Money, Time, Home

Is this how you feel stuck inside?  You can see the beautiful blue sky but the inside world is obstructing your view? And every time you look out the window the material world reminds you why you work – to pay the bills. To keep up with the Jones and the Guptas?

I don’t have a Utopian dream of never working, I like my work. I know myself well enough to know I would go crazy stuck at home – I did go crazy when the kids were little and work was my release.

Yesterday I wanted the choice to stay home. To know that our finances all able to handle me not working a few days a month.

I am Making A Change

I am making a change. A change in attitude, a change in style, a change in thought, a change in work.

I am making a change in me.

For months, no years I have been following a number of  blogs trying to inspire myself into moving forward.

I have been a follower of    flylady.net  for years and years. She has helped me keep the tide line down. The laundry still gets out of hand and my sink does not get shined every day but the house is better.

Now I am searching for more. More from  me. More from my life.

12 in 2012

Yup, I am jumping in.

<a href="http://www.ohhellofriend.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn206/ohhellofriend/personal/1212banner2.jpg" width="75"/> </a>


My list will follow soon.

Secret Slower Cooker - "Rotisserie" Chicken

Today is about the joy of a slow cooker – yup I have jumped on the band wagon or at least I am finally coming out of the closet about my love of the lowly slow cooker.

For years I have used my slow cooker to make the easy-peasy vegetarian chili that was the staple of Tuesday nights in my house. You know the night when some are off the Scouts, some off to higher learning and some (me) off to grocery shopping.

Two weeks ago I decided to jump in with both feet and try new recipes. I had a failure with the Rice Pudding and it took two days to soak/clean the stone ware. The Tortellini casserole was a gluey mess, tasty but very un-pretty and almost rejected by the family.

I sniffed out a number of versions of the “Rotisserie “ chicken and came up with one that my family love.

1          5 – 8 lbs. Roasting Chicken - defrosted

2 T      Brown Sugar

2T       Soya Sauce

A good pinch of salt and pepper

Aluminum foil

Cut 6 – 12inch lengths of aluminum foil. Crush each sheet into a lemon size ball and place in the slow cooker

Wash the chicken inside and out. Pat dry.

Mix brown sugar and soya sauce together and smear over the chicken – again inside and out.

Place chicken on top of the aluminum foil.

Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low (my favorite) for 8 hours. The chicken will be falling off the bone and ready for any cooked chicken dish.

Make a quick gravy with the juices (1 T flour, 2T juices, cook one minute over a medium heat until combined. Add a little more juice, water or left over black tea – up to ½ a cup)

Serve with rice and your favorite steamed vegetables and salad.

Bean Salad and Cottage Food

Yup, that is a picture of the cottage group, out on the dock, watching "Big Brother". That's me knitting.

I took up my favorite summer salad. Bean Salad. Packed with protein, tastes better the next day and even better the day after and does not wilt in the heat.

The base of the salad is always the same -

3 cups of beans ( canned, soaked, your choice)
1/4 good oil (oil, canola, vegetable, what ever you have)
1/4 vinegar (your choice - I use a lot of Balsamic)
1 medium size sweet onion
1 medium size green or red pepper

Mix together, place in fridge and let it meld.

You can add anything to this salad. When my herb garden is bursting I add a little bit of everything, Thyme being my favorite.
You can add lemon or lime juice.
You can add any vegetable you want  just cut the pieces small enough.
I have even added cold cooked rice and lasst nights cooked veggies to the salad.

I sent this of with my eldest son and his friends for last weekends cottage fun - it was the first dish finished.

High in protein, great source of fiber and so far enjoyed by all. Easy peasy vegetarian - even vegan!

Ennui

I have hit the wall, a wall, a well, a well that I can not get out of.

There is nothing I want to eat, to cook, to knit or to read.

There are no plants I want to plant, no weeds I want to weed.

I have a major case of early rainy spring ennui - nothing interests me. My cooking is boring and yet nothing in the recipe books or on the food blogs and sites that I follow can make me rattle my pots and pans.

Knitting  has lost its thrall - other then the streetcar socks that I always have in my bag.

Spring is slowly coming to my front garden. The rain has chased the cherry blossoms away. The squirrels did not get all the bulbs and the colours are coming back.

I truly believe that when the sun comes out to play so will I.

Making Dinner

Have you ever noticed that it is easier to prepare a formal or celebration meal then cook everyday food for the family.

I have hit the the February food blahs. I can not get excited about anything that is in my current cycle of cooking. I say it is because I am waiting for the lovely fresh fruit and veg from my garden but it is not that. I am bored - I sound like one of my kids. But I am bored. I need a change in food.

I have spent days surfing the web looking for something, anything that will tickle my funny bone.

The house is very busy in the spring, all the school activities, the need to play in the garden and the lengthening of days. I have decided to cook two meals a week in the slow cooker.

I will photograph and keep you informed.