My grocery dilemma...

My husband and I have a grocery budget. Or at least we are supposed to. Sadly, the hundreds of dollars that we blow at Costco every month on God knows what, don't seem to be a part of that budget, and yet we were still spending them.  So after realizing that we were pretty low in cash this pay period (thank you medical bills!) I decided we didn't really need to go shopping for two weeks.  I made smoothies out of old fruit, we ate pasta, the sauce my dad canned this summer, all our veggies, meat from the freezer, and more stuff from the freezer, and ate at our friend's houses, and tonight I might have picked up dinner. Okay, so no, we didn't not buy food for two weeks, we just didn't use our shopping budget, we had to use our own fundage if we wanted anything extra.  It seemed to work except that I've been trying to make a meal plan for the last 4 days and I'm stuck.  I'm not really sure why.  My brain is sort of in a muddle as I contemplate what foods I should buy. We desperately need  fresh veggies and fruits. At this point all we've got are some leeks I bought for soup that we ate the potatoes for a week ago. The husband cleared us out of smoothies, any milk products, anything with the word juice in it, and any snacks I shoved his direction.  Tonight he was dying to open our last bottle of Martinelli's Apple cider (that I wisely hid in the pantry and forgot about), and I offered to make him lemonade instead. I heated up some water, poured a bunch of True Lemon in it, and squirted some honey in. He said, "I don't like it, but I can deal." Eh, I'll take it.  I wasn't trying very hard to impress him.

Please note that we still have food in the house, and if it weren't for my need for ketchup (still can't find mine--whoever stole it is going to hell because taking my ketchup is a sick sick joke!) and nail polish remover (they won't be used together!) I would probably attempt to avoid going to the store this week either. I find though that I'm doing a craptastic job of being all domestic like and cooking lately and my other half isn't really a fan of dinner duty. 

Instead of that shopping list which is still avoiding being written, I'll just post some recipes that I'm excited to make. Maybe I'll feel motivated, or maybe I'll spend 5 hours on pinterest and get nothing done.  

1. Paleo Pumpkin Walnut Muffins

http://pinterest.com/pin/56154326573776047/

Yumm...these look good. I've got all of the ingredients, even after not grocery shopping in weeks. Once again, if it weren't for that damn ketchup, I just wouldn't go! I'm leaving the walnuts out though since neither of us can eat them. 

2. Spinach Bites

http://pinterest.com/pin/56154326573776997/

This is from my friend's blog and they are amazing. How do I know this? Because the perk of babysitting for her daughter was getting to taste test these puppies. I detest boiled, steamed, cooked spinach.  The first time my grandmother gave it to me, I spit it back out on her.  No joke -- sorry grandma! These things are nothing like that boiled mess though.  The spices and potato give them great texture and flavor, while baking them gives them an awesome crunch. There is no overwhelming spinach flavor unless (I think) you make them super thick.  Think of them as a healthy green french fry thingy.  Just do it, and you'll thank me me later.  Spinach is our friend! Popeye had it right, even if I thought he was lying for most of my life. 

3. Sweet Butternut Squash mash yumminess (yes, my super professional chef name!)

Please for the love of God, just buy it pre-peeled and cut! Save your fingers...or in this case mine. Actually the real issue is that butternut squash, while I love it, lasts for-ever. So I just let it sit and think about how I want to eat it...for months.  If I buy it already cut, it's got a pretty clear expiration date, and I actually will EAT it.  Is that cheating?  You can judge me while I'm eating my butternut squash mash with a teeny bit of brown sugar and cinnamon and nutmeg. Judge away, but I'm not sharing.

4. Anything on this page

It just looks delish...http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/category/dinner/

specifically these: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2012/02/moroccan-meatballs-with-citrus-glazed-carrots/ which will be gracing my kitchen after I do a spice inventory tomorrow morning. 

This website isn't strictly paleo but she's got a paleo section that looks amazing.  

I would love to do the paleo diet and give up all (or most) grains, legumes, and dairy. I already know dairy and I had a love affair that needed to end.  My bronchial tubes thanked me for that, and I figured out the cause of my decade long headaches.  Grains are a hard one though. I don't doubt that cutting them out would make a difference in my health and weight loss. It's just hard, and I don't need people who are already drinking the kool-aid to harass me unless they want to get slapped. 

