Just SILLY. Thrifting.

One day long ago I found a plate at the thrift store and fell in love. I wanted to order an entire set, but things are very expensive to just BUY like that, $12 per plate plus $12 shipping, I sure don't NEED Christmas plates. BUT. I found an unopened set of them at Goodwill, for $9. Sigh. I got them.

Fast forward a month or two, and I found ONE MUG. Now, of course, I want them all, even though it means I will have to have a Party or something to USE THEM. But the same dilemma appears, I don't want to spend a lot of money. 

So whoever donated those plates please donate your mugs too so I can have a set.

Debbie Mumm, Snowmen.

Also, a few pictures of what I DIDN'T get. Can't believe all that people donate. Also, can't believe a lot of things were even made in the first place.

One would think that by MY age....

they (I) would have it all together. I don't. I don't believe that I ever will. By my age, one should just be relaxing in retirement. But I still have so many anxious days... then there's pre-diabetes that raises its ugly head. And the fact that no matter how much I declutter, it never seems to be enough. 

 I have this dream, this desire, to get out my sewing machine and make a bunch of stuff, aprons, wall hangings, doll clothes, maybe even a quilt again. But my last cat ate thread and ended up with $2000 worth of surgery, and that quite a few years ago. I can only imagine how much such a procedure would cost now. So I'm nervous about it, and I really don't have another good place to set it up that is closed up from the cat. Maybe the garage??? 

Eating well is a mystery to me. I KNOW the answers, I do not DO what I need to do.   I had a good breakfast, a salad for lunch, but odds and ends and snacks the rest of the day, and I never ate dinner. That is not helping 1) energy 2)weight loss 3)anxiety 4)my health. I keep thinking I need a PLAN. But it doesn't matter what I PLAN, I don't follow through. I found a chair exercise video that would be incredibly good for me. I have not done it. 

I HAVE been keeping the kitchen clean, and the bathrooms relatively clean. I need to stop feeling like a total failure. I have cleaned out about half of the kitchen cabinets, and 2/3 of the drawers. Some are easy, some not so much. It was creepy to clean out one drawer, it was full of The First Wife's cookbooks and I have been just leaving them there, since husband doesn't want to get rid of them. That makes me uncomfortable all by itself. He was married to her way less than me, and she died a long time ago. Sad, but GET OVER IT ALREADY, right? I do not, however, wish to just push all of her memory away and forbid him to think about her, but can we at least get rid of the pink helmet and the bowling ball and the few pieces of her clothing hanging around? A few years ago, I did a scrapbook with pages in it that are in her honor. 

All this is just too much information, but I am struggling a lot these days. There are so many things that need fixing/doing around here. And the news is not helping, everything is so unsure.

I read the book Nobody Wants Your S*** and I've been able to let go of more. I AM NOT THROWING OUT MY MEMORIES. I am not discarding the person attached to that thing, even though it feels like it. It doesn't matter whether or not I let go of the rest of my dad's ceramic creations, or his wooden ones. Let it go, let it go... I'm so tired. Physically, mentally. I'll probably delete this and do something different tomorrow. But we all have Those Days, honestly. I did have a great 1 1/2 hour phone conversation with a friend, that helps so much. 

It's almost October and time to add another number to my age. I'm with my cousin Robert, I'm not getting older, my number is just getting higher.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I WILL WORK ON A PROJECT. Today I worked on a sock, I have about half the ribbing done. So if it's only that, it's ok. Part of my day will be setting up my sewing machine, making sure there is no loose thread hanging around, and gather the doll clothes that are already cut out, and make a list of my goals. Too much of a list? Maybe. Ok then, that's for this week?? At least find the thread and set up the machine.... the rest should be pretty easy. 

Deep breath. Go to sleep. Thanks for listening, hopefully there's a person or two, not just some bots scanning for stuff to arrest me over.  Nothin to see here. LOL

 

Adventures in sprouting 2025

Years ago, I sprouted some mung beans. That's pretty much what was available then. I really love them fresh in a salad, and when I saw a sprouting kit, I decided why not. In my effort to have food for emergencies, sprouts seem like a great idea, because then we can get our greens easily.

So I ordered a kit. There were seeds included: broccoli, mung beans, radishes, and I don't remember what else. I also ordered a bag of salad greens for sprouting, which included much of the above, plus clover. I have never heard of that!

First I sprouted seeds from the kit. Good outcome, lovely in salad. Broccoli, salad mix. So next I grabbed the bag of sprouting seeds I got. The instructions said 2 tablespoons per quart jar. WAY TOO MUCH!! Part way through sprouting I had to divide them into two jars, which was WAY too much at once since it's only me eating them.

So I ate them in my salad for two days. I didn't want them to spoil so I decided last night to make some kind of sprout pancakes or something. 

This is what I came up with.

In my pantry, I have some dried veggies from Augason Farms. A BIG can. I use it mainly for soups, but thought it might work for this. I soaked a handful in water overnight, and it seemed about right. A cup of mixed chopped vegetables. If I was using fresh, I think I would saute for a bit until adding the sprouts. I just heated it slightly.

The sprouts were this salad mix from Sereniseed. Really good sprouts for salad, I just had so many I had to figure out a way to cook them so I could freeze for later eating.

My "recipe". 

about a cup of pretty finely minced veggies, fresh or reconstituted dried

about a cup of sprouts (I used the salad sprouts from Sereniseed)

4 eggs

Saute or heat up the veggies, spread the sprouts on the top. Season as desired. (I used "Outrage" from Penzey's spices. It's salt and pepper, and a bit of red pepper for a pop. I also sprinkled some dried garlic on the top. Whatever sounds good. This is why I don't write recipes so this was only tested with me. I loved it. Husband wouldn't touch it as usual. He cooks his own food)

Whip 4 eggs together, pour over the hot veggies and sprouts. Cover and cook about 4 minutes or until done. I then flipped it and barely browned the top. 

Imagination is important here. I'm thinking it would make good veggie burgers made into patties, maybe with cheese on top. I can also imagine adding a can of drained tuna, or a can of those tiny shrimp, or maybe some cooked chicken. Who knows. 

I love Penzey's. I love their attitude to and want to support them. If you disagree with their attitude, they still have magnificent spices.

I got the seeds on Amazon. Next time, only 1 tablespoon of seeds in the jar. 

I'm loving the sprouts fresh, and may never need to do this again. Also I may sprout lots on purpose so I can actually do this. I also found a good sounding Asian Sesame Miso Tuna Salad from James Bok. 

So many things sound so delicious but I'm only cooking for myself so I don't want to try "serves 4" and find I hate it. This one from James Bok is only one serving, a big one of course. I would probably eat it like salad since I don't use bread. 

Just a silly meander today.  I really need to do this more often.