MissCellaneous

Squeaky Clean?

2012-03-05T00:25:00.000-09:00

Well I'm trying the whole "no-poo" thing, as in no off-the-shelf-tongue-twisting-ingredient-filled-shampoo. Really, it's more of a quasi-poo if you will. I'm not so sure about the whole just using baking soda bit, but found during my pinterbrowsing this blog and then found this other blog. I went off of the second blog, mostly because I didn't feel like making my own coconut milk...

In the spirit of Make-Do-March, I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl since I just happened to have all the ingredients (or at least the essentials) in my kitchen. Here's what I ended up using:

1/3 c. Dr. Bronner's Castille Soap (I have the Almond scented)
1/4 c. Coconut Milk
(left over from making pancakes, coconut milk instead of milk milk makes for AWESOME pancakes by the way...)
A smidge (as in less than the tsp called for) of walnut oil
(In my mind walnut > olive oil for hair. I have absolutely no justifiable reason for this hierarchy...)

Just swirled it around in a liquid measuring cup

You end up with about 3/4 c. of the quasi-poo. Hmm, I don't really like this whole hyphenating with "poo" so I think I'll just call in shampoo... Supposedly, you should only need about 1 tsp to wash your hair, but seeing as I have twice as much hair as the average person, with it being super long and all, I'm sure I'll need more than that. :o)

I had some nice glass bottles that appeared to be good possibilities for being the shampoo vessel and would look pretty, but I was cleaning out some jars and bottles and saw this...

I had just finished up a bottle of Sriracha (don't worry, I have two more HUGE bottles of it!), and the squeezability of it just seemed to perfect. Easy application, less going down the drain because I spilled it all over the place from a cute but less practical glass... So, I threw aesthetics out the door and went with the practical choice.

I just poured the shampoo mix in...

I realize this is a pointless picture in the sense that people know how to pour liquids... but I was impressed with my ability to pour and shoot at once, so I'm posting it gosh darn it.

Easy peasy.

So there you have it. Natural, made from my kitchen, shampoo. AND repurposing a Sriracha bottle. Supposedly this stuff has a shelf life of about a month. I'm pretty sure I'll have used it all by then. :o)

As a daily conditioner kind of person (long hair = frequent opportunity for awesome tangles and crazy static, especially in the winter up here!) I had to figure out what to do post-shampoo. The answer: Apple Cider Vinegar. I actually started this before I tried making my own shampoo.

Pretty bottle

All it is about 4-5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (acv), and tap water (I filled up the old Grolsch bottle with water to the neck, then filled the neck up with the acv. I'm all about estimation when it comes to measuring spoons). Again, super easy. Just pour it and enjoy smelling like vinegar french fries (at least that's what it reminds me of... I LOVE vinegar on crunchy french fries... mmmm...) So needless to say I'm now craving boardwalk fries when I condition my hair, but I guess that's better than finding the smell totally repulsive. That's one thing for sure, while the shampoo smells pretty good, the conditioner isn't quite the same nice scent as what you get off the shelf... Good news though, the smell of vinegar doesn't linger after you rinse your hair! :o)

Bragg

Side note: I've been using Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar mixed 50/50 with water as a toner of sorts at night. This acv has supposedly done awesome things for skin, so I figured why not. If it works, its wayyyy cheaper than buying various facial cleansers and again, I can read the ingredients without sounding like a 1st grader with major decoding issues... :o)

I tried the homemade shampoo with the acv rinse tonight. I had some pretty grimy running/hat hair for it to tackle, so we'll see how it did. If it's a disaster tomorrow morning, at least I'll have a chance to fix it with some store bought stuff before I head to work! Here's hoping it worked!