I like the idea of the paleo diet except for a few sticking points-I don't eat pork and can't make myself eat most fish.  This means that I'm missing out on the, seemingly vital food group: Bacon. Ugh...sorry guys, I can't do it.  I can't even stand turkey bacon anymore. It just grosses me out.  I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to walnuts (hence leaving them out of the above recipe) and raw almonds and I may have a tenuous relationship. My husband can't have any soy or walnuts (thyroid issues), just to complicate matters.  I'm figuring out how my stomach and mouth react and deal with raw food and meats. Most of my life, I stayed away from meat because it gave me stomachaches.  I'm not sure I really have a problem with incorporating more beans into my diet either. I know that more veggies is basically the answer though. I'm figuring out the root causes of my dietary issues, and experimenting with different foods. Please...give me some time. If you don't, I've already warned you about smacking potential.  

On another note, I've decided to torture Newton by tying his stick toy (hot pink b/c that's how my man rolls) so it hangs, feather down, into the cat house that my dad made him.  Now, instead of just perching on the top most perch and sleeping like the prince he is, he's getting into the house, balancing on the back scratching post and go crazzzzzzzy playing with it. It's...hilarious fun to watch and I'm pretty sure he's enjoying himself. If you guys need more pictures of Newton...just ask. Since everyone knows that I anthropomorphize my cats since I don't have kids, I have pictures a plenty. It's not my fault he so freaking fluffy you want to squish him to death, and that Henry has the most amazing anime eyes ever.  

Anywho, off to attempt to sleep next to a freight train that call himself my husband.  If he knew how often I kicked him in his sleep, he'd probably stop talking to me for awhile.  And since he's going to read this, I might add in looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove you baby :)

Why is there a man with a gun in my living room??

Anyone that follows me on facebook knows that my GPS was stolen out of my car back at the end of January.  My car was opened, riffled through, all parts of the GPS taken and then the door was closed again. This was all done without setting off my car alarm.  I posted what happened on our neighborhood board, and found out that there were quite a few cars that had been broken into--also without setting the alarms off, taking any electronics that could be found.  

So like most people would, I bought a new GPS.  This time I was much more careful about taking it down every night and dropping it in my purse.  Apparently not careful enough two nights ago when, hands full, I left my GPS in my car (in the center console).  I was so distracted that I didn't even realize that I had forgotten it.  Yesterday I came out to my car to go to the gym and realized that I didn't see my GPS cord.   With a plunging heart I quickly realized that I had been robbed...AGAIN.  35 days after the first theft, the bastards had managed to get into my car again (cause the first time wasn't difficult enough apparently) and took my GPS again.  

If you feel stupid reporting that something got stolen out of you car because you left it in plain site, let me tell you that feeling increases ten fold when you have to call the police AGAIN because your car has been broken into twice in one month.  At first, I have to admit I was almost amused that it happened again.  That quickly turned to fury that I projected at anything I could find.  

Now readers, I don't live in the ghetto, or the projects. I live in an upper middle class townhouse community with million dollar homes down the road. We are getting targeted.  Since I posted on our neighborhood board that people need to file police reports when these thefts happen, the police now are required to come out and take a statement in person.  I mean, it's great and all to meet my neighborhood county cop, but it my GPS is still gone and I'm pretty sure they aren't perusing pawn shops for it. My neighbors have a camera pointing at their cars, and another over their door. I hoped that perhaps they recorded that night, but no luck.  The police talked to them this morning and found out that their camera's don't record.  

Now comes in the guy with a gun....

I was sort of sneakily getting a shot of him while my husband talked to him. All of the stuff on the floor was donations I was taking after our swap. 

When this nice officer came calling we learned how incredibly short staffed they were, to the point that there was one officer for half our county.  That must be close to half a million people (if not more!) and one officer is in charge. No wonder they can't patrol!  

So morals learned

1. Screw GPS's, I'm using my phone.  Ironically I hated the new GPS I'd gotten anyways.  

2. Depending on the police might not be the best idea. as they are understaffed, over stretched and under funded.

3. Get a house with a garage...no seriously, I'm willing to give up a basement to keep my car safe.

4. Living in a nice area means that your car is MORE likely to be broken into. 

5. Learned to be grateful that they didn't break a window.  

6. VOTE! This is a RICH county with a LOT of people that make a LOT of money. It's unacceptable that our police are so radically underfunded, and that the police are expected to have to sacrifice an officer to be solely responsible for the mall near my house.  

