Eggs McQuick

Nope, I didn’t go to McDonalds. But I have been having an eggcellent time in my own kitchen…

…and now it’s Tasty Tuesday! I’ve been crafting all night, and boy have I worked up an appetite! You know what would be a quick snack and also a prep for tomorrow’s breakfast or lunch?

Baked eggs! I recently saw a photo of eggs popped into muffin tins for quick baking. I hadn’t ever baked eggs before, though. Hmmm, I thought. I don’t want to waste a dozen eggs if this doesn’t work… so I improvised:

  • used only 3 eggs
  • used a mini muffin pan
  • separated the whites and yolks into “half eggs”
  • filled the extra spaces with water
  • used nonstick, just to make it easy on myself

Popped them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at around 375.

How did it go? Awesomely! They look a bit funny in the “before” due to my separating of the eggs and yolks, but they bubbled up nicely and tasted just exactly like a fried egg. But all done at once for both man-go-round and I. We both thought they were delicious with ketchup, and disappeared in about 2 minutes!

Wouldn’t this be a great idea for a brunch party? You could toss in a cookie sheet full of baked french toast at the same time and spend all of the extra time sipping coffee and socializing! It would also help make breakfasts for a week or to make uniform eggs for english muffin sandwiches!

Do you ever experiment with less conventional methods of cooking? What ingredients would you add to these eggs-in-muffin cups to make them more special?

Meri

Posted in recipes, Tasty Tuesday | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

Project 20-12- Week 3

Another week goes by, another weekend too. This means its time for a recap of this week’s progress on Project 20-12!

Twenty two days in, and almost as many tiles on the collage:

This week, our activities were in the following areas:

Food: Baked eggs, more info to come on Tasty Tuesday!

Places: Visited Boneshaker Books, a volunteer run progressive bookstore, for the first time.

Art/ Words: Worked together to find photos to put in a new collage frame from Michaels, busted out the old school button maker to make buttons for our retro party:

 

Tech: Man-go-round bought me an early Valentine- a cord to connect my Mac to the TV so we can watch anything from my computer streaming onto our 42 inch flat screen and enjoy watching them together. Score!

Next week: I see socializing, service, food and learning in our forecast! Stay tuned!

What have you been concentrating on in your life lately? Do you have to make a point to visit new places so you don’t keep going to the same stores, restaurants, etc?

Meri

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“Stalk” it up to Experience

Last night I set out to do a quick project I had seen on pinterest, where you use the end of a bunch of celery in order to stamp beautiful, arty roses onto cards or stationary:

Source: homemadeserenity.blogspot.com via Meredith on Pinterest

Beautiful, right? So I set out with two celery husks, and added some paint, ready to do a quick stamping session before dinner.

So in I dipped. Onto the paper I stamped. The result? Not quite as pretty as I had been promised by the craft goddesses on Pinterest:

 

Yeepers. These were the best I got, and this was after I had dabbed the celery off onto newsprint first. I don’t have a very dainty crafting hand, and I know this about myself. So, instead of ruining a bunch of fine cardstock with gloppy roses from planet poopy, I decided to do some quick thinking.

What can I use to make a last minute stamp before the extra paint dries? I know! an old ratty kitchen sponge in need of replacement!

Cut the sponge into the desired shape… and stamp away!

Watch out, my funny Valentines! Some incarnation of these might be showing up in your mailboxes come February!

What do you do when projects don’t turn out how you were expecting them to? Do you scrap the whole thing or try to morph it into a new project that will work?

Meri

 

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It’s a small world after all…

Hi all! What are you up to today? I’ve been crafting, baking, and watching the Wild in the nice warm comfort of my own home.

I did, however, make it outdoors for a short trip after work. It wasn’t a long trip (I minimize my exposure to that sub-zero weather!) but it did spark an idea for today’s Travelin’ Thursday post.

I was at my local library branch, where I visit multiple times a week, trying to figure out how to consolidate my accounts since moving to the other side of the river. As I chatted with the librarian, we were discussing who knows what, and he mentioned that when he was in Chicago this past fall, he happened to see me at the Art Institute of Chicago, but didn’t realize how he knew me until a few weeks later. We laughed about how funny and random it was.

Who might be just around the next exhibit?

