Re-Purposing an End Table

Posted by: Paulette
I think I've said before that I hate to throwout  anything that can be used. This doesn't make me a pack rat. I have plenty of stuff that I give away to Goodwill, but, it does mean that every time the kids break something, I have a plethora of new projects to do.
The kids broke one of my end tables. I can't say that I was very heart broken. I had a good place to put it's twin, but this one was constantly being moved around. I guess the kids used it for a stage and it collapsed beneath their weight. Here's what it looked like before they broke it.

And here is what it looked like sitting in a pitiful pile.

It's got possibilities. Don't you think?
First came the demolition. This was done with my jig saw and a hammer and screwdriver. Once all of the pieces were free, I was able to envision what to do with all the parts.

First up was the top of the table. Using the leftover paint from my kitchen cabinets and some sidewalk chalk that I pulverized with my morter and pestle, I made a kind of chalk board paint. It's a horrible paint. It dries with all kinds of little crumbles in it, but, I wasn't about to re-do it. My advise. Use the unsanded grout recipe. I'm sure it turns out a lot better than this one.
It's hung by some of the leftover wrought iron chain and hook from the lamp that I created from the hanging baskets. It's hung from a gate latch that came off our back gate. The gate has 2, so I don't think we'll be missing it. It has the added bonus of having a place to store one piece of chalk. I am using it to write messages to my kids. Sometimes it says, "I love you bunches" and sometimes it has a chore list on it.

Next is a couple of signs that were made from two of the sides of the table. They were painted with one layer of paint, and then a second layer of a different color, sanded and then hand lettered and sanded again. 1998 is the year that Dave and I were married. I've hung these in the kitchen.

French for the kitchen, I think...

This shelf was made using one of the sides, and some brackets I found at Goodwill. I stripped off the trim from around the table and cut some of it on my miter box to fit the side and then glued and nailed it on. Then the brackets were screwed onto the shelf, filled all of the cracks with wood filler, sanded and painted.

Three candlesticks were made in differing heights from the legs. I used squares of wood cut from a pine plank, and some $.50 cents each circular plaques that I got at Hobby Lobby to transform them. I was going to paint them, but decided that I likes the mismatched wood. I may change my mind.
Here's the other one.

The drawer is being used for video storage. nothing fancy.
If you're wondering what happened to the fourth leg, Katie has taken it and calls it her "hammer."

The Boy's Room

Posted by: Paulette

Yesterday I steeled myself for my 3 month clean up of the boy's room. It gets so bad that sometimes I just stand on the threshold and tell them to pass me their dirty clothes. They're supposed to clean it once a week, but, I'm sure it become overwhelming for them. It took me Five hours to clean it up and go through all of their clothes and purge. I ended up with 3 large kitchen garbage bags full of trash and 2 large kitchen bags plus a third started, full of donations.

Before

After

When we moved into this house 8 years ago my little boys were 3 and 18 months. Boy does time fly?! The room was all white with a small mural of a lighthouse on one wall. White walls in a kid's room? No Way! My sister and I worked two weeks to paint the room with wrap around murals and a ceiling full of clouds.

Now that the boys are older. It's time to repaint. I've been looking at PB kids and have decided to paint the bed and the dresser navy blue. Lined baskets will go in the slots where the drawers are missing.
I'm not sure what color to paint the walls yet. the boy's favorite colors are green, yellow and blue, so I'm pretty sure that's the colors I'll use.

Before

After

The piece of furniture on the right with the bookcase on t op used to be a double wide oak filing cabinet. The boys climbed into the drawers too often and broke them all to pieces. The drawer fronts are in my garage and will be made into wall hooks. I hate to throw anything away. I plan to make shelves to go inside it and make it into another bookcase. As you can see the first one is overfilled. And my boys love to read.

The filing cabinets on the left will probably be painted blue green and yellow, and contain the boy's clothes and each of them have their own private drawer to hide their personal possessions. The closet doors came off quite a while ago because they wouldn't stay on track. they are in the garage and could be put back on when I'm ready to deal with them. At one time the boys were into climbing the shelves and hiding on the top of the closet. I want to make sure they're not doing that anymore before I put them back on .

The carpet will have to go. It's stained beyond repair. I will paint the floor and get a rug.