7. I did mention that we are looking to move, right?  I think that this event might have thrown me over the line from 'eh' to 'I'll pack tomorrow!' I love our house, but the petty crime in this neighborhood is getting scary. 

8. This is really sad, but one of my first thoughts was "damn, this is going to make a great blog post!" I'm sort of pitiful like that. 

Oh ... what a week! Sorry I didn't mange to make this post funny.  I'm just sort of emotionally drained after this week.  

What's Cooking? Peanut butter Banana Oatmeal Squares

You know that Veggie Tales song, "Oh where is my hairbrush?"  Well, the version I've been singing is, "Oh where the hell is my ketchup!?"  No, seriously, my ketchup is missing.  I made eggs the other day, and went to the fridge, tasting the tomatoey goodness on my tongue, and...I couldn't find it. I physically touched everything in the fridge to make sure that no one cast a spell of invisibility on it, but nope. It's gone.  So now...I am out of ketchup around the same time I discovered that I love eggs with ketchup, and only have eggs in the house to eat for breakfast, and refuse to go grocery shopping for the next week. What a conundrum!  Now moving on to unrelated food issues, I recently made another recipe from Pinterest.

I was pursuing Pinterest, and found and immediately made this recipe. I actually forgot to pin it when I made it, and had to go back through my internet history to be able to find it again! I loved the wholesome ingredients (no butter or added oil!), and the fact that I had them all on hand!  With a few easy ingredients you can make a breakfast bar, serve it with a little peanut butter, and have a ready made breakfast for your whole family.  I even put these out at my swap-a-thon as a 'cookie' and most of them were eaten.  Since these have a super moist consistency, I would suggest you eating them pretty quickly.


If you are looking for something super sweet, this isn't it. However, it's a great bread-like base for things like nut butters, honey, or just something quick to grab. I plan on using different spices next time. I think it would do well being spicier with nutmeg and a tiny bit of cloves. I'd also love to try it with a hardier oatmeal that maintains it's texture after it's been cooked.  Quick cooking oats tend to lose all of it's texture when they're cooked. If you want it to be a bread like texture without making you think of oatmeal though, currently, this is it.

Variations:

• Use rice milk, like I did to make it dairy free
• Use gluten free oats to make this celiac friendly. 
• Use Egg substitute and rice milk to make it vegan
• Experiment with some honey/agave nectar to take out the sugar. 
• Make them in muffin tins...I think these would make great muffins.
• Allergic to peanuts, or don't like them? Almond butter would work! As would any other nut/seed that ends in butter!
• Hate bananas? Use unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin puree instead. I'm not sure on the measurements, so check online and tell me how it tastes!

Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Squares
From Here!

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk *(I used rice milk)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large mashed banana *(I keep my old bananas in the freezer, so I just pulled one out)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
*my comments on the recipe. The links are to the actual product that I used!

Mix together the quick cooking oats, light brown sugar, baking powder, kosher salt and ground cinnamon.

Add in the vanilla extract, milk and egg. Mix the ingredients together.

Then add in the mashed banana and peanut butter. Combine all of the ingredients.

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased 8 by 8 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Cut into squares and enjoy!

Pressed into Pan

All Done!

Yes, I can see my reflection too.

Jan-March Goal update and life changes

February Update on Goals:

So ... I did mention in my original post that I had some issues with procrastination right? I didn't procrastinate in my attempts to do my goals, just to update you on them!

I'll go through each goal that I set here, and update you on my progress. I should probably set new goals for myself too. Once again, these aren't all of my goals that I'm working towards.


This blog:

January goal:
Write in blog 2 times a week.  Start writing a design document to lay out how I want my blog to look after it's redesigned. Discuss the design document with the hubs.
Update:
I've been much better about updating and have been averaging about 2x a week.
I haven't really discussed a redesign of my blog with my husband, but I have spent a lot of time playing around with different layouts on my own. I discovered different tabs, and have enjoyed creating new ones. (hint...please check them out!) I could be doing a lot more with the background and I know this, which is why I keep changing it!

