I bought a Rice Cooker

I've been doing soup and rice for breakfast so I purchased this rice cooker. I can't believe how much better the rice is - it is so fluffy and the grains are so long. Didn't know what I was missing. I got this rice cooker from Costco for $29.99. You can get smaller ones from Walmart or Target but this one had a delay timer which I like. The rice cookers will keep your rice warm after cooking.

This is a bento of some rice pockets I took one day to lunch but I've since started eating about three pockets with rice with my soup for breakfast. This bento has hummus which I got from costco in these cute little packages. I usually eat the hummus with a small bag of carrots for a snack. There is also a little soy bean filled rice cake -a small sweet. The small bottle on top of the rice pockets is filled with more of the sprinkles which are already on top of the pockets. I'll tell you more about that next week when I do bentos for lunch. I'll also take a picture of how I've been doing the pockets for breakfast sometimes with a little shrimp and a spicy sauce. I use to purchase those type of pockets from a market for breakfast but now I do my own. The little blue ring in the back is an ice ring.

Here is my little bento box all put together. I got this one at the thrift store for .99 - I guess it is missing a few items such as a little container which fits in the middle and the utensil on top. But for 99 cents I can live without that.

The missing container would go in the middle of the ring.

This is what the pockets look like when I purchase them from the Asian market.

These are also some rice presses I got as the Asian market in Eugene (will have a post on that next week.) It is fun to press the rice into shapes to give the food a different look.

I've been eating Progresso Soups for breakfast. I've purchased some miso stock so I will branch out next week to making miso soup.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Breakfast The Meal of Champions

Here is a picture of Sunday breakfast from a couple of weeks ago. I like to make a big deal out of Sunday breakfast and use my Rose Chintz China. I usually listen to opera but on this day it was Easy Listening Chinese Pop music. After breakfast I settle in reading the Sunday Newspaper.

So my goal for the month of January is to get a handle on meals in my house. I don't like feeling lost about what to make for meals. I want to get 15 good lunch and dinner recipes that I can use to plan tasty, healthy meals. With the economy the way it is and with a slight reduction in my pay checks (medical insurance went up at work) I want to be able to make sure I am getting the most all around for my money.

I thought this week I would concentrate on breakfast. I'm not one to eat cold cereal and I don't seem to be able to tolerate oatmeal. I love it - it just doesn't seem to love me. I've been making shakes every morning with frozen fruit, tofu, yogurt, orange juice and vitamins. I want to actually do the math and count the calories etc. just to make sure I'm not over doing it.

I've been exploring other options. I've been reading about what the Japanese eat as they have the longest life span. That is until the start eating like Americans. From what I've read they tend to have miso soup, rice and some meat usually fish. That actually sounds good to me. My sister Suzy and I use to love eating soup for breakfast when we were kids. So my plan for breakfast is to get 3 or 4 things I can alternate with during the week. If any one has suggestions I'm all ears as I would love some input.

So Until Next Time. . . .

Kathleen

Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

I've been inspired by Melissa at her "The Inspired Room" to start New Year Goals by the month. You can see Melissa's goals at this link http://theinspiredroom.net/2008/12/31/a-beautiful-life-12-months-of-goals/

As Melissa has done I've created goals for the year focusing each month on something specific. Here is my list.

January - Meals
February - Physical
March - Expanding Horizons
April - Solitude/Spiritual
May - Family
June - Environment
July - Financial Freedom
August - Contentment/Happiness
September - Routines/Daily Rituals
October - Hospitality
November - Gratitude
December - Giving

You may notice that many of my goals are the same as Melissa's. If you haven't checked out Melissa's site you should as the site indicates it is very inspiring. http://theinspiredroom.net/ She is a very recent ex-Oregonian who has just moved to Washington. I wish her all the best in her brand new home.


I'd love to hear about your goals so please leave a comment with your thoughts for the new year!

