Blog Move

I have decided to move my blog over to wordpress. You can find me at amoonhalffull.com Thanks and Happy New Year!

31 Days of Pinterest, Day #4: Freezing Cookie Dough

I was introduced to a delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. While it claims to be the "best ever", I can't really say that it is any better than the Toll House recipe we all know and love. I whipped up a batch of dough to bake and knew that I would want to take some cookies later in the week to my son's gymnastic teacher, Ms. Sarah. I also knew that with myself being the household "cookie monster", cookies would not last until the appropriate day. I decided to try freezing the dough. The whole process was really easy. I baked up some cookies straight from the freezer today. They turned out just as promised, delicious.

31 days of Pinterest: Day # 3 - Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

Like I said before, these 31 days of Pinterest trials are going to take a while since I am not forcing myself to complete this goal in a strict timeframe. Tonight I made Vegetarian Quinoa Chili. I found it a few nights ago when I was trying to make a meal from food I already had around the house. The amazing thing is, I had most of the veggies for this recipe already in the fridge. I had bought these veggies a few weeks ago in hopes to make another recipe, but I was lazy and let them sit and nearly rot. They needed to be used really soon.

While I had the veggies, I was missing the proper amount of canned tomatoes, so I wasn't able to cook this recipe until I went grocery shopping. I decided to prep the veggies so that they were ready to go, I am trying to be a better time manager. After cutting all the veggies, I realized I had enough for two batches. I put half the cut vegetables in the freezer to be used when I make this recipe again and the other half in the fridge in preparation for tonight. Feeling extra great about my freezer these days. Helping me save money and time.

This chili recipe is super easy. Having most the prep work done ahead of time made it that much easier, of course. The results were delicious. A hearty, healthy chili. I will make this again and not just because I already have the veggies cut in the freezer ready to go, that is just an extra bonus.

31 Days of Pinterest, Day #2: Cleaning with White Vinegar

I love buying cleaning supplies. I guess I think that I will find that ONE product that will make my heart sing and inspire me to clean, clean, clean. The same is true about Pinterest. I love pinning those cleaning tips but as I have found, no matter how many solutions I pin, my house won't become clean unless I actually clean it. In looking for homemade natural cleaning products, vinegar is the main star. Today I tried two of my "vinegar" pins.

The first is really simple, using white vinegar to clean and disinfect the bath toys. Here is the original link. I loosely followed the directions. I filled the baby's tub with water and dumped in some vinegar, I didn't measure so I have no idea how much I used. I then dumped the bath toys in. We didn't have any toys that were too terrible, just a few cups that had soap scum in the bottoms. The vinegar plus some wiping with a sponge got the toys clean and sparkling. I got an added bonus in using the baby tub as a receptacle in which to soak the toys. It is now clean too.

I also made my own spray shower cleaner. You can find the directions here. I didn't have any Dawn so I used what I had on hand, some kind of eco-friendly dish soap from Costco. I figured it was worth a shot. The recipe couldn't be easier, equal parts vinegar and dish soap combined in a spray bottle. The vinegar had to be heated first in the microwave. Not sure how important this step was except for maybe in helping the two ingredients mix together easier.

Now my shower stall was cleanish thanks to yesterday's cleaning experiments, however the walls of the shower were really covered with soap scum. The Magic Eraser didn't really work as effortlessly as I had hoped on this portion of the shower. I need something that will practically clean itself with minimal scrubbing on my part. I sprayed this stuff on the walls of the shower and let it sit. I scrubbed a bit and rinsed. I noticed a major difference and was really encouraged. I did have to reapply and repeat due to the deferred maintenance of my shower. I was able to get a sparkling shower stall without scrubbing like a maniac. I did get an old toothbrush and gave the tougher areas a once over, seriously I brush my teeth with more aggression than I scrubbed the shower, and everything came off. Amazing!  I would say it works as well if not better than any commercially prepared natural product. It is definitely cheaper. It even works as well as bleach based shower sprays. I loved that I didn't have to fear for my lungs or that I was going asphyxiate myself from the caustic fumes. Best of all, I could clean effectively while my kids were around, again without fear of the toxic chemicals.

