I *heart* slippers!

Since I spend quite a bit of time working/editing around home, I clock in a LOT of quality time in my slippers.

I have strong opinions and preferences about these little gems. I like them to be a ballet slipper sort of thing. And A rubber bottom is key. And the fabric .... has to be nice and soft. I'm particular. I also had a pair I LOVED from Restoration Hardware. Picked them up about 2 years ago. And loved all over them. Then, when it came time to replace them ... the dreaded words "we don't carry those anymore." I cried. Truly.

And so the search was on. I needed a replacement. It reached critical mass when a hole formed in the toe of one of the slippers. yet I still could not part with them. Not without a replacement. Even Erik, bless his heart, tried to get me new slippers for Christmas, but they weren't quite right (way too wide for my feet!). So the search continued.

Fast forward to TODAY. I'm in Kohl's looking for some athletic shorts (side note: WHY are SO MANY women's shorts PINK? Seriously, I'm not 5 years old people. Why pink???).

Walking absently toward the register, I see a big display of slippers .... and light shone from heaven on them.


These aren't the EXACT slippers I got, but they're close. "Dearfoams" slippers. Oh how I love thee! So much that I bought 2 pair (honestly, had there been one more in my size, I might have purchased 3 pairs!). Now I have slippers for now and for when these wear out. CHA-CHING!!! SCORE! :)

Now, I know it's practically SUMMER, so slippers seems silly. But let me tell you. My photo editing station is in the basement and it is COLD in our basement year-round. So slippers are truly an essential part of my attire. And the rubber soles keep my socks from wearing out on the bottom.

My Favorite Things — Steel cut oats w/ frozen blueberries

Since embarking on this sugar and yeast free journey, I've had to make some major changes in my eating habits. I've also added some foods that ... let's face it, I would never have imagined. Steel cut oats is a great example. I'm not a genius about the reasons it's different from regular or old fashioned oats (they're not flat ... that's my only wisdom!).

When I first purchased steel cut oats at the health store, the lady told me you had to cook them for quite a while. "How long?" I asked. "About an hour" was her response. YIKES!!!!! But I've learned if I cook smaller quantities, it doesn't take *quite* that long. But it's no 5-minute oatmeal.

Honestly, I didn't anticipate really liking the stuff. But .... it's SO tasty! It has almost a nutty flavor to it. SO good! It's absolutely worth the wait time to watch it cook.

And when it's done, I toss some frozen blueberries in, mix it up and just gobble up the goodness. Oh, and when we have walnuts in the house, I toss those in, too!

Here's something kind of strange. I'm not really a big fresh blueberry fan. I don't really know why. Maybe because I didn't think they were very sweet? I don't really know. But let me say this: the frozen variety MAKE my steel cut oats amazing!

This food change has certainly been frustrating. Lord knows I've had my meltdown moments. But the last 10 weeks have really challenged me to grow and expand my culinary skills and palate. I would never have guessed how much I enjoy steel cut oats, but I do! I had no real reason to start eating couscous, but now it's our new favorite alternative to rice ...

I suppose it could sound strange, but I'm a bit thankful for these crazy food restrictions. They've forced me to get out of my comfort zone and experience worlds of new things!

My new favorite thing!

My friend suggested I make some puff pastry twists .... and so I finally gave it a try. When I was looking at the back of the box, there were directions about how to make spinach pinwheels.


Ohhhhh yuuuuuummie!!!!

I adjusted the recipe a bit, and opted to use fresh spinach. :)

Ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry (you'll find this in the freezer section, next to the frozen pies)
1 egg
1 T. of water
1/3 c. parmesean cheese
1/3 c. fresh spinach, cut up
1/4 c. green onions ... snipped
garlic salt

Defrost your pastry, roll it out.

In a bowl, mix the egg and water. Then brush it onto the pastry.

Mix cheese, onions and spinach, spread onto the pastry.

Sprinkle LIGHTLY with the garlic salt.

Roll the pastry into a log, cut into about 1/2 inch slices and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Um...yeah, now I think I need to go upstairs and have another one. :)

Interesting!

So, everyone here knows I'm obsessed with reading Better Homes and Gardens, right?

One of their small little blurbs mentioned Thinnerware. My attention was had. Check out how pretty the plates are:


And here's the COOL thing: see those two flowers clustered together in the upper right? That's about the size of a serving of meat. The big flower on the bottom right-ish? That's 1/2 cup of food.


The lowest ring in this bowl? 1/2 a cup (so you can easily estimate your cereal!). The second ring? 1 cup. The third ring? 1.5 cups.


And check out this cool, curvy plate. I think I like it best, but it's not available until (hopefully) next year.

I don't particularly count my servings, but I have to admit, this is a clever way to do so. I *might actually* pay better attention to serving size instead of telling myself that 1/2 of a plate of brown rice is one serving. ;)

My favorite things ...

Oh goodness ... I picked up a few bags of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate just to check them out.

Ummmmmmmm .... yummmmmmmmie :)

The raspberry ones are UH-MAAAAZING!


I also got chocolate ones. They weren't as fantastic as the raspberry ones, but still awfully good.

My Favorite Things — Wanchai Chinese Food

I love, love, love Chinese food. Well, the Americanized stuff.

A few months ago, there was a coupon for $1 off and so I picked it up ... and I totally still do. But luckily for me there are still coupons from time to time ...

This stuff makes a FANTASTIC quick and easy meal. :) Oh, but you gotta provide your own chicken. Poultry not included.

Admittedly, I'm stuck on their sweet and sour chicken. But today, I grabbed the cashew chicken. AND on the box it suggested throwing veggies in. So I rummaged through the freezer and found a bag of garden veggies, which I threw in. YUMMIE!!!!!

I don't do this from a box dinner ALL the time, generally just in a pinch .... but this makes it sort of special. Yeah, I'm busy, but it's a special treat.

In other news, I'm still working on the photos from last week. And LOVING them. :) Still can't share here ... SORRY! It's NOT easy to keep these under wraps!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll find some time to do a bunch of blog posts. :)