Friday, February 26, 2016

Rey's Fruit Bowl



I am obsessed with romanesco - I get super excited the 2 times a year I find it in the grocery store. 



Because of this, I was happy when it was featured in the new Star Wars film. For some reason I thought that this would help make this rare vegetable more popular, but that didn't seemed to happen.


I was disappointed with the fruit casting in the prequels. Starfruit, pineapple, and pear? I mean seriously. Maybe it is because I grew up with those fruits, but they just don't seem very alien and fantastical.


Romanesco, on the other hand, is the most beautiful and trippy vegetable.


 I was also glad to spot a Kiwano melon. This melon is also pretty strange, with its gooey green inside and its spiny orange exterior. I had never tried it before and searched it out because of this scene. It really wasn't bad. 
I also think I spotted an all green dragon fruit! I am glad the fruits and veggies were better cast in the new film. I'm sure it doesn't matter to many people, but it really made me like the new movie more. 


Special thanks to my bestest internet friend for the screen shots.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Battle of the Almond creamers: Silk vs. Califia

Most coffee creamers are filled with additives, syrups, artificial flavors, preservatives and commercial cows milk. I am very sensitive to dairy and try to avoid most dairies for ethical reasons, although there are a few local dairies that I love. This makes it hard to find a good creamer!

Almond milk creamers are now growing in popularity, offering an interesting alternative. This is the first time I have decided to purchase almond milk creamer. I was craving some of the random delicious yet bad for you creamers so I decided to give it a go. I found these two brands at Target! 

My favorite dairy creamer is Coffee Mate's Italian Sweet Cream. It reminds me of working at Cold Stone back in the day haha. Silk and Califia do not offer this flavor at the moment but they both offer vanilla and caramel. I tried one of each, figuring that the texture and sweetness will sway me more than the flavor. 
Silk is sweeter than Califia and because of this it tastes more like Coffee Mate when sipping it plain. I am not a fan of the after taste, however. Califia is thicker and contains actual almond cream. The caramel flavor is tan while Silk's vanilla is white. 

Califia feels healthier than Silk. It is not as sweet and its texture is creamier. If you are craving a dessert coffee, you'll have to use more Califa then Silk. 

In the future Id love to try a coconut based creamer. I have tried a powdered coconut coffee from Costco that my husband and I both love. If they made a powder or liquid creamer I would totally buy it. I think it would be creamier and better overall. 

Almond creamers are okay but they don't totally satisfy my Coffee Mate craving. I might buy them again since most dairy creamers make me break out. As delicious as Coffee Mate can be it certainly isn't worth a bad break out!

Hope that you all are having an amazing week! 

<3 KM

Friday, February 19, 2016

Campfire Veggies


I recently went on a camping trip in the high desert and had lots of fun cooking with fire. I took along a bunch of veggies to cook the first night. I had the awesome idea of putting eggplant in the fire along with the potatoes. It turned out almost like baba ganoush. I wish I would've remembered to bring a lemon. You can see my foil-wrapped eggplant nestled in the coals in the photo above. 


I waited until the coals were hot and stuck the foil wrapped veggies into the sides of the fire.
The eggplant was really easy to tell when it was done - it turned squishy. The potatoes were done after about 45 minutes because the coals are hot enough. The skins got a bit burned, but they were perfect inside.
I added butter, salt, and pepper and they tasted so good, as only camping food can.


I also threw some zucchini and some peppers on the grate. They were super tasty and smokey. 
Sorry about the photos' poor quality - it was pretty cold, so I took them super fast.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Moon: My new favorite app

Printed Moon Phase Calendars confuse me. I think they are so cool but it bothers me that the picture of the moon takes up valuable writing space in each date square. The clutter of having little moons all over the page really annoys me, but I love the information that they provide so I know what to look for in the night sky. Thankfully there is an app that will make you a moon expert in no time!


MOON - Current Moon Phase is a simple, genius iPhone app that shows the viewer exactly what the moon will look like today. Sometimes the shape will be tilted slightly based on your perspective but the size will look just as it does in the photo. 


This is today's moon on February 16, 2017.


