Say It and Live It.

I took an old tray, painted it and then started writing affirmations on it. This makes me happy. Say it and live it.

Peldyn

Tomato Season

There is nothing better than vine ripened tomates fresh from the garden. My tomato vines are going crazy right now and my cinnamon basil bush was in dire need of pruning. That called for a meal of Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce. The original recipe is from http://www.marthastewart.com/904229/pasta-fresh-tomato-sauce  I changed it up a bit as I need protein right now and the hubby likes chicken. Oregano was subbed for parsley because, well I had one and not the other! 

Tom darn near licked his plate clean when it was done and told me I should make it again and again and again! I definitely will until the tomatoes are done.

Fresh Tomato Sauce with Pasta and Chicken

2 chicken breasts cut in chunks

3 cloves garlic crushed

Oil to sauté

Cooked spaghetti for 4

Assorted garden tomatoes coarsely chopped, I used a big handful of cherry and 4 large heirloom

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, cinnamon basil is fabulous!

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teas oregano

Sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Fresh grated Parmesan about 1/2 cup you can use more if you like

Mix tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, olive oil, and oregano together in a bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. Set aside. Heat oil in sauté pan and add chicken and crushed garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until meat is lightly browned and no longer pink inside. Toss with spaghetti noodles in sauté pan. Add  tomato mix and toss again. Top with Parmesan cheese. 

Serves 4 to 5 

Enjoy!

Going Gluten Free

A recently diagnosed wheat allergy has made me re-do many of my recipes and rethink how I eat. No more morning pastries with tea or fresh sourdough bread *sigh* BUT I can still have some baked goods and I have been working on a decent wheat free flour mix for regular baking. My daughter used it last weekend to make waffles with and it was a huge success. Here is my AF flour blend for you to try:

Gluten Free AP Flour Blend

100 grams potato flour
100 grams coconut flour
100 grams white rice four
100 grams millet flour
100 grams amaranth flour
300 grams sweet white sorghum four
100 grams tapioca starch
50 grams arrowroot powder
50 grams sweet rice starch

Mix well and store in air tight jar. Replace by weight for regular AP flour in recipes. 1 cup = 140 grams.

Collecting all these flours can be a bit of a chore in the beginning, but once you have them all then it is a breeze to mix up what you need. I just buy in bulk at a discount and keep in food storage containers.

I am working on the perfect whole grain flour blend now that my teff flour has come in the mail. My first loaf of teff bread turned out VERY good. I will make sure I post that blend once I have it down pat :)

Happy baking!
Pel

Chick, Chick, Chickie!

I know it has been FOREVAH since I have posted here and sooo much has gone on in my little world. Two bouts with frozen shoulder, another rescue pup (Roxy Piddlepants) and now CHICKENS! Yes, I have succumbed to the hipster trend of backyard chickens. My first little dears were unfortunately "played" to death by Fern. She thought they were toys. Now we have built a new dog proof run and re-inforced hen house for the new chickens. The first inhabitant will be Miss Barbara.

She is super friendly and loves to be adored. I bought a dwarf cherry tree to plant over the new hen house so it will always be shady. I expect in a week or two that I will have some friends for her. I have to be careful though, I hear that chickens, they are like potato chips....

Fern Helps Out Rescue Dogs.

Many of you who know me or have read a bit of this blog know that my pup Fern is a rescue dog. She shares our home with an assortment of rescued cats who love her as if she was a cat. Hmmm... maybe she thinks she is one? *grin*

As such we hold all rescue efforts near and dear to our hearts. What the folks at Pedigree are doing is so awesome and I hope that any of you out there that are bloggers pick up on this too. They are donating food for a shelter just for me writing this blog post and posting the link on the Life With Dogs' special link list .
*link below*

I am so happy to be involved with this project. My animals give so much to me and we want to give back :)

Peldyn

Want to join?


*Please note that links left at this post will not count. They must be entered into the link list here.

How often have you had a chance to have a 20 pound bag of dog food donated to a shelter simply for writing a blog post? It’s really that easy. Pedigree has upped the ante big time. And please spread this message: The food drive is not limited to pet blogs. Imagine if we could spread this message beyond our circles and see how far it goes? The numbers could be substantial. Here is the full scoop:

* Each year, more than 4 million dogs end up in shelters and breed rescue organizations. Pedigree created The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive to help shine a spotlight on the plight of these homeless dogs.

* This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a “Fan” or “Likes” The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.

# Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive through September 19th, PEDIGREE® will donate a bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It’s simple: Write a post, help a dog.




* Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19, the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop, to help raise awareness for the “Write a post, help a dog” effort.

It is so easy to make a big difference. Please set aside a few moments to write a post. Include the bullet points above. Copy the pics if you’d like. Add whatever you’d like in addition to help get the message out. Because this is not limited to pet bloggers, there is tremendous potential. Know bloggers in other categories that might be interested? Please share this post with them, write one of your own, leave a link to your post. Let’s make this huge. It would just feel great.

On The Lock-Out Line

I have been spending some time with my husband out on the "Line". This is not a picket line since the workers are not on strike. They are out they yelling at the buses as they pull in with replacement workers (known as Scabs) saying they just want to work! They also take pictures of the workers that have replaced them, pictures of any trucks with containers and the numbers so that they can be tracked to the docks. They keep tabs on who is crossing the line. So almost all of the Unions worldwide are supporting our cause and not crossing the line. The companies that are will be remembered.

Here is a typical night at the "Gauntlet" which is what the shift change is called. That is when the most amount of people are out to show support and when the most workers...ehm scabs are in and out of the gate.


Waiting for the first cars/buses to arrive.


Donna and Renee are so patriotic!


How many sheriffs does it take to get to center of a tootsie pop?


Here are the buses. They are busing them in from Mojave, 32 miles away and housing them as well. Now how much money is that costing????


Trying to shame the shameless, the management in that van. A tough job.


I could only look at them with tears streaming down my face. I hope I gave them nightmares that night.


Many of them tried to ignore us. Some of them even laughed. Those that saw me cry stopped laughing though. I don't think the scabs truly understand what is going on.

So now you can see how I have been spending a lot of my time. I have also been baking to bring food out to the people who are out there every night. I may not have much, but we all have to stick together in this. An injury to one, is an injury to all!

Locked Out

For those of you who may not know. My husband and his fellow mine workers were walked to the gate and their work keys, time cards, work phones, etc. were taken from them Jan 31. My husband was not even allowed to get his work tools. They were locked out because management and the union had not been able to reach an agreeable contract. So instead of continuing talks the mine just locked the workers out.



So now my husband is out of work and the mine has brought replacement workers in. Probably from their borax mine in Argentina. I am sure they think minimum wage is great!

My husband is at the mine right now attempting to retrieve his tools. He bought them himself and he has about $15,000 invested in them along with a large rolling toolbox. I hope they are not giving him any hassles.