Quick Vegan Corn Chowder

You guessed it since John shared his cold I don't feel like cooking so this is what is in the red pot for dinner tonight.

Vegan Corn Chowder

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Package Trader Joe's Miro Poix Mix*
1 Pound frozen white sweet corn
1/2 pound potatoes boiled and cubed
1 Quart Imagine Creamy Harvest Corn Soup

In your soup pot add the olive oil and warm. Add the Miro Poix mix and saute until the onions are transparent.  Added the frozen corn  and continue cooking until the corn is warmed through. Add the cubed potatoes and the Imagine Creamy Harvest Corn Soup, simmer on low a minimum of 30 minutes to let the flavors blend.

Serve with Bread and Margarine for a complete dinner. This may also be used as a starter course.

Serves 4  for dinner and 8 for a starter course.

*If you don't have access to Trader Joe's Miro Poix Mix you will need to dice 1 cup of white onions, carrots and celery to a fine dice.

I guess I started cooking dinner too soon. John just called and offered to bring dinner home. Timing is everything and tonight I just don't have it.

Destashing

Yes I started today's blog with a very bad word, but it did need to be done. You see the yarn and fiber were really creeping out of the closet where they were stored. I also did not want Fibber McGee's closet in my house. After lunch My friend Marge, Eric and I went down to Target to buy 3 storage bins like the one to the right. I should have picked up 2 shopping carts at the front of the store, because by the time I had left they gave us 2 carts to go to the car with.

Packing the car was shall we say very interesting. Only 1 storage bin would fit in the back of the car. So we loaded Eric in the car and put one one the back seat and the other on the floor between Eric's chair and the back seat. The young man from Target gave me a dubious look but I assured him that it would be OK.

Once at home we unloaded the car and got to work. The first part was very easy as most of the yarn had been bought more recently. With Eric supervising and Marge putting the yarn by weight in drawers I sorted through the yarn skein by skein. By the way I think I have enough sock yarn to make as many socks as I have towels left over to make bibs with, so send those easy sock patterns my way. Things went pretty fast at first then the hard part came. Going through the older part of my stash yarn.  This is where all the destashing occurred. Luckily for me I had recently taught Eric's aide Joe to knit, so I sent 1 very large carrier bag home with him. Joe was wise enough to place the yarn in his car before I lost my nerve and put it back. Thank you Joe.

By the time I sorted through all the yarn and Marge organized what I was keeping it was time to put the closet back together and I am happy to report that I can now walk in the walk in closet. Even better I have found a lot of batts and roving which should give me something to practice on while I am learning to spin my own yarn. I have 2 very small hanks drying in the garage right now and when they are dry enough you get to hear about that too.

Well now it is time to head off to bed. So enjoy your families and have a great day.

We Can Change the World Together

I was just thinking about the weeks events before I drifted off last night. It also got me thinking about all the first responders and the members of the clergy. Just whom do they go to when they are stressed out. I am sure by now the whole world know about the event in Tucson last Saturday, which was only a week ago, but seems like a life time ago.

I know that we are not all trained to offer counseling services, but the great news is that we don't have to be. I think this week ( longer if you care to ) would be a great time to thank all of our first responders and members of the clergy for a difficult job well done. If the person is comfortable with it you can also add a hand shake or a quick hug. I know that we all need personal contact on some level.

Since it was an unofficial be kind to everyone week in Tucson. I would like to propose  that we take the effort world wide for the rest of the year. Only you can make a difference in other peoples lives by doing simple things such as opening a door for a mother pushing a stroller, also know as a pram in most of the world. Thank a server or a clerk for a job well done. Take part in random acts of kindness.  If you quilt, knit, sew or crochet make 1 item ( or more if you like ) for a stranger and drop it off at a local hospital or shelter. If you have time spend sometime helping out at a local soup kitchen or food pantry.

If you want to take everything one step further go through your closet and cupboards at home and donated the things you no longer use to charity. This act is good on three fronts. 1st your house gets cleaner. 2nd items that you no longer need or use get a new life instead of landing up in the landfill, which by the way is also good for the environment. 3rdly I am sure you will feel a whole lot better with a cleaner house and knowing that you were able to help other people.

Let us all make our own corner of the world a better place and before you know it we can create a kinder and gentler world. Yes there will always be random acts of violence but we can all try to make things better bit by bit. After all we are all in this world together. 

May you have a peaceful week and enjoy your families.

Pepperoni Pizza Squash

OK, I will admit that this recipe is the creation of not wanting to throw left overs out and my local Safeway still being closed. Also I needed to get a good dinner on the table that was different. I was also training a new aide for Eric at the time. Talk about multi tasking. Meaning that I was running back and forth between the kitchen and Eric's room while putting this together, definitely not a fussy dish. This recipe was good enough to make again. The only thing you have to add is the bread on the side.