Or was it? I don’t think I can think of a single vacation I’ve been on where I didn’t run into someone I knew from somewhere else. Maybe a few times, but its rare.

In San Francisco we ran into some of man-go-round’s friends who he hadn’t seen in years. In Sevilla, Spain I almost physically collided with a classmate from back home (who was not studying in Madrid with me). I saw a former boss who I nannied for on the streets of the Upper East Side in Manhattan, saw a high school friend in Mexico, and a coworker on a layover in O’Hare.

What on earth is the meaning of all of this? Everything, or nothing. I don’t know. I am sure it means that I travel in circles who are lucky enough to travel the globe. I am sure it means that I like to get out and about when I travel, so I am likely to run into a few people from time to time. Is there some cosmic meaning, though?

I don’t think so, I think it is just the way it is.

Do you ever run into people in places you don’t expect to? Do you find meaning in these coincidences or brush it off? If you see an acquaintance, do you approach them or let them be?

Meri

Posted in Chicago, library, Madrid, travel, Travelin' Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 18 Comments

These little piggies went to the market…

Hi everyone! What are these, you ask? Why, they are my Happy Feet Foot Alignment Socks! My momma gave me these for Christmas, and I’ve been (albeit with very poor consistency) trying them out since the beginning of the new year. I wanted to wait a few weeks before reporting on how they work so that I could give them a real chance.

What are they supposed to do? “Turn achy feet into happy feet,” as the package says. More specifically, they are supposed to help rejuvenate your feet after activity and improve foot cramps, plantar fasciitis, and other common foot ailments. You start wearing them just at the tips of your toes (see above) for 15 minutes at a time or so, and slowly migrate them down to the middle, then bottom of your feet after a week or two. Eventually it says you can sleep in them and wake up relieved.

Do they work? Well, at first I thought they were crazy uncomfortable. Then I didn’t notice they were on. Then one day they hurt like mad, and another day they just felt odd. I should add, here, that I don’t actually suffer from achy feet or any foot ailments, my mom just wanted to give me something to feel great. Therefore, somebody with actual foot problems might have a very different review than me. I wear Skechers to work almost every day and so my feet are pretty well taken care of. Despite this, I’m giving it a fighting try. I’m currently at the “halfway down the toe” stage, and I wear them at least 3 times a week for about a half hour while I’m cooking.

I’ll keep you posted if any foot miracles occur.

Have you ever tried foot alignment socks or any not so common product to help with aches or pains? Do you do any stretches or therapies that you haven’t had recommended by a doctor?

Meri

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Spaghetti Squash Pizza Lasagna

Good evening friends! I am on top of the world. Not only because my new column had its first installment published today, not only because I got a brand new touch screen on my phone and it WORKS again, and not just because I got a fake leather jacket from Target for 20 bucks…

OBVIOUSLY because it’s Tasty Tuesday, and I get to share my latest concoction with you all! It’s a great recipe for stretching out your squash or using up stale pitas or tortillas or bread! As promised yesterday, I give you:

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Lasagna

  1. Cut small to medium spaghetti squash in half, and scoop out the “innards.”
  2. Roast squash (skin side up) for about an hour, depending on heat and size of squash.
  3. Scoop out “spaghetti” strands and season them in a bowl. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, Mrs. Dash, and laughing cow cream cheese.
  4. Layer bread or tortilla to mostly cover bottom of pan. I used slightly stale pita bread and tore it into strips.

5. Add layer of squash.

6. Add layer of “tomato” (I used salsa, but you could use real tomatoes, pizza sauce, pasta sauce… ketchup… okay maybe not ketchup…college Meri would have used ketchup…)

7. Continue layering until you run out of squash. Mine was two full layers. You could add shredded cheese on top here if you’re into that. I let mine sit, covered, in the fridge until dinnertime so the dried out pita could soak up squash and sauce.

8. Bake just long enough to heat it up or melt cheese on top. I left mine in for about 25 minutes at 300 or so. Enjoy!

Posted in recipes, Tasty Tuesday, vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments

Make my (craft) list Monday

I’m glad this Monday is under my belt. It has not been the greatest day, but I’m happy to be home now, pretending to pay attention to the Bachelor, and planning my next project.

