Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Winter Beauty

It was funny today.  When my hubby took me out for lunch for V-Day I heard a man say, "We have had 2 days of Winter and that was Sunday and Monday" I had to laugh.  So We got out for another walk today and the ice is still trying to hang onto the trees up here and when the sun is shining, well natures beauty is breathtaking. 
The ice in the son is so pretty.

Our temp went from -10 to +3 in 24 hrs.

A beautiful day to just enjoy it.

People who don't have a snow season are missing out.

I can't get enough of the moments that I enjoy so much.

Our dog loves going with us.

Happy V-Day hubby, it has been a great day.  Thanks for the beautiful flowers, the lovely lunch, which I didn't have to prepare and an afternoon walk.  What more can a girl ask for?

Bathroom Cleaner

Okay the third thing I tried today.  I know, I know, why all in one day, and on V-Day, I have other things to do.  But I was excited to try these things.  So when I seen a natural way to clean my shower wall and decided where I work in chemicals all week this would be a nice change.  So the two simple ingredients were vinegar and "blue dawn" dish detergent.  They say to use the blue one for some reason.  I found mine at the dollarama, how lucky is that.  And the vinegar also, so it was a total of $2.  So you are suspose to heat the vinegar (I heated mine in the microwave for 1 minute)  So I only wanted enough to spray it once and have no leftover because the vinegar has to be warm I decided myself to use 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup of dawn.  Put in a spray bottle.  Spray the shower down good, I decided to spray the bathtub and bathmat also, why not.  So they say to wait overnight.  I don't have that kind of time so I let it sit for like 4 hours, then I just started rinsing, you would think there would be so many suds, but there wasn't.  The bathmat tends to get a little black underneath and that washed right off and the bathtub sparkled like a new one!  I would recommend this for sure.  The wall wiped clean without over scrubbing or anything.  I like this and will use it again.  Thumbs up.

All you need and find a spray bottle.

After.  I should have showed you before but nuh, haha

Nice and clean now.

Apple Chips

The next thing I wanted to try were the Apple chips that I found, very simple.

2 apples, cinnamon.  Remove Core (I didn't have an apple corer so I just thin sliced the apples, and saved myself some time.)  Line cookie sheet with parchment paper, place apples on it.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.  Bake 275 degrees for 2 hrs.  Turn after 1 and check after 30 minutes.  Once they look nice and crispy take them out.  Now this is where I had the difficulity.  Maybe I sliced them too thin, but they way over cooked and weren't as I thought they would be, but if I would have kept a better eye, I know they would have been better.  As it is I only cooked them 1hr 15 mins.

I think the star shape in the middle of an apple is cool.

On goes the cinnamon.

And, well, LOL.  Any advice??

Mock Mashed Potatoes

So, discovering the new pinterest which I am sure you have all heard about by now, I am finding so many new interesting things to do and try.  Thanks to all of the fellow P's out there, it has been great.  So today I decided to try a couple of new things I have found on there and this is the first.  Where I am looking for low carb recipes, this one looked interesting.  So here goes.

1 head of cauliflower
1 tbsp cream cheese (I used light)
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese (I found an alternative at believe it or not the Dollarama, and it was good!)
1/2 tsp of minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
dash of pepper
chives for garnish

Wash & cut cauliflower into small pieces.  Boil in pot of water for 10-15 minutes.  Drain & dry on paper towels.  Immediately place in food processor or blender.  You do not want the cauliflower to cool.  Puree cauliflower with cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic, s&p.  Sprinkle on top with chives and a few dashes of pepper.  Serve.


The ingredients are so simple.

After you cook you cauliflower, just throw everything in your processor.

I was surprised at how smooth it turned out!

And they do look just like mashed potatoes, and doesn't taste of cauliflower either.  A winner.