Creative Goth

2016-08-25T10:33:00.001-04:00

Best Low Carb Burger EVER!

So one day, hubby wanted to make burgers. He knows quite a bit about carbs now, since my diabetes diagnosis, and since my attempts to cut carbs from my diet. So he knows breadcrumbs are a no-no for me. So he made my burgers without breadcrumbs that night. They were delicious, so I didn't miss the taste of the breadcrumbs, but burgers were a bit dense :) The good thing is that, since then, I realized you don't really need crumbs to make a beef patty that will hold together, so I started playing around a bit when I made burgers and meatballs.

One of the things you read most about is using grated Parmesan instead of flour or breadcrumbs in recipes, so I always use them with anything made with ground meat. This particular day I added the Parmesan, added 1 egg, and things got a bit too sloppy :) I didn't have any more Parmesan left, so I reached for the coconut flour. Hubby doesn't like coconut taste so I crossed my fingers that this wouldn't ruin all the meat for him.
Well. I have to say these were by far the nicest, most juicy and delicious burgers I've made so far, and hubby loved them, and didn't taste any coconut in them at all! Plus, home-made burgers are super easy and you can make them as big as you want, and play around with them :D These were stuffed with cheddar, and topped with cream cheese, Garlic Piri Piri sauce, and hot peppers :D Then served with a lettuce wrap, accompanied by a True Black Brandywine Heirloom tomato picked fresh from my garden :D Hubby had his without the hot peppers, and on a bun :P

Gio's Low Carb Burger

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef
1 large egg
1.5 Tbsp coconut flour
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan (I use Selections 100% Parmesan).
1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
Herbs and spices to taste (I used 2 pinches of Italian seasoning herb mix, 1/4 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/8 tsp ground allspice, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder).
4 oz of cheddar (I used four 30g string cheese sticks).

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a bowl.
Mix with your hands until well combined.
Cut cheese or cheese sticks into pieces.
Divide meat into 4 equal portions.
Make an indentation in the center of each meat portion, and place the cheese in the center, wrap with the meat to encase the cheese, the form into a patty.
Pan fry the burgers over medium heat until done (Sorry I didn't time them).
Serve any way you like :D

I served mine with 2 leaves of romaine to wrap, along with a big slice of tomato, topped with cream cheese, Garlic Piri Pifi sauce, and a few rings of pickled hot pepper :D
The salad is lettuce and pieces of the same tomato, drizzled with a little bit of Bacon Cesar dressing :D
If I were to make these as a regular burger, but with only 1/2 a cup of breadcrumbs, they would be 9.1 carbs, plus the bun. The calculation for my particular ingredients for the recipe above, makes each of these quarter-pound burgers only 1.2 NET carbs each, plus sauces, and vegetables, and dressing, or whatever else you want to have with them :D

LCHF Lifestyle basics.

2015-10-09T23:24:00.001-04:00

Something that I think might help people understand the LCHF lifestyle....

This was shared in one of the Facebook groups I belong to, dedicated to helping and supporting people that are following the LCHF lifestyle.

I have been asked about this, I have tried to explain it, but I think there are some ideas that we have been hearing for so long that we refuse to listen to anything else. Like how "whole grains" are somehow better than "regular grains", and how oatmeal is healthy, and how eating eggs gives you high cholesterol and heart disease. But I will eave it there.

Meet the Dolls!

2015-01-14T00:55:00.000-05:00

Claire Elizabeth
Company: Iplehouse
Type and Sculpt: YID Iris
Resin: NS
Arrival date: 2010

Virtual Sewing meets!

2011-11-28T23:26:00.000-05:00

Hello!!! I am glad you decided to follow my link :)

I wanted to post this just in case new people might want to join us in the future, so here is the info :D

The Virtual Sewing Meet is a chat room where we can all get together and do creative doll stuff. It's not just about sewing :) Some people do other doll crafts, some do faceups, sculpting, restringing, cleaning, wig styling, doll styling, some take pictures, etc. Anything related to BJD dolls.

We do encourage doll-related crafting, but we've had people do other crafts to catch up with deadlines, like crocheting a baby blanket for a shower, or prepare invitations for a wedding, I think someone made something for their dog once... :) so if you have something else to do sometimes that is not doll related, I am sure we can manage every so often :D

If you are interested in joining us, we are a pretty friendly and helpful bunch, so feel free to drop by and chat with us :)
We are usually on webcam, but that is NOT necessary, I just personally thing it's more fun if people can see what I'm doing :D But that is up to each person :)

The link to the chat room is: www.tinychat.com/bjdinternational
The chat room password is: bjdint

If I am logged in, my name probably has Gio somewhere :) like giodrakes, or giolaptop. If not, I can be bjdinternational as well :)
I have two moderators as well. They are both very knowledgeable and quite crafty so if you have questions or need help, you can talk to a88_angel, or sarcasticcinders.