Before

After

I think I may try to make a palate headboard for this bed. And the hole in the wall and the cable cover plate will need to be repaired before painting.

And then I wonder...is it worth it to decorate their room? Will they care?

Easter Yummy Fun

Posted by: Paulette

One of my sons asked me if we could make no-bake cookies on Thursday. I told him that we could if he and his brothers got their chores and homework done. It tuned out that only one of them got finished in time so, only one boy got to help. While out shopping with Dave, I saw the Easter candy and though that we could make this into a cute Easter treat with the addition of some Peeps and chocolate eggs.
 What is Easter without Peeps, after all? LOL!

We started out with a recipe that I found online and then I altered it so that it was nut and gluten free.
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sunflower seed butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups gluten free quick oats


Mix together in a medium size pot the first six ingredients. Let the butter melt and all of the ingredients to come to a simmer.

Then take off the heat and add the oats. Place by two tablespoons for each cookie onto a cookie sheet about 2 inches from one another.

Place chocolate eggs and Peeps on top.

And place in fridge over night or until set up.

Each of the boys took one to school to give to their teacher. Mmmm mmmm finger licking good!

Clock Wall

Posted by: Paulette
My grandmother has a wall filled with clocks. It kind of reminds me of Gepetto's workshop in Pinocchio. Her's have cutsie little pendulums and flowers all over them, and they play songs at certain hours. I love the look of old world clocks, but not the price. While at Goodwill today, I picked up a few clocks, and even snagged one from my bedroom to make this clock collage. There's only one clock that doesn't work. And that's because I broke the workings on it while taking it apart to paint it. All of the others work, but thankfully make no noise!

Dish towels upcycled from bath towels

Posted by: Paulette
After painting my kitchen cabinets, I wanted some new, dish towels and washcloths. But, I didn't want to spend the kind of money that I knew would be required to get some new ones. And I didn't even know if they had the colors I wanted. My old ones were rags, and the ones that were in good shape were the kind that had cutsie fruit prints on them. I wanted aqua and turquoise.
So, being the thrift store addict that I am, I picked up some bath towels in the colrs that I wanted for about $1.50 each. For the dish towels, I folded the bath towel lengthwise into thirds and then cut along the folds. Then I folded it into thirds ( or half if the towel was a smaller one) again, and cut again. By doing this I got 6- 9 kitchen towels from each bath towel. I also bought a shower curtain that was in all of the colors I wanted. I think it was $5. I also cut that apart for some bar cloths. Wash cloths wre made in a sililar way, just smaller.
For the bar cloths, I hemmed all of the edges, but for the wash cloths and towels, I just used a matching thread and a zig zag stitch on my machine to bind the edges so that they don't fray in the wash.

the other upside of all of this is that the terry cloth used for bath towels is thicker than the stuff used for kitchen towels, so they are more absorbent.
This is just a few of them, I made a ton!
I also used the old dish cloths and some of the shower curtain material to make new hot pads. I love how everything matches now!

Kitchen cabinets facelift

Posted by: Paulette
When I moved into our house 8 years ago, I loved the white washed cabinets in my kitchen. After living with them for a while, and seeing that they were easily stained with red kool aid, I decided that the res kool aid had to go. I guess this wasn't enough. They still always looked dirty, and I wanted a more updated look for the kitchen. My original idea was just to paint the cabinets black. Just that. Well, we all know how home improvement projects snowball! I distressed and stained the edges, and then bought new drawer pulls and cabinet pulls. they look great! Too bad my camera doesn't capture that. So, here are the pictures anyway.

 The original cabinet color matched the wall color, almost exactly. I took off the cabinet doors on these cabinets years ago, but with the pop of color behind my white dishes and crystal/glasses it looks better than ever. You can also see my new homemade light fixture in this picture. I love how it goes with the space.
The block of brown in the corner is my farmer's kitchen table. I'm still undecided on whether to paint the skirt and legs of this antique white. I'd have to do something with the chairs if I did, and I like being able to scrub right down to the wood. Yogurt is very hard to get off once it dries.

 In the picture above you can see one of my chairs. You can also see my antique rolling pin. I was given one by my grandmother, and the kids broke it. I went to an antique store and bought one just like it. I do use it, but the kid's aren't allowed to anymore.

