Banana Blackberry Muffins

The other day, I had a few bananas lying around that had seen better days.  I also had half a container of blackberries that needed to disappear fast.  I mixed them into a basic muffin mix and here you go; a quick breakfast that's easy and delicious!


Ingredients
2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1 cup fresh blackberries (or any berry you prefer)
1/2 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons milk
2 eggs
1 cup toasted walnuts (optional)


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease cupcake pan or use liners.
2. In a large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mash bananas and then add berries, butter, milk and eggs. Beat until blended. 
4. Combine the wet batter into the dry batter.  Stir to combine.  Fold in nuts, if you choose.
5.  Bake for approximately 30 minutes.  Ovens vary so bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

midweek confessions

~ I had to go to the dentist yesterday and get a couple fillings.  This leads to a few confessions:

My ego took a HUGE hit when I was told a had cavities.  I felt like I had disappointed my dentist or something.  I know  .. weird but true.

Due to being a redhead, I have a high pain tolerance AND a high resistance to certain pain medications. (Apparently, the gene mutation that gave me red hair also messed with my pain receptors or something .. it's true though and pretty common among true gingers.)  We learned the hard way (after a bad car accident in high school) that muscle relaxers and prescription pain killers just don't affect me.  My doctor was prescribing me the highest dose possible and it just wasn't touching the pain.  I guess that's why my resistance is paired with tolerance ... God knew what he was doing. 

With all that being said, Novocaine is on the my list of resistant meds.  This made me extremely anxious yesterday when I was getting work done.  Let me put it in perspective .. The average person (according to my dentist) gets administered one vile of Novocain in 2-3 shots.  I required four viles. F-O-U-R. That meant lots of sticks AND I had already mostly fallen out of the anesthesia by the time he finished so, had he gone on longer .. I might have needed more.  I should have still been numb at bedtime last night due to the amount I received .. alas I was back to normal before dinnertime.

Knowing I am that resistant made me anxious.  I do not have any anxiety about the dentist in general .. in fact I LIKE the dentist .. but nerve pain ain't nothing to play with.  I guess my uncomfortableness was obvious because the nurse tech kept asking me if I was ok and I kept saying yes.  She then leaned down and said "then why are you white-knuckling it? Your fingers are purple".  haha yep .. I had clasped my hands so hard in anticipation of pain that I was cutting off the blood supply.  Way to go, Jess.  Good job NOT embarrassing yourself.

~ In other non-dental related news....

I am going to Asheville this weekend with some ladies from my church.  I am expecting to have an amazing weekend due to this.  Asheville is one of my Top 3 favorite cities and the girls from my church are awesome. :)  I'm leaving Friday morning and coming back on Sunday.  I.Can't.Wait.

Since I am leaving Friday, I took the day off work (obviously).  Why do short weeks always feel like the longest!?

So what are YOUR confessions this week?

Spring Fever

I love Spring!  It's my second favorite season after Fall.  One of the reasons I love Spring so much is that it carries such a sense of renewal!  Even though our winter was very mild it is still nice to leave the doors open in the house and roll the windows down in the car.  (Of course you have to close it all up after awhile or everything will turn yellow .. haha).  Everything is just so fresh and bright and it simply makes me happy. 

I love nail polish and last weekend I decided it was time for me to update my current hue.  Do you guys have a seasonal favorite?  My Spring/Summer go-to shade is OPI's "Cajun Shrimp".  It is the perfect combination of red and orange and I.Am.Obsessed.With.It.  I decided to click around on Pinterest and assemble other fun Spring/Summer colors.  Of course I probably am not bold enough to wear some of these but the sentiment is there ;)

Jessie's Summer/Spring 2012 OPI Collection

What are your favorite Spring/Summer shades?  Do you have a go to color?  This nailpolish lover wants to hear from you!

Happy St. Pat's Weekend!

