A Few Favorites March 9- Doctor Who Edition

Another week has come and gone.   It's been warming up a little.  Some of the snow is melting finally.  You can really tell the difference when you drive, because there's no longer a snow pack you have to drive on.  But  it will still be months before I can get in my flower beds. 

So, what's a  girl to do?  Well, I scrubbed out my entire refrigerator and got rid of all those things that had expired, or starting growing fuzz, or I bought for one recipe and never used again (hello jar of peperoncini).  I have other projects I want to do, but am currently lacking in the motivation  department- like freshening up the paint in my laundry room, and sewing projects in progress.

But, today, on Zulily I noticed that they have a whole collection of Doctor Who tees for sale and that kind of influenced the whole post for today.  I think it's no secret that I'm a Doctor Who fan, so  I thought it'd be fun to do a little round up on some of my favorite Doctor Who Related things today.



1. "Dress Everyday Like You'd Run Away with the Doctor in those clothes."  Surprisingly good fashion advice.  I think of this on the days when I don't even get out of sweat pants until mid afternoon.  But seriously, if you were running away with the Doctor what would you want to be wearing?




2.  This is the tee I loved most from Zulily's collection.  It's from the VanGogh episode which is one of my favorites.  I also have a post with this print on it hanging in my office.






3.  Cross my love of Doctor Who with my love of The X-Files?  How could I not love this.  It's an awesome riff on the UFO poster that Moulder had hanging in his office.  This one is from Big Bad Robot's Etsy Shop.






4. Another great mash up: Dr Who and Gordon Ramsey.    Two great things in a meme!  Yes please. It's old, but still funny.







Anyway, for all my non Doctor loving readers, sorry, but it had  to be done.   I don't believe there has been any mention of the Doctor on here for months so it was time.  :)

Hope you all enjoy your Sundays and I'll be back this week with some more bread, some sewing, and some herb growing ideas.



Please note, Zulily links are affiliate links.

Tools of the Trade

I am not a big fan of kitchen gadgets.  I have my Kitchen Aid mixer (which I got as a wedding present- but would definitely get another if mine died), a Magic Bullet blender set (for smoothies and grinding nuts and coffee beans), and an immersion blender that I got at a garage sale (which is super handy for mixing dips and making creamy soups).  

Zulily (affiliate link) is having a sale right now on "Stay Healthy: Kitchen Essentials".  There are several things in this sale that I use pretty frequently in the kitchen that make cooking healthy foods easier and you may want to check out. 

1. A digital kitchen scale is super handy for bread making if you need to way your ingredients instead of just measuring.  This scale does both metric and standard weights of up to fifteen pounds.  I also use my digital scale to way packages.  I hate waiting in line at the post office, plus if I pay for my postage online and print my labels, they usually give you a discount.  So I almost always weigh my stuff at home, print my own postage, tape it on and just drop my stuff off at the post office and go.

2. I bought my mandolin from Pampered Chef, but this one looks to do all the same things and is cheaper than what I paid.  I hate slicing onions.  My eyes water and burn.  But now, I peel the skin off the onion, pop it in the freezer for five to ten minutes, and then slice it with my mandolin, then chop the slices into the size I need and it works much better.  I also use my mandolin for slicing potatoes or sweet potatoes for oven chips, and veggies like zucchini and egg plant for stir fry.  It's great if you have problems getting things to be an equal thickness like I do.  Just watch your fingers

3. I was skeptical about herb keepers, but I was tired of buying fresh herbs and having them turn into black mushy messes inside produce bags.  Basically, you put a little water in the bottom of the keeper and then stick your herbs in so the cut ends are in the water.  (Like you would for a bouquet of flowers). And it really does work.  Herbs stay fresh and usable for weeks.  Plus, the size is compact enough you can just stick it in your refrigerator door and easily find it when you need it.

4. I got my veggie steamer from Pampered Chef too.  It looks very similar to this one, but once again, I paid more for it.  But, I do love it, so I guess it's okay.  Basically, all you do is boil an inch or so of water in the bottom of a pot, with your steamer sitting inside, then add veggies, cover, and presto, steamed veggies in under ten minutes.  I try to eat fresh veggies more than canned, and this is a great way to cook them quickly.  I use my steamer for cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, kale, cabbage, you name it.  You can do pretty much any vegetable, just make sure you don't let all your water steam away on the ones that take longer like carrots.

So, if you're trying to cook healthy and use fresher ingredients, these are tools I would recommend.  What do you think, is there any kitchen gadget that you use all the time that you think I'm missing out on?


Note: All links in this post are affiliate links.

A Few Favorites 10.20

It's been a crazy week.  I'm working a lot of days in a row (again!) and extra hours due to some bug going around at work making coworkers sick left and right.  So, I got a little lazy with my favorite things this week.  All the links are affiliate links, but they really are things I love.  And, as an added bonus, they'd make great Christmas presents.  (It's not too early to start thinking about Christmas- there was frozen rain on the roads the other night, here in Wisconsin.)

