Misadventures in Crafting

 They family who bought the foreclosure house next door, who have been doing nothing to fix it up, did have a dumpster day about a month ago.  Prior to the dumpster showing up, I found this on the curb outside the house.  It's an old-style bathroom vanity.  It had been a painted over a few times and was in rough shape.  But I grabbed it anyway.

Head Games

 

I took an on-line IQ test and did very well.  However, I'm wondering if I did well simply because this could be a marketing tool trying to suck me into a mind-training/challenge sort of service.   Because the thing is, I don't feel smarter than 95% of the population.  And I  know of plenty of people who know me who think I'm an idiot at times.  I know that I often feel stupid and confused at work.  My job absolutely calls for more intelligence than I have. And maybe I hang out with too many intelligent people (like my husband), because I always feel as though I'm just not at their level.

Knees and Meals

Lunch this week is another batch of Udon noodle soup.  This is a seafood version with bay scallops.  I also added mushrooms and tofu for extra protein.  Some of the ladies at work have a "lunch club," where one person cooks a big meal for the group one day per week.  There are five participants.  It means each person only has to cook once.  We do the same thing in our house, only TBG and I are the sole members.  Granted this means we eat the same lunch every day for the week, but it works out well.  There's the time saving factor, the frugality factor and the convenience.  I do make these things up relying on frozen products -- especially the veggies.  I also cook with nutrition in mind.  This week, we have a lot of onions -- and boy are onions healthy for you.  Lately I've also been trying to dial back on the carbs.  There are three servings of thick rice noodles -- which will be spread over ten meals.  All the ingredients are pretty low fat too.

Sew Frustrating!

I spent a lot of time with my sewing machine this weekend.  It is an old Kenmore that is probably 30+ years old.  In addition to working with an old machine, there is the minor detail that I never took a sewing lesson, am not very good at it, and don't enjoy it in the least!  Unfortunately, I have a need for things like curtains and slip covers, and here are the fruits of my frustrated labor -- cushion covers for our trailer.  I fell in love with the bold pattern, had no idea how much material to buy or how I would use it until I started working on it.

Get in My Belly!

One of those important grocery shopping rules is to make a list and stick to it.  Not for me. I am a total impulse shopper.  I see what's good and also a deal, and I buy it.  Then I figure out what to make.  I am like the Fat Bastard (hey, I watched Austin Power's Gold Member Friday Night) of the super-market world.  This week I saw both shitake and oyster mushrooms for $2.49 and I had to have them.  The only thing I went in knowing for certain was that Lidia's Kitchen had me Jonesin' for some stuffed eggplant -- so that much I planned on.

What's for Lunch

Lunch this week is a protein rich cold salad.  I've been buying frozen Bird's Eye protein mix veggies.  These are not just veggies, there are lentils and beans in the mix too.  For this huge batch, I picked the Italian and California blends.  There was a partial bag of the Italian blend in the fridge from a prior batch of lunch food, so that got  mixed in with a can of white beans and some sauteed mushrooms that had to be used.