I am falling in love with white vinegar. Too bad the smell isn't that pleasant. In this recipe, the dish soap does a good job of diluting the vinegar smell, but it isn't 100%. I could stand the smell, perhaps I don't even mind it, but my husband is really bothered by the scent of vinegar. I hope he gets used to it because I have found my new favorite cleaning ingredient.

31 Days of Pinterest, Day #1: Cleaning the Shower. Borax and Magic Eraser

When I first joined Pinterest, I have to admit I didn't get what all the fuss was about. Once I joined, all of a sudden people started "following" me. I still didn't get it. After poking around a bit, I started to get the hang of it. I discovered the coolness that is Pinterest. Like a friend said, it is like shopping without spending money. I love pinning. I collect recipes, cleaning tips, craft projects, and home decorating ideas. I have about five different theme parties in the works. I will probably never be able to realize all of them before the kids start picking their own themes, but a lady can dream.

I have now come to realize the danger that is Pinterest. Spending so much time repinning and not taking any time to actually use the good ideas that I have found. I have decided that I need to redeem my time spent on Pinterest by trying out the various tips and tricks. I want to try 31 pins. They may or may not be on consecutive days. I am setting no strict timeline. I am giving myself a pass on this one and will be happy to just accomplish any goal. The easiest and most practical to start off with is cleaning. I am in search of effective natural/non toxic cleaning solutions. Let me just say, since having the babies, it has been a constant struggle to clean the house. I am in process of establishing a routine but that is another post entirely.

My shower has been needing some attention for a while. It was in a dire disgusting condition hence no before pictures. I have too much pride, or perhaps shame, to post that. Which then rules out the need for after pics as well, nothing to compare it to so what is the point?! We'll see, maybe I will be so thrilled that I will want to show off my sparkling shower stall.

The first cleaning recommendation I decided to try was Borax. It is simple, cheap and has been around forever. I used it to scrub the shower floor. I have to say it worked as well if not better than a bleach based scouring powder. I was impressed with how easily the grime was removed and with minimal effort. In the end, there was a bit of muck left in the crevices of the patterned shower floor. It would have come up with a bit of elbow grease, but I wanted to find the easiest way to remove it. I decided to try a "Magic Eraser" on this remaining stuff. It came up easily. This is awesome because even with Comet, I have to scrub those crevices with a toothbrush to get them clean. I am impressed. Effective cleaning with no fumes. I guess technically this is two tips, but I'm sure my boards are overflowing with ideas and I will have a surplus to try. I am looking forward to possibly having a clean house in the end.

Our Little Ladybug

I wanted to make a ladybug costume for our baby girl. I figured a regular pattern made with a print that resembled a ladybug would work. I used McCalls pattern 5610. It was fairly easy to make, although I realized that my garment making skills were rusty. I learned some things and plan on sewing more clothes for this little peanut. I will get plenty of practice. I had read some reviews of the pattern that said the bloomers were too puffy. I found them delightful, super cute and yes, puffy. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the bloomers. I love that this is more of a pants and top outfit as opposed to a dress and panty. From what I hear, dresses are a real frustration when it comes to crawling. Baby girl isn't crawling yet but will be soon enough. This top is short enough to stay out of the way while crawling and yet frilly enough to be girly. I will be making this pattern again.

I started this pattern at the beginning of October and should have made the next size up. By the time Halloween arrived, I had to squeeze the little miss into the top. She looked adorable. The antennae, purchased from the pet department, really made the costume.