March Goal:
Continue to blog, 2-3 times a week. I like the game series I am doing, and playing more games with my husband has helped us get closer too!
I want to publish more meal plans, and recipe posts.
What other posts do people find interesting? I can only put up so many pictures of my cat...

Health:

January goal:
Go to Yoga class on Sunday morning.  Try a Zumba class.  Doesn't matter when or if I only do it for 20 minutes--just get over my fear of the new and unknown.  Also, get on elliptical in my room at least 1x a week.  First thing in the morning? It would be awesome. Sweat is our friend. Work on anxiety issues. Find a cognitive therapist.  Make an appointment.
Update:
Umm...can I skip this section? I was doing great for about a week, even started to lose some weight and then I got sick and used it as an excuse to backslide. I found that when I ate crap, and didn't exercise, I craved more crap and less exercise.
I didn't go to yoga. I didn't try a Zumba class either. In fact, I went to the gym 2 times.  This is really depressing. I have however been using my elliptical and going for walks more. Now If I could get myself to do that daily, I wouldn't feel guilty about not exercising enough.

March goal:
Go to the gym 2x/week. Walk at least 10 minutes a day, be it outside or on the elliptical.  I'm baby stepping on this one. I'd rather outshine my goals then feel like crap in a month when I realize that Ive once again not done what I hoped.

Food:

January goal:
meal plan meeting 1x week with husband.  Personally plan small meals/snacks for myself. Make sure to have these foods on hand so that I can eat every 3 hours.
Update:
We have been better at meal planning but I'm still having trouble with finding quick and easy food to eat.  It's a never ending battle lately. I have been better about meals in general, and not eating out as much though but it doesn't seem that it's saved us money.

March Goal:
Less eating out, more meal planning. Oh, and stop going to Costco--my spending there is ridiculous.  Always have hard boiled eggs in the fridge, and create a list of quick snacks that we can have. Why? Because you can't think when you are too hungry. Also, taking a nap when you are hungry and waking up starving is a bad life choice.


Books:

January goal: Read the first Hunger Games book. Yes, I've been told that I'll be immediately HOOKED but it's all about the starting.
Update:
Oh I read the entire series. Big thanks to my friend who lent me the electronic copy.  My husband is reading to me almost every night and it puts me right to sleep! I love it, and the series that we are reading (series name).  I also went into the physical library and got a book and a couple of audiobooks that I can listen to in the car. The library is right next to where I babysit, so it's a great stop on my way home.

March Goal:
Less TV more reading.  Find a way to play more audiobooks in the house so that you'll get more done instead of being attached to the computer.

Entertainment:

January goal: Make decision on future of group, and volunteer. Significantly cut down on TV and Internet time by downloading audio books to listen to, with my new handy dandy library card (that I have yet to use:( ).

Update:
I've covered the library issues above.  We are volunteering more, which is great, and I have significantly cut down on my TV watching.  As far as my group goes, I'm still not entirely sure what is going to happen. I'm keeping really busy though so it's becoming less of an issue.

March Goal:
Continue!

Going forward:

I am pretty excited about what has been happening in my life. I have going to more events, meeting more people and making more friends. I'm spending lots of time playing board games, organizing events, babysitting and most recently, I decided to start my own business.  Starting next month, I am going to become a Slumber Parties consultant!

If you haven't hard of Slumber Parties and you are still thinking of middle school girls having pillow fights, I'm sorry to disillusion you.  This Slumber Parties is a home based party company that sells lotions, potions, romance aids and lingerie.   I first went to a party in while in college, and another recently, was once again realized how much I love the company, and their products. I was really struck by their goals to help women create a safe and fun environment to discuss relationships, romance and sex. It's empowering to not feel constrained by society in your abilities to ask questions about sexual health and to realize you aren't alone. It's something that many women never have a chance to have.

I'm sure I'll continue to regularly write about my Slumber Parties adventure, and I hope that I can make a success out of this venture. So...let's see what adventures March brings!