Pizza Squash

1/2 of a spaghetti squash cooked
1 4 ounce can of mushrooms
1 cup spaghetti sauce
4 ounces of pepperoni cut in bite sized pieces
4 ounces of mozzarella cheese grated

In a casserole dish break up the spaghetti squash. Using 2 forks mix in the spaghetti sauce and mushrooms. Top with the pepperoni and then layer the cheese on top.

For Vegetarian leave off the pepperoni.
For Vegan leave off the pepperoni and replace cheese with a vegan cheese.

Bake at 350 f for 30 to 60 minutes.  Makes 4 servings

Doing Better

I am doing better today. I went to my Tuesday morning class and a lot of things got clarified for me. Then it was off to lunch at 5th Street Deli and as usual the food was good and service fast. A trip to Bookman's on the east side of town was good for zenning the house and John and Teri have $15 more to spend next time they go. A quick walk to Beyond Bread for an epi for dinner and then it was time to go home. Not bad for 3 hours of time.

When I got home I decided to go clean the sewing room. I started off by cleaning out 1 cabinet, don't worry it only had 2 shelves so I was not taxing my self too much. The end result was an overflowing Bookmans' bag and a place to put all my stitch marker supplies. So with that part of the room cleaned I went on to organize bib supplies. I did not realize that I had so many supplies. I had piled them all in one corner in little and not so little bags so it was hard to see just how much or what there was. I have a whole basket of bibs cut, prepped and ready to go. I also have another basket filled with a half and half combo of towels and bandanna's.  I have pulled 4 hand towels out that I just could not match the color of so don't tell anyone but I am sending them to Teri.  I have enough supplies to start a small business. By the way if you need adult size bibs let me know, they are custom made and go for $30.00 add another $10.00 if you want them monogrammed. There might be a little more to this being organized thing than I realized.

I then went through some more magazines and books and more went into the already flowing Bookmans bag. I guess it is going to be another trip to Bookman's tomorrow and maybe the consignment shop for some jewelry that I don't wear anymore. I am hoping that less stuff in the house will mean less clutter and a more organized house.

I wonder if 3 hours of cleaning would count towards any exercise time? Tell me what you think, please.

A big bonus is I have reclaimed the treadmill so I guess it is time to say goodnight and hit the treadmill. Enjoy your families.

At a Loss

Right now I am at kind of a loss about a lot of things. It had started Saturday and by now I am sure the whole world knows about what has happened outside my Safeway in Tucson. I had planed to go to the event but chores got in the way of me being there at 10 am.

I still have at least 1 person I know, whom is still in ICU and still facing more surgeries. My Safeway is still closed and the other stores around me are nice they are definitely not my Safeway. I worry about friends who work or have small business in that mall and how they are faring. It is my sincere hope that this one random act of craziness will not hurt their business in the long term.

Aside from the Safeway there is a Coldstone Creamery, China Phoenix ( a personal note here, this is one of my favorites and the dim sum is something to write home about) a locally owned franchises of La Salsa and Honey Baked Ham. A local favorite called Beyond Bread , 2 banks, a dry cleaners, pet store, nail salon, a pharmacy and a few other small business.

Life will not be quite the same but I am hoping that all those who were injured make a speedy recovery and can get back to some semblance of normal. My thought and prayers go out to the families who have lost loved ones. I my heart I have to believe that they are all now with Gd.

I have to move past this one random act of craziness and move forward, but I find it hard to do with what seems like the whole worlds media attention focused on my little corner of the world. Well it is time to go put Eric to bed. May peace be with you this week.

The Cowl Pattern

The cowl pattern is finally here. My reason for so long between blogs was my darling daughter was here for 3 weeks between terms. So with out further ado here goes:

A Simple Cowl

Supplies:
1 skein worsted weight yarn 3.5 ounces and apx 223 yards I used Paton's Classic Wool in Magnolia

1 circular knitting needle US sized 8 by 16 inches

1 stitch marker

1 darning needle

Abbreviations:
co - Cast on
yo - Yarn over
k2tog - Knit 2 stitches together
k - Knit
pm - Place marker

Cast on 101 stitches using your preferred method.
Row 1 Knit 1st and last stitch together.
Knit 99 stitches and place marker.
Knit 4 more rows in the round. Rows 2 to 5
Row 6 : k1*yo,k2tog* k1
From here forward Rows 1 to 5 will be knit. Row 6 will remain the same.
Repeat these rows 9 more times so you have a total of 10 repeats.
Knit 5 more rows.
Cast off loosely using *k1, yo, k1 pull the 1st knit stitch and yarn over over the last knit stitch* Until you have 1 stitch left on the knitting needle.  Pull the tail through and weave in the end.


A Simple Cowl by Sheri Karobonik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.handmadebysheri.blogspot.com.