Take two

Ok let's try this again. I had this almost completely typed out last night and accidentally deleted it all. So this might be short because I don't remember what all I was going to say. Or It might be long because I tend to ramble. Who knows!

Knitting

On the needles/HOs
Collonade Shawl is around halfway done. I frogged it and started it over using a different second color for the lace pattern. I like it a lot more now. I will show you a picture farther down the post since I'm on my phone and it will only put the pictures at the end.

I still haven't started my socks like I had planned. Been spending time on my super secret projects and my shawl. I can't wait until the baby shower next month to see my bestie's reaction to everything I've made for her baby!

FOs
I have finished another of my super secret projects. I think it turned out well. I will show it after the baby shower in May. Of you can see it in my projects on ravelry or catch a pic if it on plurk. I am anonymous76 on ravelry or ahume08 on plurk. If you are my gifts' recipient to be, please don't go peeking! I'm trusting you in this!

Stash enhancements
I guess you can call these stash enhancements anyway. I got some doodads yesterday at Joann's for some projects I am or will be working on. I got some buttons and eyes and a toggle. I am so excited about these. I haven't ever done anything that required buttons or eyes or any embellishments at all. Pictures at the bottom as usual.

Also I got RAKed! Twice! I forgot to mention the first one last week. I don't have a picture and everything is put up now but I got lots of yarn and knitting magazines along with some books for the kids! I got two skeins of Batik cotton yarn, 100 grams each. Color 1332 lot 2361. It's a darkish pink color. I got six skeins of Rowan wool cotton, 50 grams each. Lot 11C6 and I guess the color is SH959. I'm not used to these labels! It is a very pretty purplish color. Also I got around five skeins of Rowan summer tweed, 70% silk 30% cotton, 50 grams each. It is a purplish red with brown and red flecks I guess. I am bad at describing colors.

My second rack I have a picture of. It was a lovely project bag, some stitch markers, and a stitch holder. The bag is white with green and is so pretty. I hope I can keep it looking white, but as much as I will use it, it will probably turn dingy quite quickly.

I love RAKs and I love getting stuff in the mail. Sometimes I even like surprises. I definitely love this kind of surprise! I have heard from a couple more people that are RAKing me and I can't wait to get the packages. One will come through South Africa air mail and will take a couple of weeks. Oh the wait will feel even longer! The other is a book that I saw that wanted a new home. I am eager to get my grubby little hands on it and to read it. I will remember to take pictures of anything that comes in. I will also probably review the book so I can tell you how awesome it is.

Garden

Nothing happened this week with my garden except that a lot of my seedlings died. All of my sunflowers, zinnias, and marigolds are gone. My okra and watermelon died as well. My peppers and tomatoes are holding on for now. I hope the tomatoes keep going. They were a mix of special seeds that I hadn't had before. A bunch of different types i had never tried before or even heard of. Everything else I had started I can replace as I still have plenty of seeds.

I really need to get my garden dug up. Maybe borrow a tiller from someone. I have hopes that direct sowing will work better for me. I don't know if I have been under or over watering or not keeping them warm enough or not enough sun..... All I know is that most of the ones that started out strong have died and made me sad.

Cooking

So I tried a couple of new recipes this week with good results. First one was a cheesy spinach lasagna. I looked up several recipes over a few days and finally ended up making up a recipe using a little of this one and a little of that one. I wanted to make one with spinach and without cottage cheese. I ended up browning some ground beef with garlic, bell pepper, and onion, adding that to some spaghetti sauce, and then mixing together some ricotta cheese, egg, shredded mozzarella and cut leaf spinach. Then I layered the two mixes with the lasagna noodles. I topped it with a Colby cheddar blend because that is what I had and I wanted it cheesier than most of the recipes I had read called for. It turned out good. We ate it for days and it was less than 500 calories per serving!

The next recipe I made up was based on one I had tried a month or so ago and nobody really liked. I decided to take away an ingredient, add a couple more, and make it all in one pot. I'm not sure what to call it. It is chicken and noodles in a Neufchâtel spinach sauce. I started out by slow cooking about two pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast in water with salt and a couple of chicken bullion cubes. Once the chicken was tender enough to shred it with a fork, I added a chopped yellow onion and three diced garlic cloves. I let is simmer for a bit and then added a can of cream of chicken soup and about a half a bag of egg noodles. When the noodles were almost done I added about a half cup frozen chopped leaf spinach and about 12 ounces of Neufchâtel cheese. I let it cook until the noodles were done and then took it off the heat to let the sauce thicken. It was a hit. I am keeping this recipe for sure!

The original recipe didn't have noodles or spinach and you cooked the chicken in the crockpot with some Italian dressing them added the sauce which was sautéed onion and garlic mixed with the soup and cheese. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't right for my family.


So that is about it today. I will review another knitting book next week. I think I have rambled on long enough today! I am adding pictures of the food as well as the others I mentioned earlier. I hope you all enjoy my posts.

Until next time my loyal tanglers...

Happy Crafting!