Simple Pleasures

Chem trails

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 20 May 2024 00:21:00 +0000

In Florida this spring the skies were covered with trails criss crossing the skies. At one pount we suddenly see a rainbow splat just in the white area of one trail. Not across the blue and whitw of tge sky like a typical rainblow. Just a multicolored SPLAT. My thoughts this was tge sun reflecting in the metals released in the chemtrails.

Then about a week ago, I observed a plane flying in an upward trajectory. Leaving no trail. Then suddenly it started leaving short dashes of trail then no trail . It did this for about 4 dashes. Then just as suddenly the trail was no longer being left. Those in control will tell us its just contails. But there is no way the plane was turned off and on to leave dashes. I would guess this was where the plane was running out of whatever tgey were spraying.

Solar Storm?

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 13 May 2024 11:23:00 +0000

Friday, and Saturday people were seeing What appears to be northern lights/ aurora. We were told this was due to solar flares. I am not so sure. But on Saturday evening before dark, The sky lit up here, in a very unusual display here. Still daylight though. Northern lights appear at dark. After dark, the sky was black. I could see unusual colors in the sky when i took a picture with my phone camera then looked at it. Nothing spectacular though, and the sky looked black with the naked eye. Here is my daylight pic....

Strawberry Tower

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 14 Apr 2024 20:02:00 +0000

Strawberry Tower

This weekend, my husband built a beautiful Strawberry Tower. It is 4 ft wide at widest point, and 5.6 ft tall. We got it into my bed moments ago, and got it filled. My adult so was kind enough to use his tractor and fill our trailer with about 6 buckets full.

Now we have to let the dirt settle for a couple days, just in case it needs more dirt after packing in. Then we will plant out my 40 strawberry plants and a few flowers. The strawberries are Ozark Beauty. June bearing plants.

Vegan Roasted "Bacon" Flavored Chickpea Croutons

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sat, 23 Sep 2017 01:15:00 +0000

I have been trying to seriously up my greens in my diet. One way I have found to help is by eating packaged broccoli slaw as a salad. I have gotten addicted to this stuff. Breakfast, lunch and snack. I also love to add an oil free dressing.
I looked for over a year for a suitable oil free dressing. Everything I tried just wasnt good. It was too thin, no body, or just missing flavor. Then I stumbled upon Bryanna's Oil Free Poppyseed dressing HERE. I opted for her cannelini bean sub for tofu and the maple syrup. I make this dressing by the quart jar. Yes it is that good.
Now for the Vegan Roasted "bacon " Flavored Chickpea Croutons. Boy do these pack a flavor crunch and hint at the bacon flavor I remember. They also have the texture of bacon in my opinion. Kinda crunchy, kinda chewy. I often just grab a hand full and eat them that way.

print recipe

Vegan Roasted "Bacon" Flavored Chickpea Croutons

by Tammy Travis September-22-2017

Ingredients

1 can Chickpeas drained and rinsed
2 TB Soy Sauce or Braggs Aminos
1 tsp Liquid Smoke
2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
a pinch Smoked Paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 2. Drain and Rinse beans 3, Combine remaining ingredients in a shallow bowl or baking dish. Add beans and arrange so beans are in single layer as much as possible. 4. Marinate for 4 hours in the fridge. 5. There will be liquid left so pour everything into a non stick skillet on medium heat and cook stirring frequently until all liquid absorbed.6. Pour beans onto a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Until beans are crunchy, chewy, and slightly browned.After they cool, store them in a covered container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Total time: 25 mins Yield: 1.5 cups
UPDATE: I no longer marinate. Takes too much time and flavor is just as intense to just dump everything in skillet, stirring occasionally until liquid becomes thick and sticks to beans ( no longer floating in skillet). I also now use about scant 1/2 tsp smoked paprika).

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Fri, 04 Nov 2016 01:09:00 +0000

My nephew is expecting his first child soon. A little girl. We all know how the thought of a new baby, especially a girl, can get our creative juices flowing. I created this little set for the coming baby by throwing together a couple of patterns. These are size 0 to 6 month size. Baby stuff comes together so quickly. I got the complete set done this morning. My 28 yo old daughter said... "cute"..."not my taste, but cute". lol. Just wait till she is expecting. She will be overflowing with these little things out of spite,lol. That will teach her.

I used the hat pattern from this site: HAT

For the pretty little flower and the shoes I used the pattern from here: SHOES
I very seldom follow a pattern. I prefer to wing it and create my own on the fly. But this time, I wanted something quick that I didn't have to think about,lol. The designers of these patterns did a great job. They were very easy to follow.

For the little shoes, I also crocheted little leaves and attached them under the edge of the flower. I also crocheted a chain of 100 stitches then folded it in half. I pulled the center fold thru center of the back of heel about 1/2" then pulled the ends back thru that loop and snugged it down. Now mom can tie this around in front of ankle to help hold them on. You could also use ribbon if you like.

That little hat looks so tiny on my hand.