**Oh, and another side note. The quinoa, that I don't think I rinsed well enough, Kevin and I had Monday night didn't settle too well with our stomachs. I felt like I ate balls of lead, not little puffy quinoa... Anyways, that kind of derailed the whole menu plan for the week. Only thing I actually did up making from the proposed menu was more bok choy (There is so much left that I swear it seems like the package hasn't even been opened yet...) and the eggplant parm. I'll post the eggplant parm recipe and pictures later. Perhaps tomorrow... Anyways, no surprise here. I make plans and something throws a wrench in them. Good thing I'm generally a go with the flow kind of kid! :o)

Chickpeas: It's what's for dinner.

2012-02-27T22:13:00.000-09:00

Mostly because I have chickpeas, and not chicken. :o)

So, inspired by Sarah & Nathania's Make Do March, I'm planning (yes, for the first time in my life) my dinners. FOR THE WHOLE WEEK! That is unheard of over here in my little world. The inspiration from their Make Do March is in the use what you have feature to my dinner planning. No trips to the grocery store for me (well except maybe to get dog food, Rudder is running a bit low on that) So, here's what's for dinner this week:

Monday: Chicken Tikka Masala (really more like a Chana-Tikka hybrid if you will) & Bok Choy
Tuesday: Eggplant Parmesan (per Kevin's request) & Bok Choy
Wednesday: Homemade Black Bean Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries (& probably Bok Choy)
Thursday: Homemade Pizza - spinach dough, goat cheese, red peppers, roasted garlic
Friday: I'm not sure yet, but I have a feeling there will be Bok Choy...

Yeah, I have A LOT of Bok Choy to use up. :o)

So, I had a recipe for Chana Masala, but it looked more complicated that I really cared to do at 7pm, but then I remembered Sarah had posted a recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala that was pretty simple so I figured hey, I'm sure I could modify that and make it work. And it did.

Here's what I put in:

- 15 oz diced tomatoes (I had diced not crushed like the recipe called for)
- 2ish T of tomato paste (You'll see a lot of 'ish in this, I don't exactly measure...)
- ~~1 med onion, chopped~~ (Oops! Forgot it!)
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced (sorta)
- 1/2ish t cumin
- 1/4ish t cinnamon
- 1/4ish t coriander
- 1/4ish t black pepper
- 1/8ish t ground clove
- 1/8ish t nutmeg
- pinch of ~~cayenne~~ (um cajun seasoning because I couldn't find my cayenne)

Mix all of the above together and then if you want more "crushed" tomatoes, use a potato masher just a bit :o)

I heated it on low while I was making the quinoa and roasting garlic.

Add:
- 1 can chickpeas, drained

I did this with about 20 minutes left before serving.

Last, Add:
- 1/3ish c heavy cream (yeah, I just poured some in, my guess is it was about 1/3c.)

Instead of rice, I used quinoa because 1) I had it 2) It has good stuff in it 3) I can probably use it in some manner to have for lunch. I RINSED my quinoa this time. I assumed it was pre-rinsed from the bulk section, but last time I made it and didn't rinse it, it was super bitter. Rinsing = better quinoa thus far.

Alright, now for the baby bok choy:

I used this recipe I had pinned (gosh I love Pinterest, I even used it for affective skills instruction today!) as my "pinspiration" for the Bok Choy.

- 6 little baby bok choylettes
- a handful of garlic cloves, whole (really I think its a personal preference of how many cloves)
- some olive oil
- salt & pepper

So first, heat the olive oil over med-high heat til it's nice and toasty. Add the garlic cloves, reduce heat to medium and let the buggers roast, turning them every so often so they don't burn. Next, add the baby bok choy and a bit of water (I poured some from my glass... maybe 1/4-1/2c.?) sautee for about 2 minutes, then use a smaller lid to cover and let it steam for another minute. Sprinkle on a little salt and pepper to your liking, and ta-da! All done! :o)


wishes I had a fancy set up like the food bloggers, but hey, it is what it is

And now, just for fun:

The never-ending game of keep away between Lucy & Rudder

Well at least I accomplished one thing this weekend

2012-02-20T17:26:00.000-09:00

I had what really seemed like a do-able list this weekend... However, it is seeming to take wayyyyy longer than expected! That, and I in true form, am bouncing around from project to project. Oh well...