This weekend should be fun :)  In celebration of Mark's birthday and St. Patrick's Day, we are having a small get together at our house.  I love having friends over and I love relaxing.  It's the best of both worlds! 

What are you up to this weekend?  Any big, festive plans?

So from this redhead to you, have a SAFE and HAPPY St. Patrick's Weekend!!

Guest Room Redesign

This is so overdue it's ridiculous.

In January, I initiated The Great Switcheroo.  This is where I decided to "rotate" three rooms in my house and change up their uses to better meet our future needs (i.e. a growing family one day).  The first room tackled was the office.  Of course the room is nowhere near done.  It was simply put together to be functional.  I am still up in the air as far as what I want to do in there.  There will be some minor knocking holes in the wall construction so it will probably be a while until you see the full transformation.  As always, I will keep you updated along the way.

Last month, I tackled the guest room.  We had some guests spend the night so it gave me a deadline (which I love).  The "before" pictures were taken mid-switcheroo.  I was so focused on getting all the pieces I wanted downstairs that I forgot to grab the camera.  Here are a couple pictures during the moving chaos.

The pictures are bad, I know.  I don't have a wide-angle lens so it's hard to show everything. Basically it was a giant pile of stuff that was on its way out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The room sat empty (aside from the stripped bed) for a while as I tried to figure out what I wanted to do.  When I decorate a room I always work off of an "inspiration piece".  It can be a painting, pillow, anything.  The piece isn't necessarily the focal point in the room but a jumping off point.  I needed to find my inspiration.

Mark went on a Men's Retreat with our church and that left me with a weekend to myself.  I knew about our guests coming to stay the night so I planned on going to Target to get a couple things to make the room functional.  Well, that trip turned into WAY more.  I started finding incredible deals and then stumbled across my inspiration piece!

The walls were already painted slatey-blue with the light blue stripe.  We didn't plan on repainting (for now) so I wanted to work that in.  We also have tan carpet and I had a white duvet so I wanted to work with that as well.  While wandering the pillow aisle, I found the throw pillows.  They were perfect!  They had the exact blue and tan with the added punch of a deep purple.  I never considered purple so it was a fun addition.  With pillow in hand, and sales deals everywhere, I furnished the rest of the room:

I already had the duvet and tan pillows (they have since been replaced with an awesome duvet set from Ikea but I forgot to take new pictures).  Mark made the floating side tables at of some spare wood (pictures to come). The lamp bases are from Target but the lamp shades were some I had laying around.  I plan on switching them out but I haven't found what I want.  I think rectangular shades would be nice and more modern .. perhaps in a light grey linen/crosshatch pattern or something? hmm...

The photo gallery on the right is of my beautiful niece.  The vertical arrangement on the left is part of our "welcome to our home" gallery that we had downstairs.  The chair and lamp were from other parts of the house.  The curtain (both panel and sheer) are from Target.  The black curtain tie is, funny enough, a grosgrain ribbon that came wrapped around the purple blanket.  It is finished on each end with velcro (to keep the blanket folded) and ended up being a perfect tie.  I just nailed one velcroed end to the wall and wrapped the rest of it around.  I love that little freebie.

The door you see on the left is into the bathroom.  I don't have pictures of that (I'm not doing so well on this picture deal....) but I will update you later.  The "throne chair" is an heirloom piece from Mark's family.  We love that chair.  It is crazy, super formal, could have been in a castle, has claws for feet and tons of scroll work.  It doesn't match our style AT ALL and it makes me love it even more.  The fabric is worn and old and needs to be replaced.  I want an unexpectedly modern fabric, but one that still works with the old style.  We'll see how it goes...

The crooked gallery is the rest of the "welcome to our home" display from downstairs.  Mark is going to build a console table to go underneath the pictures.  It will be a great place for some cute baskets, luggage when people stay over, a TV, etc.

