love. My daughter had a veggie burger instead but I am not fond of those. I've actually never been fond of frozen turkey burgers either  - they always seemed really blah to me. But, using fresh ground turkey instead of frozen turkey patties, and with a couple of small additions and a little work, these were great. Try it!

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers with Vegetables

     1 lb ground turkey

1 egg

dash of salt and/or pepper

1/2 zucchini, grated

1/2 onion, chopped

1 carrot, grated

1/4 cup bread crumbs (or oat bran!)

2  T olive oil

4  T milk

2 T  Teriyaki sauce for mix

2 MORE T of Teriyaki sauce for glaze

1.   Saute zucchini, onion and carrot in oil until soft.
2.   Mix turkey, egg, seasonings, bread crumbs and milk.
3.   Add sauteed vegetables to the turkey mixture.
4.   Add the 2 T of teriyaki sauce and mix well. Form into patties.

Dab a little of the extra teriyaki sauce on top of the patties before cooking. You can bake these on a baking tray in the oven (at 400 degrees I'd guess?), cook in a non-stick skillet or grill them. Grilling is my favorite. Remember to flip them so they get browned on both sides. If you bake in oven, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness, it's poultry so be careful. My son also likes these made with barbeque sauce substituted for the teriyaki sauce.

What's that side you see here that goes along so well with turkey burgers on the grill in summer? My special healthy Spinach and Orzo salad, of course! (Everybody needs some carbs . . . ) Add some fresh strawberries and you've got a complete light healthy meal. You have to admit the burgers and salad look so nice on my new dishes too.

I'm still working on portion control, even if this plate looks pretty full, LOL. I have a wonderful appetite, especially if the food is good and I am a good cook if I say so myself. I now try to drink a full glass of water before I eat, while I'm cooking, and I also started adding a cup of decaf coffee after my dinner for an extra fill-me-up in case I'm still hungry. I'm always hungry lately.

Here's the Spinach Orzo salad recipe:

Spinach Orzo Salad

1/2  pkg of Orzo pasta, cooked

3/4  bag of fresh baby spinach leaves

baby tomatoes, sliced

3 T Olive oil

2 T Balsamic vinegar (or Red wine vinegar

or even Light vinagrette salad dressing)

A dash of garlic powder

salt, pepper to taste

1.   Cook the pasta. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.
2.   Chop the spinach into small pieces, removing stems.
3.   Slice the baby tomatoes.
4.   Place the spinach, pasta and tomatoes into a salad serving bowl. Mix the oil, vinegar (or dressing) and other spices in a separate bowl. Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.

You can also add black olives or Parmesan cheese on top (only one person in my family will eat it that way so I leave it plain). All we had in the house was this Sweet Light Raspberry vinagrette dressing so I added more vingear for a zing.  Lately, my favorite dressing is Paul Newman's Light Balsamic Vinagrette and this is what I usually use if I do not have any good vinegar. I've also been known to substitute chopped red pepper if I do not have tomatoes, which works well too. I love red peppers.

This is a good start for me and hopefully soon I'll be walking a little more now that my knee is slowly healing. If I can learn to push myself away from the table, that is. Sigh. I think I need a personal trainer.

Stitcher's Journal

I bought 2 of these journals last year, gave one to a friend and kept one for myself.  There are pages inside to record your quilt projects, fabrics used, etc.

They have them for sale here on amazon.com.

It's so pretty I had to have it but I wasn't sure exactly how I'd use it. I decided it would be too much work to re-record all of my quilts since most of them are recorded in my books anyway. So I thought I'd just use it as a inspiration journal and post photos of quilts I'd love to make someday.

You remember this quilt I just posted last week or so. Except I want to make a small version of it.

I love baskets and this one has been flitting around in my head ever since I saw it on eBay a few years ago. I have to make it someday. Maybe it will make its way into a book in the future??

Anyway, I like keeping track of projects I want to make someday and putting them on paper in a  book is one of the ways I stay organized. I usually just use spiral notebooks for that. Maybe I should also keep track of my unfinished quilts/tops and have a "reminder" list of the ones I want to finish first.

Having photos of them handy in a book like this should be helpful. I'm not promising anything here but you have to admit it's a good idea. We'll see if it works.

Breakfast Recipe

I'm trying to eat more heathy and always have a hard time coming up with breakfast ideas. Especially FAST ones and I get so tired of cereal or oatmeal. I posted this one on the blog a long time ago but it bears repeating and so here's a a great recipe for a very quick CRISPY BAKED OATMEAL I think you'll love. My kids love when I make my Apple Crisp with oatmeal topping and always ask me to make the crispy topping alone. This recipe is for the oatmeal part only - if you add apples it takes a little longer but if I have time I like it better. This week I added blueberries and fresh strawberries on top with a dollop of vanilla yogurt. Yum. Oats are good for your heart and supposedly help lower your cholesterol.

I make it in the microwave and then put it in the toaster oven to CRISP up.

Here are the approximate directions for one serving. Keep in mind--I'm a quilt designer, not a recipe czar:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup dry oatmeal

dash of salt

1 t  brown sugar

Sprinkle of cinnamon

1 T melted butter or margarine

fruit or yogurt for topping

1.  Mix oatmeal with a dash of salt and about 3 or 4 tablespoons of water to moisten in a microwaveable bowl.

2.  Microwave on high for 1 minute. You don't have to fully cook it. It tastes better if the oats are sort of uncooked and not soggy so that they crunch up nicely.

3.  Pre-heat toaster oven to high or broil. Sprinkle a little cinnamon and brown sugar into half-cooked oatmeal; stir. Place mixture into a greased small, individual size glass baking dish. Drizzle a little melted butter over the oatmeal to get it crispy.