Some people log in from different time zones, so feel free to check. When I'm crafting, I log in even if no one is there that way if someone logs in, there is someone to keep you company while you craft :)
So feel free to hand in the room while you work, even if no one logs in. Someone might :)

Most of the time there is someone in on weekend mornings/early afternoons. I usually have classes all day Saturday and/or Sunday, and I work full time overnight, and can't log in from work anymore, so that has limited me logging in, and I apologize for that.

If there are any updates I will be posting them here. In the meantime, remember, you are a crafter, and an artist, and you have taste, so keep at it :) Never give up :)

BENTO!!! The Beginning...

2011-04-23T06:05:00.000-04:00

So I've been looking at Bento boxes online. I can't remember how that came up in my search, or how I decided to start reading about Bento, and looking at Bento boxes, etc, but I am very intrigued by the variety, and how colourful they are, and healthy. Can't help to notice that most of them are based on sushi rice as the starch. I also saw a few with cold, drained ramen, and sometimes the odd Sandwich Bento. So I have decided to give this a try.
I don't own any "proper" bento boxes, so I've been using plastic and glass containers to pack lunch for the man. I have gone back to "regular meals" lately, but I am very much looking forward to continuing the bento boxes in the future. Here are some examples of some of the ones I made.

First off, we have fried pork, Japanese style, plain Onigiri with little nori hearts :D apple slices, and vegetable tempura :oD

Next, we have beef, cucumber and carrot maki roll (he doesn't like raw fish that much), with little ground pork balls, plain Onigiri with toasted sesame seed furikake and fresh strawberries.

I am so looking forward to experimenting with bento lunches again.

New Dresses and things :o)

2010-08-15T13:36:00.047-04:00

Have made a few things since I was here last. Claire also got her new wig from Monique Trading Corp., style called "Pretty Girl" in Carrot Red, size 8-9 and she looks fantastic! You can see the difference in the quality of the hair from the blond to the red.

Pink spring dress with shrilled top. The Red Poppy dress was interesting and a lot of work! And the polka-dot top served well to make a pattern for tops, alone and as part of dresses. Most of my items are available in My Etsy Store.

The Grape dress is going to be sent as a present to my friend in Kansas, along with one or two more things that I'm working on. The Orange Sorbet dress was inspired on someone's doll on DoA. I saw her, and the design just came up so I sketched it... and later on I thought, why not, and made it, with a longer skirt than I originally designed :o)

The Blue Marilyn dress comes with a white petticoat, edged with lace, and tied around the waist with white ribbon. I didn't intend to wear the boots with this dress, BUT I didn't like quite how the picture came up without shoes. Better boots than nothing.

More Sewing...

2010-05-07T19:04:00.025-04:00

Found another dress pattern online and made this dress...

The dress looks good on my wine bottle model Spinelly, but I really wish she had legs to show it off properly. Can't wait to see it on an actual doll :D

The first picture is the dress from the front. It's strapless, and about knee length. Now keep in mind these dolls are not quite as unrealistic as "Little Barbara" and all (you KNOW who I'm talking about), but they are still not the average girl. They have really lean bodies, with really long legs, that show off the short dresses and big boots really well.

Now the second picture is the back view of the dress, and as you can see, it has metal eyelets and it's laced with ribbon :o)

I am really happy with how this dress turned out, considering it was my first attempt at the pattern, and my first attempt at drafting a simple pattern with just the measurements of the doll.

Which reminds me, I should get a shipping notice for my doll somewhere between the 14th and the 21st of May!!!! So another 6-13 days approximately!!! Ohmygawd! I can't wait :o) I don't even have a name for her yet. I should take a poll on Facebook or something :oD

Sewing and Crafts....

2010-05-07T18:39:00.023-04:00

Ok so it's been a little while again. I've been busy though!
Lets see. I've listed a lot of stuff on my Etsy since last time I was here. I've also been working on some patterns and things.

Things all started with this bustier. I love that fabric, but for some reason no one knows the name of it or who makes it :o) If you do, PLEASE email me and tell me :o) PLEASE :o) I'm begging :o)
Anyway, I love the shape of the bustier, and my Metallica Needle did a great job adding detail with that double stitching... and yes... the needle IS called a Metallica needle. That's the name of it lol If you don't believe me I could post a picture sometime lol

Ok now keep in mind both of my digital cameras have been acting up lately, and I don't have the means to buy my Cannon DSLR at this time :o) so I have to work with what I have.