One more last minute addition was the stairwell light fixture.  Once I finished the room, and was looking around, I noticed how hideous the builders grade light was.  It was one of those dome-and-flush-with-the-ceiling fixtures. Bleh!  I went to World Market and bought a giant chinese lantern and light kit.  It's the best $12 I've spent in a while.  It completely transformed the stairwell.  Since you see this stairwell from downstairs, it was nice to do something special.  I like the overall effect.

So, as you can see, the room is still very much a work in progress.  Are rooms ever really finished though?  The projects in this room will probably we on hold a while.  Our focus is shifting towards the downstairs.  We are currently picking paint colors and making plans for the spare room/nursery and office.  There is also an outdoor shed that is top priority as well as landscaping.  Needless to say, we have LOTS on our to-do list.

What's on your to do list?  Any makeovers lately?  Any suggestions for fabric for that crazy chair?  I want to hear from you!

midweek confessions

It's been a while since I did this but it is time to get back into the swing of things.  So now it's this week's...

~  There are a few daily reports that I have to process each day.  They all look the same.  I keep them stacked in my drawer or in our vault just in case (once in a blue moon) I have to go back and reference something.  To make my life easier, I use a different highlighter each day so that I can skip through dates faster when digging for a specific report.  All sound normal so far?  Here's the confession part: I coordinate the highlighter I use for the day with what I am wearing. haha that is so embarrassing to write but that's what this is for, right?  So today I am wearing a green cardigan .. and using my lime green highlighter. :)

~ There are certain foods that, for one reason or another, I was convinced I didn't like.  English muffins were on the list. Our tastebuds change as we get older so this might have been true at one point.  Well not any more!  They were on sale a couple weeks ago so I got a pack.  For dinner, we had toasted english muffins with poached eggs and roasted potatoes.  Soo good.  It was a grown-up breakfast and sparked a new found appreciation.  Maybe I should go back and revisit some other foods....

~ I haven't slept well the last two nights.  I get sleepy and go to bed around the normal time but then my mind just wakes up and is racing until about 2:00am.  Yesterday wasn't so bad but today, after two nights in a row, I'm starting to feel it.  The silver lining is this:  my dog always comes in our bedroom and "monitors"  us to make sure we are safe.  About 10 minutes after we turn off the light, I can hear him making one last pass around the house.  It's his doggy version of checking the doors and turning off lights, I suppose.  Well his night-guarding habits means that we are usually asleep before he is.  The past couple of nights though, since I have been awake, I have been able to hear him sleeping and dreaming.  His little whimpers and fake running melt my heart.   I think everyone deserves the opportunity to have a dog.  It really is a blessing.

~ I am pretty good with babies.  They like me and I like them.  They let me hold them, coo them, and rock them to sleep.  I would feel confident about this except Mark is the freaking Baby Whisperer.  The man (and his father) have some gene mutation that makes them irresistible to babies.  He eats it up!  Of course it is one of the million reasons I fell in love with him but STILL!?  I feel that as a girl I should somehow have this "one up" on him but I don't.  The reason I bring this up is that we are (finally!!) meeting our niece next month.  We are fully prepared to spoil that child rotten.  The problem is that I have this inkling that she is going to like Mark so much more than me.  And that makes me jealous.  Silly and jealous. 

~ This really isn't a confession but I thought I would share.  I'm eating Stoneyfield's Honey Fig Greek Yogurt right now for breakfast and it is sooo good. Once again, it was on sale 10/$10 and I had never tried their brand. You should go get some.

Quilted Genius

Keeping with our bookish theme today ..

Anthropologie is one of those stores that I love to peruse.  I can't afford half the stuff in there but I LOOOVE to look at it all and feel inspired.  My favorite section, of course, is the "House & Home".  As I was drooling over all the eye candy I came across the most amazing quilt ever!  Check out the "We Play In The Woods" Quilt:

Is that not awesome!?  The quilt is made/designed by Comma Workshop out of Colorado.  They hand-and-machine stitch an entire story on the bedding.  I'm just in awe of this.  Is such a subtle touch because at first it just looks like a loopy stitch pattern but then you look more closely and you realize it is words. So cool.  This would so be in my house except for the not so small issue that it would set me back $2,400.00. 

