Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Mommies For Ron Paul! Support HR 1207 and Audit The Fed!

Yeah, I know this isn't usually a political blog. But, it's my blog so I can put anything I want on it right? So here's the thing. Today President Obama unveiled a plan for increased financial oversight blaming our financial crisis on a "culture of irresponsibility." You can read more about this here.

Now, here is my issue. Obama's new plan will give the Federal Reserve Bank sweeping powers. For those that don't know, The Fed is a government institution that has the ability to operate similarly to private banks. And although they do not operate to seek a profit, their stock is owned by private bankers of each of the regional federal reserve bank systems . This alarms me, considering they have full powers in controlling our currency. They also have the ability to act without approval from Congress or the President. Now, our president is wanting to increase that power by tasking them with regulating the very banks that own their stock. HUH? Are you kidding?

And you may ask, "Who is overseeing the Fed?" Answer-nobody really. Although the Fed has the ability to print trillions of dollars to control our interest rates, decreasing the value of our dollar and is soon to oversee our entire financial sector, they have never been audited. Yep, we have no idea what they do with our money. That is why I encourage you all to watch this youtube clip and contact your representative to tell them to support this bill. You can also find much more info and instructions on how to do this at Ron Paul's website here. This is important ya'll!!




Saturday, June 13, 2009

Spinach Cake Recipe

Hey all! Normally you would not find me posting on a Saturday night. But I just had to share this wonderful recipe with everyone while it was fresh on my taste buds!

So, here is the story. I was chatting with one of the owners of Tillman Training (the place where I crossfit) about the Paleo Diet. It is also known as the caveman diet or hunter-gatherer diet. Basically, you eat what you can hunt, grow, or pick from a tree. Anyway, I asked if she had any good resources for recipes. This is when she told me about Elana's Pantry. I came across this recipe for a Spinach Cake and I must say that it is WONDERFUL. My entire family enjoyed it, including Ms. K who never eats dinner.

Here it is! I used cranberries instead of currants, which worked just as well I suspect.



Spinach Cake


1 ½ pounds spinach, thoroughly washed, leave stems on if they are not tough

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1 cup pine nuts

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs, whisked

½ cup currants

1 teaspoon celtic sea salt


Wilt spinach in a large covered saucepan, over low heat (do not add water) 5 minutes, until tender
Drain and cool, then gently squeeze moisture out of spinach
Place spinach in food processor and pulse until coarsely blended, then set aside
In a small skillet, warm 3 tablespoons oil, add pine nuts and saute until golden brown
Add garlic to pan of pine nuts and saute together an additional minute
In a large bowl, combine pine nuts mixture, blended spinach, eggs, currants and salt
Spread mixture into a greased 7 x 11 inch pyrex baking dish
Bake at 350° for 30-40 minutes
Serve



Try it! You will not be disappointed. Also, check out Elana's Pantry for more yummy recipes. She specializes in gluten-free, but there is something there for everyone.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wannabe...

"One who aspires, often vainly, to emulate another's success or attain eminence in some area."

Yep, that pretty much explains me. Oh, I try SO. VERY. HARD! But, usually I end up with something ugly. My favorite part about it is definitely the shopping. I can spend a good part of the day in the craft store. I start, then stop, start again, get distracted or busy, and if I am very lucky I finish. This nearly sums up my crafting abilities. I "wannabe" good at it. I adore pretty things and almost anything handmade. But...I can't quite get the hang of it.

Whether I am good at it or not, I have come to enjoy applique. And lucky for me I have 2 precious girls to experiment on that always think anything I make for them is gorgeous! For anyone that does not know, applique is simply applying (or sewing) fabric onto another piece of fabric. In my case, I cutout fabric into cute designs and sew them onto t-shirts.

Today, I am proud to have finished two shirts that had been pushed into the back of a closet for months (along with my sewing machine) and were begging me to finish them. So without further ado...Ta-Da!









I have done some of these shirts for friends and some have asked how it is done. So, here are some simple instructions:

1. Pick out the appropriate size t-shirt (duh). I like to go with the brand American Apparel because they are made in the great US of A and they aren't made in sweat-shops. They are also just really cool looking.


2. Pick out a fabric to be applied to the shirt. I usually like to use something with vibrant colors, such as Amy Butler fabric and cut it into shapes of birds, dogs, etc. It can be found in specialty fabric stores, but not usually the big box craft stores. In the case above, however, I used a cute picture of kitty cats and little girls from In The Beginnings Fabric.


3. I then use a fusible web called Steam-A-Seam 2 to permanently fuse the fabric onto the shirt. This is by far the best I have found. It is very easy to work with, doesn't gum up sewing needles, and is washable so that if your stitches come apart the design stays put. Just follow the directions on the package.


4. Sew it on! If the design is small and intricate, I will hand stitch it using decorative thread. In the case above, I used my sewing machine because it was a simple square.

That's it! Don't ask me why it took me several months to finish it...that's just how I roll I guess. It really is simple. OK...now I am inspired again. I can think of a few babies out there that need some cute t-shirts. (Sorry friends. Just humor me and put them on your babes. They won't know the difference!)


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

What's Your Play?

Here is another fun weekly photo challenge. Dolce Pics posts a weekly photo to be edited in any way that you desire. I am completely clueless about photo editing and photography in general really! But I think it is fun to play around with pictures! Below is the original.


And here is my play! I used Picasa to edit my photo.

You can see more fun Photo adaptations at Dolce Pics!