Low Fat- No Fat Potato Salad

It was weigh in today, down 3.4 lbs - whew!  That makes up for the + 2 last week. Let's hope that doesn't happen again - Horrors!

Made this for lunch today and have to say I was inspired at the meeting to make this but the recipe that was posted there wasn't entirely low fat.  I sat there and thought I can make it even less points!  Stopped at the local produce stand to buy my fresh veggies and voila!

Ingredients:

Potatoes!  Hmm who would have thought?  ( I used Yellow Fingerling, I'm also growing these so I thought I'd try)  Now seriously, about as much as you could fit in both your hands.  3-4 cups.

1 Leek (white part only sliced thinly)

5 small grated baby carrots

2 sprigs of green onion

2 stalks of celery

3 large dill pickles or several mini dills

.5 cup of dehydrated bacon bits (Kirkland Costco) optional Fat content was 2 tbs for 1 g of fat, not bad (dirt under the rug)

4 hard boiled eggs

Dressing:

1 cup of no fat sour cream

.5 cup of no fat miracle whip

juice of half lemon

3 tsp of Paprika

3 tsp of Celery Seed

2 Tbs of Mustard Seed

2 tsp of Dijon

Dash of dill pickle juice 

Salt and Pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes, chop up and add to all the diced veggies and toss in the dressing.  Let chill before serving.

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Thrifty Find: 70's Night Table Redo

I believe I picked this up for a whopping $5!  It was the perfect shape for what I need to clear the bathroom doorway that stands on my side of the bed.  As you can see it has some fantastic 70's glam. Well, it's not 'staying alive' Bub-bye!  I have to say I first pictured this redo to have inlayed mirror in the six sections.  I still can't decide if I should do that part, I think it would make the glass knobs look even more sparkly.  Anyway, here is the so far:

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Thrifty Find: Old Sash Windows into Greek Doors and Window Art

I have a lovely collection of photography I did while in Greece.  I believe it was over 1300 photos of doors and over 700 cats that I took.  It was fun what can I say!  I remember trying to find these windows on the cheap but everyone wanted a whole lot of money.  Until I found this one place that made custom windows and the lady on the phone said she had a stack of them by her dumpster!  "What??  Hold on, I'm coming - I'll save them!"  Pedal to the metal and away I went!  Wowsers, what a find!  Seven in total.  They were originally white, but different shades.  When I first got them I thought it was a good idea to paint them 'Greek Blue' as I call it, we lived with it for a couple years, but after moving to our new place going light cream worked a whole lot better, goes with our trim.

I also sell really affordable collections of these photos in my shop and there is no shipping charge, you would receive them by email.  Costco is great for affordable developing!

 I've left one in Greek Blue because my husband likes it.  

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Coffee and Flour Sack Pillow Covers

This project was a a little bit of a test to see if pillow covers would sell on my Little Green Earthling online store.  Well, two days later the same person bought both!  Now I just need to get back to the studio and make more.  I just love the raw quality of them and they smell like raw coffee beans still.  Close my eyes and I can only imagine what it must be like to be in Guatemala amongst all those coffee plants.

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First Harvest

Yummy radishes!  I used organic West Coast Seeds, and if I recall they are the 'Easter Egg Blend'  More to come on the garden soon.  A little sea salt and yum!

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Chai Coconut Rice Pudding - For 4

A couple nights ago I tried my first dessert for small batches.  For lack of a better name for it, well that's what it'll be for now!  I made a Thai dinner that night and thought that the left over rice from the night before would make a good rice pudding.  Using things up, right?  Except, it was a bit much on the rice side of things...so as my husband suggested perhaps make this on a 'non-rice night'.  Oh, and it was jasmine rice but any rice could work.


Serves:  4-6
Prep Time:  5 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of cooked rice (could be brown or white)

.5 can of coconut milk (fat reduced would be great)

1 cup 0% fat vanilla yogurt

2 Chai Tea Bags (mine were vanilla chai)

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 egg (optional)

3 tsp of Agave Syrup

2 mini boxes or 1/4 cup of raisins, dried cranberries or currants

Good shake of cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Place coconut milk, tea bags, vanilla, cinnamon, yogurt, raisins and egg all in a small sauce pan on medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Once you are happy with the chai infusion into the coconut milk add the rice and the agave syrup in.    Portion out the rice pudding into small ramekins, place them into an oven safe pan and add water to the pan, creating a water bath around the ramekins.  Bake for 15 minutes, garnish with light sprinkle of cinnamon on top and a tiny drizzle of agave.  Enjoy warm is best.  Easy to reheat in micro too.

