You Are What You Eat?

(Food, Inc. Take Part)

Gosh, I honestly hope not. Most of us really don't know what's in our food anyway. I just finished watching Food, Inc., a documentary about the food we eat and the giant corporations that control the food industry. It was a really good film and I urge you to watch it if you haven't already. For those of you with Netflix, you can watch it instantly online (hint, hint Dad). And if you've already watched it, lemme know what you think! Don't worry, it wasn't one of those shockingly disgusting slaughter-house type documentaries...there were a few parts that made me cringe, but really it wasn't that bad. The film did make me think more (as usual) and get angry (again) that these large corporations are controlling so much, selling contaminated food, and abusing animals AND the people who work for them. It makes me mad but the film ended on a positive note by discussing examples of how we, the consumers, can and HAVE changed how things are done.

This makes me want to grow tomatoes in my backyard now more than ever. It makes me want to buy locally.

Seriously. Go watch the film. Then ask yourself, are we really what we eat? Check out this website, to learn more.

So, did you see the film? What are you going to do to change things?

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend! I'm trying to fight off "a case of the Mondays" today and to do that, I've decided to find the good stuff and embrace it ... and I'm trying to ward off the crappy stuff by banishing it from my mind (insert comic book sound effects here).

The Good Stuff:

•  the sun is shining!!
• it's a balmy 19 degrees at the moment
• even though I have a giant pile of work to do, I just sent out a few necessary emails, gotten some things scheduled, and feel quite accomplished already! I'm going to keep that momentum going!
• I brought an awesome lunch today

This reminds me of what Liz (@ Mabel's House) had to say last week, except she says it a lot better AND has pretty pictures. :-) I totally felt this way last Thursday!

Happy Monday!

A Grand Entrance: Part 1

Remember the movie, What About Bob? You know, Bill Murray plays "Bob"... a hypochondriacal, highly anxious, codependent guy, overly-attached to his psychiatrist (and his fish). Well Bob had to learn to take "baby steps" and he kept saying it over and over: "baby steps to the door, baby steps up the stairs, baby steps on the bus..." Well, I feel like that with my back entryway transformation. Baby steps to an organized, neat entryway.

And so, I wanted to share with you a baby step I took this weekend. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this little thing. I actually get a little giddy when I walk through there now.

But first... some thanks are in order! You guys really got me thinking about some really great ways to make a small space more organized and user-friendly...and pretty. :-)

I love Erin's suggestion:

(The Company Store)

And I would totally do this if I could, but really that bench is a little too big for my space. Sigh. If only I had a little more space. But I am in love with the corner shelf, so who knows. Maybe I'll splurge...maybe.

A couple of you mentioned changing out my light and I really want to do that, I just need to find a cheap light that isn't ugly. So I've been keeping my eyes peeled. I also have some Goodwill mirrors I plan to spruce up to add to the space. What really got me thinking was all that unused space in that recessed area above the coats and going to the basement. So who knows, I may be adding a shelf and baskets there! Thanks for all your great ideas! Keep 'em comin'!

Now, back to my baby step. I didn't really mention it in my last post, but you can see it in my pic:

See it? No? It's that ugly accordian door...

Now? Yeah, not sure why it's there, but it gets in my way constantly since it took away like 4 inches of space in the doorway, so I was always bumping it. And the one time I tried to close the dogs down in the basement they just bent it and went through (I have a real door at the top of the stairs in the kitchen).

Anyway, I decided to take that ugly thing down. It was trickier than I thought because there are these little...brakets? (those gray things)...holding the track on and the "hinged" side, but that was hidden so it took a bit before I realized how that part came off.

Finally, I got it all off! Woohoo! Then I tackled the many, many screws that were in there...I used elbow grease and worked up a little sweat, but I got them all off! Now every time I go downstairs, I am nearly gleeful at that door being gone! I know, it's not that big of a thing, but I feel like it's made a world of difference.

Apparently I didn't take a full picture of the new and improved doorway, but I did think it was funny that once I got the track off, you can see three distinct colors! An orangey one in the basement, white under, and that pukey yellow.

It's a veritable rainbow of color around here!

Holy Granola Batman!

