'Twas the day before Christmas

It's the day before Christmas and I feel relaxed.  All of the festive events are over.  I no longer have to stress about making a dish or getting a gift for an event.  I don't have to worry about shopping for anything else because the Christmas budget is long gone.  Today, I can relax.  The only things I have to do are:  finish a Button Scarf that someone ordered and attend the Christmas Eve service tonight at church.

"Christmas" always stresses me out.  I've thought alot about that this year.  I've come to the conclusion that it's the busy-ness that stresses me out.  All of the parties and events and gatherings.  The gifts I have to buy for those events, the food I have to prepare.  All of that stresses me out.  And this year, money was so tight that wondering how I was going to buy the food for that dish or that extra gift (or, gas for the car so that we could make it to that event) was also stressing me out.  But those events are now over.  We made it to them.  Somehow, everything worked out.  Now, Christmas is almost here and it will be what it will be.  I look forward to the candlelight service tonight at church because, for me, that is Christmas.

Soon, I will have pictures to post, but not today.  I also have new items to add to my Etsy shop.  If you're interested, feel free to visit:  AngeliasKnitting.etsy.com

I wish you and your family a blessed Christmas.  If you don't celebrate Christmas, then I wish you & your family a blessed Sunday. 

Soup

Every Fall, I get this urge to make homemade soups.  I'm a vegetarian, so I rarely eat soup when I go out to eat (most soups either contain meat/poultry/seafood or are made with chicken stock).  Making my own soup is a way to be sure that I know what ingredients are used. 

The first soup I made this Fall is a Lentil Tomato soup.  I found the recipe in Taste of Home magazine (I think it may have been the November issue).  This soup is yummy - and easy to make. It's also pretty nutritious.  I followed the recipe.  The only "extra" thing I added was a little curry (I made the curry & keep it on hand).  Oh!  I also added kale.  I'm on a mission to eat more kale.  This soup is hearty & the curry gives it a nice, slow heat.

This week, I decided to make two soups.  I made the Lentil Tomato again.  I also made the Yarn Harlot's Emergency Soup.  This is another simple, hearty, oh-so-yummy soup.  It contains carrots, potatoes, leeks, garlic and chickpeas.  I don't love chickpeas by themselves - it's a texture thing.  But in this soup?  LOVE them!  I used a hand-held blender to blend some of the soup.  This made it look like a cream-based soup (but there's no cream in it).  It also helped to make it nice & thick.

I have been taking soup to work for lunch every day this week.  This is a great thing.  It means that I don't buy lunch.  It also means that I eat a healthy lunch.  I know that I feel better when I eat healthy, it's just that it's too easy sometimes to buy lunch from someplace.  That's when I end up eating things like cheese fries.

Now I'm craving root vegetables.  I think my next soup will be Roasted Root Vegetable Ital Stew from Bryant Terry's book, Vegan Soul Kitchen.  I love this book!  There are stories and suggested music to listen to while you're preparing the food.  And, the book offers Soul Food without the meat and all of the animal fat that Soul Food usually contains.  I read through the book and get so hungry and want to make so many recipes (even if I've just eaten).

Etsy Shop

I'm in the process of getting my Etsy shop up & running.  I signed up for it 5 years ago, but never added any items.  I recently designed a Button Scarf that I want to sell on Etsy.  I will have some ready-made scarves.  I will also take custom orders for scarves.  Some of the scarves will feature hand-made (by me!) ceramic buttons.

I'll post pictures of the scarves soon.

The shop:  AngeliasKnitting.etsy.com

Knitting Again

Well, I am knitting again.  I'm not sure why I stopped knitting.  I kind of think it has to do with the things that were going on in my life.  Now that I'm knitting again, I wonder how I survived without it.

It's soon Christmas.  Last night, I realized that my mental Christmas knitting list may be a little unreasonable.  Part of me still believes that I can finish everything in time.

I am on a hat and button scarf knitting kick right now.  In the past month, I have knit two hats.  I have another on the needles.  I have also knit one button scarf.  The second button scarf is currently on the needles.  I have at least 4 more hats to make and 3 button scarves...

I have to get back to my knitting now!  MAKE it a great day!

A New Endeavor

I am in the process of starting a business.  This is very exciting - and scary.  It could be a huge thing for me.  I will still get to help people and I will be doing something I'm passionate about.

Pennsylvania has alot of resources for people starting a business.  I have started looking into them, I've set up a website for the business, I've looked into business checking accounts, I have a name for the business.  I know where I'm going to "debut" it.  There are things I still need to figure out: funding, where I'm going to make my product, local, state & federal reulations of my product.

I have some amazing friends who support me, encourage me, are my cheerleaders & my helpers.  They believe in me even when I start to doubt myself.  I am so blessed.

I will give you more information when things become final.

Ten on Tuesday

The Ten on Tuesday topic for this week is...10 Favorite Snacks.  Here are mine:

1.  String cheese.  I love it.  I love that it feels like I"m playing with my food.  I try to pull off thin "strings" with my teeth.  It's a skill. 

2.  Popcorn.  I usually make microwave popcorn - it's quick & easy.  I also usually add some real butter to my popcorn.

3.  Combos.  I like the pretzel & cheddar cheese kind.  I don't eat these very often (because of the high sodium content), but I do like them on occasion.

4.  Tortilla chips & salsa.  I prefer unsalted chips (like you would get in a good Mexican restaurant) & salsa that I've made myself.

5.  Chobani yogurt.  I love the thick creaminess of this yogurt.  I love that it's fat free, has the live active cultures, no gelatin, and that the sugar content (in the flavors) is not too high.

6.  Green olives - the big ones, with the pits.  I love to eat these while reading.  I put one in my mouth, suck out all the brine & then chew up the olive.

7.  Planter's dry roasted peanuts.  Planter's is the only brand I like.  I like to eat these while reading, too.

8.  Popped amaranth.  Amaranth is considered a pseudo grain.  It's very good for you.  I pop mine in coconut oil.  I actually crave it most days.

9.  Ezekiel sesame bread.  I eat mine toasted with some butter.

10.  Apples.  My favorite variety is Honey Crisp.  I also really like Empire.  Apples are portable & are a nice complex carb to eat when I'm eating my (lean protein) yogurt.

What are your 10 favorite snacks??

Mandalas!

Here are pictures of some of the mandalas I've drawn.  They are so soothing to my brain.  I'm working on another one, but it's not finished yet.


This is the first mandala I drew.

#2

#3

And #4 - I think this is my favorite, so far.

MAKE it a great day!