All Natural, Effective Deodorant/Anti-Perspirant...Plus It's Cheap!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 19:45:00 +0000

For years I have thought about what I had been reading about the aluminum in anti-perspirants being strongly linked to Alzheimers and breast cancer. According to one article I read it stated most breast cancer tumors are found near the outer section of the breasts near the arm pits. However, have never been able to find anything I liked that didnt have aluminum that worked. The aluminum is what the deodorants use to keep you dry.
However, recently I got a stronger nudge to find something safe. My sister in law was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and just completed a round of chemo, and lost all her hair. Now she is beginning to embark on a series of radiation treatments. I really feel for this woman going through this, but she has held strong, and tackling this head on.
With this new diagnosis in mind, I started my research again. I was on the edge of ordering one brand when I saw a post on a blog about her homemade deodorant and follow-up comments about how others were having reactions to the baking soda that was used to keep a person dry. After I delved into this further I found even more people commenting about the baking soda causing rashes and skin irritation. The skin under your arms is rather delicate after all. I guess the baking soda can be a little abrasive. I was getting ready to add that all natural deodorant to my shopping cart then decided I better hold off a little longer.
So back to the drawing board again. After doing many Google searches on natural deodorant recipes I stumbled upon someone promoting Milk Of Magnesia as a deodorant-anti-perspirant. Supposedly it was pretty effective. So I decided to give it a try. I poured a nickle size amount onto the tip of my fingers on one hand and shared this amount on the fingertips of the other hand. I then smeared this around on my armpits. It doesnt take long to dry. Low and behold....It worked. I have even tested it in the gym. I have no underarm wetness and no odor. I always shower at night before bed and apply it then. By the time I get lotion on, etc its dry. i dont re-apply the next day but you certainly can. I have been testing this for a month now and I am very happy with it. It's even summer time too.

Its just magnesium which is good for you. Some are even deficient in this mineral. You will need to buy the off brand however. The name brand has added sodium hypochorite which is just a bleach agent that is added. It will be listed under the "inactive ingredients" list on the back of the label. My Kroger brand didnt have this. Just the magnesium.

I beleive the Kroger brand was around a dollar. Others have found brands without bleach at the Dollar Store, or Dollar General.

Give it a try, you have almost nothing to lose and a more healthier disease resistant body to gain.

UPDATE: I have recently started adding a few drops lavender essential oil for fragrance and I mix about 1 Tb coconut oil, melted into about 1/2 cup of M.O.M. The oil gives it a nice thicker body, and a wonderful silky feel.

New Baby and Ninja Turtle Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 17 Jul 2016 19:16:00 +0000

We have a new baby in the family. My niece just had a beautiful little baby boy. The are Ninja Turtle fans and requested a quilt. I usually prefer soft colors for new babies but nija's just dont come in baby blue,lol. I also used a store bought receiving blanket and monogrammed it and mde a matching burp cloth.

I also surprised mom and dad with a banner with baby info recorded o it in embroidery. I also added the turtle .

I hung the banner on a dowel and added some ribbon. All ready for the nursery wall.

Seasoning Cast Iron Skillets....The Right Way

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Thu, 19 May 2016 01:31:00 +0000

I have been married for 38 yrs. I bought a set of cast irons pans during the first year of my marriage from walmart. I have used them a few times over the years, but I really didnt like them. My son liked to make deep dish pizza in it occasionally. I had problem with them sticking even tho I seasoned them several times. Well to be honest I did what I thought was seasoning I used them. I would use, wash with soap and water, then dry over heat on the stove just until fully dry, then rub a light coat of oil on them.

What freaked me out was that EVERY time I wiped them with an oiled rag, my rag always came back black as coal. No matter how many times I rubbed it down. I couldnt stand the idea of this getting into my food. Plus, it still stuck unless I cooked with oil in it.

Well recently, I read another method to season. I decided to give it a try. I didnt have any thing to lose. This method is as follows:

1. Wash pan well. I even used a scrubbing pad. A Brillo pad. I scrubbed till it felt good and smooth on the bottom. Then rinsed well.

2. Dry with a towel.

3. I rubbed each skillet with crisco shortening and a rag. Inside and out. I read you could also use coconut oil.

4. Place upside down in oven with aluminum foil on the rack under them.

5. Turn oven onto 350 degrees. Heat for an hour. then allow to cool down.

6. Repeat steps 3-5 two more times. for a total of 3 times in the oven.

I couldnt believe how shiny and smooth my pans came out. Even better than when I purchased them.

Plus they passed the rag test. I rubbed them with a towel and the towel comes back clean. Absolutely no black.

Just look at that shine!

I understand they recommend only washing with water and no soap. Some people say they use soap. But either way, do not let them air dry. dry on a hot burner then put away when cooled.

Homemade Kombucha and Growing Your Own Scoby

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Fri, 13 May 2016 17:52:00 +0000

If you have never tried Kombucha you are in for a treat. Its full of healthy probiotics for your digestive system. It is fizzy and makes a wonderful sub for sodas. My daughter talked me into trying it the first time after she bought it in Walmart. She became excited when she read on the label it was Raw and Organic. This was GT Synergy Kombucha in a few different flavors. I have tried to reserve it for when I am out running around shopping as it is kind of expensive. It runs just a little over $3 a bottle.

This is what it looks like. In my walmart it is found near the mushrooms, tofu etc.