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Distressed Family Photo Blocks

Something you should know about me is I'm handy, and I love building and creating new 'stuff'.  Here is me, I started young as you can see, I'm holding a hammer.  Who gives their child a real hammer to play with???  Well all I can say is look what happened.  I can remember banging stuff together in the carport using my Dad's tools and then him wondering what happened to this or that when he couldn't find it.  Hmmm, well Dad that pair of wire strippers worked great for a number of different things!  I decided I wanted a family collage, that in time will sit on another project, still to come, but I wanted to show you so far...  The common theme between them all is this great vintage yellow and red theme and I love them!  It's all of us and even my Mom in law had to question who was in the yellow coat, we all look so much alike.  

Supplies:  

8' -  2 X 8"

Paint

Sandpaper

Matte Podge

Photos developed as 5" X 7"

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Coconut Jute Wrapped Bottles

So firstly, let me start by saying I'm so addicted to all things natural and earthy.  I'll also tell you I'm so addicted to Pinterest.  I firstly bought jute and covered these bottles but I wasn't quite happy with the result...then I found this!  Natura Beyond Twine - like sisal or jute but with a really rich colour to it.  Me and the glue gun then had some quality time.

You can see the before and after below:  with the other jute twine I used, it was not as meaty or substantial.  I have to say it is was exactly the look I was after.

Some flowers from the garden below.  If you're wondering what is all over my table, they are gemstone donut pendants for my Nursing and Wellness necklaces available at my Etsy shop at:  www.LittleGreenEarthling.Etsy.com

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Quinoa, Bacon, Parmesan and Kale Stuffed Mushrooms

Okay, firstly I have to say I've realized my iPhone takes really bad pictures...

Serves:  5-6 people (approx 2-3 mushrooms each)

Prep Time:  5 mins

Cook Time:  20 mins

Ingredients:

12 Common Mushrooms (any kind would work, Portobello would be awesome)

2/3 Cup of Quinoa

Handful of finely chopped Kale Leaves (less the fibrous middle veins)

Dried Bacon Bits (go real here, I used Kirkland - Costco)

2 Tbs Marjoram

1/4 cup of Parmesan Flakes or Shredded Cheese

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350.  Boil Kettle.  Add Quinoa and Bacon to soup bowl and mix with spoon, add boiled water until it covers the contents, PLUS one inch above.  Wash and pull out the stems of the mushrooms and dry with paper towel.  Wait 2 minutes add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Start stuffing and place on baking sheet with parchment paper.  Bake for 20 mins.  Enjoy!

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Pottery Barn Knock Off Number Canvas Art

I did my own take and wanted to go BIG!  I went to Home Depot and bought a 6’X4’ piece of 1/4” plywood only to realize our Mazda hatchback wasn’t quite 48” across in the trunk!  Thankfully it was bendable!!  Managed to get it home!  I’m sure the HD lot guy thought I was absolutely crazy!

Anyway I backed the plywood with 2”X2” all the way around with screws and then painted the entire piece black.  With using Photoshop I was able to get the numbers large enough and in some cases one number became two images, and printed them all out.  I used a lot of different fonts, don’t ask me the names...(I went by feel)  Anyway after cutting each one out I laid them out and traced them with pencil this way and that way!  I then used a small angled paintbrush with Buff Titanium Acrylic paint which let me have fine control through all the curves - pretty quick and easy with this great tool.  Finally I finished with by glazing with a burnt umberint and giving a little of the antique aged look. 

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Thrifty Find: 70's Dresser Makeover Turned Buffet

Bought the dresser at a local thrift shop for a whopping $7.99!  I have to say I was stalking it...every week it would go down and weather or not I'd roll the dice again and be lucky it was there another week was anyone's guess.  