The Boy's Garbage Truck Costume

I am not an innovator. Every time I think I have an original idea, one Google search shows that 5 other people had the idea before me. Such is the case with my son's Halloween costume. You see, he is obsessed with “trash trucks”. I thought, why not make a garbage truck costume for him. A quick internet search showed me several examples of what I was aiming for. Glue gun in hand and a large selection of cardboard boxes, I got started. Once I found the properly proportioned cardboard box, the hopper portion of the truck was really simple to shape. To create the beveled edges of the hopper, I used the pre existing creases that form the box bottom and top. I cut a couple inches off each flap, both top and bottom, to make more space for the torso and the legs.

One of the outstanding Google-garbage-truck-costume-pioneers had drawn diagrams of their costume design and shared it on their blog. While I didn't use their method for the hopper, I did follow their pattern for the cab and the built-out portion of the hopper back. I figured, why reinvent the wheel? Especially when that one looked awesome. My husband had the idea to use plastic from a toy package for the windows and windshield. I think the effect is really stunning. I had planned to paint the logos but I ran out of time and ended up printing the WM decals and I found the MACK grill again, thanks to Google. I could have gotten more detailed but again, I ran out of time. The entire costume was made from things we had around the house, except for the paint. In the end. My little guy wasn't over-the-moon with the idea of wearing the costume. He willingly wore it to take pictures and get candy. The toy trash cans, bought on Amazon, really made the costume more appealing to the little guy. I glued a bag in the trash truck in the space behind where the boy was meant to stand. The idea was that he would collect candy in the little can and then dump it over his head and pour the candy into the hopper. THIS aspect of the costume was a hit. Ultimately, I was really surprised by this lack of enthusiasm considering he loves to pretend to be a trash truck. He sets up buckets in the yard and runs a “route” picking up trash. He even makes sound effects complete with hydraulic hisses and beeping when he backs up. It really doesn't matter, because I had so much fun making this costume. It is the first creative project I have done in a while.

Comic Con report 2011 Baby Wearing Rocks

Comic Con was different this year. It was busy and not 100% fun. I think the preregistration for 2012 being such a fiasco tainted the whole weekend. Alas, we got our tickets for next year with a lot of effort from dear hubby. Looking back, I did enjoy myself and have mostly positive memories and I can't wait for next year.

This was the second year that we brought the baby. Last year he was only 7 weeks old. If you have been to Comic Con, you know that pushing a stroller around is next to impossible. I really feel sorry for those folks with strollers or wheelchairs for that matter. The husband ran into a couple with a newborn in a stroller. He was telling them about bringing our guy when he was about the same age. He told them that we had worn the baby. The wife indicated that she had wanted to do the same but her husband didn't like the idea. The obvious and in my opinion, only option at Comic Con is baby wearing. Getting around is so much easier and having the little one close so that you can check in with them is awesome. Baby got his best naps while being worn around the show floor. He found the hotel room too interesting and couldn't relax enough to sleep. I noticed that most every other conventioneer with a baby/toddler had the same idea. I saw a lot of Ergos, a few Bjorns, a Moby and one person with a Beco Gemini. Hubby and I have a Beco Butterfly 2. (Last year we alternated between the BB2 and the Moby.) Here are a couple shots from last year.

I was still learning how to use the Moby at the time, I realize now that if I had spread the fabric over my shoulders, it would have been way more comfortable. The wrap was a challenge to use with a newborn, especially one that hated to be confined. Eventually, the Moby had its place in our life, mostly at parties when I wanted to be able to get baby in and out of the carrier with ease. The Beco Butterfly 2 has been our favorite.

What a year it has been

I'm sure many a new mom feels that way after the first year with a baby. So much is a blur and I would love to get as much detail recorded as possible, before things become blurrier. I had hoped to blog more about this first year as a mom but frankly I was way too overwhelmed and tired. I need to really sit down with a pad and paper and think about the important experiences I want to preserve. Time keeps right on ticking.