Swap-O-Thon 2012

About six months ago I was invited to my first swap.  The rules were simple. You bring anything you want, you swap with other people for their stuff that they brought, and whatever is left is given to charity.  I love the idea and scored some great stuff. Since, back in December, we mistakenly assumed that February would be too cold to have the event outside, we decided to have it at my place.  After I told some of my friends about this event they all got really excited about participating and apparently starting squirreling away all of their stuff that day.  

The day before the event, I was expecting around 15 people, and even borrowed a couple of long tables so we wouldn't only have piles on the floor. In the past, we had five people...not 15 and I wasn't entirely sure if this was going to be fun, or utter catastrophe. It was certainly chaotic, but oh so fun.     

This is the before picture with Newton investigating the tables that have my meager offers on them

The day before, I put out all of the items that I had assembled from around my house.  All those toiletries that were hanging out in the rarely used guest bathroom could go, along with a bunch of old purses, some clothing that didn't fit, jewelry that I would never wear, drinking glasses we were not longer using, some pots, towels, stinky candle and shoes were among the things I had no qualms about giving away.  The great thing about the swap is that you can give people stuff that has been used. It allows me to get rid of all of those bottles of body wash that I'll never finish using, and hair products that I bought on a whim.  It's a great excuse to clean out your closets and bathroom cabinets.  

We have a pretty big house. Actually, it's too big for the two of us, and we rarely use the front room As people flooded into my house, bringing bags and boxes, and donations oh my, that room size shrunk.  We ended up having at least 12 people, almost all of them had been to my house before and knew each other.  Everyone pitched in, helping haul boxes in,  making quick work of  the pre-swap organizing.  We had boxes of books, Christmas decorations, handbags, shoes, so much clothing, kitchen appliances and more. It was overwhelming how much stuff was in my living room, and wow it was loud.  My friends are just as animated as I am,  I don't think that my husband regretted hiding in the basement with the cats. Newton, being the most sociable cat alive, apparently cried as the cats were blocked off in the basement. He wanted to join the party! I just didn't want him to run out the front door that was being frequently opened and closed.  When we did let him out, he came and rubbed on everything and flirted with everyone.  

Lots of people in my living room...

with lots of stuff

This is the same table as the first picture...only now it's really full (as was the floor in front of it)

Kitchen appliance table

Happy Hostess taking a quick break
I LOVED this hat, but didn't need another one. I did demand a picture be taken of me though .

After everyone had assembled I explained how we would deal with those 'most wanted' items. You know, that thing that makes your eyes light up as you imagine it in your living room? Well my husband came up with a silent auction idea, where cards would be assigned to each person with a symbol one side, and a number value on that back so that you could 'bid' up to 15 points on any item or number of items. It worked really well and the one time there was a 'tie,' one of the women just said the other could have it.  It was a great way to keep people from immediately attempting to claim things before people had a chance to look at everything.  I admit that I did grab a Vera Bradley cooler bag as I was helping to unpack but my friend said that I deserved to take 'taxes.' I laughed at then, but afterwards, I realized that I really did have much time at all to go through and look at individual items, so I'm glad I was able to do that.  In the end I only kept a few items, but no regrets at all!

After all of the high 'bid' items were spoken for, people found areas to claim for their piles, and went to look through all of the rest of the items that they might want.  My kitchen turned into a impromptu changing area as people tried on clothing.  Modesty apparently wasn't really in high demand, and it was all women anyways.  Nudity will not be the selling point for the next swap, but it was amusing.  

I assumed that I would have to haul everything that was left to charity and there was  LOT of stuff left. Since I offered to have the swap, I figured it was my responsibility, and I wasn't going to complain about it, but I really wasn't looking forward to it.   I really have some amazing friends though.  I was blown away when first one friend offered to take some stuff to Goodwill because she was heading there, and then another friend said she could take as much as we could fit in her car. It was...glorious. Everyone else pitched into pack up everything and take it out to cars.  Quickly my living room started looking like a living room again.  I had asked that people try to bring a donation for a local charity, and now have a huge stack of stuff to take to them, and that's pretty much it.  

A small amount of the food, before 12 ladies descended and made short work of it!

After our swaps, we were understandably exhausted (haha) and needed proper nourishment, so we assembled in the kitchen were everyone brought something to share.  It was a last second idea, asking people to bring food but  without me having to buy anything extra, we had enough food for 15 people to have a decent lunch. One friend even brought some bean enchiladas from another event she had recently attended. We sat around and ate, chatted, and caught up.  Two of my friends stuck around all afternoon and we put a puzzle together from the box of puzzles that Mariette brought to give away:

Finished Puzzle! It glows in the dark! 