 You can better see the distressed edges and some of the hardware I bought for the cabinets and drawers. I wanted something simple. If it were too fancy, the kids would pull them off and hide them with their treasures. We can't have that! I love the contrast of the white pulls with the black paint.

 

This is actually a plant hook that I re-purposed as a towel hook. It didn't show up at all against the original color of the cabinets. The dish towel, is homemade from a shower curtain. More about that in another post.
I've not decided what color to paint the kitchen. As you can see, it opens up into the living room areas, and they'd all have the be the same color. I'm thinking about a light gray. But until I get a very tall ladder to paint the walls leading up to the vaulted ceiling, I can't do anything about it.

So there it is. I still hate the Southwestern tiled back splashes, bu the money for that kind of renovation just isn't in the budget. So I'll live with it. Ideally, I would love the have subway tile back splashes and granite counter tops.

My version of a Ballard Designs painting

Posted by: Paulette
I have admired a certain painting in the Ballard Designs catalog ever since I saw it about 3 years ago. Last week while treasure hunting at Goodwill, I found a huge canvas for a buck! Score! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I drew my design based on the picture in the catalog and added a little house. My picture isn't exactly the same, but it's very similar. I also decided to change the color of the sky from yellow to blue. I've always loved poppies, and since I've slip covered the furniture in the living room, I can now add these bright red splashes of color without it clashing with the fabrics on the furniture. Hooray for canvas drop cloths!

I painted this using craft acrylic paints. Not exactly my favorite for painting on canvas since it drips, but it's what I had. Not bad for a dollar, huh?

Here's the original Ballard painting:

Image from Ballard Designs

No more mix ups

Posted by: Paulette
I once had a friend over who mistook my apple cider vinegar for oil. It kind of ruined what he was trying to cook. I always remember what is in the container, so it's never been a problem for me. However, since I'm gussying up the kitchen anyway, and the paint color I am using is about the color of a chalk board, I figured I'd label some of the containers. I used my morter and pestle to grind up some sidewalk chalk and mixed it into the paint. Then I painted a rectangle, and then when that was dry, I marked what was in the container with chalk. Ummm, that didn't go so well. The surface was too gritty, and the chalk wiped off every time I used the bottle. Later I went in with a fine line paint brush and some white paint, and labeled everything. Much better!

I also don't have to worry about someone mistaking my protein powder for flour.

Organized medicine cabinet

Posted by:
While emptying out my kitchen cabinets and cleaning them in preparation for painting, I decided that I'd had enough! Enough of having bottles of meds falling into my dishwater, when I was moving them around to find something. Enough of having my vitamins pushed to the back and taking 5 minutes every day to go find them. Enough of having to get a chair so that I could see to the back of the cabinet! So this is what I did.

There are 4 baskets, each labeled with it's contents: Mom's vitamins, colds, flus, and fevers, and Tummy problems. the fourth box is for thermometers and misc. Now when I need to take my vitamins, there's no more hunting. I just take down the basket, and put it back when I'm done.
The tutorial for making the baskets is found on Attempting Aloha here.

The labels are inside little plastic bags so that when I have wet hands, I wont mess them up.

I made this light fixture!

Posted by: Paulette
While out shipping with Dave at hobby Lobby, I was looking in the garden section and fell in love with the metal hanging baskets used for plants.I turned one over on top of the other and thought, this would make a cute light fixture.
Then when looking in my Ballard designs catalog, I fell in love with this:

Ballard Designs

I remembered that shopping trip, and when I was at Goodwill I scored! I got two of the hanging baskets for $10. I know that my fixture doesn't look exactly the same. But I am happy with it.

 

I removed the chains from the baskets and used the individual links to attach the baskets to one another. Then I used the existing light socket and cord from the grandma style pink and white Tiffany lamp for this fixture. I painted the cord black, and used some of the chain and the hook to hang the fixture. It looks so much better in real life. I love the little bit of rust on it. It gives it a great patina. 

I'm not looking forward to changing the light bulb. I'll have to take off half of the links to open the cage. It's a good thing the CFLs last so long.

And since I was able to customize how low it would hang, Dave doesn't hit his head on it anymore!