4.  Bake oatmeal on high or broil for 5-6 minutes until crispy. Let it cool and, if you prefer, add a little milk to enjoy your apple crisp topping without the apples. A nice change from soggy oatmeal.

I prefer the apples in mine and have sometimes made the quick version of Apple Crisp this way in the microwave but it still takes a little longer to cook the apples. First, cook the  chopped or sliced apples in a small amount of apple juice or water. You can do this in the microwave. Add the oatmeal on top of the apples and follow the rest of the directions above. You can also sprinkle a low calorie sweetener instead of sugar on top AFTER it's baked if you need to cut out some of the sugar. Or, be creative--sometimes I add raisins or dried cranberries plus walnuts to the oatmeal AFTER I microwave it. And, like I said, it's great warm with fruit or yogurt.

Kitchen Inspiration

My kitchen has been looking blah lately. We remodelled it a few years ago and never quite finished everything either because we became busy, ran out of money or energy and then became busy again.

I have always loved big old houses and farmhouse kitchens but, alas, we had to make do with what we had, i.e., a small house and small kitchen. Other than painting the cabinets and replacing the formica countertops, the old kitchen hadn't been touched since 1961, if you can imagine. The kitchen is small but I wanted a farmhouse look that we could afford and insisted on having an island even though our contractor said it wouldn't work in such a small space. It works just fine and we use it a lot. The room gets a lot of light but we still choose vanilla-colored cabinets to make it look even brighter. I actually love my kitchen despite the size.

The walls are painted that Martha Stewart blue/green.

I've been puttering around a lot, trying to catch up with organizing things at home. I can't remember the last time I cleaned out some of the cabinets. Oh my.  I went to a Home Goods store yesterday looking for a gift. Well, guess what? I came home with some pretty new dishes! My old everyday dishes were looking pretty sad and I've wanted new dishes for a long, long time. I did not want to keep using my other pretty English Garden plates that I bought last year for every day. So, as I told my husband when I got home (Surprise! New dishes!) , we really, really needed them. Right.

I bought this pretty floral china last year but only use them for  special dinners, not for everyday dining. At least not while the kids are still home, LOL.

The colors in the new plates are very similar but they're much more casual. Perfect for every day!

Buying new dishes was just the thing to get me inspired and motivated to clean up the kitchen and possibly think about finishing up some of the things we never finished, sewing some valances for the windows, cleaning those blinds, yuck, organizing the Tupperware, pantry, etc.

The floral pattern is so cute and almost reminds me of applique.

Look, the dishes sort of match my rugs too!

They already match all of my other kitchen accessories so it was destiny - they were just sitting there waiting for me to come along and give them a nice, new home.

It's funny how something like this can really motivate you to clean things up. The kitchen is looking better I think and it makes me feel so good now that it's cleaner and more organized. Can't have pretty new dishes sitting on cluttered counters, LOL. Plus, it looks like they will also inspire me to cook some healthy dinners. Someone asked about recipes in the comments for the last post and I think I will add some of my favorites soon. A bonus to these plates and one good reason I chose them - the center area is smaller than my other ones so perhaps that will help me with portion control as I try to eat healthier and lose a few pounds.

More Inspiration

I'm getting inpsired from all sides. I love to see photos of quilts that quilters make from my designs. Kathie has been working feverishly as usual and although I will never, ever be able to keep up with her, it's fun to see her make some of my quilts that are just a tiny bit different than mine. I have a list of some of her designs I want to make someday too. One of my favorites is in the 2011 American Patchwork & Quilting calendar. I was reminded of this when I saw my friend Julia's Ancient Stars quilt.  I cannot believe that I have never made an Ohio Star quilt. I love this block. Isn't this a beauty??

This calendar is hard to find but there are some great quilts in it. My calendar is still stuck on MAY for some odd reason. I have not changed the page yet, LOL, because it's the first time one of my quilts has been in a calendar and I'm savoring the experience. Who cares if it's July? The picture is fun to look at and when people come over and tell me the calendar is on the wrong page I tell them to look closer. No, it's definitely the right page - I'm showing off!

I will have to change it by Fall though to enjoy Kathie's quilt. There's also a lovely photo of a small quilt made by Ann in the same calendar -

It's similar to that one I want to make that's in the latest Fons & Porter Love of Quilting magazine but Ann used 4-patch blocks in hers. This one is just the right size and design and I think I'll make one like it with pink and indigo, using some of my tiny nine-patches I have stashed away. Here, another one that's going right on the list!

The list is getting long. I got a little bit of quilting done this weekend but not much because we were so busy. But you'll be happy to know that I have finished half of the blocks for my daughter's X quilt. This quilt takes priority and if I'm lucky I can get it done this month and then to the machine quilter in August. Why is it taking me forever?

I have so much catching up to do in other areas of my life, quilting is still taking a back seat for a little while. In addition to honing my Scrabble skills so I can beat my husband the Scrabble Master one day soon (!), I'm also focusing on my health and diet, continuing my walking and trying to get and stay well and feel good. Not making any money this way, LOL, but I'm slowing down, experimenting with some new, healthy recipes, sitting in my back garden in the sun a little every day, reading a bit, listening to the birds. Speaking of which, I'm reading a wonderful novel -

I fell in love with the title and cover right away. Here's an excerpt.

Today my priority is running  a couple of errands - going to Whole Foods for some organic Oat Bran so I can make these muffins. I can start adding a little fiber to my diet now and oat bran seems to be the way to go for me - I tolerate it better than wheat bran and not only will it keep the diverticulitis from coming back but it will help my cholesterol too. One muffin a day. Oh, the fun of getting old . . . .

I'll have to buy some blueberries too and possibly add them someday.