Yeah, no thanks.  There is just a part of me that can't justify buying a quilt for the same amount as a used car.  I still totally appreciate the design though.  If you happen to have $2.4k just laying around and want to purchase it for me then that is TOTALLY ok with me ;)  I'll even let you cuddle with it when you come over...maybe.

HWE's Quarterly Book Review

I am an avid reader.  It's one of my favorite ways to relax.  It's my brain escape.  If I had to give up cable there would be only a couple of shows on TV that I would truly miss.  Make me give up books?  That would break my heart.

When I say I read a lot .. let me define that for you.  As of today, not even two weeks into March, I have read 26 books this year.  Yep, you read that right.  Twenty-six books since January 1st.  When do I have the time?!?  I read mostly during my lunch breaks at work which gives me five solid hours a week.  Then I read a little here and there at night and on the weekends. My nose isn't constantly in a book though .. I promise ;)  Keep in mind, too, that all the books I read are not necessarily that taxing AND I'm a naturally fast reader. I can get through a light read in two days.  When you add it up .. you can see why the number is so high.  I'm not that crazy.

I understand that most people are not like me.  Reading a book is a commitment; sometimes a couple weeks, sometimes a couple months.  It can also be overwhelming to try and figure out what to read next. What do I do? Good Reads**. I've promoted Good Reads before and I will do it again.  Good Reads is a social networking site designed with the reader in mind.  It has millions of books, reviews, and discussions at the ready.  Not sure if you want to invest your money or time on a book?  Research it beforehand!  I rate every book I read and try to review most of them.  You can sign up and follow my reviews to keep up in real time. The mentionable ones that I manage to write a review on will end up posted on HWE.  I can't post them all though so I thought a "Best of the Best" sort of summation would be ideal. 

Welcome to a new series I'm calling "HWE's Quarterly Book Review"! 

Four times a year, I will make a short list of recommended reads and give you a quick summary. I will try to span several genres so I can have a little bit of somethin' somethin' for everyone.  Did you read a book on my list?  Did you like it as much as I did?  Did you hate it?  Is there a book I haven't read that you recommend?  I would love to hear from you!  Consider this a VERY spaced out book club.  We only meet four times a year. :) Hopefully I can incorporate some giveaways as well.  Everyone loves a free book, right!?

The first review should be coming up in a couple weeks.  Check back in and let the bookworm fun begin!  (haha could I get any cheesier?!  Nope, I didn't think so either.)

** Good Reads did not pay me to endorse them.  I just give them repeated shout outs because I like them that much.  Just wanted to clarify....



Birthday Cake

In honor of my wonderful husband's birthday today, I thought I would share our family's "Birthday Cake".  This chocolate bundt cake is our favorite and it is what we make for our birthdays (or anytime we have an excuse, really).  It's SUPER easy to make and really delicious.  I hope you enjoy and, while we're at it, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARK!!

Cake Ingredients:
~ 1 box chocolate cake mix (I usually choose Betty Crocker's Devil's Food or Dark Chocolate)
~ 1 box chocolate pudding mix (5.9oz)
~ 1 cup veggie oil
~ 1 cup sour cream
~ 1/2 cup hot tap water
~ 4 eggs, beaten


Directions:
~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees (or whatever the cake box says).  Grease your bundt pan really well, including the top of the center divider!  I use Crisco for this (it's about the only thing I use Crisco for ...) and I've never had a problem.  Just put some on a paper towel and wipe the whole surface down.
~  In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, oil, sour cream, water, and eggs.  Mix until thoroughly combined.
~  Pour mixture into greased pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
~  Remove pan from oven and let cool for at least 20 minutes.  Invert cake onto dish.  Drizzle glaze on top. (See recipe below)



Sugar Glaze Recipe

Glaze Ingredients:
~ 1 cup confectioners sugar
~ Approx. 2-3 tbsp milk
~ 1/2 tsp almond extract (you can switch this up to any flavor)

Directions:
~ In a small bowl, mix sugar, extract, and 1 tbsp of milk.  Stir to combine.
~ Slowly add more milk until the glaze becomes the consistency you prefer.  Mix well before adding more milk; a little goes a long way. 
~ Drizzle over cake and serve!

