spinach turkey omelet

Here is the promised recipe for your delicious breakfast



2 tablespoons water
fresh spinach
2 eggs
garlic salt
1 tablespoons butter
cheddar cheese (grated)
turkey (lunch meat)


Wash spinach and drain in a colander.

Place it on the pen with 2 tablespoons water and cook, tossing until completely wilted.

Place it back into the colander and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Chop spinach and place it in a bowl along with eggs.

Sprinkle with garlic salt and whisk together.










Put butter on a pan and melt it. Place the egg mixture into the pen and spread all the way to the edges of the pan. Cook it until the mixture thickens. Using wooden spoon or spatula, push the edges toward the center so that any uncooked eggs flow underneath. Cook until the eggs set.

Place turkey and cheddar cheese on top of the egg mixture and fold omelet in half using your spatula. 

Serve immediately with side of your choice. I chose toast and kabanos (polish sausage - oh so good, and you can get it in any Polish grocery store).

fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

I am not a big fan of grapefruits as they are bitter and I always have
to add some sugar to make them edible. But my mother-in-law brought me some from Florida and I had to find a way to use them. I added these following ingredients in my head and it seemed like it might work:

3 large grapefruits, cut in half
vanilla extract
honey
cane sugar

Squeeze juice out of the grapefruits into a blender using any squeezing device you own. Add vanilla extract, honey, and cane sugar until you are satisfied with the taste. I tried to use less sugar and more honey and it worked wonderfully. Mix all ingredients in the blender for only couple seconds (it will foam  a bit) and pour into a glass. Serve this refreshing drink with your breakfast!

weekend menu

+ 2 recipes coming soon

I thought it might be some what inspirational for people if they would look at my weekend menu. I always like to get inspired by what others cook. I think it's one of the most difficult tasks as a mother and wife to think everyday of something to make for the whole family. And I am lucky, I don't have picky eaters. I hope you find this helpful:

Saturday


breakfast
- spinach/turkey/cheddar omelet with toast
- fresh squeezed grapefruit juice

lunch
- chicken noodle soup (I keep some chicken aside for next day lunch)

dinner
- breaded cod
- mushroom risotto
- green beans

Sunday


breakfast
- cereal (no time for anything else or we would never make it to church ;-)

lunch
- chicken noodle soup (left over from Saturday - mainly kids will eat that)
- grilled chicken/feta cheese panini
- chips (we like pita chips with this)

dinner
- Salmon burgers/sweet potato fries

I will post 2 recipes (pictured meals) later today :-)

the not so creative day

Have you ever had one of those days? 

You want to create something so badly! But it's just not coming... That's what happened to me today. Yesterday, just to make things clear, I sat down during my two-hour break and my work was sliding through my fingers with the smoothest motion. I mean my project was coming along so well and the sawing machine was my best friend. Now back to today... My head was full of ideas for my Etsy shop. But of course, lots of ideas - and not so much time. Today I sat down in my room (which is almost organized), ready to finish a little girl skirt, which I started, but nothing went right. My sawing machine was not cooperating, the ideas were all wrong, and then my baby woke up earlier than usual. Being adventurous as I am, I decided to finish it with her in the room... lol. She wanted to help by giving me the pins. Yes, the sharp, pointy things you use to stab the fabric with. And you know what, I let her. That's how desperate I was. Together we almost finished the skirt without any major casualties. Now, of course, I am not sure if I am satisfied with the outcome (I think I need to make just one more).
After having four kids playing in my house, while I was trying to make dinner and finish laundry, the evening came and instead of going down to create, I feel more like laying on the couch and watching a movie. Glass of red wine and an ice cream sundae might fix it all. And you know what? I might just put two cherries on top today.
smile

P.S.: Yes, the above photo is a sneak peak into my newly almost organized craft room!

My First Blog Party

I am very excited to attend my first Blog Party tomorrow in Western Springs! I can't wait to meet some fellow bloggers and hopefully get some tips and ideas for my blog and Etsy shop. For now, I am only partially ready. Here is my swapping item.

Still lots to finish and I am at work now so I can't work on it. Tomorrow morning will have to do. ;-)

I finished on time!

I am so excited! I got to knit again! It was a little speed-knitting but I just enjoyed it so much. My friend Anne's baby girl had a one year birthday and I wanted to give her something thoughtful. I know how much Anne likes hand made hats so I knitted her one. I thought of it only 3 days prior to the party and so I had to do it quickly. But I finished. And now I am thinking about my Etsy.com store... Should I include knitted hats? What do you think?

I knitted more but I don't have the pictures of my creations! What a shame. Well, what do you think? Would these sell on Etsy? (No matter what, I am working on some baby leg warmers for my store right now ;-))

Feel free to feel bad for me ...

Yes, it has come down to this in my craft room...

So now I am in the process of cleaning, de-cluttering, and organizing my creative place. Wish me luck, this will take a while ;-)

is it time?

When I woke up this morning and looked outside my window... I thought to myself "you must be kidding me"! It's snowing again?! I am very much over it! I want spring! I want to be able to go outside with the kids, wearing just a light jacket, rain boots, and my gardening gloves! Yes, I have been dreaming about my garden lately. Should I start seeds? What should I do new in my garden this year? Here are some pictures from my garden so far:

 And this year, the only vision I have so far is a small fairy garden by my pond. Looking for inspiration:

one can only dream, right?

crepes

And I am back in my kitchen making breakfast. I love making meals that are fast, easy, and delicious. These crepes are my family's favorite - and here is how they come together:

1 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
1 teaspoon of Vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of melted butter
3 teaspoons of powdered sugar

The easiest way is just to toss

all of these ingredients into 

a Magic Bullet or a blender 

and mix them. 