And then when the noise dropped down, my husband ventured back upstairs to help make a delicious chicken dinner. Actually the husband was ONLY interested in making the chicken.  The women decided we needed more than just meat, and my friends quickly made some sides of butternut squash and potatoes that were delicious.  After dinner Julia had requested that play Munchkin, so of course we obliged.  Oh yeah, she won too....

Our exhausted WINNER! 

After all this, I was dead tired, and slept so well.  It was a wonderful day, full of wonderful people and equally wonderful memories.  I'm looking forward to having another swap in a a couple of months, and doing a deep purge of my house for that swap.  A HUGE Thank you to everyone that came!! 

Have you ever been to a swap? How did you manage ties?

Winning is fun! Thanks Sara

There is nothing like going to your mailbox and finding a box addressed to you.  Oh, you don't get mail that isn't a bill? I don't get that too frequently either.  After I came inside and had a lovely conversation with USAA (no seriously, I had a conversation with a bank that put me in a GOOD mood!) I was finally able to sit down and open my box.

A couple of weeks ago I won this blog giveaway over on Sara's Organized Chaos blog.  I'm not sure how I came across Sara's blog, but she's awesome. She's witty, sarcastic, hilarious and has the cutest Wisconsin accent (that she claims no responsibility for), and adoooorable kids.  I wish she lived closer because I want to be her real life friend, not just cyber stalker!

I had been expecting a box, but I was still excited to see it. When I opened this box I expected a decent smutty romance novel to fall into my lap. What I didn't expect was all of this:

A book, a heart shaped ring pop, a pez dispenser, and this beautiful card.  The card says "Owl always Love You." The computer was a prop, not a prize, sorry guys.  Did I mention how all this awesome made my day?

Thanks Sara! I love it all, but I'll admit right now that my husband will be stealing all that pez.  I will not relinquish control of the ring pop though!

Like her beautiful card? Check out Sara's blog for all her awesome crafty shiz (her word, not mine!).  Also check out her blog for frequent giveaways, and great reading.

Game Review: Dominion

As part of my 'crap my husband bought a ton of games for Christmas!' series, we have to come to the game that most geeks I know are hooked on.  I'm late to the party, since I inherited my geekiness from my husband and it's still being cultured and crafted.

Box front (image from wikipedia)

The first time I watched Dominion being played, I wasn't in the best of moods. We had friends over, it was the holidays and instead of being full of cheer, I was full of anxiety. I didn't actually play those first two games, because I convinced myself that I would rather crochet than play with a group of people.  That was my mistake, and once I started playing I was hooked.   Dominion is a deck building game (the original game has 500 cards, you aren't using all of them at once!) where you buy cards that give you abilities to buy more money and cards and ultimately Victory Points.  At the end of the game, the person with the most Victory Points wins. It's a pretty easy concept....

Except it isn't. Why? Because the decks that you play off of and build and use change every game. At the beginning of the game, someone randomly picks 10 cards. Those ten cards denote the Action Cards that you will be playing with that game. Different Action Cards mean a completely different game each time. It's awesome but can also be incredibly annoying when you end up not getting any Action Cards that you wanted to play with.  These Actions Cards are the reason that this game lends itself so well to expansion packs. The expansion packs (which we don't own...yet) are ways to add more and different Action Cards into play, which changes the game even more.  You can always fudge the rules a little and play the Action Cards that you like the most, but that seems to me, to take away from a lot of the fun of it.

It is a game of strategy, as you are constantly choosing how you want to build your deck and budget your actions and money.  Different cards get you different ablilities, and sometimes the card you need never seems to show up in your hand. Okay, that actually happened to me when I bought a card, and instead of putting it on my discard pile, I accidentally just put it back on IT'S pile that was next to my discard pile. I couldn't figure out why I never got it in my hand.  I lost that very close game, and have since then been much more careful about the Action Card decks being far away from my discard pile!