I am at a crossroad and even though so much has changed, there are more changes looming on the horizon. Things I haven't really wrapped my head around yet. The main issue weighing heavily on my heart is being a working mom. Before baby, I had never really invisioned myself as a SAHM, nor did I imagine that I would have the desire to stay home. Now present-life-with-baby, I find the idea of staying home the optimum choice. My parents were able to watch Little Guy when I returned to work last year which was a huge blessing. I didn't have to search out daycares. I am now on Summer break and get to experience the daily joys and struggles of being an at home mommy and I like it and yet I hesitate.

In all honesty, I am afraid. My fears are all the regular ones that many women have who struggle with this decision. I am afraid of giving up a part of me and losing the security of a decent paying job with great benefits. So much to ponder and pray about.

More sewing for baby: My first quilt

I decided I wanted to make a quilt for baby. I went online and searched for "free easy baby quilt pattern". I got several great results but ultimately settled on the Urban Baby quilt by Valori Wells.



I used various space and robot themed fabrics. It is definitely a crazy quilt. Sewing together the top was fairly easy, it was doing the "sandwich" and actual quilting that was challenging. I was glad that the blanket was relatively small. For the quilting, I tried to "stitch in the ditch" on the the sewing machine. It was so hard to stay in between the seams and it started to look messy. I was getting so frustrated until I decided to switch to a pretty zig-zag stitch. I'm sure this isn't the proper way to quilt, but it served my purpose. I also machine stitched the binding. I am really satisfied with how that turned out. I wasn't sure how to do a proper mitered corner but just kind of played with it until it worked.

Prepping the Baby's Room

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We've been busy around here preparing for our little one's arrival. We painted his room blue. I had initially wanted something less obvious for a boy but ultimately decided that blue matched the fabric I had picked out and he would be able to grow with the color. I sewed two bed skirts, one for the crib and one for the day bed that will remain in his room for the time being. I used the pattern from Amy Butler's book, Little Stitches for Little Ones. It was easy and I am happy with the results.

I also felt the need to do some fabric dying. The largest project was the chair cover. We had a red Tulsta chair from Ikea. I bought a white slip cover and some orange RIT dye. I used a large plastic tub that we have around to put drinks and ice during parties.

I was nervous to use my wash machine because I had heard that it can stain the tub and I wasn't sure of the results as I have some "fancy" HE washer that doesn't fill with water until you close the lid, which then locks unless you push pause, in which case all the water then drains out. I had great results using the large plastic tub and hot water. I kept the fabric in the dye for an hour. Technically you are supposed to stir the fabric for 30 mins but this was too much for my back. I did stir it in 5 minute intervals with no set pattern. I tried to keep all of the fabric submerged for the whole hour.
At first, I was concerned that the color might be too bright. Now that I have lived with it a while and see how it works in the room, I am satisfied. I had such success with the slip cover, I decided to dye the white duvet cover for the day bed a nice apple green. The color couldn't have been more perfect.
All in all, I am more than pleased with how baby's room came together. I can't wait to show it to him.



The posters we found online from The Land of Nod. The crib is the Gulliver in birch from Ikea. It got great reviews online. I love the small foot print and that it comes with everything needed to convert to a toddler bed. The price was nice too, about $150.

Adventures in Cooking up a baby: Crying in public

Today I had a prenatal appointment. I am currently 24 weeks. I'll be 25 weeks tomorrow. They did the usual, protein-in-the-pee test, weight, then blood pressure. Not sure why they think it is a good idea to take your BP after they weight you. At any rate, my blood pressure is fine. The midwife said she is happy with my weight gain so far, about 6 lbs in total, especially since I was "over weight to begin with". I could tell she didn't buy my low thyroid function theory. (I test within Kaiser's normal range) Even when I explained that as soon as I became pregnant, I lost 10 lbs.(When you are overweight, the health care providers always assume that you eat like crap and don't exercise.) In fact, one appointment I went in and had lost 2 lbs by their scale and she was concerned it was because I had morning sickness, I explained that wasn't the case, and she said, "Oh well maybe you have just cleaned up your act." Nasr stuck up for me on that one, because I do eat healthy. My conclusion is that pregnancy has boosted my thyroid function. I'm also hoping that pregnancy will permanently fix my hormone levels as well. Everything else with my pregnancy looks fine. Baby looks and sounds great.