I put a little bit of butter on a frying pan, melt it over medium heat, and then slowly pour a small amount of mixture onto the pan. You can play with the amount of batter you pour - I make small crepes for the kids and bigger for the grown ups.

Feel free to make your morning colorful by adding fun things to your creation:

white chocolate chips

chocolate chips

sprinkles

blueberries

etc.

and here is the final product!

I top it with some pure Maple Syrup and whip cream I make from organic heavy whipping cream by placing it into Magic Bullet and mixing it till it becomes thick. I love to fresh fruit. here are two of my favorite combinations: the above pictured bananas; or raspberries (if you make the crepes with white chocolate chips). YUMMY! 

25 things you don't know about me

I always enjoy reading the article in US Magazine that has the same title. So here I am trying to see if I can come up with 25 things that you don't know about me. Trust me, they won't be any big secrets... Wow, can I even come up with that many?


1. All you need is LOVE
2. I love quotes
3. I am an Etsy.com fanatic...
4. If I could I would cover my walls with family photos I took - every single inch of them!
5. I really want to write a children's picture book
6. I hope to adopt a child one day!!!
7. I love people.
8. Daisies are my favorite flowers
9. Tulips are next
10. I believe cooking makes you confident
11. When my mood drops, dancing with my kids will bring it up everytime!
12. I still can't get enough of The Beatles
13. I am not good at taking naps
14. I can't do Yoga - too many things on my mind
15. I would pay someone to help me with #14
16. I don't know how to simplify my life... just can't do it
17. I want to put a cook book together
18. I believe that genuinely kind words of advice can turn someone's life around
19. I love learning from my friends' stories - happy or sad
20. I want to live in Italy
21. But Colorado would do for now!
22. Smile is contagious
23. I always feel inspired after listening to a good song or watching a good movie
24. I saw Pride and Prejudice (2005) like 17 times and I will go watch it with you right now if you would ask me to
25. I had the perfect engagement

and I have to add #26... imagine that.
26. There is nothing more important in life than having a family!

what will happen here today?

I finally found some time to sit down in my craft room and work. I really only have about an hour at a time so I have to make it work. Who knows what will happen here today...

 

the pantry project

I spent only couple of hours organizing my pantry so it wasn't so bad. Here are some pictures before:

I already took some things out before taking the pictures but you have a rough idea that this needed to be dealt with. First I decided to line the shelves with a plastic liner intended for kitchen cabinets. I purchased mine in IKEA.

Then I divided my food into groups and decided which shelf to place them on. I have shelves that contain: kitchen appliances

Then I have the "baking shelf" 

the snacks

the "sweet tooth" pull out shelf

container shelf with pasta and rice and similar products 

and finally the can and bottles shelf. 

I still have one shelf open right now for any future need. 

This was fun!

organizing my pantry

after a year in my new kitchen, I am finally seeing things that don't work as well (and also I see things that only a genius could have come up with ;-) and so here i am trying to get inspired by some internet articles about how to make the best out of my pantry space. it is a bit difficult if you have narrow, deep shelves. here are some images that are inspirational to me.

I particularly like the lazy susans but i am not sure if i can fit it into my pantry. And the best idea ever? The can shelving could be very useful to me.

credit to: http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2010/12/getting-inspired-to-organize.html

It is always useful to have your containers and shelves labeled. In that case your other half cannot make an excuse that the reason they didn't put the things back was they didn't know where it goes ;-)

I also like the see through containers - you can get so many of them in the Container store. And I am off to go shopping!

french toast for breakfast

One thing about our breakfast menu? It can never be the same. We like variety during the week. We make cereal and porridge at least once or twice a week, but the rest is usually something different, more yummy.

One of my kids' favorite! 

FRENCH TOAST

you will need:

... desired amount of slices of bread (american)

... egg (1 egg per about 3 slices)

... 1/4 cup of milk

... cinnamon

... 1 tbs of butter

... maple syrup 

... bananas

break an egg onto a deep plate and mix in milk. stir it using a fork. sprinkle cinnamon and mix it in. take a slice of bread and dip it in the egg mixture covering both sides. then place the bread on the warmed up pen (hopefully your butter is nicely melted by now) and bake it on both sides until light brown. put it on a plate and pour maple syrup over it. finally, cut slices of banana and bon appetit! if you are making a bigger amount, get a deep ceramic dish ready next to your stove and place the bread in it after you bake it. make sure to cover it and it will keep warm for a while.

second chance at growing my first "second" avocado plant

so this is my first attempt to try to grow an avocado from a seed. It started out great - one out of two seeds sprouted almost immediately. First it cracked open and then a small root peek out of the shell. Within a month the root got pretty long and I was waiting for the small plant. But it wasn't coming and so i wanted to check on it. As I lifted the seed up, one of the toothpicks fell out and the potential avocado plant came crashing down to the ground, cracking in half...only never to live again.
And so after a few days of hope, I gave up because the only thing that happened was something white starting to grow on my tiny plant, I threw the first one away and started 2 new seeds in its place. I made fresh guacamole, washed the seeds and stabbed them through with the toothpikcs so that they can nicely hold up on the glass. After only few days I see a crack! i hope it is what I think it is because it seems to be a bit fast. But then, Maybe it feels sorry for me and therefor it's trying to hurry ;-) I will have to take pictures ;-)