I did FINALLY make dryer balls! I had been wanting to make them for some time now, and the time just seemed right when I was able to find 3 skeins of virgin wool for $1.99 this weekend. Value Village had the 50% off President's Day Sale, and I found a bunch of strange things to be shared later I'm sure. Anyways, back to the wool. It looks like it was hiding in Grandma's closet for a while, not a color I'd usually pick, but hey, it was $1.99 for 3 skeins, and it's just going in the dryer with my laundry, so who cares!

I read a couple of tutorials, but as a person who rarely reads directions, I just went for it. This isn't going to be a tutorial. Number 1, I speak in circles, so I'd probably end up teaching someone how to make a placemat instead of dryer balls. Number 2, I kinda forgot to take pictures in a "tutorial fashion" as I went along. Instead, I will just share my pictures. :o)

Cheap Yarn - yay!

Rolled into small balls


Then tied up in pantyhose, all incognito like they're ready to rob a 7-11 then into the wash.

Then roll more yarn around so they're bigger. I went for tennis ball size.

Back into disguise they go.

Why it's oh so very important that you have these pre-felted balls in pantyhose...

If you don't (or if one manages to sneak out) you end up with this...

Ta da! These suckers have been through every load (in pantyhose) I've done this weekend (maybe 5?)

Closer up of the felted-ness


See, tennis ball size.

So, I'm sure you're really just wondering about the table these dryer balls are sitting on. [Probably not, but I'm going to tell you anyways!] This is my left-at-the-condo-when-I-moved-in-2+-years-ago coffee table. Solid wood top, super scratched and composite bottom. I still need to get around to that whole painting the bottom thing. I'm waiting for warmer weather. Maybe by then I'll have an idea in regards to color... Anyways, I decided I wanted to make the coffee table top a bit different, and figured hey, it was free, so I'm willing to risk it a bit more. Several ideas from painting, to mosaic, to just sanding and staining farmhouse style came and went. I decided to sand, stain, then carve. Yup, like an old tree out in the woods (but with much less harm and a lot less sap). Originally I was going to go back over the carved words with stain so it'd be darker, but I kinda like it lighter, so I'm going to keep it as it. Still need to put some poly on it, but again, best left to warmer weather when it can be done outside. :o)

Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet, and that the winds long to play with your hair. Khalil Gilbran

My mom finds it rather hippie-ish. Perhaps she's right, but I love the quote. It's a good reminder as I sit here on my tookus to go outside and play. :o) Oh, and I don't have any fancy wood carving tools, so I just used a phillips head screwdriver.

Ok, I've procrastinated long enough... Back to painting...

Just a Nikon Girl...

2012-02-20T01:50:00.001-09:00

mrseliotbooks on Etsy via Pinterest

... Living in a Canon world. (I don't know why, but when I think about the Canon camera, I start humming these words to Journey...)

Anyyyyyyyyways, I've been hiding behind a Canon 50D lately.

Why yes! That is paint on my hands! Are we surprised? I thought not. ;o)

So what is a born and bred Nikon girl doing with a Canon?? Well, Kevin has most graciously offered to let my shutter happy hands borrow his DSLR so I can keep being my snap happy self, but with a seriously upgraded camera. I love my little Sony Cybershot, I really do. It has survived several tumbles, snow baths, is wonderfully light and small for hiking... Clearly I love them, it is after all my 4th Cybershot (yes, I have a tendency of losing cameras...). [Anyone else wondering, with my "stellar" camera history, why in the world Kevin would let me borrow his super nice camera??? Yeah, me too...] Anyways, it's a good little point and shoot, but it just doesn't have the lens, nor the features I'd love to have and sometimes can frustrate the bejeebees out of me. Well, I'm still learning this how to use this Canon, which can be also frustrating, but it is SO great to see what a difference good glass makes! :o)

So, since I'm a bit behind on the whole updating the blog on things that are being done around the casa, I'll put up some of these for now with promises of project pictures to come. :o)

The Flours [get it, flowers, ah so pun-y] I got from Kevin for Valentine's Day

Evidence that I still have yet to understand Canon's white balance options...