It is a fermented tea that has been around for over 2000 years.There are many health benefits touted for kombucha. From inproved digestion, weight loss, strengthens immunity, fighting yeast overgrowth, liver detox, and aides prevention and treatment of arthritis. There is lots of information out there. I have very limited experience with it, and have not drank it regularly. However, i have noticed it helps to settle my tummy and helps cravings. Plus, its just a good tasty drink.

You must have a scoby or "Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast". This is called the "mother" because as it ages it produces "babies" to make more or give away.

In this Qourt jar I am growing my first scoby using GT Synergy Kombucha. See the light colored ring around the top of the liquid? I have read many comments online that said you have to use unflavored Kombucha to grow your own, plus others that say the new version of GT's can no longer be used because of a new formula. I am here to debunk both of these.

I started by sterilizing my quart jar in boiling water and setting it aside to cool. In a pot, I placed 4 tea bags (3 green tea, and 1 black), and 2 cups water. You can not use tap water if your have city water since it is chlorinated and this will kill the good bacteria. I have well water without added chlorine etc so I used my tap. Otherwise use bottle water. I bring this to a boil then turn it off. i added 1/3 cup sugar and stirred then let it steep for couple of hours. I also understand you can NOT use decaffinated tea. The scoby uses the caffiene and sugar to grow. so that in the end of the process there is very little if any of the two remaining in your finished kombucha. After steeping I removed the tea bags and let the tea finish cooling. It has to cool completely before adding your store bought kombucha. The heat will kill the good bacteria. I poured out all but the last 1/4th or so of two bottles of kombucha leaving the stringy stuff in the bottom. I have read where others use one bottle, but I had it so i used two. Do not drink the excess out of the bottles, pour them in a drinking glass. You dont want to contaminate your tea from bacteria from your mouth. Pour the remainder of the kombucha that you saved into your quart jar with your tea. Cover this with a towel and rubber band to hold it on. Depending on how warm your house it, it may take 2 weeks or more to grow your scoby. i left mine two weeks. I probably should have left it another week however, cause my scoby was a little thin. I am inpatient so I hope its thick enough. I read it should be 1/4" thick. Mine was about 1/2 that.

Here is my scoby when I pulled it out of my quart jar. Be sure and use clean washed hands before handling. It is kind or rubbery feeling. Do not use any metal with your scoby.

When your scoby has grown, now you can start to brew your kombucha. I already had bags of green tea and a box of organic tea blends. I decided to get creative with my first batch and mix these. I used 10 total tea bags and an old 1 gallon pickle jar I had gotten from a deli once for free. Wash

your jar, rinse it thoroughly and I also sterilized it in some boiling water. I then boiled about a quart of water with 8 green tea bags and two flavored black tea for total of 10 -12 bags. When it has started boiling I add 1 cup sugar and stir it in, then let it sit and steep for 15 min to an hour. I steeped for an hour. Then remove your bags and pour into your big glass jar that is at least 1 gallon. then pour in your remaining 3 quarts of cold water to finish cooling your tea. Make sure it is cool before next step. Pour in your scoby from your quart jar with about 1.5 to 2 cups of the tea it was grown in.

You can see my tiny scoby floating in the top in this picture.

This is the box of flavored teas I used. I picked out the cardamom pu-erh bag and a Numi Golden Chai bag that had black tea, cinnamon, ginger, anise, and cardamom. It smelled so good. Cover with towel and rubber band. Place in a warm dark place. Let ferment for a week or two. After a week, take a straw and insert along the edge of your scoby, place your finger over the end to pull some tea out. Check the taste. if it is too sweet ir needs to ferment longer. If you let it go too long it will start to taste more vinegary. So check frequently after a week. When ready it can be drank now but will not be flavored or fizzy.

In my next post, I will explain about getting the fizz and flavoring in your second ferment.

Homemade Vegan Banana Nut Raisin Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Sun, 01 May 2016 17:24:00 +0000

I was married 38 years ago and was given a wonderful Betty Crocker cookbook as a wedding present. I have used this book many times over the years. It has served me well.

I loved the banana bread recipe it had but I can never leave anything without adding my personal touch to it, lol. So I added a bunch of spices to my recipe. The family loved it.

Then 15 months ago, I became a plant based vegan. So my wonderful recipe got adapted again. It no longer resembles the original Betty Crocker recipe, but is is still just as good as my adapted version.

This just came out of my over and I added a smear of my vegan homemade butter while it was still hot.mmmm . Doesnt this make you want to lick the screen?

When creating vegan versions of recipes you eliminate eggs and have to find an appropriate substitute to bind everything and get a good rise. This is not always easy. But as you can see this huge loaf has a wonderful crown to it. For the egg substitution I used the very popular aquafaba. Aquafaba is simply the liquid form a can of beans or from your own cooked beans. I used chickpea liquid or navy beans. When I open a can I simply pour the liquid into an ice tray and freeze blocks and put them in a baggy for later use. This stuff works fantastic. No...you do not taste beans....not a hint!

print recipe

Homemade Vegan Banana Bread

by May-1-2016

I adapted my Betty Crocker recipe many times in the past. Adding more spices etc. Today, since I have been vegan for about 15 months, I adapted my recipe to now make it vegan. It is a moist, almost fudgy bread loaded with raisins and nuts. So delicious when warm and lightly buttered.

