Making a Mess

I am so good at making a mess, it should be my job.  I am sure I drive J crazy leaving things lying around (mostly shoes)  but somehow I lack the organization gene. My art room is starting to come together but I fear it will never really be clean and complete. I have fabric all over the floor and counters because I have been working on a duvet. I have weaving stuff everywhere- I got a bobbin winder and warping board for Christmas! and I just finished my first weaving on my new loom. I am going to be using this new fabric to make a clutch but have to figure out exactly how this all will work. One day I hope I can be organized but for now I guess I will just enjoy having the luxury or space to work in and a husband who still loves me even when I make a mess

Winter

Winter is here and even though my picture is from this fall I am looking forward to the season. It has been very very cold lately and I have gotten a little stir crazy so I am looking to stay busier and hoping for more snow to warm it up and make it a little prettier. I created my etsy store which is exciting but still have a lot of work to do in order to feel better about it.  We are getting ready for Christmas and have been having a lot of fun.

Moving on up.

We are almost all moved into our new house, and we have been married for going on two months! I planning on putting up pictures of our house soon and working on christmas decorations! I hope to have this all up soon!

Creating

I finally started a new weaving on my table loom. It is just plane weave with a dyed warp, but I think it is looking good.  I am planning on making bags with it when I am finished.

Curry Chicken

Ingredients

2 cups Jasmine rice
in 3 cups water

3 chicken breasts fat removed
2 tsps 5 spice
2 tsps curry powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can coconut milk
salt and pepper


bring rice and water together to a boil then cover and lower temperature and simmer for 20 minutes

 In a sauce pan mix olive oil and curry powder, let simmer for 2-3 minutes then add can of coconut milk and reduce for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut chicken into thin strips, and coat with mixture of 5 spice, salt and pepper. In a pan with a small amount of olive oil, cook chicken strips until done,  about 7 minutes. Cover with curry sauce and simmer a little bit longer. Serve over rice. We had it with red wine and it was good.

Slow Chicken Chili

Lets just say I have had  two weeks of bad eating. I had family visiting and food brings people together, in other words, I  ate a lot (and low nutrient, high calorie food at that). To get my body on track for an active summer I wanted to make an easy meal that has lots of vegetables, lean protein, and most importantly tastes great!  Crock pots are a great way  to have a healthy meal made with minimal effort, and very little clean up!


Slow Chicken Chili

1 yellow onion chopped
2 15 oz cans of beans, rinsed and drained (I used one can of kidney beans, and one can of  white beans because thats what I had)
large can crushed tomatoes in juice
16 oz can of whole kernel corn drained
4 oz can diced  fire roasted green chilies
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Packet of Chili seasoning (low sodium if available)

Place all ingredients except for the chicken in a crock pot and mix together. Place chicken breasts on top and cover. Cook on low setting for about 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. After cooking is complete, remove the chicken and shred with a fork, return it to the crock pot and mix chili together.  You can garnish this chili with chopped cilantro,  diced avocado, shredded cheese, or anything that you desire. I used fresh chives!

In search of color

As an artist, my favorite thing to experiment with is color. With fibers, and more specifically weaving, colors can mix and not turn muddy or lose their vibrancy. I love dying my warps, it allows me to experiment with color and essentially freeze my results.  My favorite part is when I get subtle variations of color  or  unexpected neutral tones.