Now having said that, here's a picture of the bustier, along with matching BLACK skirt (not green), being modeled on Spinelli, my faithful model (a bottle of wine I got for my birthday, which is now empty, and very useful!).

As you can see, I put metal eyelets on the bustier, and laced it with burgundy ribbon. I quite like it. And the shape is amazing. I can only hope it fits the doll cause I love these little bustiers.

Last night's dinner: Taco Pie.

2010-04-18T17:02:00.012-04:00

Yummy! This is Taco Pie - or it is Mexican Lasagna???
I had to figure out how to make this at the Man's suggestion. He said he had it before and was craving it. I have never even seen a Taco pie, let alone make one. I looked into it though, as usual, and figured out it's pretty easy AND looks like a lot of fun, too.
First time I made it, I was so excited that it turned out so well and so tasty, that I forgot to take pictures. So this time I made sure I remembered to take some!

The second time around this was a lot easier to make and a lot quicker. Firs time I only used ground beef, and I sliced the olives, and also put some jalapeño rings in between the layers, but used no chipotle spice on the pie itself. This time I omitted the jalapeños altogether, and layered the chipotle spice all over :o)
This time also instead of using oregano and spices separately, I used an envelope of Taco seasoning spice. I was in a hurry to get this in the oven, and not in the mood to taste 27 times :o)

This pie by itself like we had it last night can serve 6-8 people! It's very filling and very tasty :o) We only accompanied it with a chipotle sour cream salsa, made by "The Saucerer"... oooh. My Man is magical when it comes to making any kind of sauce :o)

TACO PIE
My Ingredients:
* 1 pack extra lean ground beef (about 1 lb)
* 1 pack chorizo sausage (5 in the pack I got)
* 4 tbsp oil
* A pinch of salt
* 1 envelope Taco seasoning
* 1 can black beans
* Chipotle spice
* 1 big jar of Salsa
* 1 pack of 10 large tortillas
* 1 jar of stuffed olives
* 1/2 block of cheddar cheese
* Sour cream

How I did it:
I took the sausage meat out of the casings, mixed it with the beef, and started browning in a pan with 2 tbsp of oil.
I added a pinch of salt and the envelope of taco seasoning, and stirred.
When meat was almost cooked (there was still a little pink showing in some places) I added the can of black beans, and stirred again.
Simmered uncovered till heated through, and meat was done.
Turned off the burner, added a generous sprinkle of chipotle spice, stirred, and set aside.

The bottom of my cast iron pan is the perfect size. It's maybe 1 cm bigger around than a large tortilla, so it's perfect to bake this in!
I lightly greased the pan with 1-2 tbsp oil and put a tortilla down. On top of it I layered beef, then salsa, then whole olives, then shredded cheddar.
Put another tortilla on that, and did the layers in that order all over again, till I ran out of beef.

I finished my pie with a tortilla, covered in shredded cheddar with a light sprinkle of chipotle on top.

I then placed the whole cat iron pan uncovered in a preheated oven at 350F until the cheese melted and started to turn colour, and the parts of the tortilla at the top that are not covered in cheese start to get crispy and brown, between 15 and 30 minutes.

Notes:
I prefer chorizo sausage, which is not real chorizo! it's a sausage like hot Italian, mild Italian, etc.
I used extra lean beef and sausages, so I didn't have to drain the fat out of my pan, because there wasn't any! If you use anything other than extra lean meats, drain the fat out of the pan BEFORE adding the seasonings.

We had this by itself, topped with a sauce made by mixing salsa and chipotle spice into sour cream. Delish :o) I use regular -not fat free- sour cream. I don't have it often enough, and when I do, I like to enjoy it :o) My man makes the best sauces, for anything and everything, and this time was not an exception :o)

I would have loved a salad on the side with this, just because I love my greens, but the lettuce and spinach at the grocery store didn't look very healthy this week, so I didn't bother to buy any.

Dollhouse research.

2010-04-05T02:26:00.016-04:00

So I read somewhere that that regular 1:12 or half scale fits PukiPukis perfectly.

Check out Elf Miniatures for AMAZING modern dollhouse furniture and custom work! I was totally impressed. But when I order some of their stuff, I will tell you more :o)

Now here are some choices for dollhouses which I have been looking at. This is going to be the house for my tiny BJD dolls when I get them. I am hoping to get the house first, and the dollies after :o) Not quite sure which one to choose yet. First is the Victorian dollhouse. Click on the first picture to go to the German Website where this house is available for sale. Click on the second image to go to Linda Gavin's Flickr Photostream to see what she did with it!!!