Ingredients

3 c All Purpose flour or sub in 1 c. oat flour
1/2 c granulated sugar
1/2 c packed brown sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 TB apple sauce
1 tsp baking soda
1 TB apple cider vinegar
1/3 c nut milk of your choice
3 TB aquafaba (liquid from can of beans such as chickpeas or navy)
1 tsp orange zest
3 medium very ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp optional almond flavoring
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 c raisins
1 c chopped walnuts or pecans

Instructions

Blend all but raisins and nuts. when batter is well combined, fold in nuts and raisins. Bake at 350◦ for 55-65 min for large pan, or 55-60 min for small pan. Insert knife into center to check if done. If it comes out clean its done, if you see some wet batter on knife bake for few minutes more and check again.

Details

Prep time: 15 hour Cook time: 60 hour Total time: 75 hour Yield: Makes 1 lg loaf 9x5x3 or two small loaves 8.5x4.5x2.5

Grand Kitchen Remodel. I Love It!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 16:11:00 +0000

We are all set for our family Christmas dinner this evening. There are still a few small things to do. Some drawers to build for inside the cabinets in the island and paint the bay window, and some new rugs and window treatments. Also a little more organizing. It turned out fantastic tho. Take a look....

here is a follow up on my kitchen. Someone asked about my countertop corners etc....

HomeMade Non-dairy Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 14:59:00 +0000

As you may remember, I have been eating a plant based vegan diet. I can't say I have been craving cheese. I haven't. I have been wanting to try my hand at cheese making tho. My husband enjoys his grilled cheese and cheese on pizza. I found recipe online that someone shared and reduced size to make 3/4 to 1 cup.
1/4 cup cashews soaked overnight and drained.
1/4 cup water
1 probiotic capsule opened
3/4 tsp tapioca starch
After draining nuts. Put in blender with 1/4 cup water and tapioca starch. Blend on high till very smooth. Then place in a small crock in oven with a plate to loosely cover. NO HEAT just the light on. Leave overnight. Then place in refrigerator tightly covered for about 8-10 hrs. Recipe said to then drain in fridge for 4-8 hrs. But mine was thick enough without so I didn't. You can then add sweeteners or fruit of your choice. I tried it plain and thought it was slightly less tangy than greek yogurt, but very good. I also added some maple syrup and thoroughly enjoyed it. The original recipe called for two probiotic caps with 2 cups nuts and two cups water and 2 Tb tapioca starch. But I wanted to see if I liked it first. SO I made a mini batch. Now off to finish my non-dairy mozzarella.

Almost Done!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 14:05:00 +0000

We are finally nearing the end of this huge remodel. What I initially thought would only take a couple weeks to complete has morphed into a couple months. We still have to put the crown molding along the ceiling , mantle above the fireplace, white subway tile back splash, and shelves between the two glass front cabinets on the wall with the pantry. I think we may also paint the bottom of the old wood table and the chairs white.

This is a little peak into the kitchen from the living room.

We still haven't found counter height stools that we like yet.

I still haven't gotten things put back in order from Thanksgiving dinner. Hence the two extra chairs and baby stroller. We dont have any babies right now but the grandchildren like using the stroller for their "babies", lo. When my husband gets the molding back up on my large bay then we will get it painted white.

The wood stove will get a nice heavy white mantle. Plus get cleared off lol.

The old pantry cabinet is located to the far left. The two glass front cabinets were original to the old kitchen as well but hubby built the base cabinets. We were going to just simply put white shelves between them then crown molding across the top making it look like one big hutch. Like HERE

Then we saw Chip and Joanna do this kitchen on fixer upper HERE:

We love the rustic looking shelves with the black metal supports. I thought the black pipe might pull the black from the stove on the other end of the kitchen. So now we arent sure. We are kind of leaning to the simple white shelves tho to creat the country looking hutch.

Above, we were testing out the look using my black sweeper hose and an old board,lol

My husband and I designed this wonderful range hood and he built it. We work together well like that. I know he can do anything I dream up,lol. We still have to do the pretty tile pattern we have planned for here and add some stamped tin to the inside upper part around the fan/light.

I love these pretty crystal knobs. Real glass bought from ebay for .95 each. Cant beat that deal!

This is the end of the island. There is one thing I would have done different had we thought of it before it was built. I would have used wider boards for the top and bottom of the frames making up the corner legs so more showed once the moulding was in place. My wonderful guy also put me in a couple electric outlets in the ends of the island. These are so handy.

This is the front of the island cabinets that he built.They are not as difficult as they look when you have the right tools. Cheaper to build than buy the cheap particle board ones in stores even adding in the price of a Kreg jig for joining and a new router and router table. Just need some basic skills, a little internet research, and a little "Go For It..ness". I love my new island!

Its Finally All Coming Together!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 00:37:00 +0000

Things are finally getting put back together. Its taking a lot longer than I expected. I figured....take down a wall....paint a few cabinets....nothing to it. WRONG!

This setion of cabinets still has to have a board across the top joining the two upright cabinets with glass doors and three open shelves between. Then wide crown molding will go across all along the ceiling. These were all some of my original oak cabinets except the base cabinets below the glass front ones. This 7 ft section was built by my husband. He is still working on the drawers for it. This is my favorite section of the new kitchen. I love the lights hitting on the glass fronts.