Until Next Time. . . .
Kathleen

Lovejoy's Tea Room in Florence Oregon

So this is an overdue post. I went to Florence in November and intended to share this with you in early December. Lets just say I will get better at blogging in 2009. This tea room is everything you hope for in an English Tea Room. Fabulous food, atmosphere is great and the people are wonderful!

Here are some view of the inside. Many locals as well as tourist eat here. Now that is a good sign.

This is a scan of their business card and menu

A few views of the harbor. I didn't get a picture of the famous Gothic bridge which alone is worth the trip to Florence.

If you have a chance to go to Florence on the Oregon coast you should take it. The views, restaurants and people will be forever in my memories as one of the top on my list.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Brittnee's Chairs

Just a little post to show you some chairs I did for my niece Brittnee. Brittnee moved to Ashland with her boyfriend Angleo to go to college. She is fond of white and black so I took this old ugly (sorry I don't have a before picture) directors chair and covered the seat and back with black and white fabric. The chair had been a very ugly (stained) brown color. I purchased it at the thrift store for $4.99

I started out on this chair painting it white for myself with a sponge brush. Never again will I use a sponge brush as I ended up with lots of drips. I had to sand the drips down to the wood and start over with black paint. Once again I used the black and white fabric. Looks much better.

Here is a before shot although you can't really see the awful drips on the chair. Before I tried painting it white it was a very ugly brown. I have nothing against brown but these two chairs were not the best of browns.

Until Next Time. . . . .

Kathleen

Snowflake Lights and A Little Snow

I kept saying I wasn't going to do snowflake lites this year because they always seem to break on me and I have to replace them each year. Well - I found four sets of them at the Goodwill Store in White City for $2.99 each and I couldn't resist. I'm really fond of Snowflake Lights and have had them for the past three years.

We also got a little dusting of snow this weekend. Since Friday we have had snow each day. I've heard it is suppose to snow all week but we will see. I had to call my niece and let her know that it snowed the day after she went home (L.A. for a weeks visit.) She was so bummed about missing the the snow but I'm sure she will get to see lots more before the winter is over.

So how is the weather at your place???

Until Next Time. . . .

Kathleen

Happy Birthday Joe

Happy Birthday Joe - you would have been 35 years old today. My nephew Joe passed away November 29, 1986 it was three days before his 13th birthday. Sometimes I still really miss him. I like to remember good things though. I think it was his fourth birthday that fell on a Saturday. The city of Victorville (California) had a Christmas parade and we took Joe to see the parade. I remember he watched the whole parade go by with a big smile on his face. One of the last floats had a big birthday cake with the words "Happy Birthday Jesus" written on it. Joe turned to my mother and said, "Look Grandma they made me a cake!" That was when we realised he thought the whole parade was for his birthday.



Joe's first fish. He wanted it cleaned but he didn't want anyone to kill it.

Joe spent hours riding this old tricycle around my parents carport. My mom tied a waggon onto the back so he could pull his brother Quaid around in the waggon. I have a tape of Joe and I singing Donny and Marie's song "I'm a little bit country and I'm a little bit rock and roll." I of course sang Marie's part and Joe would sing Donny's part and he would really get into it. He told me once he wanted to be an actor.

Joe on the left and another nephew Denny (Dennis) on the right. Joe was my brother Kenneth and his wife Virginia's child. Denny (he goes by Dennis now) is my brother Dennis and his wife Linda's child. Joe and Denny were very close.

Quaid on the left with his big brother Joe.

One of my favorite poems that I have written is dedicated to Joe. And here it goes....

4:00 in the morning

Sometimes the horror will wake me at 4:00 in the morning

Or it can hit while standing in the grocery line

Memories pulled from the mind of a sweet, blond curly headed boy with pale eyes

Grasping at threads of the past which slip like sand from a clutched hand

Leaving a tortured heart in the midst of sadness

I've struggled for a while wondering if I should share any of my poetry on this site. I decided I would share back ground about my poems. Though traditionally poetics don't share I always want to know the back ground and not just guess for myself. Since this is my favorite poem I decided this would be the time for sharing.

Until Next Time. . . .

Kathleen