This one is called Cumberland Castle. It is for sale HERE, and there is a free plan for a similar dollhouse castle HERE.

This one is an English style dollhouse, with a basement. Too cool :o) Click either picture to go to the website.

And the one I like the most so far... East Side Townhouse :o) This house is available in Toronto! At the Little Dollhouse Company, at Mount Pleasant and Eglinton :o) And it is made by my favourite dollhouse kit manufacturer, Real Good Toys!

Two other possibilities, speaking of the Little Dollhouse Company and also made by Real Good Toys are the Princess Anne, and the Country Victorian :D

Now I just have to pick one, and figure out how I'm going to get it :D hehehe

ABJD Dolls Part 2

2010-04-03T22:02:00.012-04:00

These are PukiPuki dolls. I like a few of these, but thinking one boy and one girl will be cute to have :o) I have patterns, and am wondering how it's going to be to sew so small, since that is what I didn't want in the first place, BUT their clothes are also a lot easier in shape than most, and they have quite the baby-round little bodies, with no sharp turns :o)

All Pukies can be found at FairyLan d :o)

The first picture here in the white will be the girl. This is Puki Pipi, and she is around 11 cm tall. I am not getting her with this dress or wig, but I just LOVE that face! I would like to keep her blond or at least with light hair, and blue eyes. The little warrior there is Puki Piki, and of course, that is going to be the boy. The full package is not available anymore, so I have no way of getting the little outfit :o( but I am still going to get him with the curly light brown hair, cause that is just too cute.

ABJD Dolls ~EDITED~

2010-04-03T20:52:00.015-04:00

So I discovered these "Asian Ball Jointed Dolls"a few months ago, and I have to say I find them irresistible :o) I was thinking of buying a Barbie, because I wanted an adult-shaped doll to sew clothes for, but Barbie is just too small of a scale for what I want to do. You can't do a lot of detail in that size, not to mention that Barbie's body has a few too many sharp angles for most beginners to fit clothes to properly.

I was looking at some pictures online that this girl I know had posted recently, and ended up looking at pictures of her BJD's. I had never seen these type of dolls before, and they were cute, so I asked her about it. And lo and behold, there is this whole world of dolls out there, anywhere between 4 inches tall up to 31.5 inches tall! I put a couple of info links at the end of this post.

So I totally fell in love with Iplehouse dolls :)
First I was looking at the J.I.D. or Junior Iplehouse Doll(s), but had such a hard time choosing between "I" and "Tania", that I ended up not choosing either one.
I went looking around, and found something in the Y.I.D category, or Young Iplehouse Doll.

This is "Iris" :o)

These are her specs:

* Tall: 59cm
* Circumference of neck: 8.7cm
* Circumference of chest: 24.2cm
* Width of shoulders: 11cm
* Length from shoulder to wrist: 18cm
* Circumference of wrist: 5.5cm
* Length of back: 10cm
* Circumference of waist: 17cm
* Circumference of hips: 25cm
* Length from hips to ankle: 31cm
* From waist to tiptoe: 37cm
* Foot size: 6.8cm
* Eyes: 16mm

And apparently she comes with heel feet as an extra part, and includes a carrying bag and cotton coverlet, too.

I got her with the same light blond wig she has in this picture, because it is one of my favourites, BUT she can look good with pretty much any hair colour out there.
So I am going to get her also a chocolate brown wig, and a bright orange one.

I hear Iplehouse has a great reputation, for a high quality, great looking product, and excellent customer service. I will let you know as I gain more experience :o) But this is going to be my first doll! I am so excited. I am expecting her to arrive sometime around the end of May, 2010.

Iris is in the standard SD, 60cm-range doll. I am not sure what her aproximate age woudl be as per the company/sculptor/etc, but I think she can pull off maybe from 16 to 25 probably.

For basic info about these dolls, see "What the heck is a ball-joint doll?".
I think the nicest dolls are here http://www.iplehouse.net/
For clothes and things I recommend http://www.dollmore.net/ , they also make the Lusions Dahlia, which is the size of a real kid!
More links to come. There are so many!!!

Not a hell of a lot...

