Sunday, March 3, 2013

Testing Pinterest. AKA: Pinter-testing

Okay, March already. That's insane. Where did the first two months of 2013 go?

I've been writing a very little bit. It seems to be picking up speed, but as I mentioned in my last post, I still have quite a few knitting projects to get through before the end of the season. I'm also busy cleaning and packing... we're moving back to Ontario in early June!

June may seem like a long ways away, but in reality I only have four more weekends here with The Husband around, and then we're on vacation to the West Coast for two weeks. By the time we get back he has about one day to throw his belongings in the car and drive another 1500kms straight east, all the way to Kenora. That's followed by three more weeks in Calgary for me, a quick trip back to Ontario for Husband's 30th birthday, then three more weeks and the big move. All in all, I don't feel like I really have much time for packing, cleaning, sorting, recycling and selling before it'll be time to go.

But I digress. If I wasn't busy enough, I've also added an hour of Spanish Rosetta Stone lessons to my day (heading to Mexico for a wedding next spring!) and a little extra cooking. Well, Pinterest experimentation, to be exact.

The tricky thing about Pinterest is... you can't trust it. Some of the DIY projects, recipes, and ideas on there really work well. Others, not so much. Even more are total bullshit. Sifting through what seems to be legitimate from the crap uses up half my time on there.

The other day one of my friends pinned a summer oatmeal recipe. I'd never made it before, but had wanted to try, so I repinned and bought all the ingredients I needed. It actually went really well! So for anyone interested, here follows the process and results:

1/4 Cup Traditional Oats (1/2 Cup for 500ML Mason Jar)
1/3 Cup Skim Milk (2/3 Cup for 500ML Mason Jar)
1/4 Cup Greek Yogurt (1/2 Cup for 500ML Mason Jar)
1.5 Tsp Chia Seeds (3 Tsp for 500ML Mason Jar)
1 Tbsp Cocoa Powder (for the Chocolate Banana Recipe)
Honey to Sweeten (about 1 - 2 Tsp)
Layered! Caution: Honey Sticks to the Glass
Shake Jars to Mix
Stir in Diced Fruit
Garnish with Whole Slices
So it went pretty well. I made Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate Banana, Peanut Butter Banana, Vanilla Raspberry, and Blueberry Kiwi. I've taste-tested the Apple Cinn and Choco Banana, and have a preference for the apple one. It tastes just right. The chocolate one needed more honey I think, to sweeten the cocoa a bit more. In fact, using hot chocolate power might have been just the thing to do...

Things to watch out for: The honey tends to stick to the glass, not mixing well. Try to keep the honey in the middle of the mix when you add it, and then shake it immediately. Also, the peanut butter was a bit of a problem. I don't think it mixed in very well. Granted, I was using chunky pb, so that might have been the problem. I would try heating it up a bit to soften before adding.

All in all, it looks like I have a week's worth of delicious summer oatmeal lunches and snacks!

Until next week,
S.

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Still Alive!

Yes, yes, I'm still alive. Haven't posted since the end of NaNo... yikes!

I did manage to finish NaNo with just over 50K words, but learned that I'm not a big fan of NaNo. It definitely made writing feel like a chore, which I don't like. I haven't done a lot of writing since then, being busy with other hobbies. My thoughts have definitely been pushing towards picking up my pen (or keyboard, more accurately) lately, but I have a few knitting projects I need to get through first! Hopefully I'll be back here again within a few weeks...

S.