Mango Thai Restaurant

Posted by: Paulette
Have you ever noticed how some of the best restaurants happen to be hidden? That's the case with this place, Mango Thai.
First let me tell you why I love Thai food. I grew up eating Chinese food. I didn't discover other "ethnic foods until I was in my twenties. Then I was introduced to Indian food. I instantly loved all of the spices and heat of the food. As I got older Chinese take out started to taste like trash to me. My palate had begun to develop. Indian food was a great alternative, but I was greedy and had to order 6 dishes, most of which was taken home and consumed later. But oh! At what a price! The calories were through the roof, and our bill was over $60! Then I discovered Thai food. Lighter on the calories, and cheaper for the wallet. The Thai people use the 4 different tastes in their dishes; spicy hot, sweet, sour, salty. This combination pf flavors is like a party in your mouth! The dishes are aromatic and flavorful. And they don't use ghee (clarified butter) in their dishes.
 Since I am allergic to wheat, I rely upon Thai and Mexican restaurants when we go out, because I know I can find something gluten free on the menu.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because Dave and I went on our date last night to Mango Thai. It's a new small restaurant located in Mesa, AZ, and every time we walk in, the place is empty! And it's not because of the food or service. The people who run it are friendly and attentive. Your glass is never empty. And the decor is charming as well. Why are they always empty? Because they are located in a corner of a shopping plaza/office park that mostly closes down at sunset. They don't get enough traffic or exposure. So I am going to do my best to give them some exposure.

We started off with an appetizer, Fresh Spring Rolls. Think Salad rolls wrapped in a huge rice noodle, and then dipped in sweet and sour sauce. It's like a salad roll. Very refreshing.

Then we followed that up with Larb with Chicken. the Thai people really know how to do salads. This particular salad was chopped marinated chicken with a lime, chili sauce over veges.

Then we had a curry. I've not had this particular curry before. But my philosophy is if it's Thai curry, it's going to be delicious! So I have no fear in choosing what ever sounds good at the time. We tried the Mango Curry. I was not disappointed. A blend of spices with cocoanut milk and fresh veges cooked  to perfection! Just the right amount of sweetness to bring out the flavors of the spices.

And our bill came to $25. 

While waiting for our food to arrive, I had a look at their take-out menu and had a good laugh over some of the names:
Drunken Noodle: Stir-fried flat noodles with mixed vegetables, basil leaves, and peppers in a homemade chili sauce
Samurai Pad Thai: A creative blend of the well known stir fried Thai noodle with eggs, bean sprouts, green onion, ground peanut, and topped with golden brown Japanese prawn tempura dipping sauce.
Duck A La Funk: Duck deep-fried to golden brown, then stir-fried with hot and sour sauce, bell pepper, chopped onion, and topped with a spicy curry sauce.

It appears that the Thai people have a great sense of humor!
I hope you give Thai food a try. And if you happen to be near Mesa AZ, check out Mango Thai. they're located behind the Burger King on the west side of Country Club and Hampton.

I was not paid for this endorsement. It's just something I'm passionate about. And I think I'll have my 50th wedding anniversary catered by them, if they're still around by then. LOL!

Mango Thai Restaurant
1440 S Country Club #10

Mesa AZ, 85210
480-964-3944 

On the Menu petering out

I know this post is a day late. We had so many leftovers last night that I scrapped the idea of cooking a Greek dinner and we all had a smorgasbord. That's pick what ever you want to eat that's in the fridge for those of you who've never heard the term before. Fancy for Mom is fed up and tired and doesn't want to cook tonight.
I did make dinner Wednesday night, and the theme was Spanish. Here's those recipe, and some really bad pictures. I was running out the door and asked hubby to take some.

Wednesday Night: Spanish

Chicken and Sweet Pepper Paella
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 lb Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
1 Yellow sweet bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 Red sweet bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 large yellow onion, dices
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon fish sauce
2 cups brown rice
4 cups chicken broth, or water
sea salt 
fresh ground black pepper

In a large pan saute onion and garlic in olive oil, on medium high heat, until transparent. Add chicken  and brown on both sides. Add both peppers, rice and water and cover and cook on medium low heat for about 40 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.