I just made granola for the first time... but it won't be my last, this granola is AWESOME! Seriously, it's cooling on the counter and I just ate a few spoonfuls all by itself. Yum.

I did a little search for "granola" and came up with more than a few options, but settled on this one here. I did make a few changes, and I just realized that I baked it at 350 instead of 325 (I guess I was distracted, but it turned out fine). I bought a bag of mixed dried fruit - cranberries, cherries, and blueberries- and used 2/3 cup of that instead of the fruit listed in the original recipe. You can make it with whatever combo of fruit and nuts as you want. Be creative!

Easy Homemade Granola
adapted from "Baked: New Frontiers in Baking" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole almonds {Note: I used slivered almonds, and they worked fine.}
1/3 cup whole hazelnuts {I left these out completely and just adjusted the baking time a little.}
1/3 cup golden raisins {As I said, I used mixed fruit instead of the raisins and cherries.}
1/3 cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, toss the oats with the cinnamon and salt.
In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined. Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them: Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.

Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the almonds over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.


Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. {This is where I took the granola out to cool.} Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the raisins and cherries over the granola and use your hands to transfer it to an airtight container. Granola will keep for one week.

Enjoy!

I Hate Thoroughly Dislike My Entryway

The back entrance to my house drives me nuts.

Pottery Barn

Oh no. No, that's not mine. That beautiful, organized, and gigantic entryway, is definitely. not. mine.

No, this lil' beaut is my pride and joy (sob). This is the view of the back door looking down from my kitchen. It's actually very clean right now. There's usually an extra bag of dog food or something sitting right there in the corner.
 

 Just in case you think you may have missed something, you didn't. Here's another shot... from the basement steps looking up to the door.

Right off the stairs to the basement, there is this little recessed area that has a little ledge and some hooks for coats and whatnot...

This little recessed area is only about 6 inches deep. And it's usually got more stuff hanging and sitting on the ledge, but in a fit of organization, I cleaned some stuff out.

That's pretty much the whole thing, folks. I could barely get decent pictures. To complicate things, there is usually a dog

or two

in the way.

So what are my issues with the space? Good question.

It's small. I can't realistically do anything about the size, but I can figure out some ways to maximize the space.

Usually messy. Like I said, sometimes extra dog food sits there, shoes, stuff to go in the basement or out to recycling, etc. I need some storage solutions for a small area.

Not enough coat hooks. And no one knows where to hang them. That's an easy one to fix.

Poor lighting. (I think the pukey yellow color is partly to blame for this.) The ceiling is really high so the light fixture is too.

Pukey yellow wall color. Not that it currently matches my kitchen anyway, but I probably won't be painting in here until I decide what color the kitchen will be.

That's the list at the moment. (Well, I don't like the floor much either... it's kind of beat up and ugly. I'm not changing the floor any time soon, though, so I'll cover it with rugs or something.)

I do have a couple of ideas... but I'm willing to take some suggestions! Any fantastic small-space organization tips you want to share? Do you have a small space that drives you nuts?

The Strangest Thing Happened on the Way to Work Today...

I got locked IN my car!

Not my car, but I do drive one like it.

I pulled into a parking spot at work, turned off the car and prepared to exit the vehicle. But the door didn't open!

I thought someone was playing a joke. A first-day-back-at-work joke. (Not the most logical thought, but it was early and freezing.)

Tried again, to no avail. My door just wasn't moving. At all. I clicked the unlock button...even though it unlocks when I turn off the ignition.

No luck.

I thought the door froze shut even though I had the heat on all the way to work. I decided I had to get out the passenger side, but a woman parked next to me at that moment. Not wanting to look like an idiot, I pretended to be busy until she left, then climbed over to the other side and got out.

When I went around to my side, I saw a big shard of ice wedged perfectly in the door handle so that the handle was lifted. The door was able to latch closed (obviously) but because the ice was wedged just right, the latch couldn't move and the door couldn't open.

Though I still don't know how the heck it got there... did you see the handles up there? (Had I been thinking properly early in the morning in single-digit temperatures with a windchill factor, I would've snapped a pic with my phone before dislodging the ice. Ooops. My bad.) How does a sharp shard of ice manage to get wedged in there just so?

Anything freaky-deaky like that ever happen to you on the way to work? Do tell!