A few cans of spray paint later and beautiful Medieval Collection handles from Lee Valley, transformed this dresser into a buffet!  Now the kiddos can get their own fruit and goodies, perfect for their height.


I'm storing dish towels, placemats and candles so far in it and it's great!  Right by the table where I need the stuff!

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Thrifty Find: Vintage Student Desk Find

Found this beauty for just $10!  I think I might just leave it as is.  It has some great history all over the desktop.  Hmmm, I wonder who J.K. was, and if L.M. knew they liked her!

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Burlap Wreath with Vintage Hanger

Made this a little while back in June.  Had some coffee sacks and decided to get crafty.  My mom in law came over and says, "Hey, I know that hanger, it's from where I got my fur coat!"  so a little bit of family vintage on the front door?  After a few more questions, I think I'm making one for her too.  Stay tuned!  This one had a base of a coat hanger, but the next will be made with a pool noodle and some duct tape - yep!

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Burlap Costco Candles

Got these candles back at Costco last winter and love them.  With all the burlap craze at the moment I decided they could use a change of clothes.  I think it is something I might change with the seasons, they easily slip off to change out.

Contains burlap bits, beads, jute string and the handy dandy glue gun!  All dressed up, with no party, hmmm....

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Mermaid Tears

A little while back the kids and I found a great beach for tumbled glass.  The kids have now coined it "Treasure Beach" and here was our treasure for that morning.

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Thrifty Find: Vintage Pulley Find

Found these on the local online used classifieds sometime ago and had to share.  I don’t think they’ll ever leave my mantel!  Thank you Restoration Hardware for the inspiration!


This month (June or July) in Style at Home there is a beautiful house (of course) with a wall of pulleys, it's amazing.  I love it, so jealous!

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Upcycled Wood Pallet to Kitchen Pantry and Jar Shelf

With all the buzz on pallets as of late, I decided to take a stab at my own design.  In order to free up a shelf in my pantry full of jars or beans, quinoa, cornmeal, rice etc.  Here is my rather weighty approximate 100 lb creation. 

The quick and dirty on the DIY:

Shelves 1”X6”- attached with L brackets

Shelf fronts 1”X 2”- attached with finishing nails

Shutters - from cut down recycled wood closet bifold doors

Cabinet front at bottom - bought for $1 from a kitchen cabinet clearance section of kitchen cabinet store.

Added handles from Lee Valley Medieval Collection

Antiqued Paint job - base in Antique Red and glazed with mix of choco brown and glaze - perfect!

Lighting Effect - Puck lights from Ikea

Jars - from Ikea

Vintage Kitchen Collection - various thrift store finds

 Below is how it all started, I was so proud the day I hauled this old thing home!  And the other photo is almost finished construction, the crown didn't want to cooperate to well, er the cutter was a little distracted or too excited...in the end it's all good.

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Q:  So how long does it really take to make something sweet, indulgent and delicious?  

A:  Just as much time as it would take to go to the local DQ or Bakery and get back home again.  Except, doing it yourself and choosing something more healthy doesn't give you the guilt afterwards and gives you empowerment and satisfaction! 

This week...

Today was weigh in, and I confessed to nearly eating a dozen chocolate zucchini cupcakes, low fat mind you, but ACK!  2 pounds up!  Or could it have been the Teen Burger? - DOH!  So, I was sitting there and I had this epiphany, what about creating small batches of dessert that only yielded 4-6 of that said delicious morsel?  Hmm, well it would solve my problem of the darn dozen cupcakes calling to my from the kitchen counter or the freezer!  

So here's the thing, since joining Weight Watchers I'm a huge advocate for doing what is good for your body (okay, excuse the Teen Burger - I was sick and it so wasn't worth it) but I love the fact that you can control what goes in your mouth if you just read the Nutritional Labels.  I'm all about Low Fat, and not so much about the Calories, but I do believe they do have to be in moderation also.  I don't call myself "Carb Barb" for nothing!  I wouldn't dare have a Starbuck's Frappuchino now, but I could make something just as good at home in the blender super simple and super delicious!

So here I go, stay tuned for my experiments, concoctions, kitchen tribulations and adventures.  Got something to share, I'd gladly post it and share it around!  Just let me know!

Have a Great Day!

Little Green Earthling

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