Monkey in the Middle Afghan Completed

Youngest's monkey in the middle afghan is finally done.  It worked up really easy, the most complicated part was, obviously, the monkey square.  The stockinette stitched squares were pretty tedious but simple. I worked a double crochet border in complementary, variegated yarn around the blanket after I sewed all the squares together.  I didn't bother to block it since it was staying right here in the family and I know for a fact that my three year old couldn't possibly care less if the blanket has a slight and temporary curl.  He's already carrying it everywhere so I also figure that the curl will probably be worked out of it in a few weeks at most.

He seems happy which, of course, makes me happy. :)

Greens

In the south when someone says "greens" they are usually talking about mustard greens or collard greens.  In the Midwest, when we say "greens" we mean dandelion greens.  Since this was such a warm winter and early spring, we were able to pick this bucket of greens a full three weeks earlier than our first bucket of greens last year.  Pretty good.

Dandelions are healthier than most people think.  They rank as the fourth healthiest green vegetable in terms of overall nutritional value. They apparently help tremendously with liver and kidney function and strongly promote over all gastro-intestinal health.  They lower cholesterol.  They are rich in beta-carotene, fiber, potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, the B vitamins, thiamine, riboflavin, and protein.  There are even some reports that suggest dandelion greens can help you lose weight, although I'm pretty sure a diet rich in any kind of vegetable is probably going to help you lose weight...just a thought.

We clean them, dry them enough so they aren't dripping wet, and separate them into gallon zip-lock bags.  Then we store them in the fridge where they keep for 2 weeks or better.  When we cook them, we wilt them, which means we cook them with a few tablespoons of white vinegar (2-4 tbs. depending on how much you want your greens to bite you back), a little flour to thicken everything, some bacon, and some chopped hard boiled eggs and onions.  We let them cook down until they are well wilted and coated and all around deliciously good.  Hubbs prefers them served over mashed potatoes but I like them better as a side dish all on their own.  Guess who usually wins?  ;) 

I still find it hard to believe that most people find this abundantly growing health food, with it's pretty yellow flowers, to be a pest and use all kinds of chemicals to rid their lawn of these guys.  Granted, once they turn to fluff they aren't very tasty for eating anymore and at that point they can be a bit of an annoyance but before you start going all chemical commando on them, try to just eat them.  I know it sounds weird to some, but really, they're tasty and their good for you, and you'll get them out of your yard.  Can't go wrong there. 

I Honestly Hate Titles.

I intended to start the seeds for this years garden this week but I didn't.  I intended to clean the back porch to get it warm weather ready but I didn't.  Instead I've been watching tv, something I don't do very often and I've been reading Killing Lincoln which is a pretty good book and I've been crocheting little trinkets to try and keep my mind off this last winter.

I like the way they've turned out, especially the button wrap bracelet.  It can double as a necklace so it's rocking that whole dual purpose vibe.  I'm going to have to head to the craft store for more thread though, I'm  getting a bored with purple, pink and white.  

Liebster Blog Award

One of my favorite Texans, Hossboss, over at hoof and barrel nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award.  I first found her blog when I was visiting her husband's blog.  I ended up originally visiting her husband's blog because of his name, Yeoldfurt.  I mean, really, with a moniker like that how could I not click? Anyways, I loved his blog, so I figured her blog would be worth checking out as well and I was absolutely right.  From horses to homesteading (and plenty in between), she definitely knows her stuff.  And she's obviously an excellent judge of character ;)

 Part of the process for this award is to find 5 other blogs with 200 or fewer followers and share the love.  Unfortunately, I don't personally follow that many blogs that have 200 or fewer followers...soooooo, I'm going hunting :)  And once I find some I'll post an update!

Declutter Challenge Update

I've been plugging along in my quest to declutter my house.  We've purged many useless, out dated, and outgrown items from our nooks and crannies and, as a result, I've found that I have all of this space that is housing stuff that actually belongs there, but is doing it in a very haphazardly sort of way.  I need a little organization so I've been on Pinterest finding inspiration.

Whether or not I'll ever get around to employing any of these ideas in my own home remains to be seen, but I thought they were pretty cute none the less and their associated websites have some pretty neat ideas for the home. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These chocolate chip cookies are a family favorite. I always make them at night after the kids and after the hubby has fallen asleep on the couch because that way I can eat about 1/3 of them without anybody bothering me.  Don't judge me, I have to do it that way otherwise I would never get any at all. 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 stick salted butter, softened
1/2 c. shortening
1 box vanilla instant pudding mix
1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
3/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 bag (16 oz.) chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375­°.  In a large mixing bowl cream shortening, butter, eggs, vanilla and sugars.  In a second bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and vanilla pudding mix.  Gradually beat the dry ingredients into the first mixing bowl.   Gently fold in the chocolate chips.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet.  Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. 

Bracelets

My trips to Wal-mart usually are few and far between and typically consist of me heading straight for the produce section or the pharmacy aisles.  It's not that I don't like Wal-mart, I just don't really have much use for it.  I don't go grocery shopping all that often and when I do I usually go to our local Meijer.  So, the fact that I took a meandering walk through Wal-mart last night was pretty unusual for me but I'm happy I did because I found some really cute buttons and picked up some fairly inexpensive yarn at 2 a.m.   Really can't do that at too many other stores. At least something good came out of these bouts of insomnia.

 So while I was sitting awake looking at my new little baubles I decided to put them to good use and made a crocheted bracelet.  I used a simple pattern of just plain double crochet with a single crochet border, it was 3 in the a.m. by this point after all, intricate patterns were just not feasible accomplishments that early in the morning.

The button really makes the bracelet, I think.  I have several patterns now saved in my Ravelry favorites folder that include more intricate patterns and some knitted patterns.  It's kind of nice to spend a  little time making things that are just for fun every once in awhile.   Time well wasted.  :)