Yummy

I know this is quite after the fact, but I couldn't share these edible Christmas gifts earlier because, well, they were Christmas gifts! I apologize for the quality of all these pics- I took them quickly with my camera phone.

I don't usually do any baking for Christmas because Mom bakes more than enough for an army and because of the traveling I've had to do at Christmas. However, this Christmas was focused less on stuff and more on spending time together, good food, and good fun. I still wanted to do something, so I baked!

I whipped up some Cranberry Buttermilk Scones, which are pretty easy, very tasty, and freeze well (which was important because I had to freeze mine until the big night), though obviously they're better fresh from the oven! I got the recipe from Erin years ago and make them every now and then. Each time I do, I curse myself for not making them more often.

Cranberry Buttermilk Scones (makes 12+ depending on how big or small you cut them)

3 c. all-purpose flour

1/3 c. plus 2 tbsp sugar, divided

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 c. cold butter or margarine

1 c. buttermilk

1 c. dried cranberries

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 tbsp milk

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut in butter. Stir in buttermilk until just combined. Fold in cranberries and zest. Turn onto a floured surface, then divide the dough in half. Shape each portion into a ball and pat down into a 6" circle. Cut each circle into 6 (or more) wedges. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with milk. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar, sprinkle liberally over scones. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes: I typically make the mistake of pulling out my electric mixer for this when really, you could do everything with a wooden spoon and your two hands. Or use your dough attachment for your mixer...I have one, I just never think to try it when I make these. Also, I usually just zest the whole orange and use all the zest. I like 'em zesty! But you can adjust to your taste. I also usually have a lot of cinnamon and sugar left so I sprinkle a little more on top while still warm. I also think this would be yummy with blueberries and lemon zest (though I haven't tried it).

To go with the scones, I made some Cinnamon Honey Butter. I saw the recipe here (her pictures are waaaaay better than mine) and loved the idea, so I got some baby food jars, some material, and tied them with jute. In this picture, there is obviously no butter...and I didn't have the jute yet. But you get the idea.

Cinnamon Honey Butter

2 sticks of butter at room temp
1 c. powdered sugar
1 c. honey
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Make sure the butter is room temperature and soft. Use the whisk attachment on the mixer and whip the butter. Add the powdered sugar, honey, and cinnamon. Whip it together, then scrape the sides of the bowl and whisk. Whip again. Repeat if needed, making sure everything is combined well.

Notes: I'm not sure how long this will keep. It's easier to spread at room temperature, but if you don't eat it up immediately, then store in the fridge. I haven't tried it yet, but I hear it goes well on rolls, pancakes, waffles, muffins, you name it!

There you have it! An old favorite and new favorite! Let me know if you try these recipes out... Enjoy!

Steals & Deals

Happy New Year! I feel as though my first post of 2010 should be important and profound...but it's not. It's pretty typical. :-)

I hope all of you enjoyed a lovely New Year's Eve, whatever you did. I spent some time with my brother (who was in town for a few days) and friends. Had a few cocktails, ate a lot of food, and laughed a lot. New Year's Day was quiet...I needed to recover from the previous evening!

I'm dreading going back to work tomorrow. My time off has been absolutely lovely and I'm just. not. ready. to go back yet. So yesterday and today are days of cleaning, organizing, and being lazy for one last day. And a little pampering too.

I've been taking down Christmas decor and packing it in my new giant storage box that I got on the cheap from Target. Love those sales. Since I finally have a house to decorate, I've been trying to catch stuff on sale after the holidays for next year. I am not going to bore you with all the stuff I got, but I do want to share a couple things...

Like my new tree topper (for my new tree). I decided I loved it so much, I wasn't going to let it sit in a box all year long.

So I put it up on top of my kitchen cabinets. Now I can enjoy it year round! Yay!

Of course, while out shopping, we checked my favorite thrift shops and I snagged a couple more of these old Ball jars with the zinc tops. For 69 cents each! Some places sell these babies for $4 or more! I have loved these blue glass jars ever since I got one from my Grandpa's house a long time ago. This one won't be staying there for long...I've got a very specific purpose in mind for my growing collection. 

Did you snag any great deals after the holidays?