Garden Veggies

Garden Veggies
Made into tile for my stove backsplash

Portland Rose Garden

Portland Rose Garden
Mike and my 2 youngest sons Ian and Leif

Grandson Michael's Birthday 2014 throwing water balloons

Grandson Michael's Birthday 2014 throwing water balloons
With son Beau, Grandson Luke and his mom Jennifer

Maren

Maren
I cut this out of a wedding line. I must take more pictures of her.

Friday, July 24, 2015

PAINTING - CASA, ICOD DE VINOS

This is painted from a photo I took while in the Canary Islands on the island of Tenerife. 16x20 Oil on Canvas

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

THAI INSPIRED LETTUCE WRAPS


 This recipe came from here
I changed it to be very Thai inspired adding some Thai basil, lemon grass paste and coconut oil.  Costcos coconut oil has a lovely distinctive coconut flavor that I like. I made it once with tuna and once with canned chicken.  I can see it made as a shrimp salad or a salad without meat.  It is a good salad without the lettuce.  I added some crunchy rice noodles - WOW!  It is healthy crunchy and I know I will make it often for lunch.   This makes about 4 servings.

THAI LETTUCE WRAPS

Chop small:
2 C. cabbage
1 C. broccoli
1 C. course grated carrot
(or use 4 cups of slaw mix)

Add:
3-4 T. minced cilantro
1 T. Thai basil or regular basil chopped (optional)
2 chopped green onions (I used some chives from my garden)

Dressing:
Put 2 T. coconut oil in a small frying pan and grate in 1 large clove of garlic and fry just until it starts to brown.  (I don't like raw garlic so I usually do this as it infuses your oil with a toasty garlic flavor)

Add:
2 T. rice vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
½ tsp. sesame oil
2 tsp. grated ginger (peel and freeze your ginger for future use.  It grates easier)
½ tsp. honey
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp. of lemon grass paste (optional)  If you use reduce the lime to ½
½ tsp. Sriracha (optional) not enough to make it hot but adds a nice color.

When ready to serve add 1/2 C. dry roasted peanuts or you could use cashews and a can of drained tuna or chicken.  Toss with the dressing and enjoy!



 I didn't have slaw mix so made my own.


 If you put the sauce in the refrigerator it will harden with the oil and will need to be nuked for a few seconds before use.  

 As a salad with crunchy rice noodles.

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

SPINACH AND RICOTTA DUMPLINGS

Recently my daughter started a blog for her store tpt home.  One Sunday I cooked a meal and served it in dishes from the store.  The meal consisted of Ricotta Dumplings, which are easy and delicious.  We covered them with a spaghetti sauce from scratch with chicken.  I can see them as meatballs in a minestrone soup or a dozen other soups where they would be tasty.  Here is her blog with my photos on the dumpling process and the recipe for the Spaghetti Sauce with Chicken and lots of nice pictures