2010-02-17T01:41:00.001-05:00

Life has been a bit disorganized lately. We were helping out a friend, so he was staying here, and things got a bit displaced and misplaced. Now that we have all our space back, I am hoping to get organized again, and start taking more pictures. I have missed some good shots of some great meals, and the puppy. This past weekend I made my first Taco Pie. Some call it Mexican Lasagna I guess. Brown seasoned beef and cheese layered between tortillas, with salsa, and then baked, served with sour cream, olives and jalapenos on top. It was AMAZING, and so easy and quick to make it's ridiculous.
So now that I have my space back, I am hoping to put together my crafts/sewing room again, and start working on my quilts and my miniatures. I miss doing that stuff. Not to mention that I would like to put the dining room together someday :o) I first need to clear the computer and the sewing stuff out of it :o) hehe
Well. On to bed for now, to dream about all the plans for the near future :o)

Sunday nap.

2009-12-27T18:24:00.003-05:00

Too precious. I had to post it :o)

Weekend of December 19th and 20th.

2009-12-22T01:34:00.004-05:00

Nice relaxing weekend for a change. Got a little bit of quilt basting done. I pieced this one by hand and thinking about doing some hand quilting on it, and and tying with yarn at each corner of the blocks. I will take more pictures as I go along. Will have the quilt in the frame in no time! Binding is going to be light green, and I am giving it away as a present. I made this one for myself, because I liked the pattern so much, and it proved very easy to hand-piece, too.

One of my quilting teachers, Leslie, designed it and picked the fabrics for it. Check out my favourite quilt store, Leslie and Adele's The Quilter's Palette. They are amazing, and a very helpful bunch up there, and very happy and willing to help even the most confused noob!

We also got some cuddling done this weekend as you can see in this very adorable picture of the man hanging out with one of the "boys".

Tyler is an adorable pup. He will be 6 months old on December 25th! So he's getting to be a big boy, and we love him :o) Those adorable brown eyes just melt my heart :o) Lately he has a thing for laying on the couch, and I have to say we have "lost" him a couple of times, to then realize he is laying on the black leather couch and we just didn't notice cause he blends into the leather so well :o)

Our House.

2009-12-20T14:49:00.002-05:00

I haven't been very creative lately. The stresses of everyday life have been getting to me a bit too much. But I am hoping that will start to change in the near future. In the meantime, this is a picture of our house in the summer of 2009, a couple of months after we got it.

I am planning on putting a fence to separate the lawn from the neighbors, and edging the grass down the driveway from the entrance to not only widen the driveway, but also to make it neater.

I am also planning on fencing the side to the right. The basement apartment door is on the side, and I have a small fenced in back yard, but I think bringing the back fence up to almost the front door level will not only give us more privacy back there, but it will also give me a lot more room to play with at the back, and we will be able to let the dog out to frolic back there off-leash :o)

There is a LOT to do inside and out, and we will get it all done eventually I'm sure. But right now it just seems a bit daunting when I look at the list of all the things I want to do and renovate in here. As things get done slowly, but surely, I will post more pictures. In the meantime, I just love this picture of our house :o)

Moroccan Peanut Chicken Soup.

2009-12-15T00:27:00.002-05:00

One of my favourite things to make! It's simple but so tasty! I make a regular chicken soup by boiling chicken, stock mix and a couple of bay leaves in lots of water. Add a couple of ribs of celery chopped, a couple of carrots sliced and any other herbs/spices you like (I like thyme and oregano and sometimes parsley).

To this I add some tomatoes, diced, or canned stewed tomatoes, and any other vegetables that you like. In this case I added some cauliflower I had.

When the potatoes and other veggies are almost done, I add 1/2 to 1 cup of crunchy peanut butter. Always taste!

I have done this with regular peanut butter, smooth and crunchy, but find the crunchy gives better texture, and then I started using organic natural crunchy peanut butter and got a better result: A less salty and more flavourful broth :o)

Feel free to experiment with Frank's hot sauces, I've tried fresh ground pepper, too. Very tasty :o)

Kitty Picture :D

2009-12-13T00:25:00.008-05:00

Here is one sleepy kitty to get it all started :o)

The Man took this picture of Sam laying in bed. He's my little old man, and the grumpy butt and I love him :D

He usually has more respect and consideration with me than with anyone else (including The Man), but he has undoubtedly been known to get cheeky with me once in a while :D
Like the day I was sitting in bed, playing with him, and bugging him.
He wouldn't dare try to bite me right to my face, so he waited until I wasn't paying attention to him anymore, and he jumped at me, bit my bum, and RAN like hell :D
lol We still laugh at that :D
His birthday is December 29th, and he was born in 2001. I've had him since he was 5 weeks old, and he has always been with me, one way or another. He exasperates me sometimes, but I do love him.