Spanish Gazpacho
1/4 large onion diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs tomatoes, skins removed and diced
*1 cup homemade tomato paste 
1 sweet red bell pepper, diced
1 sweet yellow pepper, diced
2 Cucumbers
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
2 cups chilled water 
sea salt to taste


Place onion, garlic, tomato paste , 1 chopped cucumber, and olive oil into blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a pot and add peppers, and second cucumber with water. Add sea salt to taste.
This soup is meant to be served chilled and actually gets better the longer you let it chill. traditionally it is served with bread or croutons. I served mine with a cheese focaccia. 


* To make home made tomato sauce, cook down 4 cups of chopped tomatoes, uncovered, on low heat for about 3 hours. A crust will develop on the side of the pot. When most of the liquid has cooked off, cover and turn off heat. Let the crust soften up, and mix into the tomatoes. It will give them a richer flavor.  I keep this on hand in the fridge to use in recipes through out the week.


This is the first time I've ever tasted this soup. When I heard of a chilled soup, I thought, "how strange!" But, I really loved it! It was almost like a liquid salad. And was very refreshing! It was even better on the second day.


  

On the Menu continued...

Tuesday Night: French

Broccoli Salmon Quiche servings: 12
1-14 oz can salmon deboned
8 large eggs
2 cans skim evaporated milk
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups broccoli
1/2 lb Swiss cheese
1 tsp herb de Provence
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
non-stick cooking spray


In a large pot, steam chopped broccoli, covered, with about 1 cup of water.
In a large pan, caramelize the onions in 2 Tbsp olive oil on medium high heat. When onions are brownish, but not crisp, add garlic, and saute until fragrant. Drain broccoli and add to pan.
In a large bowl combine, Eggs, herb de Provence, salt, pepper, evaporated milk, pepper, and nutmeg. Beat until eggs are mixed in.
Spray a 8"x13" pan with non-stick spray. Add egg mixture. Slice cheese and spread out evenly, add salmon, and broccoli mixture. Bake uncovered in a 400 degree F. oven for about 45 minutes.

White Wine Honeyed Fruit Salad servings: 6

I got this recipe off the internet. Since it had fruit in it that I did not have on hand, I made substitutions. I'm giving the recipe as I made it.

1/2 cup white wine
4 Tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 packet Truvia sweetener
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Lb strawberries, hulled and sliced
3 Gala or Pink Lady Apples, peeled cored and sliced
2 peaches, peeled pitted and sliced
2 small oranges, peeled seeded and quartered



Mix the first 5 ingredients in a bowl with a whisk, and set aside in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. Prepare fruit in a large bowl. toss the fruit with the desired amount of dressing before serving. (I used about half.)

Check back tomorrow for recipes from SPAIN!

Wire baskets with canvas liners

Posted by: Paulette

When I saw this post at Attempting Aloha, I knew I'd found a solution to one of my problems. I have been looking for cheap baskets (quality at a very inexpensive price) to fill out this cute bakers rack my aunt gave me for months. They were just not to be found. I did manage to find 1, but I was never going to find matches for it. When I did find something that might work, they had handles on them, which made them too tall. 

These baskets are made to order! I could make them whatever size I wanted. A roll of the wire mesh (found in the garden center of your home improvement store with the fencing supplies) was only $7. And I've already made three baskets and still have more leftover. The canvas is part of a drop cloth that I bought to slipcover my couch. Another great idea by the way. Buy Canvas drop cloths for the fabric. It's a lot cheaper than buying the fabric off the bolt. I almost bought 2 yards of off white duck cloth at Wal-mart yesterday. It was $7. But then I recovered my misplaced brain, and bought the canvas drop cloth at Ace Hardware instead!

I am now able to store those ugly kid's lunch bags out of sight. My aprons are in another basket. I love that the liners can be pulled off and washed!
A must have when you are putting them in a kitchen.

Charlie at Attempting Aloha has some great ideas and tutorials. Check her out sometime!

On the Menu

Posted by: Paulette
This week we are doing a tour of Europe dinner menu.  I thought I'd share these recipes with you. Wherever possible, I try to substitute healthier ingredients for the traditional ones, so these dishes may not be true to their country of origin.

Sunday Night: Italian

Turkey Meatballs with homemade marinara and quinoa noodles

Turkey Meatballs
1 Pound 85/15 lean Ground Turkey 
3 large eggs
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon ground fennel seed
1 Cup oats

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. Mix all ingredients together, and form into golf ball size balls. Place on cookie sheet with about 1 inch spacing in between. Bake for 20 minutes.