I had only played with my husband until he introduced me to the online site. I'm not sure I would suggest it for people who haven't played before, since being able to hold the cards, and see how game play works in person makes it a heck of a lot easier to work with a mostly text based game.  There is an option to play with images, but the text based really is easier.

The benefit of the online game is how fast it goes, since you aren't shuffling your deck constantly, or having to set up and tear down the game.  The people that play online were really really nice and incredibly helpful. No one got annoyed that I would play slowly as I attempted to read all of the cards.  I wised up after the first game, where I lost horribly, and switched to using the 'base' deck that has almost exclusively cards that I'd played with before.  The first woman that I played with said that she had gotten so good, by playing online, that her husband now refused to play the game in person with her. Consider this your warning!

Awesome bits about Dominion:

• Global Domination!
• Quick and easy to learn but
• Always changing and presenting new challenges
• Lends to expansion packs, and team play
• An entire game, including setting up and tearing down, doesn't take more than an hour
• Game is affordable considering it will last a long time. It's cheaper than a video game!k
• I'm pretty sure my husband loves me a little more each time I want to play

Annoying bits about Dominion:

• OMG there are so so so many cards. It takes awhile to set up and then you have to sort all of the cards out again to put them away.  I could see this set up being too timely for impatient people
• Did I mention that this game has 500 cards?
• Sleep deprivation from staying up all night
• Your friends may make fun of your new addiction
• My husband revels in turning me into a geek
• I'm a little worried about getting spanked any time I try to play with people who are more experienced than me. I might remedy this by playing online more, but I don't want to ruin the dynamic that my husband and I have going. 

Expansion packs

There are a TON of them (8 on the wiki page) so I'll list some from the Amazon site.  Order away! 

Dominion: Intrigue

Dominion: Hinterlands

Dominion: Seaside

Dominion: Prosperity

Dominion: Cornucopia

Dominion: Alchemy

Hopefully all those links should work and show you each of the different expansion packs. Check them out, especially if you're already a base pack expert.  If I completely bungled a brief explanation of the gameplay, maybe this wikipedia article will help. Actually, just come over to my place and we can just teach you! I'm always looking for more people to play with, and my husband is always looking for an excuse to put off doing work, and playing games instead.  

Next in our series: I think it's time to explore that hilarity that is Munchkin.  

What's cooking? Minestrone soup! (vegetarian, diary/gluten free)

I just set up a new tab on my homepage called "Leaniepi Designs" to show off all my crafty goods. I will be updating it with lots of stuff, and am taking orders.  Please help support my crafting hobbies!  

I've been trying hard (as per my goals!) to make more of an effort to meal plan.  When I visited my friend last week I saw that she had this awesome meal plan/grocery list notepad (that I can't find online, but this one is similar).  I sat down with my husband and we planned out meals for the week, and made a shopping list. I then went and bought it all!  Part of that planning was making (and buying) for this soup recipe that I'd seen on pinterest.  It took me a week to make it, but I just finished my first bowl, and it was DELICIOUS!  My husband, who hates minestrone soup tries not to gag at the smell, but I'm overjoyed to have soup to eat. 

Minestrone Soup

adapted from : Sprinkles of Parsley Original Recipe

(check out the origional URL for TONS of beautiful pictures)

Family Recipe

Ingredients

1 onion, finely diced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large 16 oz can of tomatoes

2 stalks of celery, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1 yellow zucchini, sliced and halved

1 can of kidney beans

1 can of chick peas

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon dried sage

2 bay leaves

tabasco sauce or 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

3 cups of spinach, roughly chopped

2 fresh tomatoes

small pasta

Directions

Finely dice one onion and mince one large garlic clove. Put into a large pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Saute on medium/high heat until the onions are clear and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add 10 cups of water or chicken stock. Add one large can of plum tomatoes. Any tomato will do, such as diced or stewed. Bring the water to a boil on high heat, then lower the temperature to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. Then with a hand blender, blend the broth until the onions and garlic have been pureed and are no longer visible. You should puree the tomatoes a little to try and break them up, but keep them chunky and not completely blended.

Meanwhile, prepare your vegetables. Rinse the canned beans and set aside. Wash and dice the celery and carrots. Wash and slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch thick slices. Cut them in half to make half moon shapes. Once your vegetables have been prepped, add them to the pot. Season your broth with the salt, pepper, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, thyme, sage, 2 bay leaves and a few dashes of tabasco sauce. Bring to a boil. Then cover and simmer on low heat for 2-4 hours. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors will blend. This soup is even better the next day.

