Breakfast

 I enjoyed grilled salami, ham, mortadella and a slice of swiss cheese on toast for breakfast the other day.

And here we are at the end of August!

Some Memes

 

Canned Corned Beef and Cabbage

 This is my simple corned beef and cabbage dish.  It was inspired by a post Denise made recently.

Here is my recipe:

1/2 cabbage cut into small pieces

1 can of corned beef

1 onion chopped

3 tbs olive oil

In a saute pan, heat olive oil and saute onions.  When it is almost browned, mix in the corned beef broken up into bits.  When that is warmed up, add the cabbage and stir for 5 mins.  Lower the heat, cover and steam for 10 more minutes, and that's it!

Memes

Sharing a few memes with you today:

 

Paint Party Friday - Valerie's Rooster

 Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday.  I did an ACEO (2 1/2" x 31/2") in permanent markers based on a photo of a rooster that Valerie took.  It is always amazing painting nature's creations, I was fascinated by the details on Valerie's portrait.  

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Rough Textures

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Rough Textures' theme.  A wicker basket came to mind, so I have done it as an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  The wall also has some texture.

My Vietnamese Pork Chops

I found these thin pork chops on clearance at the grocery store.  We enjoy the thin pork chops from the Vietnamese restaurants, so I looked at a few recipes on youtube.  Here is the recipe I ended up with and it was a success, I will be doing these again.

 12 thin pork chops

3 cloves garlic minced

zest of one lemon (or lemongrass if you have it)

3 or 4 green onions chopped

1/2 tsp white pepper

2 tbs light soy sauce

2 tbs fish sauce

1 tbs white sugar

2 tbs honey

3 tbs canola oil

Tenderize the chops on both sides with a meat hammer, next time I will put the chops in a ziploc to contain the mess and have an easier cleanup.  Marinate the chops with all the ingredients for a couple of hours at least.  I may have waited only an hour.  Heat the oil in a saute pan.  Cook each chop for 1 and a half mins per side.  The first batch may take a bit longer as the pan heats up fully, but then they start to get nice and brown with subsequent batches.  

Summer Vegetables

 My friend S dropped by with a bunch of kale leaves and fresh beets.  I made a delicious kale salad with grated fresh beets.  The beets are good like that, a great addition to a salad.  I break the kale leaves into bits, a leaf or 2 at a time and massage them vigorously for about 30 seconds.  They soften up well.  Even the stems are not wasted, I cut them into bits and will add them to a can of vegetable soup, along with some herbs and a squeeze of lemon.  

Poutine from McD

Son K picked up a poutine and a McDouble hamburger from McDonald's the other day.  Their poutine is a relatively new addition so I tried a bit of it.  It was pretty good.  Poutine is fries with gravy and cheese curds.  Anything with cheese is generally good!
 

Health update

 I had a follow up phone call Aug 19th with my doctor, it served as my physical for the year.  It was a follow up to a blood test I did.  Everything seemed fine.  Mainly, I had to discuss the continuing swelling of my right ankle.  He thought it was caused by my amlopidine blood pressure medicine as I had been suspecting myself.  He told me to start taking it at night and continue with my other blood pressure med in the morning.  Hopefully this helps else he would try perhaps increasing my regular  olmesartan med.

Actually I decided to stop the amlopidine altogether and within a few days the swelling is noticeably down.   I am also feeling less fatigued.  I will decide what to do next in the coming week.

Blueberry Banana Bread

 Denise posted a recipe for Blueberry Banana Bread and I couldn't wait to try it.  I used frozen bananas and blueberries but it came out so moist and delicious I will be making it again and again.  Thanks Denise!  It helps that I have a new oven, so things don't burn as easily now.  

Here is the recipe

2c flour (I used half whole wheat flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c butter at room temperature

1 c sugar ( I used slightly less than one cup)

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

3 mashed bananas (I used frozen bananas)

1 c blueberries (I used frozen blueberries)

1-2 tbs flour

preheat oven 350F

butter a 9"x5" loaf pan

Mix 2 tbs flour with blueberries, it prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the pan during baking.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. In a larger bowl beat butter and sugar.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Add bananas, then dry ingredients then fold in blueberries.  Bake 1 hour 10 mins approximately.

Paint Party Friday - Sunflower Greeting Card

 Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday!  I have made a sunflower greeting card for you today in alcohol inks outlined with a PITT fine point marker.  

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Reflections and Mirrors

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's "Reflections and Mirrors" theme. I am showing a 'Teddy Bear Reflection' piece I did for Creative Tuesdays in 2012, how the years fly by.