Marinara Sauce

5 lbs tomatoes
1 TBSP olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
4 packets Truvia sweetener
a good hand full of fresh basil chopped, or 1 TBSP dried

Start about 5 hours before you want to serve. The tomatoes take about 3 hours to cook down into a paste. You can do this part the day before, and put the paste in the fridge and pull it out just before making the sauce.
Cut tomatoes into quarters and cook on low in a large pot without a lid, for several hours, only stirring occasionally. You want a slight crust on the bottom of the pot. When the tomatoes have cooked down to about 1/3 of their original volume and are very dry, turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let sit until the bottom crust has softened up and you can stir it into the tomatoes.
Crush and chop the garlic and saute in olive oil until fragrant, not brown. Add tomatoes and basil and simmer for a few minutes, stirring to incorporate. Add Truvia and salt.

Strawberry Spinach Salad
1/2 lb strawberries washed, cored and sliced
1/2 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
1/4 medium onion, thinly sliced
About 4 cups raw baby spinach  

Strawberry Spinach salad with lemon dressing

Lemon Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
Lemon zest and juice of 1 medium size lemon
1/2 tsp ground mustard                                                   
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

 1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 packets Truvia sweetener

Add all ingredients in a jar and shake. Serve over salad.



Monday Night: German

Geschnetzelte Chicken
1 Lb Boneless skinless chicken breasts (About 4 breasts)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley (I had cilantro so that's what I used)

Geschnetzelte Chicken

Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch slices. Heat a large pan on medium high heat. Pour olive oil and butter into pan. Salt and pepper chicken. Place into pan when butter has melted. Brown one side, and then turn over, and reduce heat to medium. Sprinkle chicken with parsley and then cover and cook a few minutes more until cooked through. Remove chicken from pan, and set aside, covered with a piece of foil.


Mustard Sauce
1/4 cup vegetable, or chicken broth, or water with 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup evaporated skim milk
1 Tablespoon honey mustard
1 Tablespoon deli mustard
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tablespoon orange zest
Optional 1 Tablespoon corn starch for thickening
(Since I used skim milk instead of cream, I used the corn starch to thicken the sauce a bit.)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley for garnish ( I used cilantro)


Place all ingredients into a small sauce pan, over medium heat until butter is melted, stirring constantly. Add cornstarch and heat until thickened to desired consistency.
Pour over chicken and then sprinkle with chopped parsley.


German Potato Salad
3 large red potatoes cut into quarters
4 slices bacon
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion,diced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons water
2 packets Truvia Sweetener
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (I used cilantro)


Place potatoes into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover. Boil until a knife can be inserted into the potatoes. (They will not be fully cooked. Just softer than raw.)
On 4 paper towels, and covered with another paper towel, cook bacon in the microwave for about 6 minutes. Remove and use paper towels to take most of the grease off of the bacon. Set aside. 
Place olive oil and chopped onion into a large pan and cook on medium high until onion is browned and crisp. 
In a small bowl, mix vinegar, water, sweetener, salt,  and pepper together. Add to onions. Chop bacon and add to mixture in pan. Drain potatoes and set aside to cool a little. Cut potatoes into 2 inch pieces. Add to pan and toss with other ingredients. Cover and cook until potatoes and cooked through. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.


Warm Cabbage Salad

The original recipe calls for red cabbage. I had green cabbage and so used that. They taste the same.

1 Tablespoon olive oil
4 Cups cabbage, thinly sliced
3/4 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp salt
1 crisp, sweet apple, cut into matchsticks
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons diced onion
1/2 tablespoon red cooking wine (original recipe calls for 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar)
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar (see above note)
 1/2 teaspoon deli mustard
1/2 tsp ground pepper
Optional 2 Tablespoons chopped walnuts

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. Add cabbage, apple, caraway seeds, and salt. Cover and cook, tossing occasionally until cabbage is wilted, but not cooked through. About 8 minutes. Remove from the heat. 
In a small bowl, mix together garlic, onion, vinegar and wine, mustard, and pepper. Pour over cabbage and toss. If you are using the walnuts, sprinkle over salad.

Tonight I will be making quiche with a honey and wine dressed fruit salad. Check in later this week for the recipes.