Rudder loves his dummy

Mr. Martini eyes

And now for the Gag Reel...

Tomorrow I'll try to get some project pictures posted. :o)

PS - This blogger post-formatting-picture-inserting-process and I do not get along...

Determined... Stubborn... Stupid... Whatever you want to call it.

2012-01-26T23:34:00.000-09:00

I finished the built-ins!

Pardon the iPhone picture... but it was the truest to color...

Wait, revise that. I ALMOST finished the built-ins! :o)

Turns out (despite my best efforts) that one person cannot put up a single piece of 9 ft crown molding to go over the top of the built-ins by themselves. EVEN if they think they are super ingenious and use clamps. Trust me, it's a two person job. Rudder didn't volunteer to help, so I'm saving that for later. Technically I also need to put the knobs on the doors and a couple of spots need a wee bit of touch-up paint... but really, its kinda done. Done enough to put stuff in and on it. Yay!

Being all of 5'2" and working on barstools to screw the boards into place was probably not the safest, but it worked. My arms are tiiiiiiiiiired though! My LEAST favorite part though (besides the crown molding - I was tired, it was too long and up too high and was just a debacle) was nailing the stupid beadboard to the back of the built-ins. See, still feelings of resentment. I went through so many stinkin' finishing nails. Turns out that the pressed whatever it is they make the beadboard out of and finishing nails just aren't the best of friends. I'm not the most awesome person ever with a hammer...

The throwing a hammer, catching it, and slamming down someone else's nail while drinking game. Yay Pennsyltucky! ;o)

...but, I'm not that bad. There were nails flying every which way and several bent. I'll find the rest of them tomorrow when I sweep up (yes, I also left the mess from the saw in my kitchen - Rudder and I just wanted to head to bed and forget all of this vertical nonsense).

I thought about posting the "process" of the built-ins in pictures, but I think I'd rather sleep. Perhaps tomorrow. :o)

Regression & Recoupment

2012-01-26T12:45:00.000-09:00

Clearly I spend half of my day living in the wonderful world of special education law...

Anyways, I'm on my lunch break (Ha! Like I really get one of those) and was working on an evaluation for an upcoming meeting, and really just needed a break from special ed lingo for a minute or two...

So, I decided to make a quick little post about the "progress" I've made. I'm trying to figure out the feasibility of my "to-do before Sunday" list is...

Alright, here it is, the list:
~~- Prime built-in bases~~
~~- Prime shelving for built-ins~~
~~- Paint built-ins~~
- Cut & ~~paint beadboard for the back of built-ins~~ (took wayyyy longer than expected...)
~~- Remove baseboard~~ (most fun part thus far)
- Install built-ins (woo to the hoo!)

- Clean kitchen cabinets (top)
- Prime kitchen cabinets (top)
- Paint kitchen cabinets (top)
- ~~Paint last few drawers/doors (bottom)~~

- Clean u~~p kitchen~~ (somewhat, but it is still a disaster in there thanks to it being my "workspace"
- Reorganize pantry
- Backsplash (?)
- ~~Chalkboard frame (make~~ and mount)

- Map ~~frame~~ (halfway there, again, a project that seemed so easy but had a few glitches)
- Entryway (hooks and such)

So, some things have gotten done, but it looks like even more of an unfinished mess to me (thus the regression part of the title). Plan is to finish and install the built-ins tonight (this will probably be one of those moments of "swearing" (my swearing usually consists of utterances such as "what the frickin' french fry") and hilarity and me once again wishing I was a little taller (I wish I was baller... oh goodness, that's going to be in my head all day now). So maybe, just MAYBE I'll get the upper cabinets done before Kevin gets back. Well, I'm at least going to try. No more distracting smaller projects, and at least this weekend I won't have to focus on writing any evals...