I had to book my next two appointments on my way out. I am so stressed about taking so much time off for appointments. Especially when Kaiser only has appointments in the middle of the day that would have me driving to Clairemont for work, only to leave at 10:30 to drive to Kaiser El Cajon and then back to work in Clairemont. I broke down crying at the reception desk when there were no appointments available at a decent time. The lady I'm sure is used to crazy pregnant ladies so she was really nice to me and went out of her way to find some appointments that would better suit my schedule. She didn't just book the next two, she booked all my appointments until the end of May. I feel like such a silly person crying. In looking back, I think it was the weight conversation that upset me and the appointment issues were the final straw.

Adventures in cooking up a baby: "Number Two"

While some women carefully butter their bellies to prevent stretch marks, I am obsessively tending my colon to prevent hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids are like stretch marks, once you get them, you can't get rid of them. Anyone who knows me, knows I am keen to talk about poop, especially at the dinner table. Pre-pregnancy, I am not an everyday bowel mover. Sometimes I will go through phases and be able to go everyday. I love those times and wish they could last forever. Inevitably they don't last and I have to really put some effort in to keep things moving. They say, "eat lots of fiber and drink plenty of water." Check and check. Sometimes I think I could eat a whole bag of prunes and still not go. As a pregnant woman, I am of course more stopped up. (Those pesky hormones.) I am taking psyllium twice a day as well as eating my high-fiber, plant based diet. I am having some success in that I am able to produce a little something most days, but most of the time nothing really satisfying. I am keeping track of my poops on my calendar. For successful but unsatisfying days, I put a "P" with a straight mouthed emoticon-face-thing. On the rare occasion that I really feel good about the results of my bathroom visit, my calendar has a "P" with a super happy, smiley emoticon-face-thing. In his new book for people having a baby, Dr. Oz recommends something in addition to the fiber and water treatment. He suggests trying 1500mg of chlorella per day. I took my first dose today. I am hopeful.

Today at our 14 week appointment, we heard the baby's heartbeat. I am still tripped out. I can't believe there is an actual person growing in there. My bump is still small, in fact the first night I noticed it I thought I was just bloated. I also can't feel baby moving around yet so it is easy to feel somewhat disconnected. After hearing the heartbeat, I am more at ease.

Custom Boo Kaniza

Boo is our 15 year old Persian cat. We adopted him about 10 or 11 years ago, it's easy to lose track. I was hesitant to adopt an adult cat but someone at work was looking for a home for Boo so we took him. At the time, we had another cat called Jazz. He was a huge Tabby and would bully Boo like crazy. As a result, Boo was aloof and frankly very strange. One day, Jazz went outside and never came home. We are quite sure he became King of the Coyotes, wearing a crown made out of bird bones and a rabbit pelt cape, or Boo took a hit out on him. Either way, he was gone and our house was better for it, even though I was sad at the time.

Boo slowly became friendly and loving. Yet still strange, sometimes he would stare at us from a distance, we joked that he was studying us and then reporting back to the Mother Ship his findings. As he has gotten to know us and trust us, he has become one of the most social cats I have ever met. To the point of hanging out amongst the action when we have parties. Now that he is older he has become a bit needy and if he could have his way, we would hang out at home all day sitting on the couch so that he could nestle in our laps. Nasr's lap trumps mine unless I have the blanket, then it is a tough call.

Like I've said before, I think Boo is the cutest most interesting looking cat I have ever seen. I like to pay tribute to him as often as sanely possible with out seeming like a crazy cat lady. Thus I present my custom kaniza ala Boo.