1. This patchwork bag features some flowers and a cute owl.  I love colors and embroidery combo.  It's only $16.99, which is great because I'm super cheap about purses.  I always figure I can make myself one so it's crazy to sock a lot of money into one that I'll probably be tired of in a year.  From Zulily

2.  Check out this bag of awesomeness!  It's a 50 piece, DIY hair accessory kit.  I saw it and immediately thought of all the cool things I could do with it for bag making.  You could sew the flowers on.  Or make napkin ring holders.  Or cool looks for your pets.  Or I suppose even some hair accessories.  :)  It's $17.95.  From Jane

3. I have cold feet most of the time.  Even in the summer.  So these, pink, fur lined slippers are looking fabulous.  I love the cute ribbon mixed with the funky grey and pink body of the slipper.  And the fur looks like it'd feel heavenly.  They're $16.99.  From Zulily

4.  I love Ecotools makeup brushes.  They're nicely made and last a long time if you take the time to take care of them.  I got a set a little bigger than this a few years ago for Christmas and never looked back.  Get these and you'll wonder why eye shadows and blushes even come with those dorky little brushes.  The set shown is $9.99.  From Jane


So there's my weekly loves.  I hope you all have a great Sunday.  I'll probably be at work most of the day.  But such is life, right?

Room with a View

So Zulily (affiliate link) sent out an email asking you to design a dream room including a Loloi Rug (affiliate link) in honor of Loloi rugs being featured this week.  Of course I couldn't resist playing interior designer.  My dream home would have hardwood floors with big gorgeous rugs throughout, but for now I'm a linoleum and carpeting kind of girl.  But it was fun to dream.

Here's what I came up with:

I pictured redoing my office and I chose the Rust Harper Wool rug which comes in a variety of sizes.  There's all different patterns and designs to choose from, but I really liked the more subdued ones.  I also like these grey ruffle curtain panels that Zulily has for $34.99 right now.  This birch tree picture is just kind of magical.  It's canvas, 16" x 20" and only $32.99.  (It would look awesome in my hallway too.)  And finally, I always need music.  I had a record player for a while when I was in high school and I'd listen to my mom's old Seal and Croft vinyl (as well as a few other albums), but every time you touched the needle you'd get a little shock.  This is much more portable and I could buy Bon Iver and The Decemberists on vinyl now.  Back when I was in high school, I think records were pretty much dead.  There's just something nostalgic about vinyl records.  I grew up with cassettes so I don't really know what it is, except maybe it makes playing music more of a ceremony instead of  just skipping through on Pandora or our MP3 players until we find a song we like.  I'm not sure.  This player is from Crosby and comes in a variety of colors for $124.99.

So there you have it.  I guess I'm favoring greys and oranges right now.  Maybe it's that autumn is coming.  What room would you love to redo in your home and what would your color pallet be?

A Sale, a Win, and Making Progress

Wow!  This week has totally flown by!  First off, I want to tell you all that Zulily is having a special 72 hour web sale.  They're also giving blog readers an additional 10% off if you use coupon code SCRTSALE54.   There's lots of great brands on right now, like Clarks shoes,  Sistema containers for leftovers and food storage, Betsy Johnson sunglasses, a Pet Lover's collection, and a special kitchen section that's all priced less than $15.  Click the ad below to check it all out, and don't forget to use the coupon code for more savings!  The sale will end at 8am Sunday morning.

 

I got home from work last night and found an email from Simply Stacie notifying me that I had won the giveaway for month's supply of Seagram's ginger ale!  Super excited.  I don't drink much soda, but if I do, it's usually ginger ale.  Plus, a month's supply is six 12 packs!  72 cans?!  That will last me way longer than a month!

Lunch with my friend Lori was a great way to spend my day off.  I found some things for my Local Flavors swap partner, and also stopped at a store that sells bulk foods and got some bread flour and instant yeast for my bread making class.  We had a delicious lunch at this pop up restaurant we eat at a lot.   I got chicken Caesar salad tacos and they were so good!  Basically, just some grilled taco shells stuffed with Caesar salad fixings, but somehow they taste so much better than if I'd have made them.  We also went to the local libraries book sale and I found a lot of books that were like new for only $1 each.  And of course we had to hit up the thrift shop.  It was a good day. 

Then, it was my mom's birthday yesterday so we ran and did a little shopping before I had to be to work in the afternoon.  I bought some Christmas presents and found a few more things for my Local Flavors swap buddy.  It was fun, but I had to drink a lot of coffee to make it through a full day at work.

Finally, I have two six foot trellises on my deck with morning glories winding up them.  They haven't flowered or had a blossom or anything, so I was starting to think they didn't like the spot I had them in or something.  Then, Wednesday, I worked the day shift so I got home around 4pm and was watering my flowers and veggies on the deck, when I noticed my morning glories appeared to have flowered but they were already closed for the day.  Yesterday I got up early to go with my mom and I forgot to luck, so today I put my coffee on to brew and grabbed my camera and headed out.  And it finally happened!  One pot has four flowers on it.  So I snapped a pic.  Sorry for the brightness, but I'm not sure how long they'll stay open and I wanted to be sure to catch them.  So here's a picture of my beauties.

Three Flying Saucers and a white one- don't remember the name.

So anyway, I'm hoping to have a crafty weekend and get some more substantial things posted next week.  But, it was a very good week here, just busy!