This is just one of my old bar stools I set in place behind the island until I can find the ones I want. As you can see my husband still needs to finish the doors and drawers in it. This monster is about 4 ft x 8 ft. if you look back through behind the fridge you can get a glimpse of the living room.

He still needs to build the range hood with a shelf on the front and corbels that will go over the stove and hand the 12" cabinet between it and the right window.. Plus wide molding along the base of the island. I havent decided about curtains yet. I think I am leaning to something in grays and yellows. or I might just leave them open. who knows.

Just figured I would give you a sneak peek into how things are looking.

Proven Benefits of a Plant Based Diet

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 13:25:00 +0000

As you know, I posted back in January of this year that I decided to start eating a vegetarian diet and also started juicing. Juicing was a tremendous help for weight loss and health. It is also extremely hard to start. The first 4-5 days the cravings are awful. Those cravings also prove just how addicting those chemical laden foods are. I juiced off and on for a month and lost about 30 lbs. I would have lost more if I could have been consistent. I also lost about 3 more lbs after that. The first of February I became mostly vegan. The days I dont adhere to it 100% are the days we eat out. Sometimes its can be a little hard at restaurants so I try not to stress about the non meat animal products.
Since my kitchen has been destroyed (remodeling), so has my diet suffered. Too much fast food, processed foods, sugar and salt also crept back into my diet. I started juicing again for about 3 days and started slipping again. Its just so inconvenient trying to find things, working with minimal counter space etc. Plus the cravings were horrendous. Which again backs up the addicting effects of all these unhealthy foods.
While I was eating mostly plant based (especially while juicing ), my knees quit hurting, heart burn stopped, and more energy. Over-all just feeling so much better. The heart burn issue I have had several times a day and night with increasing incidence of reflux since I started having babies. However, while watching my diet it stopped completely. For about 8 months!
Last night I rolled over in bed, still half asleep and gastric reflux hit and choked me when I inhaled some. Disgusting I know, but it has to be said. I have also been having more episodes of heartburn, and a bloated feeling. My knees feel weak and painful. Its not wishful thinking, just a coincidence or anything else. I have proven to myself this works. No question about it. I am still eating vegetarian, but mostly vegan but not plant based totally. You see, even a twinkie or an oreo is vegetarian. Potato chips are vegan. NONE of these are Plant Based!
That's the difference!
I WILL get back on track. I have to!

Slow but Sure In The Kitchen

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:55:00 +0000

Work is still coming along in the kitchen remodel. Right now we are taking care of little things. Hubby has to finish piecing in some areas of the wood floor. Yesterday, in attempt to save some money, we saved all our antique gold hinges and re-use them. However I wanted a nickle color. This old discolored gold wasnt going to get it. So we strung all 20-30 hinges on a line and spray painted them. The screws I pushed into an old box a window cam in so they stood on end and he sprayed the tops of them. Then yesterday after they dried. We hung some doors. Now its starting to look like a kitchen again.

It's coming along. I will so be glad when its done.
Oh, I forgot to mention hubby has started building the extra cabinets we need. ALL SOLID OAK. So much better than the particle board stuff in the store. He is doing a fantastic job. This is his first time building fine cabinets. Wont be his last. Lol.

look how much better they look.

We used a special spray paint by Rustoelum.

Still Painting......

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 02:01:00 +0000

This shellac is some tough stuff. I have to go buy some denatured alcohol. I couldnt get it off. One of these days I may learn to wear gloves. Especially

19 Down...23 more to go..AGGGGHHHH!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 21:54:00 +0000

I HATE to paint! I just didnt realize how much ,lol. I would never make a professional house painter. I would be ready to bury my brush after the first side. I counted up I have 42 cabinet doors and drawers to paint, not counting the frames. But hold your horses...that only counts the cabinets we have so far. The originals and the 4 cabinets we have bought. I still have to buy 7 more cabinets. I worked several hours today and go most of the frames of the current cabinets primed. Out of the 42 doors and drawers, We have completed 23. ONLY 23! Never again will I agree with my husband about how nice this paint is flowing out the brush strokes. Don't even need to spray them.We can just finish them with a brush and roller.

Boy did I get conned into that one,lol. Just like the friends of Tom Sawyer.
He's good! Luckily he has helped me some.

We are priming with Sherwin Williams shellac primer. It does have some odor but nothing overwhelming. Unless you have your head inside a very deep cabinet priming the inside. Then it tends to build up and fill your nose. But it is tough stuff when it dries. I dont want to be doing this again. I have contacted other bloggers who have used this alkyd paint on their cabinets up to four years ago. All were thrilled with the performance and durability. So thats a good thing.

Last night we bought some trim to bulk up the bottom of the cabinets. we already had crown molding on the top, but after seeing cabinets done like this in Lowe's and Home Depot, we decided we wanted it too. The thing is, they use special molding. Its not the standard stuff you find on the shelf. so just like when we did the fancy chair rail in our hallway. we went to the store and played around stacking pieces of trim. Like playing with lego blocks in the middle of the aisle. Finally we decided on a couple of pieces that looked very nice together. The "L" shaped piece underneath, you dont see, but it helps to give you something to fasten the molding to, and something to nail to your cabinet.