Richard Walker's pancake house

Sunday, Nas and I tried a different breakfast place. Richard Walker's Pancake House is downtown on Front street. This place operates with a line system, meaning when you get there, line up and the host seats you when you get to the front of the line. The line was pretty big when we arrived. I thought it would take at least 45 minutes and ran down the street to buy some coffee, leaving Nasr to hold the line. I was heading to Starbucks on 4th and Market, a semi long trek from the restaurant. I got to First and Market, literally one block away, and noticed a Lion Coffee shop. I stopped in and picked up a cup. I hurried back to the restaurant, the line had moved considerably while I was gone. Our potential breakfast/new restaurant experience got exponentially better knowing that we wouldn't have to wait as long as initially thought. I can't imagine we waited longer than 20 minutes although my gauge might be off because of my side trip. As we got toward the front of the line, the hostess gave us a menu to look at. They have some pretty unique looking things. Some of the menu items are very similar to the Original Pancake House (OPH), our ultimate favorite breakfast place. It would be interesting to try these common items and compare them, especially the Dutch baby/ German pancake.




After looking at the menu, I decided on the Dutch Harvest. It is a baked "pancake" filled with veggies and topped with cheese. I am a traditional pancake girl, ordering this was quite a departure from my typical preferences. By the time we sat and ordered, I knew we would be back and I would be able to taste their traditional panners so I felt comfortable with my adventurous choice. Nasr ordered the spinach crepes, yipee something vegetarian so I was able to taste it. His crepes were good and he liked them. He got the potato pancakes on the side. I really loved my food, but it was impossible to finish, way too big.



Another note of importance, the coffee. We are so used to OPH and their manner of serving you coffee every 2 sips, that we are spoiled when we go anywhere else. Most other places we are lucky to get 2 full cups through out the entire meal, often the refill comes after having sat for a very long time with an empty cup. Well, Richard Walker's is a tough rival to OPH. The server was like a coffee ninja filling my cup without my even noticing, sometimes before I was ready to have it filled throwing off my coffee/creamer ratio. Speaking of, they serve real cream for their coffee, just like OPH. It looks like our favorite breakfast place just got some competition. I am totally looking forward to going back. Check out their menu. http://www.richardwalkers.com/

I am a freak!

It is official, I have taken the cake on this one. I just did my 20 minute run/walk workout in my house. I didn't get my ass out of bed this morning while it was still cool and frankly I just wanted to get it over with so I did it in my house. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I ran through the living room and into the kitchen and back again. At some point I moved the dining room table over so that I could "run around" my dining room as well. 600 square feet never felt so big. The cat couldn't stop looking at me with his confused face on though.

This was my second workout of the day. I really need to get in shape and am determined to jump start something. I did the 45 minute Kathy Smith kickboxing workout. It is a killer and I hope to see some results this week with my amped up routine. I have one more workout to do today, yoga.

Good Food, Great Friends

Mexican Sangria:

4 cups red wine ( One bottle)

2/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 cup fine sugar

2 limes or apples sliced to garnish when served

Combine wine, fruit juices and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Make ahead of time so that the flavors can combine. Keep in fridge and serve with ice if you want. I served cold from the fridge. This is a good way to tart-up really cheap wine. I used Crane Lake, which is a $3 wine I got from Henry's. I actually think this wine is worse than 2-buck-Chuck on its own. It was quite delicious with fruit juice and sugar added to it. Of course, what isn't?

I had our friends Heath and Kim over for dinner. Nasr had a practice so it was just the four of us, including little Liam. I served black bean burritos, cold asparagus salad and sangria. It was a nice evening to just hang out.

The first day of the rest of my life...

... was supposed to be a week ago Monday, then it got postponed until Friday. Inevitably Friday came and went so absolutely it was gonna start on the following Monday. Today is Tuesday and tomorrow, for sure, I will start my running regime.

My running history in a small nut shell:

New Years 2007 my sister and I signed up for the Disneyland 1/2 marathon with the goal of starting to run. Neither of us are athletic nor had any desire to run before this. We started off slow and built up our mileage. We completed that race and then trained for another one, the Run Surf City half, which we completed February 2008. I will spare you the gory details except for this, Disney was 100 degrees and Huntington beach was pouring down rain. Not ideal race conditions, but we completed them and felt accomplished and proud.