Yesterday I showed a picture of the retro garland that we started making to hang for our upcoming retro fondue party. For this Make My List Monday, I wanted to share the next craft projects on the docket, to see which ones you guys think I should pick next!

First, a recently completed crafty project:

Because I was too lazy to find my knitting/ crochet sewing needle (which I later saw was on the desk 15 feet away), this took way longer than needed. It started out as a bracelet, but I think in the end I am going to use this one as a “sunny” magnet, and make the next bracelet with prettier yarn/ string. Give it a try, and let me know if you have questions about how I made it that the photo collage doesn’t explain!

And now, for the next project! Will it be:

Source: moredesignplease.com via Meredith on Pinterest

What’s next? Should it be: The foam stamps, popsicle stick bracelets, mobile, or another (more valentine themed) garland? Do you have other crafty ideas I should try?

And tune in tomorrow for a Tasty Tuesday featuring my latest concoction: Spaghetti Squash Pizza Lasagna!

Meri

Posted in crafts, Make my list Monday | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

Project 2012- Week 2

As I sit watching the stars on the Golden Globes and envying Kate Winslet and Claire Danes’ fabulous black and white gowns,  I also am reflecting on this week’s progress for Project 2012.

We’ve branched out this week into some of the lesser loved categories from last week. There are now just a few categories we haven’t hit, and I’m pretty sure we’ll get there before long.

This week has been full of:

Arts/ Crafts/ Word projects: We first worked on a “word cloud” brainstorming activity together to try to come up with a name for my new biweekly column. We also collaborated to start making this retro garland for an upcoming party we’re having:

Play: The best example of playful activity this week was the sock/ laundry fight I initiated after work on Friday afternoon. At first man-go-round was sort of ignoring me, and then I realized he was just waiting with all of the ammo… It certainly released some work week tension!

Spirituality: Man-go-round and I took scraps of notebook paper and wrote down things or attitudes we intended to let go of/ get rid of. These were things like bad or negative attitudes, negative mental obstacles, and more. We shared some of these with others so that we could be held responsible for this attitude and not slip back into grumpiness and negativity.

Culture: We stepped out of our “How I met your Mother” and “Breaking Bad” netflix routine to try a British show- “Shameless.” It was pretty odd, but it was something different.

People/ Social: Braved the cold and snow to help friends celebrate their engagement with a fabulously thrown shindig at the cutest old fashioned bowling alley. 

What did you all do this week or weekend? Do you have to make more of an effort to be social in the winter? Are you watching the Golden Globes?

Meri

p.s. editor’s note: Emily Blunt looks fantastic…

Posted in crafts, parties, Project 2012 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Love from any (Tri)Angle

Oh Netflix, how much joy you bring me with your unexpected new TV series… what have I most recently (re)discovered?

Felicity! Otherwise known as Keri Russell’s breakout performance and fast track to stardom. I remember thinking the show was pretty dramatic and cheesy the first time around, but it IS oddly addicting as I’ve been watching it the last few weeks. I have gotten 3 or 4 episodes in now, and already I’m oddly overwhelmed by all of the love triangles (and quadrangles). Even for college co-eds, this is hard to keep track of!

In the interest of using my beloved bamboo tablet for something completely useless, here’s a breakdown:

Okay, okay, so Elena’s self-righteousness isn’t EXACTY a leading male character… but it does get in the way of romance! Har har har.

What are some other classic TV love triangles?

  • Ross/Rachel/Emily on Friends
  • Nancy Botwin/Andy Botwin/All of Nancy’s lovers (love polygon?) on Weeds
  • Marissa Cooper/Luke/Ryan or Luke/Marissa/Julie Cooper or Seth/Summer/Mr Sparkles or Julie Cooper/Luke/Caleb Cohen or Seth/Summer/Zach or Kirsten/ Sandy/ skanky coworker of Sandy’s or Caleb/ Julie Cooper/ Caleb’s work or Jimmy Cooper/ Kirsten Cohen/Julie Cooper/Hayley Cohen (eeeww this is getting incestuous)…  on the OC

…urrg.. love triangle has scrambled my brain…

Obviously, this is getting increasingly complicated as I try to list them. Sooo… help me out! What are your favorite TV or Movie (or any kind of) love triangles?

Meri

 

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