Paint Picks

I love color and I am definitely not afraid to show it.  I'm drawn to darker walls and lighter floors/major furniture.  It just works for me.  It makes the room feel cozy but not heavy and closed in.  We have lots of windows in our house and our carpet is beige so that helps balance everything. 

Each of our rooms holds a strong but subdue hue.  The colors were picked for their combination of boldness but subtleness.  I know that's a contradiction but it's true.  I love Apple Green and I wanted a green kitchen.  The problem with Apple Green though is that is can get kind of loud.  We instead "dulled" it and chose a more Avocado green.  It's perfect.  I love colors muted with gray/brown undertones.

Over the past few years we've tackled almost every room in the house.  There are only three rooms left to be decorated. (Of course that doesn't mean I will be done .. it just means they will be "complete" for the first time ..)  The three rooms left are: the office, the future nursery/spare room, and the master bath.

the master bath 

This room has actually been painted already.  About a year ago Mark and I tackled our foyer/mini-hallway and decided to keep it light and airy.  We have cathedral ceilings, light carpet and lots of windows in the main part of the house but the foyer is different.  It has a standard ceiling and dark wood floors. To keep it open, we reversed our general design cues and went with a light buttery yellow.  It's fun and bright and helps break everything up.  Since we had leftover paint, we used it to paint the guest bath off the hallway and the master bath.  We've lived with it for a year now and, although I still love it in the front of the house, I'm just not feeling it in the master bath.

Time to start over. (yay!!!)  We decided to get rid of our shower curtain, rugs, etc and completely start from scratch.  I decided to switch back to what I love .. darker walls and lighter everything else.  The bathroom floor is beige-y white and I found a beautiful shower curtain I love in a tan/taupe color. Since it's connected to our bedroom (which is a gray blue color) I knew I wanted it to coordinate.  We have a 5-foot wide canvas hanging in our bedroom of the Brooklyn Bridge and NYC skyline.  The picture was my inspiration for my bedroom and thus should carry over into the bathroom.  I noticed a lot of purples in the sky and decided that was the avenue we should go down.

So this is where you come in. The following are color swatches from Benjamin Moore. I've narrowed it down and would love to know what you think. We will mostly likely get testers, paint patches on the wall, and then decide but it never hurts to get a second opinion. Remember there is a lot of light bouncing around in there and lots of white so no fear.

I can totally see how next to Purple Rain, Chambourd practically looks brown. 

It's not. I promise.


I just can't decide if I want to go purple purple or hint of purple. I want it to be sophisticated because we could very much so get into teenage girl territory and that.is.not.ok.

When coupled with pretty whites, tans, and stainless fixtures.. this could work.  So which one should I pick?

the nursery and office

I've coupled these two rooms together because we are going to paint them the same color; part for convenience and part for continuity since their doorways are right next to each other and thus part of the same visual field.  In this instance, I am calling the spare room the nursery because that is how we want to think of it for this application.  Painting is not our favorite thing.  We don't want to have to do this again. 

The office is totally hodge podge right now.  It's a bunch of mix-matched pieces with no consistency.  You've got to start somewhere and I've chosen paint.  Since the office can go in any direction, I've decided to let just follow suit to the other room... and true to form, I have already planned the nursery. (of course I have, right?!)