Hop over to the link to find out more about how I made this mixed media piece.

 

The Hawk

 Husband M was able to snap this photo of a hawk in our backyard last week.  He apparently was holding onto a bird.  Soon after he took off with it in his claws.  It was not fun to view this predatory behaviour.  It's the first I have seen one actually land in our backyard.  

Punctuation

 Isn't punctuation so important?

I heard singer Rihanna is now a billionaire surprisingly much of her fortune comes from her beauty product line.  

Funnies

 

My kale salad

 We ordered some sushi plates via Uber Eats and they came garnished with pieces of kale, shredded carrots, beets and cherry tomatoes.  I collected all these bits, and made a kale dressing to go with this salad.  It was delicious!

Kale Dressing Recipe:

1/2 c olive oil

1/3 c apple cider vinegar

1/4 c honey or maple syrup

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

mix all the ingredients together and pour over the massaged kale.  I decided to massage the kale for a few minutes ahead of time.  The dressing has a delicious bite to it.  

The best gifts

Chinese chives

Choy Sum

 My neighbours brought these vegetables grown in their garden over as a gifts.  Aren't these the best gifts?  They told me they are best stir fried as opposed to eating them raw in salads.  

I have been weeding a small part of their front lawn that connects with ours and I think they appreciate my efforts although gifts are really not necessary.

Here are the vegetables after I cooked them:

stir fried chives

This chive dish was a good side dish with fish.

stir fried choy sum

I realized I have had choy sum in Chinese restaurants.  It brought back a memory that I used to love this choy sum dish made with salted fish or something similar.  I remembered being pregnant with one of my kids and ate this dish when I was suffering from morning sickness.  It really turned me off that dish for a long time.  

Stir fry chives recipe:

2 garlic cloves minced

Chinese chives as pictured above

3 tbs canola oil

sauce:

1 tsp chili oil or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes will do

3 tbs fish sauce

3 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

wash the chives.  cut off the inedible ends.  cut the rest into 3 inch strips.

brown the garlic in oil, add the chives and stir until softened

mix the sauce for another few minutes.

Choy Sum stir fry recipe:

2 cloves garlic minced

choy sum as pictured above

sauce:

1/4c oyster sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce

2 tbs light soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp chili oil or 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes will do

saute garlic in oil, mix in choy sum and stir until softened

add the sauce for another few minutes.

Paint Party Friday - Rainbow Mountains

 Welcome to Paint Party Friday.  I did the Rainbow Mountains ACEO(2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  It is the Ausangate Mountains in the Peruvian Andes a photo of which I saw in wtfFunfacts.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Weather and Weather Lore

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Weather and Weather Lore' theme.  I chose to do a Sunshowers ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").  It is when it rains while the sun shines.  Wikipedia lists all the lore surrounding sunshowers all over the world, who knew?

'A common theme is that of clever animals and tricksters getting married or related to the devil, although many variations of this theme are in existence'

Orange Chicken

 

Denise shared a recipe for slow cooker crockpot orange chicken which inspired me to make this stove top version.  It was delicious and here is my recipe:

2 lbs chicken legs

2-3 tbs rice flour

2-3 olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

4 tbs ketchup

2 tbs white vinegar

1 cup orange juice

4 tbs brown sugar

coat chicken legs with rice flour, save excess rice flour

in a bowl mix orange juice, sugar, vinegar, salt, ketchup, onion powder, garlic powder, excess rice flour

brown chicken legs in oil

add sauce mix and simmer covered for 40 minutes.  Enjoy served with rice or pasta.

On learning and more funnies

 

Funnies

 

Reno Completed

 Well our kitchen and bathroom renovation was completed July 28th it took about 4 weeks and we are very happy with the results as pictured above!  

Shark Finning

 Son K was telling me how endangered sharks are due to shark finning.  He saw a program on National Geographic featuring Gordon Ramsey.  This celebrity is working toward having shark finning banned and spreading necessary awareness of this practice. K says baby sharks, all kinds of sharks, have their fins ripped off and are left to die a slow painful death.  The fins are then sold and enjoyed as high status soups or whatever.   Were you aware of the horrors of this? 

Paint Party Friday - Acorn Squash Flower

 Welcome to Paint Party Friday!  I did an acorn squash flower ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") based on a photo sent to me by my sister in California who is growing them in her garden this summer. There were some bees getting pollen, I included one of them in my painting.  Isn't nature magical? 

Here is her photo below:

 

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Ditches and Holes

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date!  Her theme is 'ditches and holes'.  I did a desert watering hole ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").