I haven't run consistently since, yet all the while fantasizing about various races I want to complete. You kinda gotta run to be a runner! My sister however has continued to kick ass and has completed 2 half marathons since. To get my own ass in gear, I signed up for the Carlsbad half- marathon scheduled for January 2010. It is daunting and frustrating to have to build up my mileage again. I am so out of shape, I can't believe I let myself go like this... waah, waah, waah. Oh well, enough, I have to move on. I am starting with a beginner training schedule that I found on line. It is ten weeks, 3 times a week. It looks like this:

Week 1- 2 min run, 3 min walk x4

Week 2- 3 min run, 3 min walk x4

Week 3- 4 min run 4 min walk x4

Week 4- 6 min run, 4 min walk x3

Week 5- 6 min run, 3 min walk x3

Week 6- 8 min run, 3 min walk x2

Week 7- 10 min run, 2 min walk x2

Week 8- 12 min run, 3 min walk x2

Week 9- 15 min run, 2 min walk x2

Week 10 - 30 min run

Vegan Faux Fish Tacos ( Rubios Copy Cat)

While I have never tasted an actual Rubios fish taco, my dear omnivore husband has eaten his fair share. I tweaked a copy cat recipe I found on line and made it vegan. This recipe gets the hubby seal of approval, which is a big deal because his eating tofu is usually out of obligation. I guess everything tastes better beer-battered. I had never fried anything until I tried this recipe. I must admit I was a little nervous. It was surprisingly easy. I use my $7 IKEA wok. It works perfectly. I pour the used oil into an empty jar when I am finished. Also, a note about beer. Some beer or perhaps most beer is not technically vegan. If you are concerned, you can use water in place of the beer or seek out a vegan beer. If you are vegan, you probably already know which ones those are. Enjoy!

Faux fish Tacos (vegan Rubios copycat recipe)
serves 8

Ingredients:

Package extra firm tofu (frozen in the package and then thawed,
this gives a "meaty" texture. After it is thawed, drain under weights when ready to use)
corn tortillas


BEER BATTER
1cup flour
1cup cold beer
garlic powder(to taste)
pepper(to taste)


WHITE SAUCE
1/2cup veganaisse
1/2cup plain soy yogurt
garlic, to taste (I use at least one clove)


Salsa ( I use premade "fresh" salsa from the store)
1garlic clove, peeled and minced
6tomatoes, ripe, peeled, seeded and diced
1/2onion, minced
2cilantro leaves, chopped, stems removed
2jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped
1 1/2teaspoons salt
1/4teaspoon pepper

oil(for deep frying)

Garnish
Nori sheets to add that "sea" taste
1cabbage shredded
1lime, cut into wedges

DIRECTIONS
Prepare salsa; reserve.
Mix flour with favorite spices such as garlic powder, red or black
ground pepper.
Stir the flour mixture into the beer and mix until well blended.
Put the vegetable oil into a deep skillet and bring to 375°F
Cut tofu into 1/2 in thick "fillets", dip in batter and place in
oil. Cook until batter is crispy and golden brown.
Heat corn tortillas lightly in a skillet until they are soft and hot.
To assemble, on each tortilla layer the tofu fillet, white sauce,
salsa and cabbage and a piece of nori . Top it off with a squeeze of lime.

Adventures in custom figure painting

This year at Comic Con, I bought a Toy Qube blank Kaniza figure. This is a picture of the what I bought. It is two pieces. The "head" comes off to reveal a bean looking figure underneath. I saw the shape and knew that I had to have it so I could make a Boo figure. Boo is my Persian cat, who is so cute that I am convinced that I could trademark him and sell his likeness to all the Collectors-of-Cute. He is a pop-culture legend in my own mind. It's about time he starts pulling his own weight around here any way.

Check out some blanks here.