Be warned. There are lots of mitered corners to create.

This shows how the two pieces are layered. He glued and nailed the pieces together before cutting miters.

Ta Da! This is how it looks when your done. before painting.

My Kitchen Is Destroyed!!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 15:35:00 +0000

It's true. It's almost completely demolished. My dining room too. Several months ago we had renovated our living room and refinished the solid oak hardwood floors. All of them were needing refinished, but one step at a time. We have wood floors throughout except the bathrooms. We have been putting off the ones in the kitchen and dining room simply because we wanted to update them but just wasnt sure how far we wanted to take it. We had thought about just removing wallpaper in both and just painting for now, but the words of our 33 yr old son kept ringing in my ears since thr last time we renovated the kitchen many years ago. We had a seperate kitchen and dining when we renovated before. And I had always missed my island that we had before. So now we decided to go for it and break down walls.
We knocked down the two walls dividing these rooms. Removed my kitchen booth, removed wallpaper, and we now have one large room about 20ft x 28ft.

This was our kitchen and dining room before. Nice. I liked the booth. But it needed updated. We are more traditional than country.

This is my handy husband removing the walls. Where the old air conditioner is will soon be a new window to help bring in more natural light.

This is most of the debris.

We are also going to paint our old cabinets a fresh white. And the new cabinets needed will also be painted. After much research, we decided to use Sherwin Williams ProClassic Alkyd paint, and their shellac primer. We are very impressed so far with both. He started out trying to spray the shellac. NOT a good idea. This stuff dries fast and HARD! It started plugging the guns knozzle and the shellac was a bear to get off the gun. As for the paint, I tried it on a small area of a hidden part of my pantry cabinet. When dried for few days I smeared on some ketchup,grape jelly, and kool-aid to test out its cleanability. I let it dry on for several hours then tried to scrub it. I figured, new paint, I need to be delicate. I soon found out that was false. Now this cabinet had no prep work. No cleaning, sanding or priming yet. This was just a test of your emergency broadcast system. Ooops, sorry. I got sidetracked. Any, I scrubbed with a wet rag and Dawn. It needed some scrubbing to get the dried stuff off, but off it came. It did not damage the paint but I was left with some staining. Now remember this was only one coat smeared on with my finger. So then I took a rag wet it, and added some bleach. The stains wiped right off. More importantly the paint was still not damaged. So it looks like all is a go.

This is how it looks after two coats of primer, sanded,then two coats of paint.

This is how the oak wood grain shows through after two coats of primer. Its a big difference when you start adding the nice thick paint.

We started out spraying the shelac primer. It worked for a little while then quickly started plugging the gun.

After scrubbing with TSP and a sponge with scotch brite pad on the other side, sanding with power sander, rubbing on a deglosser,and rinsing off, the painting began. After the fiasco with spraying the shellac, we decided to paint everything on with a good roller and foam applicator to get into crevices. So far,so good. Most if the marks from the roller are flowing out as it dries. I am impressed.

As I started trying to prep the pantry after playing with it, I tried sanding the previous area. It will be hidden, but hubs wanted it all painted anywhere. I tried sanding with a worn piece of 120 sandpaper. And then switched to the scotch brite pad. Nothing happened. No paint came off even tho no prep work was done and it was literally finger painted. Great! I let it go and worked on the rest of the cabinet. This is a 7 ft tall x 22" wide cabinet. The frame is now all primed and we are awaiting lining up more doors to get them started.

He also had to patch the wood floor and sheetrock walls and ceilings after removing the old walls. The ceiling got its new coat of paint last night.

Here is our projected floor plan. Notice a nice large island in the center. However, we have decided to turn it parallel with the stove. It will be 40" x 8ft. Also hubby is going to construct a large wood range hood for over the stove. One of these days we will replace the white stove with a stainless steel one. Now we need to decide on a white enameled cast iron sink or a stainless steel one.

More to come on this major renovation so stay tuned.

Whole Food Plant Based Diet

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 12:32:00 +0000

I commented in my post Vegan For Life, that I had gone vegan and was losing weight. I also noted my weight had been at a standstill for a time. It has now been about 3 months.
BUT in the last few days the weight loss has kicked in again. I have lost about 3 more lbs. a pound and a half yesterday. No changes in my eating, and I have been exercising less due to some fatigue. I have fibromyalgia so that is nothing new. I have read that when these stalls happen early on, that are ody is doing some much needed healing from past abuse. That may be the case. I dont know.
I also recently read a very good book which helped solidify what I have been reading on this new way of eating. It is "Eat To Live" , by Dr. Fuhrman.

I am NEVER "dieting" again.

This eating plan means eating plant based whole foods. Eliminating, as much as you can, all processed foods, meat, dairy, refined sugar and refined white grains . I know...I will now hear......
" But what CAN I Eat?"
That's an easy one. You can eat a whole variety of dishes made from healthy , wholesome plants from nature. Not whats made in a lab. You can have all kinds of dishes your imagination can dream up. What about a hoagie with marinated mushrooms in place of meat? Smoothies loaded with fruits and veggies. Salads, desserts, many sweetened naturally with dates. We have chocolate milk occasionally, but non dairy Silk Cashew Milk. I make home made non dairy butter, which I seldom use. My husband is still kind of on the fence with a few things. Veggie wraps, soups, and more. No more deprivation, or starving. Eat when you are hungry and eat till you are full. Once you are off the processed junk foods, etc, your body will no longer crave the crap, and reward you with health and vitality.

