Dyeing my Thumb to Green

Despite the snowstorm we had earlier this week, spring is here!! I've been holed up with books and websites all winter, planning a garden. Now, it's time to begin enacting our plans...
The little dude has helped me start some seeds in one of these trays that I hope works!  He has previously described me as a 'hurricane of killing' when it comes to plants.  We'll see if I can change my ways...


Here are the seeds we're starting indoors!  So far we've got tomatillos, brussels sprouts, Joe Parker New Mexico chilis, and Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes.  More will be started in the raised beds in the yard in a few weeks.


We've got some citrus and a bay tree in the window, to hold us over until it truly warms up outside.  This is our windowsill of yum!  (Don't worry, we're not eating the prayer plant).


Lemon trees have really pretty flowers!

We'll keep you posted on our progress to grow some of our own food!

Let's Hear it for Social Control

Throughout January, I took pictures if the foot that I have eaten and posting it on Instagram and sometimes twitter. Every time I got snacky or hungry, I had a little voice living in the back of my head saying; "Choose wisely. They are watching." I even lost several pounds!

A month later, I've given my camera a rest, and the pounds have come back. Snacking, even on stuff I didn't really want or need, is also back. What to do?

March is around the corner, and my camera is coming with me to the dinner table!

FO: Panda Sweater!

My Little Dude loves pandas.  A lot.  Always has.  When it started getting cold around here, I pulled out his blue sweater from last year... only to find out that he had outgrown it!  So, a quick day of stash rifling and brain storming ended in...

Death by Intarsia Panda

This sweater is probably the most complicated colorwork I've done, and it ate through a ton of leftover Palette.  The stitch count is from Ann Budd's raglan pattern from the Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.  The colorwork was done on the fly, and the pandas.  Well, the pandas nearly killed me.

Can it be true?

I don't know what to say, boys and girls, other than...

I'm knitting again!

A badly lit picture of wine and sock...

That's right.  I've got projects on the needles, a pair of socks whizzing along, and fiber-y ideas in my head.  I've got three to show you today...

Maybe I should change my blog name to Stashbusting Colorwork

It's been fun to get back into it.  I've even got some sock yarn that I'm thinking about ordering...

A little lace...

Can you guess which one is already an FO?  Tune in next time to find out...

Food Accountability

That's everything I ate last week. Everything.

It's a lot more salads and veggie soups than I had been eating before. The project continues...

A Semester's Worth of Frozen Meals

There's one recommendation that crops up repeatedly, whether you're trying to lose weight, save money, or just simplify your life.  Plan your meals ahead.  Many people like to do it every week, on Sunday night.

Well, go big or go home.  I've got most of the semester mapped out!




This may not look like much, but I've got 13 slow cooker meals in the bottom drawers of my freezer, and have designated Monday and Wednesday as slow cooker nights.  Last week we brought home a brisket, pork shoulder, a bag of frozen chicken breasts, and a bag of frozen cod.  Below is a list of everything now waiting to make the first 6 weeks of the semester that much easier.  Very few of the recipes are complicated, but they're all good :)

Already in the freezer

• Barbacoa (recipe from here) 
• Lasagna - Homemade frozen lasagna
• Ribs - pork shoulder
• Chicken (with Broccoli)
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Sun Dried Tomato Chicken
• Pesto chicken  - this is just chicken and store bought pesto.  Really easy.  Really good.
• Parmesan Cod
• Orange Honey Cod

Lunch bag remake

Lunch bags! What kid (or working adult) doesn't need at least one of these? My kids often leave them at school, so 3 or 4 is a safer bet. I've been thinking about sewing these for awhile, and here they are!

I used this great tutorial. Not jeans, right? Well, you may not know this, but I am a thrift store junkie. Just yesterday we were at my favorite Salvation Army when Little Dude spotted the gold and blue satin dragons pants. Thinking that these had to be better as a kindergarten lunch bag than those high waisted monstrosities, I totally caved. Sweet pea found a summery pair of paisley capris, and that made these lung bags that much more fun.

I also found a Jones New York dress for 99 cents. Totally not repurposing it, just loving being a bargain hunter.