The moon is 70% full. It will be completely full in only 5 days. Time to prepare!


Here is yesterday's moon.


It says the full moon will be 6 days from yesterday, nice and accurate.


You can even prepare for the far future or investigate the past. Here is what the moon will look like on this day in 2042.

Hope that your week is going well. Yesterday was a great Monday. Monday holidays are always amazing and to top it all of the Alabama Shakes won three Grammy awards! I am content. Pretty sure this week is only going to get better and better after all of that good energy!

<3 KM

Friday, February 12, 2016

Studded Wrist Brace



I am always injuring my wrist. I think there might be something wrong with it - it's been weird since I was a kid. Even knitting or playing guitar can set it off. It gets better pretty fast if I don't move it around too much, so I need a wrist brace I can wear to help it heal and prevent future damage.


Wrist braces are pretty ugly. I got this one that can work on either hand and wasn't too bad looking except for the white, brand lettering. I took some fabric paint and covered it.


It looked a little better with the paint, but as you can see - it totally didn't match. That was when I decided to add studs.


I think it turned out pretty rockin'. Now it looks more like a fashion accessory than a medical device. It makes me feel hardcore instead of a wimp with a weak wrist. Most of my gloves even work over it!



Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Live With Me Now - New song on Soundcloud

This year is the year of living in the moment. Being present. Connecting with people! This song is all about that.



Should of let it go
But my heart says no
Should have let it fly 
Should have let it pass me by

It never lasts
As soon as we love its in the past
It never lasts
As soon as we live its in the past

So live with me now
Live with me

I really miss being in a band. I think I may ask M to do harmony for my next song! We'll see if we can figure it out.

<3 KM

Friday, February 5, 2016

7 Layers of Dip


Are you are looking for mildly impressive, but simple food for the big game? I am getting lucky this year and will spend the day hiking in the desert instead of sitting on the couch. I know some of you will not have the ability to shy away from social gathering, so I will give you my 7 layer dip recipe in condolence. Unless, of course, you like foot ball - then you can just enjoy the game and the food... and the beer, obviously.

I bolded the ingredients in this recipe:

Take a can of beans (I like Amy's refried beans) and dump it in the skillet with some diced onion and grated cheddar cheese

While that is all melting together, mash up an avocado and put some lime juice on it.

Put the beans in the bottom of a clear dish.

Put the smashed avocado on top of the beans.

Put diced tomatoes on top of the avocado (this layering it important because the acid in the tomato will keep the avocado from browning).

Put raw diced onions on top of the tomatoes. 

Spread sour cream over the onions.

Sprinkle grated cheese over the sour cream.

Put sliced olives or jalapenos over the cheese.

Done. Put in refrigerator.


I like to serve this with blue corn chips, but I think any chip that doesn't break easy will work.

Have fun!


Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Bubblegum and Marceline + LSP

I am a total Adventure Time fan girl. The origin stories of each character really draw me in, I easily relate to the characters and it is so kawaii. M is a lot like Marceline mixed with a bit of Bubblegum and I am a lot like Bubblegum with a large dose of LSP.

http://adventure-time-gif.tumblr.com/
The Princess Day Episode gives me total flashbacks of our antics. The clip below catches the moment when all of the shenanigans start. You can watch the full version, Season 6 Episode 14, on Hulu.


I can totally relate to Bubblegum's determination to finish her crossword. For me it would probably be a book, notebook or cellphone article. It's serious business, obviously.

Giphy
I don't remember which episode this gif is from but it is so us.

Amazon
Apparently there is even a comic mini series starring Marceline and Bubblegum called Marceline and the Scream Queens. Totally on my Wish List now.

Rebloggy
I shall leave you all with Catventure Time because it is just the cutest. I totally want a Catventure Time shirt. Graphic tees forever! LSP is my favorite here, so grumpy.

Random thoughts of the day:

Almost makes me want a bunch of fluffy cats so I can dress them up like this. Over it though. I like leather furniture too much, I think it's cruel to declaw, and I despise the fact that they eat birds. Total dog person now, especially corgis! I was totally fascinated by the whole cats vs cucumbers trend though. So weird.

<3 KM