As far as nurseries go, I am a more gender-neutral-anti-"baby-room" kinda gal.  I love baby blues and soft pinks in other people's homes but in mine it would stick out like a sore thumb.  I want the room to be something I would want to hang out in and something that can grow with my kid.  That's why, no matter the gender, I have chosen gray walls. (*gasp*) I know it's very non-baby and some people think WAY too dark but I promise, if you saw the whole plan, it makes perfect sense.

Speaking of "the whole plan" .. I will not be revealing my nursery ideas until there is an actual baby.  So it will be a while.  Just saying ...

In order to help you pick colors, I have to give you a little hint of what I am thinking for in there.  Since it really does matter the gender (even though it is mostly gender neutral) .. think jewel tones.  Think apple green, bright blues and bright corals.  See why I am going with gray? 

Anchor Gray has a blue undertone that makes we waver but Mark likes it the best.  Stormy Sky is a more "true gray" as far as my eye is concerned but does it have enough personality?  Burnt Ember is the warmest but maybe it's a little too brown?  Who would have thought picking a gray would be so hard?!

So there you go.  Three grays.  Three different directions.  We have a large Impressionist-style landscape that hangs in our office.  I have confirmed that all three of these colors would coordinate nicely so there would be no need for new artwork .. unless, of course, I just want to ;)

So there's my color conundrum.  Which purple and which gray should we choose?  Any other hues I might have overlooked?  Are we just simply crazy?  Leave a comment and cast your vote!

My Pledge & Apologies to Parents

I have received a couple mother-related things lately.  They've made me smile for one reason or another so I thought I would share. First things first...

Apologies to the Parents I Judged is an article I read via my friend Lena.  This article made me both laugh and cringe. 

Here's my confession:  I am not currently a mother.  Yes, I have judged.

I used to judge much worse several years ago.  I would see strangers and their "terrible" children and think "I wouldn't have handled it that way."  Of course I would never say that to someone's face but the writer of the article brought up a good point:  I didn't have to.  This makes me sad and embarrassed.

Over the past couple years several of my closest friends have become mothers.  Through them, I have seen more of what the "real world" is like and my idealistic/unrealistic/hypocritical bubble has greatly shrunk.  The fact remains though that I am not a mother.  I can babysit and emerge myself all I want in the lifestyle but I am still an impostor.  I'm still looking outside in.  I do not look at my friend's children and consider them bad.  I do not look at how their situations are handled and think my friend's chose poorly.  I know better now.  I have learned there is no such thing as the right way and that every child and circumstance is different. 

Do I still play the "What Would I Do?" game? Of course.  And I bet you that other mothers do as well.  I think it's human nature (especially women's) to put yourself in someone else's shoes and "solve" their problems.  It's not right.   It's just how it seems to be.  I can guarantee you though that my mouth stays shut and my face blank.  If and when I play my little game now it is purely for an answer to the question and not because I think I could do it better.  I couldn't.

Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, but I feel that when all of your perfectly tidy hopes and dreams don't pan out the way you thought .. you can be the one mom looking at the other naive newcomer, gritting your teeth smiling and saying "Welcome .. it's never how you planned.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooooo I may not be a mother to a child but Mark and I are parents to a wonderful pup.  (No I am NOT comparing the two .. it's NOT the same thing .. just bare with me...)  Mark and I tend to be very strict puppy-parents.  Our friends and family give us a hard time about this and predict we will be "nazis" as parents.  We laugh and are kind of OK with this because we know we really won't be like that.  I have no idea what we will be like as parents.  How can anyone?  I know we are going in with certain expectations and I know those will, most likely, drastically change.  It's a learning process.

Well my friend Rebecca found the "Meanest Mom Pledge" and sent it to me.  You can see which side she is on ;)  Well this made me laugh and I have to say .. I love it.  So with a sense of humor, read my future pledge to my future offspring.  I honestly do love what it says .. we'll just see how much I can stick to it when the time comes :)

Braided Spaghetti Bread

This is another Pinterest find.  If you are remotely watching your carbs then stay away from this.  If you couldn't care less and love some carby goodness, sink your teeth into this spaghetti and garlic bread combo.