My house still looks like a tornado blew through, twice. I should probably add "making a walkway from the front door to the back of the house" to my list... Oh, and laundry, I'm starting to run low on socks. ;o)

Weekend plan = recoupment.

Care for some semifreddo?

2012-01-22T19:26:00.000-09:00

So, I'm taking down the baseboard in my kitchen (which is actually door casing...) so I can put my built-ins up against the wall. I'm planning on putting real baseboard in around the kitchen (and the rest of the house for that matter...) but will probably be getting to that way later. I can deal with the chipped, broken, half plastic casing for a while.

Anyways, it was kind of fun (and yet also appalling) to see what color my kitchen USED to be. The whole house was repainted before it was put on the market, so I didn't inherit any baby blue rooms or orange walls, but rather have room upon room of builder's white. Any guesses what color the kitchen USED to be? Last color I'd ever pick for a room... Last color family even... DEFINITELY not what I would have ever imagined a kitchen would be...

Itttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt's pink!

PS, my green wall isn't quite so "Slimer" like in real life.

Bleh! So glad they repainted this room before selling it. Pepto-bismal pink. I wouldn't have been able to make it this long with a pink room... Funny thing, when I moved in, they had red glass pendant shades on the main lighting in the kitchen. To me it cried out "red light district" but now with knowing that the walls were once pink, I'm thinking the prior occupant loved them some Valentine's Day...

Anyways, back to using my nifty little crow bar. Its tiny and yet so powerful. Yay physics! :o)

I aspire to do great and noble things...

2012-01-18T23:28:00.000-09:00

... such as visit all of the breweries in Alaska. I thought there were around 15. I was wrong. There are 22 licensed breweries in Alaska. I've never been so happy to be so wrong. :o)

So, Rudder insisted that I accomplish very little painting tonight (something about a 43lb spaniel plopping himself between you and cabinet doors and coming dangerously close to knocking over a pail of paint that just makes you say, "fine, you win"). I was thinking of bucket lists though, and since apparently its ok for me to be on the computer as long as he can lay next to me, I decided I'd make a "pretty" version of my scribbled list of breweries to visit AND make sure I actually got them all written down. So here they are, my breweries to visit:

Manvsink on Etsy

~~Midnight Sun Brewing Company – Anchorage~~
~~Sleeping Lady Brewing Company – Anchorage~~
Anchorage Brewing Company – Anchorage
~~Moose’s Tooth Brewing Company – Anchorage~~
~~Glacier Brewhouse – Anchorage~~
King Street Brewing Company – Anchorage
The Last Frontier Brewing Company – Wasilla
Akrose Brewery – Palmer
~~St. Elias Brewing Company – Soldonta~~
~~Kenai River Brewing Company – Soldotna~~
Kassik’s Kenai Brew Stop – Nikiski
~~Denali Brewing Company – Talkeetna~~
~~Homer Brewing Company – Homer~~
~~49^th State~~ Brewing Company – Healy (this gets a 1/2 crossed out because I've been here 3 times, and they've been out each time...so sad)
~~Silver Gulch Brewing Company – Fairbanks/Fox~~
Kodiak Island Brewing Company – Kodiak
Skagway Brewing Company – Skagway
Gold Rush Brewery - Skagway
Baranoff Island Brewing – Sitka
Haines Brewing Company – Haines
Bear Rock Brewing Company – Ketchikan

~~Alaskan Brewing Company – Juneau~~

Popchartlab on Etsy

I like getting the pint glass from each place. Only thing I've ever collected (except that time I decided I "collected" teddy bears at age 7. I determined that they were what I collected since I had more than 2. Surprise, surprise, that is where my "collection" ended). I'm just not into collecting things really, but I see pint glasses as purposeful and I like the fun artsy logos on a bunch of them. :o)

Ten down, Twelve to go. Some will be easy, other will be a bit more of a venture (Unfortunately Haines and Ketchikan aren't just down the street...)

