Clean & Green: Soft Scrub for Fixtures

Soft Scrub for Fixtures

1/2 cup baking soda
castille soap
10 drops of antibacterial essential oil (optional)

Add enough castille soap until you have a frosting-like consistency. Scrub, then rinse with water.

Big Buck Huntin'

No, not actual hunting. And not the video game from a bar either. Our moosehead came in. Now he's all set up in his new home above our bed. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking in this post.

This picture makes me realize that I need to get our night stands sanded and painted white. Which was the original plan when we got them. Months ago. I blame winter for coming in so quickly. I was less than interested in standing in our garage painting. Maybe this month. Or next month if the warm weather doesn't stick around.

The big guy looks so happy. I'd like to say that all of our decor adventures have made him this happy. Something tells me that's probably not true.

Just in case you didn't get the full effect of the joy that acrylic moose brough into our home. And our lives.

And the setp ladder inthe background means that I was doing something. I'm not tall. I use that step ladder A LOT. Definitely a wise investment for any petite home owner.

Even Loki's smiling. :-)

I tease, but really I like it too. I'm a big fan of the slightly outrageous modern hunting lodge vibe it gives our bedroom. Let's be honest with each other. If I wasn't a fan, we wouldn't have him in the first place. Yes we think the moose is a him. We also think his name would be Bob. Bob seems like a good moose name.

Light and Breezey

Our new sheets came in! They came in a while ago, I'm just slow getting them on the bed and getting the post up.

Here's what they looked like when they arrived. HSN.com does a nice job with their shipping, at least on sheets.

Once we got them on the bed, I wanted to see what the various patterns looked like together. I'm really happy with it. We've got the very straight squares of the tufting on the head board and the duvet. Then we've got the slightly more organic deatial in the diamond pattern of the lattice sheets. Goes nicely, but is just different enough to be interesting.


These sheets are so soft and light. Perfect for a change to Spring! Now if only the weather would catch up with my decor. . .

Clean & Green: Tub & Tile Cleaner

Tub & Tile Cleaner

Apply vinegar, full strenght, to a sponge and wipe. Scour with baking soda.

Loki's Thoughts: Decorating the Bedroom

Mom, let's be honest. This blue duvet is pretty, and sure it's calming and relaxing, which is nice for a bedroom. But don't you think it needs more color? Maybe a nice golden tan with a little pop of red? I'm the perfect addition to your color scheme. This is why I should sleep on your bed all the time. Just keep it in mind as an option.

Another Small Change

One small change usually leads to another in our house. After moving the clock into the guest bathroom, I started looking for other pieces that could use a new home. This is the comforter that used to be on our bed. Here's a picture of Loki napping on said comforter.

Apparently, laundry fresh out of the dryer is very cozy.

During the move, and proably a little before the move, the comforter got pretty dirty. So we took it to the dry cleaners since we don't have a washng machine that will hold a king size comforter. Thank you dry cleaners! After picking up the khaki comforter from the cleaners we needed a place to put it. I tried to fold it and put it on a closet shelf, but it took up all the space we had there. So I looked at it in the third bedroom, since it was the right kind of color.

It makes the bed just a little cozier if anyone is sleeping in it, since it's actually an appropriate size. Unlike the light blue plaid twin size comforter I got for my college dorm room, which you can see peeking out from the corner. It fits just fine on the closet shelf. ;-)

Just another small change that hopefully makes the randomness that is our third bedroom feel a little more welcoming and guest friendly.

Irish Stew

I made this Irish stew for dinner on St. Patrick's Day. It's simple, and very tasty. Both things that I love. Almost as much as my Irish heritage!

Ingredients

2lbs lamb or beef stew meat (I used beef, but I bet the lamb would be very tasty too)

1.5 lbs potatoes

5 medium onions

parsley and thyme to taste (I also added rosemary)
salt and pepper to taste
1.5 cups water

Directions
Trim the meat and cut inot fairly large pieces. Peel and slice the potatoes and onions. Put layers of potatoes, meat, onion and herbs and seasoning inot a pot, finishing with a layer of potatoes.

Pour the water over the meat and vegetables, and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for about 2 hours or bake in a slow oven at 300F. (I boiled/simmered mine.) Check during cooking, adding more liquid if necessart. Makes 4 servings.

Tip: A good Irish stew should be thick and creamy, not swimming in juice.

Recipe from http://www.discoverireland.com/

Small Changes

I just can't leave well enough alone. Especially when it comes to moving things around in the house. Take the guest bathroom. Everything was done, walls were painted, shelves were hung, accessories were in place. But something was missing.