20 minutes before you're ready to serve, rinse and roughly chop 3 cups of spinach. Add the spinach and 2 whole tomatoes (stems removed) to your pot of soup. The tomatoes will break down in the hot broth, adding additional flavor and color to your soup. Also add your pasta at this time, about 3 tablespoons or 1/4 cup if you prefer a thicker soup. At this time, adjust the seasoning to your desired taste, adding additional salt and tabasco sauce. Continue to cook for 20 minutes and serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese.

changes to recipe:

• I used almost entirely organic beans, stock and veggies. Organic is good :)...and Costco carries it. 
• I used about 1/3 cup pasta elbow macaroni--it lead to me having like 3 pieces of macaroni per serving (no joke). You can add more, or none! 
• I used red wine vinegar. I didn't need spice, and my husband wasn't going to touch it. 
• I used two small yellow zucchini's. They cook down and don't taste squashish at all. At Trader Joe's, they come in a pair, so I figured I would use it all.    
• My husband managed to use our last big tomato while I was gone so I dropped in two roma's during the last 20 minutes.  I can't complain, he made some awesome spaghetti sauce with it. 
• I served it with a bit of parm cheese. Once again, for a dairy free version, leave it out !

I bought an immersion blender after reading this recipe. I knew I needed one anyways, but after buying one at Costco, I was blown away by all the stuff that it does.  That entire onion you need to chop? I used the blender! It was fun, quick and easy to clean up.  I bought one to help me make soups, I didn't expect that I could use it for baby food, smoothies, and chopping up veggies. I think I need to get rid of some cross purpose kitchen stuff, because I've gotten a little carried away over the last year. 

Leaniepi Designs Sale Time!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

In honor of our finally having cold weather, I am going to do a hat sale for the month of February.  I will be giving a 15% discount on all of my hats, and if you order more than one item (not only hats!) you'll receive free shipping. If you have questions about anything, you can either leave it in a comment or email me at eileenkward(at)gmail(dot)com.

My monkey hats have been so much fun to make and wear!  I have two left, but I can custom make them as well.

This toddler hat is a soft pink with a cute purple flower.  It's 20 inches  approx. in
diameter and should fit most toddlers and small kids. It's pretty stretchy yarn too.  ($20)

(Another kid's hat shot)

Monkey hat with his little monkey friend (Monkey Hat 1, $27)

Monkey 2, $27 

Another shot of Monkey 1, $27

This purple slouchy beret is perfect for these windy days.  The thick  multicolored purple
yarn is super soft.  $17

This black/grey beanie will fit both men and women. It's stretchy and warm. $15

Purple beanie $15

I have soooooooo much more stuff to post, and will continue to. I also plan on adding these pictures under a tab on the main page so people can continue to persuse and order.

I hope everyone had a beautiful day!

Fandooble Game review

Two days before Christmas my forward thinking husband (who never procrastinates) decided it was time to shop for Christmas.  He apparently walked over the mall, walked in the bookstore and just bought a bunch of games and a couple of books for me.  He loves playing games, and thinks that getting me hooked in board games will both create a geekier wife for him, and be a gateway drug to the opium that are full fledged video games. We shall see. I have the attention span for board games, but video games just seem to take too much commitment.

And the sneaky Fandooble that steals coins from your 'friends' in the game

Two of the games that we've played a lot are Dominion (I'll blog about that later) and Fandooble.  Fandooble is a pretty simple dice game that depends on a little lucky, and some strategy too.  In the gmae you are trying to get the most gold coins.  You steal coins from both red and green dragons and also the other players.  There are green dragons that end your turn if you get three of them and then there are the dreaded red dragon, which, if you are unfortunate to roll three of, you lose all of your coins. I had almost won the game...there were only a couple of gold pieces left when tragedy struck.

yeah that would be 3 red dragons and me looking very very sad

And all the damn coins I lost

 Needless to say, I lost this game really badly.  It's such a fun game though that is family friendly, easy to teach and learn and doesn't take a really long time to play.

The box top

Check it out on Amazon HERE.