Gosh I love a good beer. For that I thank Mr. Levi Markwood - beer sampler/brewer extraordinaire. :o)

I went to work with paint in my hair ...again.

2012-01-17T19:52:00.000-09:00

So, I've been busy covering myself in paint and primer the last week or so. It all started with "well lets go ahead and clean up the kitchen and maybe stop for another paint sample" and ended with a disaster zone of paint supplies and me, covered with paint.

Poor Carhartts... You didn't stand a chance.

I am AWESOME at getting paint everywhere (and sometimes even on the intended wall). :o)

Typical.

Well, what seemed like a small undertaking has amassed to a massive undertaking (perhaps overtaking is a better description...) of my first floor. I do believe the word is overachieving or perhaps naive may be appropriate words to describe our short-term "we'll have this done by Saturday, no problem" goal :o) Pictures will be posted later. Why? Two reasons: I like the idea of having a "clean" room in my after pictures (and I am SO not there yet) and secondly, I'm at work during daylight hours, so really taking pictures of paint colors and such is a moot point when its pitch black outside.

Alrighty, so point of this post (now that I'm finally getting to it) is that I have ended up with quite the To Do List. I wish it were my Bucket List because those would be MUCH more fun to cross off, but alas, it's my overzealous to-do-before-Kevin-gets-back list. He-who-gives-me-the-much-needed-kick-in-the-butt-to-get-things-done (Harry Potter reference, anyone?), aka Kevin is rather certain that my house will still look like Oklahoma during tornado season when he gets back from the slope (12ish days). Well, I can get a wee bit feisty and like to prove people wrong, so I am bound and determined to finish the kitchen and have it reassembled before he gets back AND more that he isn't even expecting. I think we spent more than half of his R&R in Anchorage painting, roaming the aisles of Lowe's & Home Depot, and disassembling my kitchen... and I am SO grateful for all the time and effort he put into all this home improvement mumbo jumbo, but I'd REALLY like to spend more time doing fun outside things like skiing and snowshoeing when he gets back rather than fixing upping.

Wow, so still not to the point of this post. I can ramble with the best of them... Alright, here it is, the list:
- Prime built-in bases
- Prime shelving for built-ins
- Paint built-ins
- Cut & paint beadboard for the back of built-ins
- Remove baseboard
- Install built-ins (woo to the hoo!)

- Clean kitchen cabinets (top)
- Prime kitchen cabinets (top)
- Paint kitchen cabinets (top)
- Paint last few drawers/doors (bottom)

- Clean up kitchen
- Reorganize pantry
- Backsplash (?)
- Chalkboard frame (make and mount)

- Map frame
- Entryway (hooks and such)

It's not such a bad list, but the fact that I have a horrendous number of meetings and such at work the next two weeks, and that Rudder is not exactly the most helpful assistant...

Yes, that is paint on his nose. He gets it from me. ;o)

means that it may take me a bit longer than I'd like. Oh, that and I am really good at distracting myself mid-project and starting another project... I did that last night. Oops!

So here's to going to work with paint (or primer?) in my hair again tomorrow! :o)

The Why of it All...

2012-01-05T23:23:00.000-09:00

Well, Sarah made me do it. :o)

It's a good idea though. I had toyed with the idea of setting up a blog to post some of my pictures on (because really, what is the point of taking 10,000 pictures on a regular basis if you don't share them??) and never got around to it. Now that I'm finally tackling some DIY/home improvement things in my new house, I figure this would be a good way to document the progress. I think Mom and Dad just might like having the page to look at as I work on the house (since they are still questioning my paint color choices and "crazy" ideas) ;o)

Anyways, here goes nothing. If I keep up with this, I'll be utterly amazed. I kept a diary once. It lasted for 4 days.