Vegan For LIFE !

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 12:31:00 +0000

The end of January I began my vegetarian life again with juicing. During the following month I lost about 23 lbs. Also during the following month I adjusted my diet to Vegan and plant based. After that first month of juicing, I have noticed several changes. Except my weight. It seems it kinda stalled for me right now, so I will probably increase my juicing again. I have been drinking a fresh squeezed juice every morning of two red grapefruit and a large orange. after drinking this, I can no longer drink store bought chemical crap. I have eliminated almost all processed foods, most refined sugar, almost all oils,all meat, and dairy.
Another plus, my husband also began this journey with me. Although he is only vegan at home, but its a huge start.
For many yrs, 35 yrs to be exact,I suffered with constant heartburn. It began with my first pregnancy. From then on I kept a bottle of Tums by my bed for the 2-3 episodes at night, Tums in my purse, and Tums in my kitchen. Over the past few yrs, it had gotten worse. I began to also have reflux so bad I would suddenly inhale at times which allowed the acid to get sucked into my lungs a couple of times. This is not pleasant! I suddenly choked up and couldn't breath. As a nurse I know that all this can lead to erosion of the esophagus and possible cancer later on.
I realized a couple weeks ago, that I have had NO HEARTBURN OR REFUX since changing my diet back in January. None.....NADA!
While juicing, my husband noticed I was no longer turning sideways, and holding onto the wall while easing myself down the two steps of my living room. I was taking this two steps like a normal person...head on... with almost no knee pain now. While strictly juicing, I had NO PAIN!
I have also taken medicine for my blood pressure for years. At one point a few yrs ago I was even prescribed another one on top of the two tabs I was taking. My B\P was taking spells of shooting up, sometimes as high as 180\100. even while on the two pills. But for side effects reasons, I went off the third pill. After changing my diet, I eliminated one of the other pills. I was now down to one tab a day. My blood pressure was staying around 115/70. Fantastic! I then tried for about a week to get rid of the final one, but my B\P started easing up, so I will wait a little longer on it. I am almost there tho.
I am also eating what I want. No longer starving to just keep from gaining weight. Even though I have hit this little plateau for weight loss. These are some major changes for such a short period of time. I have had to adapt my way I cooking. I was a traditional country cook. Meat and potatoes kind of cook. I still make homemade bread occasionally, but I now also make homemade non dairy butter. I also make and freeze my own veggie burgers. I make hoagies using marinated mushrooms in place of the steak, vegan chili, a fantastic chickpea salad, wonderful pizza loaded with veggies,homemade banana raisin granola for cereal and snacking, and so much more. I also developed a recipe for chocolate date balls that taste so much better than the lara bars.
We were discussing the price of hamburger yesterday with family. I said it was about $6 for a 2.5 lb pack. Someone else quickly corrected me and said it was about $6 a lb now! I was in shock. I only quit buying it in January. It had gone up about double in just that 4 months. We also discovered we Loovve Silk Brand chocolate cashew milk. It is so thick and rich.
These changes all began after watching Fat Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix, Forks Over Knives, and The China Study. Check them out for yourself. You will be amazed at the healing that is taking place, and what the FDA allows to be put in our foods, and the research that has been done but ignored.

Homemade Non Dairy Butter and Newly Vegetarian/ Plant Based Vegan Wannabe

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 30 Mar 2015 23:14:00 +0000

For the past month I have been vegetarian, but hoping to eventually be more plant based vegan. I was a vegetarian in middle school for two years as well. I am doing this for several reasons. One of them is for health. I truly believe with everything I have been reading that Plant Based is the way to go.
With this new way of eating, it also involves learning a new way of cooking and preparing meals. I have actually made seitan, and seitan based bacon. Today I made homemade non dairy butter. We usually used Country crock and loved it. Recently with our diet change I bought Earth Balance Non Dairy Butter. It actually surprised me how good it was. I could not tell any difference between it and country crock except it was much harder. This butter recipe I got from Becky at Glue and Glitter. The link is HERE. She changed the recipe from HERE to suit her needs and pantry. Becky didnt use lecithin, or the xanthan gum. I already had liquid sunflower lecithin that I had recently ordered anticipating trying to make butter, however I had not gotten the xanthan gum yet. I was very anxious to give it a try and when I read she left it out and had no adverse affect. I decided to go for it. I used the measurements from Mattie's recipe for spreadable olive oil butter on Vegan Baking site HERE. Except I used vegetable oil for olive oil, 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar, and no xanthan gum. I love the taste. it taste just like earth balance and country crock but was more easily spreadable than earth balance. So easy and probably only cost pennies to make. I spread it on a slice of homemade bread and also had Vegetarian vegetable soup with homemade croutons on top. Delicious!

Stop Lice in Their Tracks!