Enter the little black clock on the second shelf. I needed something to break up all the white. So I did a little shopping through the house. I had this little black clock that I'd gotten at a PMO (Purdue Musical Organizations) end of hte year banquet in college. It's the right size for the shelf, actually fit perfectly in front of the smaller white plate on that shelf. It's the right color- and since there are only three in this bathroom, that was kind of important. Then I thought that our guests might like to know what time it is while they're getting ready.

So this little guy has a new home. And the guest bathroom is complete. For now.

Clean & Green: Toilet Bowl Cleaners

Toilet Bowl Cleaners

liquid castille soap
baking soda or borax

Scrub with a toilet brush

Loki vs the Paparazzi

Loki's thoughts: I get it. You love me. You think I'm stylish and dashing, and who can blame you? I really am ruggedly handsome. But really, enough is enough. I can't go anywhere without being followed by you and your camera. I'd really like a cookie, but if I have to, I'll eat your camera. It's up to you.

Bringing Some Pups Safely Home

I saw a link to a wonderful story, here, this morning at Hamburger's House, here.

There's something about this story that really got to me. Maybe I just love the idea that these puppies can keep playing and being sweet to the soldiers who've been looking after them after being found so lost and alone. Resilient little things. And a pretty inspirational story. With all the things that our men and women have to do overseas, you'd think some puppies in a cave would hardly make the cut. Just goes to show that bravery and compassion go hand in hand.

If you read all the updates, you'll see that they are safely in the shelter and just waiting until they're old enough to make the long journey to the US. But they still need help getting home, and of course once they're here, they'll all need good homes.

If we had lots of space, I'd take them all. But I'm like that :-)

Apple-Cranberry Tart

I had the opportunity to attend the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women Luncheon in Indianapolis last Friday. It's the largest luncheon in the country. Not too shabby! And it's a fun event. Lots of great information, lots of education about heart health and what to look for, and some truly inspring people sharing their stories.

One of the many things attendees were able to take from the event was the recipe for the Apple-Cranberry Tart served for dessert. Of course everything we had was healthy, but this wasn't your stereotypical health food. Everything tasted wonderful. I think even the big guy would have liked it.

Ingredients- Tart Dough
1/2 cup sugar or sugar substitute (sugar blend- equivalent to 1/2 cup sugar)
1 cup butter or margarine (room temperature)
1 each egg or equivalent of frozen egg product
3 cup cake flour (sifted)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Ingredients- Cheese-Yogurt Filling
1 8-ounce package reduced-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar or sugar substitute (sugar blend- equivalent to 1/4 cup sugar)
2 each egg or equivalent of frozen egg product
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt- low-fat

Ingredients- Apple-Cranberry Filling
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
1 golden delicious apple (peeled, cored, and diced)
1/3 cup sugar or sugar substitute (sugar blend- equivalent to 1/3 cup sugar)
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1/4 tsp cornstarch

Directions- Tart Dough
Combine in a mixing bowl the 1/2 cup sugar and the 1 cup butter/margarine and mix until blended. Slowly add the egg/vanilla, alternately with the cake flour and continue mixing only until the dough comes together. Cover and refrigerate until firm. Roll the dough to 1/8-inch thickness and cut into 3-inch circles. Place the dough into tart shells or on the back side of small muffin pans, pressing dough to set. Bake shells for 8-10 minutes at 350F until partially done; remove from oven and cool. If you are using the muffin pans, remove the shells from the back side of pan and put in the inside of pan.

Directions- Cheese-Yogurt Filling
Combine the cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla yogurt in food processor and blend until smooth, scraping bowl as needed.

Directions- Apple-Cranberry Filling
Combine the coarse-chopped cranberries and diced apple in a small saucepan. Add the sugar, cornstarch and orange juice and stir until incorporated. Heat pan over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mix boils and thickens. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally to help cool.

Once all the components are complete, fill the tart shells part way with the cheese-yogurt filling and top with the apple-cranberry filling.

Calories: 333.2
Protein: 5.9g
Carbohydrate: 34.0g
Dietary Fiber:0g
Sodium: 116.5mg
Total fat: 18.6g
Saturated fat: 11.5g
Cholesterol: 52.6mg

Clean & Green: Window, Glass, Chrome Cleaner

Window, Glass, Chrome Cleaner

5 parts water to 1 part white vinegar

or

1 cup water
1 cup vinegar, 1/2 tsp liquid castille soap

Dream a Little Dream

Loki's thoughts: If you sleep on your back, your legs can move more. That makes you faster when you chase things in your sleep.