Ingredients:
1 package lough of french bread dough
6 oz spaghetti, cooked
1 cup thick spaghetti sauce
8 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded or cubed
1 egg white
Garlic powder
Parmesan cheese
Parsley flakes
** you can add cooked ground meat, too, if you want the "spaghetti and meatball" effect


Directions:
1.  Spray counter lightly with non-stick cooking spray (or use parchment paper).
2.  Roll loaf into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
3.  Cook spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and let cool slightly.  Mix with sauce (and meat if you want).
4.  Place spaghetti lengthwise in a 4-inch strip down the center of dough. Top with cheese.
5.  Make cuts 1 ½-inches apart on long sides of dough to within ½-inch of filling.
6.  Begin braid by folding top and bottom strips toward filling. Then braid strips left over right, right over left. Finish by pulling last strip over and tucking under braid.
7.  Lift braid with both hands and place on large sprayed baking sheet. (or transfer parchment paper to baking sheet).
8.  Brush with egg white and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, parsley and garlic powder.
9.  Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly and slice to serve.

Quinoa Patties

yum

I think one of the biggest fails in vegetarian cooking is when people try to recreate meat dishes.  It just never turns out right .. except for Morningstar Corn Dogs .. those things are amazing and even carnivore's can't tell the difference!  But I digress..

I came across a recipe for Quinoa Burgers.  I am renaming them patties and I did not serve them on a bun.  They just aren't burgers but they are delicious nevertheless.  Check them out below!



Ingredients:

2 rounded cups cooked quinoa

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese

1 cup shredded zucchini, squeezed

3 eggs

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 green onions, including white parts

1 /2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Olive oil for frying

Directions:
1.  In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, zucchini, eggs, flour, green onions, sugar, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder.

2.  Heat a frying pan and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat.  Mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick.
3.  Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.

I served mine with a dollop of greek yogurt on top.

Review: Domino: The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy

Domino: The Book of Decorating: A Room-by-Room Guide to Creating a Home That Makes You Happy by Deborah Needleman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This is a fantastic book for decorating and inspiration. Written as a sort of textbook/manual, you will be well-educated by the end. I highly recommend this resource for anyone interested in home decor.



View all my reviews

February In Review

Whew! I'm glad that is over!  If I had to sum up February in one word it would be "blah".  I know I said this throughout the month (in the very few posts that actually got published) but I just couldn't get my head on straight!  I felt non-stop busy the entire time but when I stopped, looked around, and tried to take inventory of what I actually accomplished .. I was left with nothing.

I think we all sometimes get stuck in the hamster wheel of life.  I won't harp on it.  I won't let it get me down.  I absolutely feel frustration for the fact that I just "wasted" a whole month with nothing to show for it.  But you know what?  It's a new month and I am determined to make March SO much better.

Am I completely out of the fog yet?  Actually, I don't know.  After having a "come to Jesus" talk with myself last night I woke up with renewed energy this morning.  Maybe I will be back in the funk tomorrow but at least I will have this post to remind me that I can get it under control again.  I need to evaluate and determine the things that give me the "accomplished" feeling.  I know my lack of blogging greatly contributed to my downward spiral but when I sat down to write I just couldn't think of anything.  This will change.

NO MORE, I say.  I will not spend another four weeks like a zombie.  I will take control of my happiness.  I will make a to do list and then fervently check each item off because taking action makes me happy.  I don't know how this will manifest itself but you can bet that, this month, you will be included.

This blog was a promise.  House Without Elephants means that I owe it to myself (and my followers) to expose the layers; to challenge the parts of my life that I don't like and to celebrate the parts of my life that I do. 

Here we go, folks.

Happy Friday and Happy March!