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 19 Jan 2015 02:17:00 +0000

I have five children that are now ages 25-35 yrs old. during their grade school years, they brought lice home from school ONE time. Once......the whole time these five went to school. Not too bad. I treated all of our heads once and the nasty little critters were not to be seen again.
Fast forward and my 8 yr old grand daughter has been staying with us for a few months. For 3 months now we have been fighting lice. I get it cleaned up and a few days later they are back. I have read that lice today are more resistant to the traditional chemicals used to kill them.
During this time I have treated everyone's heads (just to be safe, however we never found them on our heads) about every week to 10 days. I used the generic equivalent to NIX. It seemed to kill them, never found live until about 5 days later. I talked with the school principle who assure me they send kids home that are found with live lice. They also have a no nit policy. However, I know this wasnt true because my DGD was sent home with a note, that I didnt find until late that evening, saying she had lice...again. They tried to tell me that I wasnt getting it cleared up, that she was getting it from the school repeatedly. I later proved this false too.
When she kept getting the lice back I started some research and found that what I was using didnt sound like it was supposed to kill eggs too. Anyone who has treated lice know how time consuming it is to find and remove all the eggs (nits). Sound the next few times I bought NIX brand. It stated it killed eggs and kept you from getting lice back for two weeks. well lo and behold, within 7 days I found live lice again. I have treated heads, washed bedding and stuffed toys, sprayed carpets , furniture, rugs, and mattresses. still we were finding them almost on a weekly basis. Every night, my husband and I armed with reading glasses, and flashlights searching her head. we got to be "nit picking" professionals.
Recently my son told me he had to do some research on it because one of their kids brought them home from the babysitter. He told me about Cetaphil, and recommended I read this site:
http://nuvoforheadlice.com/test/

I read it had been tested at about 96% effective at killing lice. Nix and others are only about 72%. So with that point alone it got my attention. He bought a generic from Dollar General. My husband picked up the name brand. we were desperate and didnt want to take any chances.
Make sure you buy the cleanser and NOT the lotion.

We treated her head on Sunday night. It didnt say to leave on over night, but we did. make sure you follow the directions on the above site to the letter. The only hastle from using this method was getting the hair dry with this in it. It took FOREVER. I also read that coconut was a good repellant. I knew from personal trial with my animals that coconut oil killed fleas on contact. I went shopping and bought coconut conditioner and a leave in product with coconut. The next morning we washed hair as usual. I checked thoroughly and found NO lice. Dead or Alive. Well school was canceled on Monday due to snow. I checked for lice again that night.....still nothing. Tuesday, I checked her head again and still no lice. I sprayed the leave in stuff in her hair, and sent her off to school. She came home later that afternoon, and I immediately checked her head again.

YEP, you guessed it.....LICE.....again.

I only found one, but it was an ADULT. so she brought it home from school again. A missed egg would not have time to hatch and turn into an adult within 8 hours! Not enough time for cetaphil so I used NIX again, and removed the lice and checked for eggs again.

So I hit the internet again for more research. I read loads of positive comments on Tea Tree Oil. Some were even research trials by organizations and doctors. Some are putting a small amount in the shampoo, some in the conditioner,some both and some also sing it diluted as a leave in product.

Now this stuff is fairly expensive initially, but you only use a small amount, so a little goes a long way. I believe mine was about $8 from Walmart. Since the leave in coconut product didnt prevent re-infestation anyway, I added about 1/2 tsp to my 8 oz bottle of leave in. Now let me warn you....if you have a cold or sinus congestion, this stuff will loosen it up real quick. It has a strong almost camphor like smell. I was a little afraid kids would smell my granddaughter coming before they seen her. Well...not really....I was desperate. But after I spritzed her hair thoroughly before school and dried it, it wasnt really noticeable. It left almost a "fresh" scent.

Fast forward 2 weeks later.....No LICE!!!. We are finally bug free. after spending hundreds of dollars on insecticides....poisons.. I have been checking her hair daily. If your school has a lice problem, I highly recommend this method to kill and prevent lice.

WARNING, I have read on several sites NOT to use Tea Tree Oil full strength. Always dilute. I had it on my hands with no irritation. Do some research on your own.

here was an impressive study done by the National Institute of Health:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22847279

Using The Print On Fabric As Your Embroidery Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 20:18:00 +0000

I happened across a pic of this being done while doing some searching for ideas for throw pillows for my living room that is being updated. I loved the look. Plus its so simple. Just use a few of your favorite embroidery stitches to highlight a few areas of the pattern already printed on the fabric. Do a little or do a lot. you are designing your OWN fabric. I finished my throw pillow today. It was the first time I worked with a fringe and I can definitely use some practice. The fringe has quite a few mistakes but nothing I cant live with,lol. Anyway, here is a pic of the fabric I was working with:

Above is the final results. Just a touch of embroidery. It brightened the colors of the fabric.

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Pinwheels and Posies Tea/Coffee dyed Doily

noreply@blogger.com (Tammy) — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 13:40:00 +0000

When I was shopping for furniture in Amish Country this Fall, I found a very pretty doily that was either dyed with coffee or tea. I never thought I would like them dyed like that but I thought it was lovely. So I went to work creating another one for me. I have spent about a month on this trying to work out a pattern the perfect size and a fairly simple edging. After re-doing it several times, it finally came together. I love the uneven nature of the dye process. I at first tried coffee but it seemed more brown. Tea was lighter and more red. So I mixed coffee AND tea. Here is the final product.
Tammy